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Sports bar to focus on international sports

Expansion of Zemam’s Ethiopian Restaurant
Posted at 7:16 PM, Dec 16, 2021
and last updated 2021-12-16 21:18:50-05

TUCSON, Ariz (KGUN) — A restaurant that already has an international flavor is planning to offer a taste of international sports. Soon you could visit a sports bar that shows cricket or rugby along with more familiar sports.

Sometimes a restaurant can broaden your horizons with a type of food you've never had before. Before long a location on Broadway could introduce you to not just new foods but new sports.

Cricket is not a common sight in a local sports bar. You won’t see much Rugby either. But when the Broadway construction clears and Zemam’s Broadway location reopens it’ll include a sports bar that featured international sports. Owner and Chef Amanuel Gebremariam expects University of Arizona’s international students to give the new sports bar a strong start.

“Absolutely like cricket is played all over Asia. And there are lots of Asian students here. Primarily the Indians, the Afghani, there are so many Chinese and other Asian ethnicities. So they will love to watch those rugby games.”

The Zemam’s location on Speedway has remained open. When the Broadway location re-opens it’ll go beyond adding the international sports bar to include more restaurant space and even space for guest chefs to offer a wider range of international food.

Gebremariam says, “We want to introduce certain other parts of Africa, Asia, Europe as a stand, and we wanted to introduce you to our customers in Tucson.”

The Rio Nuevo Development District granted five hundred thousand dollars to the project, because it expects sales tax from the restaurant will repay Rio Nuevo’s investment.

Plans call for the expanded Zemam’s and international sports bar to be ready for the Soccer World Cup next fall.

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