On Friday, August 16, Unicorn Zebra Lounge is expected to open inside the historic building in downtown Tucson at 82 S. Stone Ave.
Owners Sandy and Lourens du Plessis, both of who are originally from Cape Town in South Africa, have lived in Tucson for at least five years. The duo has been working for a while now to get Unicorn Zebra up and running (zoning, permits, etc.) and the time has finally come.
We snuck in (with permission) and were able to taste-test a few of the cocktails landing on the opening day menu.
Bar Manager, Manny Pena, shared the following creations with us — they’re all a hit! Also, each is “made with love.”
Sample Cocktail Menu
- 212 (Manhattan) – Rooibos Rye, Red Vermouth, Bitters
- Spanish G&T – South African Gin, Tonic, Herbs
- Victorian – Silver Rum, Strawberry Shrub, Citrus
Little Bit of Cape Town in Tucson
The bar will also have wine, beer, and other cocktails. A handful of the cocktails will be gin-focused concoctions due to its presence in South Africa but will not be the only spirit used.
So many people have had a hand in creating Unicorn Zebra — even Sandy and Lourens’ daughter.
“It’s funny because we’re from South Africa and we thought ‘Let’s name our brewery something that’s a little bit of it but not too South Africa,” said Sandy. “We thought we should name it after a zebra or something to do with a zebra, and my daughter — at the time she was eight years old — said ‘Yeah, but it’s gonna be a unicorn zebra.’ I thought that was so weird, but it’s cool. So, it was literally named by a small child.”
“We’ll have a vibe here,” said Lourens. “We’re going to introduce certain Cape Town-inspired cocktails as well as other really interesting drinks made with Rooibos tea.”
As mentioned earlier, the lounge is expected to open on Friday, August 16, which includes the first floor, a lobby with even more seating options, and the upstairs lounge.
The rest of the building is also being renovated — the hotel rooms will soon be Airbnb rentals.
The basement, which can be seen from the ground-floor lounge, will be open at a later date. Take a peek through the glass flooring (it’s thick enough so you won’t break through), you’ll notice a lifesize horse that Sandy, who’s an artist (she painted the zebra mural inside the lounge), and Lourens are in the process of turning into a Unicorn Zebra.
Big Plans on the East Side
Sometime in the last year, Sandy and Lourens purchased the Kappy’s restaurant at 2190 N. Wilmot Rd. The lot will become a brewery and local Foodie destination with multiple restaurants.
“It will open pretty much exactly a year from now,” said Lourens, referring to Kappy’s. “We bought the building, demolished the inside, and took everything out of the building. It’s an empty shell.”
You can see renderings of the Unicorn Zebra Brewing facility as well as Cape Town online.
“We were very specific about the areas we wanted to open the brewery and we wanted it near the east side,” Sandy added. “It’s going to be anchored by the microbrewery and it’s also going to have these little micro-restaurants outside — kind of like the MSA Annex.”
Are you a local business interested in operating a micro-restaurant at Sandy and Lourens’ “Cape Town?” Email sandy@zebrabrew.com for more information — spaces are filling up fast.
The beer will also be South African-inspired — lager-based but not limited to.
“Lots of lagers out there,” said Lourens, as I picked his brain about South African beers. “Kind of dry and some go toward the Swedish taste profile. Then, the bigger beers! They are usually dark beers — stouts. But, the thing is that Tucson is really hot and parts of South Africa have a very similar climate. This is when you don’t want a stout and IPAs taste good. So, we’re going to make IPAs and introduce southern hop profiles in there — it’s going to taste a lot like New Zealand styles of beers. That’s the South African vibe.”
Unicorn Zebra is located at 82 S. Stone Ave. Unicorn Zebra Brewing and Cape Town will open in 2025 at 2190 N. Wilmot Rd. To keep up with the latest, visit zebrabrew.com.
