Yeah Write Mark

Tag: tasty

  • The Purple Penguin

    The Purple Penguin

    A Sweet Local Business That Needs Some Love Right Now

    Since what seems like forever now, Tucson has been a shining hot bed of road construction. Like the kind of intrusive breaking and building of asphalt and concrete that sends normal commuters into the wee stratospheres of quaint neighborhoods where you make ten right turns, roll over speed humps the size of sleeping giants, engage with a wizard high on meth to get the secret code to open the portal of “Oh god I just want to get to work/home…where the fxxk am I?” before you finally get on a stretch that resembles some form of safe thoroughfare only to find more road construction. In that case just park your rig, get out, meander into the desert, become one with the sand and saguaros, find peace with your imminent demise before making friends with a family of javalinas who take you in as one of theirs after you gain their trust living your last days naked and feral but happy because road construction does not exit out here in the wasteland.

    Your family will understand.

    Here is where the fun begins

    Yes, the ever-present and never-ending street rehabilitation that goes on here in the Old Pueblo is staggering. So many businesses have suffered because of it. Heck my local health food store where I refill our water bottles is always under threat of it and the usual cool and calm hippies that run the shop scowl and have some choice words. Cursing and scowling hippies. It has come to that.

    They snap, they crackle and they, um…do something else too

    Right now, the 22nd street bridge that links so many avenues and, yes, local businesses, is closing for 3 YEARS which is, and already has, affected said avenues and businesses.

    In fact, one of my favorite shops in town has gotten the word out that it may in fact close its doors for good because of the bridge closure. This is absolutely rotten news if it comes to fruition because this place is not just unique but a necessity for a Gen X dork like me.

    Laffy Taffy, you my only freind

    The Purple Penguin is a candy shop that is unlike any other in town. Not only for its wide selection of treats and sweets but the fact that most of the variety it boasts is a throwback to golden ages of yesteryear delectables. What I mean is that you can find candy here that is from the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s…you get the idea.

    That’s right.

    Not too sure if kids today would get this concept

    I haven’t had Big League Chew since I was a little boy, but Purple Penguin sure carries it. Whatchamacallits, Pop Rocks, Hubba Bubba, and, yes, Lik ‘Em Sticks, aka Fun Dips. You know that slightly flavored sugar that you, well, lick a stick and then you dip in packs of colored sucrose then get super high because this was basically cocaine lite for kids. Yeah. Awesome.

    Gotta catch, and eat, them all

    There are bins and bins of wrapped candy that you pay for by the pound, the perfect spot to load up for a birthday, Christmas and of course Halloween. There are shelves lined with delicious sodas and if you are a Harry Potter fan this is the place to visit since there are all sorts of treats and toys from that franchise.

    As a big D&D player and old school video game fan I was happy to see sweet nibbles locked inside polyhedron dice or tins with Donkey Kong or Link from the Legend of Zelda on them. Theres just so much here. Which is why it is our duty Tucson to keep the doors of the Purple Penguin open. We/you/I need this adventurous venue around.

    You work up a thirst eating all that candy

    The owner, Gigi Spinks, bought the Purple Penguin nearly two years ago from the original owner who opened the shop in 2019. Gigi herself has been a longtime customer and was thrilled to be handed the keys to a local legacy.

    *insert nerd cough here*

    But now, with all of that noise going on down her street and closures happening every hour on the hour it seems, the Purple Penguin is struggling to keep its doors open. Which totally sucks. Tell me where in Tucson can I go and get retro candy as well as socks, sarsaparilla, geeky merch, toys and stickers while being surrounded by classic games, memorabilia and rotary pay phones? Nope. Can’t think of a place. If you know of one, well, I don’t want to know. Because the Purple Penguin is my go to locale for such happy time bits and bites.

    Ah, a corner made just for me

    [For my younger readers out there, a rotary phone is, uh, oh never mind. You probably don’t know what a pay phone is either, so I’ll just stop here and continue to be middle aged.]

    Hey mom, what are those things?

    Like said in one of my all-time favorite movies, Back to the Future, “Save the clock tower! Save the clock tower!” Only this time we need to save the Purple Penguin. Okay, its still open but we need to make sure that it remains that way. In fact, when I was last there the shelves and bins were a little empty. Gigi said that with the help of local bloggers and a feature on KGUN9 news, there recently was a rush of folks coming in to see what was going on and to buy up as much as they could. That’s awesome. I wasn’t alone on that last visit as there was a decent crowd of new and regular customers looking around and filling their baskets.

    Sweet

    Let’s make sure it stays that way.

    There you have it Tucson: The Purple Penguin. You know what to do. Go now, load up, keep a local business alive and feel good about yourself. Well, unless you eat too many Laffy Taffys and Abba Zabbas. Then you gotta listen to the songs of the Oompa Loompas. You know what I’m talking about.

    “What do you get when you guzzle down sweets?”

    That’s on you though. You’re a grown-up. Thing is, the Purple Penguin makes us all feel like kids again. In times like these, we all need some sweet relief and good ‘ol timey fun.

    Cheers!

    See you here soon

    Purple Penguin

    3392 E 22nd St, Tucson, AZ

    Sunday & Monday: 11am – 6pm

    Tuesday – Thursday: 11am – 5pm

    Friday & Saturday: 10am – 8pm

    (520) 660-2511

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  • Los Compas: A love letter to my favorite neighborhood food truck

    Los Compas: A love letter to my favorite neighborhood food truck

    Muy bueno!

    If you know me and are familiar with my track record as a food writer then you are well aware of my near obsession with food trucks.

    So when a taco truck opened up just a few blocks from us a couple of years ago I was both stoked and curious. Mind you, most of the tacos from said trucks that I have had the pleasure of getting acquainted with in my time here in Tucson have been either on the scale of “Yeah, this is good” to “Oh my god, this is fxxking amazing!”

    That doesn’t mean that I’ve had a few dogs of tacos. Not going to mention names but there have been the unfortunate few where I just stare at the taco and wonder “How the heck could they screw this up so bad?” Thankfully that notion is a rarity.

    Calling themselves Los Compas, this lil pink and white rig set up around the corner of Ft. Lowell and Mountain to little or no fanfare. Literally a shout and holler away from our bungalow. Driving by it once or twice it was around the third turn where I knew it was my time to sample the goods.

    If you see it you must come

    If memory serves correct I got a selection of items in the vein of ‘if they mess this up then we got a problem’. Like one or two tacos, a burrito and probably something else. Then I brought it back home for us to try.

    What memory does do me honest is that I immediately fell in love with the food. It was all so good. The chicken and carne asada was cooked and seasoned perfectly, the beans and rice were the same, fresh cabbage and tomatoes, juicy limes, tasty salsas, fantastic pickled red onions – all of it.

    Thank you taco truck gods for sending Los Compas to our fair neighborhood! But screw you too because its not like I’m chubby enough. Jeeze.

    One Sunday coming back from the farmers market I decided to get a bowl of their menudo, which they only serve on the weekends. A lot of people that I know are not fans of menudo, most of the white folks that is, but I have been a defender of the tripe and hominy filled brothy stew since my early days of living in San Francisco. It was there that my screaming hangovers were remedied by the magic that lives in that spicy brew accompanied by thick tortillas and, yes, a beer.

    Los Compas’ menudo did not disappoint. It brought me back to those heady days in the bay area only this time I was not suffering from the alco-fuel regrets of open bars, backstage coolers and general youth filled debauchery. It was just a chilly winter Sunday and that stuff really warmed me up.

    Landscape of the divine

    Owners Karina Salinas and Kevin Andrade are the kind of food truck owners and operators every aspiring chef or entrepreneur should study. They are always there; their product is consistent (and consistently good) and the prices they offer for the product you receive is spot on. Thank you Karina and Kevin. And, yes, today I will have a birria torta please. Gracias.

    One day I had noticed that Los Compas wasn’t in its usual spot. It had moved right on the corner of Mountain and Ft. Lowell and now boasted a cozy seating area inside of a casita. Ca-seat-a? Yeah, sorry. That nook boasted lots of family photos, twinkling lights and even a TV. So now as you enjoy a caramelo the size of your first born you can catch up with your telenovela stories. Did Juan cheat on Soledad with that temptress of a maid Paulina…again? Scandalo!

    Los Compas was doing great apparently and we all celebrated their success.

    That is, until, one day it was gone.

    Not like moved up or down the street as it did before. It was just plain not there. The truck was missing and the casita was closed and locked. Hey! What gives? What happed to our treasured Los Compas? We want answers!

    *fake riot ensues, pitchforks, torches, the whole bit*

    Time became legend, legend became myth and after about a year I would guess we still didn’t have our Los Compas. That stretch of Ft. Lowell was like one big phantom limb: we can still feel it but nothing was there.

    One of each please (image taken from Los Compas Facebook page)

    Until one day it miraculously reappeared. Parked right in front of the old Greek church on, yes, Ft. Lowell. When I saw it I screeched on my brakes like some angsty driver in an old Loony Tunes cartoon, my feet nearly went through the floor.

    Approaching the truck and seeing Karina behind the sliding screen I had to ask where she and Los Compas went. Apparently that spot up the street with the casita didn’t work out and they just needed some time to fix the truck, focus on catering while trying to find a place to park again.

    That Greek church has been empty for quite a while due to a fire causing more damage than they could afford to repair and the plot in front of it was nearly rent free. Once again, thank you food truck gods! Only this time in front of an actual church. Hallelujah!

    All was right with the world again. Well, not really. But our little midtown world is right having Los Compas back and, hopefully, here to stay. A year without my beloved chicken burrito with everything was a dark year indeed. In these trying and confusing times it’s always nice to know you can roll up to a familiar spot, hear that radio play boisterous Tejano music, grab a Mexican Coke (the only Coke you should ever drink by the way) and nosh on delicious comfort food.

    Gracias Los Compas. ¡Sois los mejores!

    This thing right here is what keeps me from being “not slim”

    Tacos Los Compas

    1245 E. Ft. Lowell.

    Weds – Sun : 10am – 5pm

    https://www.facebook.com/LosCompasDeTucson/