Tempe planning: FUDPub - alternative to Rula Bula

[Paul W. Frields]

On Sun, Aug 22, 2010 at 08:36:34PM -0700, Robyn Bergeron wrote:
> I know that Paul has been waiting on the folks from Rula Bula to get
> back to him, so I thought I would throw out an alternative suggestion,
> particularly since it looks like we may be at another hotel which is
> not located 3 feet from Rula Bula (as Mission Palms was):

Thanks for the reminder -- they haven't responded with a quote yet.
The Courtyard's pretty close to Rula Bula too, but we don't need to be
hung up on RB as being *the* FUDPub location.  Still open to other
options.

> Macayo's Depot Cantina is a local mexican restaurant chain.
> (Actually, Macayo's is the chain, the Depot Cantina is the specific
> name for their Tempe location.) It's located at 300 S. Ash Avenue,
> which is .2 miles (yes, point 2) from the Courtyard Tempe hotel.
> 
> I know they have at least one room upstairs for private parties; I'm
> not sure just how roomy this space is, although they have TONS of
> space, including covered patio w/heaters, inside restaurant seating, a
> separate (giant) bar area, etc.

This place seems just a little kitschy, but it also looks like they
have an excellent menu with (gasp!) a variety of vegetarian options,
and the prices are pretty good AFAICT.

> Their banquet / catering (for onsite or offsite) menu can be seen
> here: http://www.macayo.com/Catering/SpecialEventMenu.pdf - I was
> specifically looking at the Happy Hour Buffet, which I have not had
> personally, but if it is similar to the freebies during actual happy
> hour, includes tacos, burritos, chips & salsa, taquitos, etc. Basic
> mexican fare. However, the happy hour buffet is 9.95/person, which at
> 150 people would come out to $1500, not including tax and probably a
> tacked on 20% gratuity for giant party.  Given our current FUDPub
> budget of $4k, this would give us a lot of leftover room for soft
> drinks, beer, margaritas, etc. (All very reasonably priced.) Also,
> they WILL do vegetarian items on request, which would work out well
> for our vegetarian Friends, which may not be quite as easy to do at
> Rula Bula, save for deep-fried vegetables.  I also believe it might be
> a bit easier to do as far as our underage Friends go as well.

Here's an idea we should think about too -- spending our FUDPub
dollars on food & beverage at Macayo, and then repairing to some other
place for entertainment.  I don't know what's around there in terms of
a pool hall, arcade, or what-not, but that might present some options
where people could go from one place to another for fun.

I added the Mill Cue Club which is nearby.  Looks like a pretty
heavy-duty "meat market" -- i.e. college kids, loud beats and heavy
drinking.  Not my bag these days, but we have a lot of younger FUDCon
attendees who might want to try it out.

> Also, if we can manage to get a large private room that could actually
> hold 150+, it would probably work out well as far as having an indoor
> place to have the The Highly Esteemed Fedora Project Leader's
> World-Famous State of Fedora Address, since we're not really clear yet
> on what ASU is providing us as far as room size @ the Brickyard.

Hey, that's not a bad idea.  We could have a short keynote there, then
everyone eats, drinks, and makes merry.

> Plus, you know, having some mexican food whilst in Arizona is never a
> bad idea :)
> 
> If anyone is interested, I can go down and do some in-person scouting
> over Labor Day weekend, or if someone else wants to call (my plate is
> very full right now!) that would work as well (I would still be happy
> to go and scout even if someone wants to do this).

Scouting would be much appreciated.

Ryan, could you call this Macayo location to find out the capacity of
their party room?  I put it on the Google map.


-- 
Paul W. Frields                                http://paul.frields.org/
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