To be clear, Elle Wine Country Restaurant owner Jeff Fuld says his restaurant is not closing but it is moving. He just doesn’t know where yet. Besides, he said, it’s not imminent.

An article in the Aug. 4 issue of Inside Tucson Business detailing changes in stores at Broadway Village will include a different restaurant after the first of the year in the space Elle has occupied since 1998. I didn’t write that original story but the reporter who did called Fuld who said he didn’t know what he was going to do and that’s where it was left in the report.

Last week, Fuld issued a statement saying, "Elle may be moving, but it’s not going away."

In the meantime, it’s business as usual.

• Elle, Wine Country Restaurant, 3048 E. Broadway in Broadway Village - www.ellerestaurant.com - (520) 327-0500.

Happier happy hours

Two restaurants in the Catalina Foothills apparently have decided the answer to the current economic times - maybe both for customers and themselves - is longer happy hours.

RA Sushi in La Encantada will start its happy hour an hour earlier, at 3 p.m., starting today (Aug. 18) and is lowering prices. The new happy hour times are 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays during which sushi and appetizers will be half off their regular menu prices. They’ll also have drink specials ranging in price from $1 to $5 which will include beer, sake and specialty cocktails.

"We’re bucking the trend of raising prices at a time when costs seem to be spiking everywhere else — from the pump to the grocery aisle," says Scott Kilpatrick, co-founder and vice president of RA Sushi.

Down the street, Terra Cotta’s bar is expanding the timing of its happy hour in the other direction; it will still start at 4 p.m. but continue on until closing. Specials include $2 draft beer, $4 well drinks or margaritas for $7.

To go along with the drinks, the bar has one of the best burgers in town - bleu cheese infused Angus burger with caramelized onions and pancetta - for $7, which is $5 off the regular price.

• RA Sushi, 2905 E. Skyline Drive in La Encantada - http://rasushi.com/ - (520) 615-3970.

• Terra Cotta, 3500 E. Sunrise Drive - http://dineterracotta.com/ - (520) 577-8100.

Tough all around

While I continue to be a proponent of supporting local independent restaurants, it’s clear they aren’t the only ones feeling the pinch of the tough economy. Check out insert ads and the coupons in the Sunday newspaper. In the Aug. 10 issue of the Arizona Daily Star you could choose from McDonald’s, Macayo’s Mexican Kitchen, Marie Callender’s and Romano’s Macaroni Grill.

The chain restaurants already have a leg up on independent restaurants with their buying power and their access to capital and other resources. Their aggressive discounting could only further undermine the ability of independents to weather the current economic storm.