BUSINESS

Granddad’s avocado legacy inspires restaurant

BY KEN SAIN

Arizonan Managing Editor

Anew Chandler restaurant is taking advantage of some family history and America’s love affair with a certain fruit.

Patent 139 Brewing Company opened earlier this year and has adopted an avocado theme.

Tim Hass, great grandson of the man who was awarded Fruit Patent 139 for the Hass Avocado, opened the brew pub at ay and Dobson roads. ou will find avocado-inspired dishes on the menu. nd next month, you ll find an avocadoinspired beer at the bar.

Just don’t ask for any guacamole: they don’t make it.

“It was my great grandfather, Rudolph Hass, who patented the first blackskinned avocado,” Haas explained. “It turned out it was actually an accident. He bought some farmland in La Habra Heights, was growing Fuerte avocados but they weren’t really growing very well.”

Those, like most avocados in the 1920s, were green. And, like most avocados, they were difficult to grow. He purchased some seeds that he was told came from Central or South America.

One of them became a tree that produced a black-skin avocado. Back in the 1920s, that was rare and the reason why he sought a patent.

Now, most of the fruits sold, about 90%, are Hass Avocados.

“People loved it because of the fatty creaminess versus Fuertes (the traditional green avocados),” said Tim, who had opened up a few restaurants for others in California before deciding to open the Chandler eatery in January. “So he went on and saw it was a big success and submitted the patent back in 1935.

“The green ones are very large, almost look like a small mango. The whole fat content with the black skin is what really makes it the difference. It’s buttery, creamy where the others are a little bit Tim Hass and chef Jared Martinez of Patent 139 Brewing are turning their love for avocado into tasty dishes – and even beer.

(David Minton/Arizonan Sta Photographer)

seeAVOCADO page 33

Wild Horse Pass is upping its appeal to locals

BY GERI KOEPPEL

Contributor

If you haven’t been to Gila River Resorts & Casinos Wild Horse Pass just south of Ahwatukee Foothills lately, you might not know what the ubiquitous TV ads that promise a glitzy Las Vegas-style experience are referring to.

And in fact, it boasts a range of new offerings designed to appeal to locals as well as visitors.

In addition to a rebranding from Gila River Hotel & Casinos, the $180 million expansion includes an 11-story hotel tower, a sports book, Topgolf Swing Suite, a new rooftop steakhouse and patio bar, coffee and pastry shop, pool renovations and additions, gaming tables on the casino floor and more conference and convention space.

To be clear, the Gila River Resorts & Casinos Wild Horse Pass only refers to the casino and attached resort run by the Gila River Gaming Enterprise. Other businesses on its land, including the Sheraton Grand at Wild Gila River Resorts & Casinos Wild Horse Pass has spent $180 million on a massive expansion and up-

grade as it woos locals to its many amenities. (Courtesy Gila River Resorts & Casinos Wild Horse Pass)

Horse Pass, the Whirlwind Golf Club at Wild Horse Pass, and others are separate entities.

The project, which broke ground in 2020, mostly was completed in January with the exception of the Topgolf Swing Suite, which opened in May.

“It’s only been open a few weeks, but we’ve been pretty busy,” said Daniela Vizcarra, public relations manager for Gila River Resorts & Casinos.

This is the only Topgolf Swing Suite in the state, Vizcarra noted, and includes two bays for up to eight people playing virtual sports against a screen, including golf, hockey, football, soccer and baseball.

It also features a full bar, table games, three betting kiosks, a broadcast/DJ booth and more than 20 TV screens. It accepts walk-ins, and reservations are accepted on OpenTable.

Topgolf is open Thursday through Sunday and can be booked for private events Monday through Wednesday, with catering and blackjack available.

During regular hours, “You do not have to play Topgolf,” Vizcarra mentioned. “It’s an open bar—you can just hang out.” It s housed on the second floor, where the old Shula’s Steak House was located, with a birds-eye view of the gaming floor below.

Opposite Topgolf, also overlooking the gaming floor, is the sports book, which i carra said was “packed” during March Madness. It was their first time taking bets for it since the 2021 Arizona Gaming Compact was signed.

With a capacity of 246, Wild Horse Pass is the biggest of Gila River’s three sports books, which also opened at Vee Quiva

more hard, and not much �lavor into it. The Hass avocados, those are the ones that you get a lot of that �lavor element.” Avocados show up in different ways on the menu. “Buffalo sauce (on wings) is usually your red-hot sauce, butter element,” said Jared Martinez, the restaurant’s chef. “We took avocados and replaced the butter on it. It actually created a vegan sauce. So we’re trying to utilize avocados in different ways.” One of those ways is avocado honey. How did they pull that off? “It’s bees that have only been allowed to pollinate with avocado �lowers,” Martinez said. “I’m not trying to be the guy who just throws avocado on everything and says, you know, it’s versatile,” Martinez said. “It is very versatile in the sense that it’s a source of fat that can actually be used in placement of egg, as well ... we can grill it.” One of their popular deserts is Avocado Crème Brûlée. Instead of using butter, they use avocados. The anniversary of Rudolph Hass getting Patent 139 approved is coming up, Aug. 27. To celebrate, Tim Hass plans to debut an avocado-inspired beer. “It’s only been done, that I know of, one other time,” Tim said. “It was at Angel City Brewery out of Los Angeles; they did an Avocado Ale on there. So this will be a little bit different. But yeah, we’re going to work with some of the local homebrew guys out here to kind of make this a new, special thing, celebrate the weekend. And, of course, it’ll be going right into Labor Day after that. So very excited to give something different here.” What will an avocado beer taste like? He said it won’t be green. “It’s actually going to add more of a creamy texture to the beer instead of, you know, some of the IPAs that are out there that are really heavy and hops and bitterness,” he said. “This will add more of a creamy texture with the malt, the German malt. You’ll get a little bit of the �lavor, but not much.”

WILD HORSE ���� ���� 32 and Lone Butte. It has a full bar and food service as well as rows and rows of big screens and 10 betting kiosks (there are two more near the River Bar). Although all bets are placed online, Vizcarra noted an employee is always on hand to help. “A lot of people have never done this before, so it can be a little intimidating,” she said, adding, “Because we are on the reservation, you can only bet here in person” and not on an app on your phone. The nonsmoking casino �loor also got a refresh with new colors, carpeting and lighting as well as a giant LED screen. After the gaming laws changed, the casino also added a total of 51 table games like blackjack, craps, roulette and baccarat. “We are really catering to the Asian community” with baccarat, Vizcarra said, offering perks and incentives. The gaming �loor still includes 1,100 slot machines and a food court, and just outside is the entrance to the 1,400-seat Showroom theater that hosts music, comedy and more. Also upstairs next to the sports book is a gift shop and a new café called Aroma Coffee & Pasticceria, selling Starbucks drinks as well as desserts and gelato. Just past that is the new, brighter, modern 11-story Sunrise hotel tower with 205 guest rooms and suites. It connects to the original Sunset Tower, which has 242 rooms and was renovated in 2019. On the roof of the Sunrise Tower is Prime, A Shula’s Steak House, which has been a big draw for locals. It boasts expansive views, a visible kitchen, semi-private dining room and glass elevator. It’s been “booked for weeks” and reservations are a must, Vizcarra said. Prime also has outdoor seating for dining, and from 10–11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, the patio becomes 11VEN, a chic cocktail lounge with deejay. “The views out here when the sun is setting is absolutely gorgeous,” Vizcarra stated. Also, the pool area was completely recon�igured and a “Serenity Pool” for age 21 and up was added. The main Oasis Pool is all ages and open to guests only. “Unlike other resorts, we do not do day passes,” Vizcarra said. They also never charge a resort fee, she added. The only exception is from 2–6 p.m. the last Saturday of each month through September, when the public can attend a Vegas-style “Summer Oasis Pool Party” for age 21 and up. The ticket price is $40; hotel guests get two free passes. 

Prop 470

YES OR NO

There’s an election on Tuesday, Aug. 2, and Chandler voters will cast a ballot for Prop 470, asking voters to continue the Local Alternative Expenditure Limitation, also known as Home Rule. The Home Rule Option allows a city to make its own decisions about how to spend its tax revenues. If it doesn’t pass, the City would have to cut more than $216 million from its budget impacting public safety, street maintenance, recreation programs and planned capital improvement projects. Remember, Prop 470 is NOT a tax increase.

El martes 2 de agosto se llevará a cabo una elección, y los electores de Chandler emitirán su voto con respecto a la Proposición 470, la cual les pide a los electores que continúe la Alternativa Local al Límite de Gastos, también conocida como la Opción de la Regla de Autogobierno. La Opción de la Regla de Autogobierno permite a una ciudad tomar sus propias decisiones con respecto a cómo gasta sus ingresos fiscales. Si no es aprobada, la Ciudad tendría que recortar más de $216 millones de dólares de su presupuesto, impactando a la seguridad pública, el mantenimiento de calles, programas de recreación y proyectos planificados de mejoramiento capital. Recuerde que la Proposición 470 NO es un aumento a los impuestos.

chandleraz.gov/elections