Omni Hotels & Resorts
Audio By Carbonatix
The official start of the holiday season engenders plenty of debate. For some, it’s right after Halloween, while others won’t kick off Christmas until after the wishbone breaks at the Thanksgiving dinner table. If you like spirits with your holiday, then the season officially starts when Valley cocktail bars start to resemble winter wonderlands.
To transport drinkers, local bars have hauled out the holly, strung twinkling lights and hung stockings with care. The spaces aren’t the only festive element. Bartenders also pack seasonal drinks with flavors of warm gingerbread, tart cranberry and rich chocolate.
Visit these 10 Valley bars for a sip of holiday cheer that will raise the spirits of any Scrooge.
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50 Shades Presents 50ville
7419 E. Indian Plaza, Scottsdale
50 Shades of Rose, a vibrant bar, restaurant and dance club in Old Town, reinvents itself for each holiday season. This year, 50 Shades will take guests to its version of Whoville, the fictional town from Dr. Seuss’ “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” Sip a Grinch-green cocktail and score specials, including $1 smash burgers on Thursdays and a $35 date night on Mistletoe Mondays, which includes one appetizer, two entrees and a dessert. You’ll be surrounded by Seuss-inspired decor that will make the heart of the biggest Grinch grow three sizes. Visit 50ville through Jan. 4; walk-ins are welcome, but reservations are encouraged on weekends.
Omni Hotels & Resorts
Blitzen’s Bar at Oasis Bar
4949 E. Lincoln Drive, Scottsdale
If you’re in search of cocktails that “sleigh,” head to Omni Scottsdale Resort & Spa at Montelucia. The resort’s Oasis Bar transforms into Blitzen’s, a tinsel-trimmed, glittering, reindeer-inspired bar, through Jan. 11. The bar serves festive snacks and a holiday cocktail menu created by Julie Reiner, a mixologist, bar owner and author who you may also recognize as one of the judges from the Netflix cocktail competition, “Drink Masters.” Reiner’s curated sips include The Blitzen, a Woodford Reserve Rye tipple infused with ginger and apple spice and served in a Christmas ornament, which then gets poured into a rocks glass over ice. Or, opt for the Oye to the World, a spicy margarita made with mezcal, tequila, lime, hot honey and apricot.
Christmas in New York at 36Below
3620 E. Indian School Road
Descend the steps in the center of Arcadia’s Sip Coffee & Beer, and you’ll be transported to New York at Christmastime. 36Below is a whimsical, intimate, subterranean garden bar whose theme rotates throughout the year. Guests will have views of festive New York scenes, such as people ice skating beside the massive tree at Rockefeller Center. Those images are projected from screens strategically placed throughout the space to mimic the windows of a greenhouse. Get in the spirit with five themed cocktails (of which three can be made into zero-proof sips). Try the carajillo-inspired Nutcracker, made with tequila, coffee liqueur, Amaro Montenegro, blueberry cordial and Mexican mole. The drink is topped with a salted maple pistachio cream. Pair your sip with a seasonal snack, including 36Below’s White Christmas Crab Dip or the Holiday Stack, a smoked double-decker reuben. Reservations are needed for this 90-minute bar experience, which runs until Jan. 4.
There’s so many holiday decorations hanging from the rafters at Salt + Lime you may have to duck.
Salt + Lime Modern Mexican Grill
Feliz Navidad Cantina at Salt + Lime
9397 E. Shea Blvd., #115, Scottsdale
The Feliz Navidad Cantina returns to Salt + Lime Modern Mexican Grill on Nov. 28. The Scottsdale dining room and bar has so many ribbons, ornaments, snowflakes and lights hanging from the ceiling that you may have to duck. Toast the season with holiday food and drinks. This year’s menu hasn’t dropped yet, but last year featured ginger-spiked margaritas and chocolate martinis, along with plates of Christmas enchiladas topped with New Mexico red sauce and poblano cream sauce. The cantina offers a 90-minute experience that runs through January. Reservations are required, but walk-ins may join the cantina’s waitlist. To book your spot, call 480-661-5463 between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Little Rituals
Get Merry Holiday Experience at Little Rituals
132 S. Central Ave., Fourth Floor
There are plenty of reasons to visit Little Rituals. The fourth-floor bar at the Resident Inn by Marriott Phoenix Downtown was named the best hotel bar in the nation at the Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards in July. In addition to accolades, the elegant space boasts an impressive view of downtown. When the holidays roll around, the bar leans into the cheeky nostalgia of movies like “A Christmas Story,” “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” and “The Nightmare Before Christmas” for its Get Merry holiday experience. The bar serves seasonal bites and 14 special cocktails inspired by global holiday dishes. Among them is a milk punch infused with the flavors of a spiced carrot cake and a latke-inspired Gibson served with a house-made potato chip topped with onion creme fraiche. Reservations are strongly encouraged for this holiday takeover, which runs through Dec. 29.
Eat Drink Creative Agency
Gingerbread Dreams at Trophy Room
2 N. Central Ave., #101
Trophy Room, a cocktail bar hidden inside downtown’s Wren & Wolf, has become a “candy-coated wonderland” for Christmas. This gingerbread house-themed holiday bar will feature cocktails inspired by quintessential Christmas treats until Dec. 31. Visits to Trophy Room run for 90 minutes and reservations are required. It should also be noted that cellphones and cameras are not allowed in the bar, making it best for customers who are prepared to disconnect during their visit.
Scene Select
Journey to the North Pole at Carry On
2 N. Central Ave., #101
The immersive, retro jet cocktail lounge from the same team behind Trophy Room has been one of the hottest destinations for drinks since it arrived downtown a year ago. Carry On’s fictional flights are now bound for the North Pole. Your cocktail flight crew, outfitted in red velvet dresses lined with faux white fur, will shake up holiday cheer on your nonstop to Santa’s workshop. In addition to Carry On’s 1970s-inspired drink selections, guests can sip on the gin-based Sugar & Spice & Everything Nice, made with apple, ginger, lemon and cava, or opt for the Ho-Ho-Holoma. This spirited sip starts with mezcal and tequila and gets desert holiday flavor from citrus, cinnamon, hibiscus, chiltepin and bitters. Reservations are released online weekly and are a must to visit Carry On. The Journey to the North Pole concludes on Dec. 24.
Melissa Hom
Miracle at Floor 13 and BLVD
15 E. Monroe St.
7324 E. Indian School Road, Scottsdale
Miracle is the originator of the holiday pop-up bar craze. New York bar owner Greg Boehm launched the first Miracle pop-up in 2014. Valley host bars Floor 13 Rooftop Bar and BLVD Kitchen & Bar will transform into winter wonderlands decorated with nostalgic tinsel, twinkling string lights and garland. Drinks are infused with holiday flavors and presented in unique custom glassware. The Miracle bar menu will include the return of fan-favorite sips, including the spiced cranberry sauce and rosemary-spiked Christmapolitan and Snowball Old Fashioned, which is finished with a snowball of ice. New sips include the Blitzen Barrel, a honey-sesame cocktail made with two kinds of sherry, scotch and mead. Get cozy in the ski lodge-themed Miracle at Floor 13 from Nov. 22 to Dec. 30, and meet the Grinch on Dec. 12, 18, 19 or 22. Visit BLVD’s Miracle bar from Nov. 28 to Dec. 24. Special entertainment includes a magician each Tuesday and live music on Fridays and Saturdays.
Sunny’s Lounge
Santa’s Love Shack at Sunny’s Lounge
2701 E. Indian School Road
Santa’s Love Shack at Sunny’s Lounge is a naughty holiday pop-up at the refined dive. Inside the tiny Phoenix bar, there’s plenty of traditional holiday lights and a Christmas tree, but you may also notice some elves around the bar in compromising positions. Sunny’s decadent holiday drink menu includes cocquito, frozen Irish coffee and Feliz! Feliz!, a chai-spiced tequila sipper served with a Biscoff cookie. With no reservations needed to visit Sunny’s, it’s a rare holiday bar that can accommodate procrastinators and the spontaneous alike. Visit Santa’s Love Shack through New Year’s Eve.
Bitter & Twisted
Sippin’ Santa at Bitter & Twisted
1 W. Jefferson
Sippin’ Santa is the tropical sibling of Miracle Bar, featuring tiki drinks and a Santa-on-vacation vibe. Bitter & Twisted Cocktail Parlour is again hosting this vibrant pop-up. The bar’s team goes all out with inflatable holiday decor, lights and even a Santa hat and beard on the bikini-clad lead in its “Attack of the 50 Foot Woman” mural. Sippin’ Santa’s menu features new sips, including Coco Ho Ho, made with Jamaican rum, lime, coconut, pineapple, pandan syrup and banana liqueur. Returning drinks include the original Sippin’ Santa, a mix of aged Demerara rum, amaro, citrus and gingerbread mix. Sippin’ Santa pops up at Bitter & Twisted through Dec. 30, and reservations are suggested.
