Gentle Ben's — Restaurant in Tucson

I've dropped in here perhaps a half dozen times in the last year when I'm in the area and want to catch a game. The bartenders, supervisors, and door greeters are all friendly, seemingly conscientious, polite, and attentive - without being solicitous. There's a nice selection of bottled beer, drafts, and seasonal selections. It's a full bar, of course, and I've noticed "designer cocktails" on their bar menu.

Seating is indoor/outdoor with a ringed bar that serves both, and the outdoor bar area is expansive - perhaps larger than the indoor seating. A good portion overlooks University Ave for the amateur ethologists and cable car enthusiasts. A separate indoor dining room is available, as well as an upstairs bar area.

Huge televisions are everywhere, and the staff is polite and helpful in accommodating requests for various channels and CC.

I don't believe I have ever sampled the food, nor the upstairs bar area.

The men's room is clean and well-kept!*

This is a large, clean super sports bar within steps of a very large university. The clientele is what you'd expect, and the folks are fun-living, but I've never seen any unruliness, nor minor children!

This operation is clearly run by experienced restauranteurs who hire, train, and supervise the best young workers, who'll then go on to become our future professionals.

Nice work to all of you!

*Wonder if a restaurant's kitchen is clean? Look at...

The food is mid, the drinks are mid but the atmosphere is lively!

EDIT: changed my review from 3 stars to 2 stars, originally I wrote my review because there was nothing phenomenal about this place but the atmosphere was great! I came back today to give it another go since I know places have bad days sometimes, sat at the bar because I know the wait staff are busy and sitting at the bar is hassle free, my food came no joke 35mins after I ordered it. When my soup came it was COLD! I asked a manager walking by whether or not my soup was supposed to be cold and he laughed and said no it definitely is not. He switched it out which is great but this is twice in a row now where something has gone wrong with my order. I don’t even be looking for things to go wrong but twice in a row?? Get it together guys! My friends and I love coming here for the atmosphere, but they’ve proven time & time again that the service of food or sometimes just service in general is abysmal. It’s honestly just better to go somewhere else on University Blvd or even 4th. Pictured is the second soup that had the avo in it.

Also they brought the second soup back with avocado when I specifically asked for no avo because I have an allergy. So my time was wasted and I was given cold food. Yikes guys! Giving it two stars because the waitress was really nice this time and tbh not her fault my soup was cold. It’s such a shame because they have one of...

I've been here before and come to accept that service is mediocre, typically slow but oh well.

Our last visit was disappointing on a few levels. First, our food was served at a decent time but lacked seasoning, and the tables didn't have salt/pepper (which isn't a huge deal) but it would have been nice to have something to spruce up my Diane burger.

While we were enjoying our meal in the outdoor area pigeons flew in and one landed above us on a ledge in the patio corner. It kicked up a bunch of feathers and bird droppings that landed in my wife's beverage,plate and who knows where else. I informed the server of what happened and asked for new fries because of the droppings. He did bring new fries but were burnt and really unenjoyable so she didn't eat then. I reluctantly finished the last few bites of my meal but was grossed out by what could have been on my plate.

The third and most disappointing experience was while we were out in the patio, someone on the rooftop was dropping metal or heavy items onto the metal roof making loud slam noises. I wonder why they couldn't have built the stage( or whatever it was) up there before operation hours.

Overall the experience was very disappointing and leaves me wondering if I should even try to...