Sara Crocker
Audio By Carbonatix
How many spots can you dine in downtown Phoenix for under $20? If you’re having trouble coming up with more than one or two, you’re not alone. That dearth of affordable neighborhood joints prompted industry veterans Robert Cissell, Ariel Bracamonte and developer Chuckie Duff to create one.
Pinky’s will officially open its doors bright and early at 6 a.m. on Wednesday on Second and McKinley streets. The bar is currently operating in a soft-opening phase.
“It’s the every-person’s bar and grill restaurant,” Cissel says. “We’re focused on sports and really trying to create value for people.”
The “Americana”-styled restaurant and bar replaces Angel’s Trumpet Ale House, which closed in October after 13 years downtown.
“We feel like there’s just a need for something comfortable,” Cissel says. “Somewhere you can go and grab some fries and watch a game and have a cold beer.”
We got a look inside Pinky’s during a friends-and-family event on Thursday. Stepping inside the dining room, it feels like a cross between a Western sports bar and an Elks Lodge. Vintage neon beer signs and multicolored lights strung across a ceiling beam cast warmth onto the tables, high-tops and bar, which is outfitted with five large TVs. If customers aren’t interested in the games on the screens, there’s pool and darts, too.
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Pinky’s officially opens on Wednesday, June 17. -
Pinky’s owners Ariel Bracamonte, Chuckie Duff and Robert Cissell. -
Pinky’s serves classic bar bites for $13 and under. -
In addition to bar bites, Pinky’s will open at 6 a.m. and serve breakfast. -
Pinky’s menu features classic bar bites, including nachos and glizzies. -
Five TVs span Pinky’s bar. -
Pinky’s kitchen brines and grills its wings. -
The owners will retrofit a former food trailer into an outdoor bar. -
Pinky’s is packed with bar games and Western dive bar decor.
What’s on the menu at Pinky’s?
Cissel gave the kitchen team a task of creating simple, affordable bar bites. That menu is what you’d expect — nachos, hot dogs, burgers and wings — but Cissel says those classic offerings are “kick ass.”
“We’ve made a point to make everything as affordable as we can. It’s that $10 mark,” Cissel says. “I think it’s just something that downtown has really been missing.”
Starters included jalapeño poppers, Gouda mac n’ cheese bites and loaded Buffalo fries with crispy chicken. Pinky’s wings are brined, grilled and served sauced or with a dry rub. Burgers, sandwiches and glizzies round out the menu. Try the Cowboy Melt topped with cheese, barbecue sauce and onion rings on sourdough; a fried chicken po’boy; or the AZ Dog loaded with jalapeños, green chiles, pico de gallo and mayo.
Though the vast majority of dishes are under $13, Pinky’s has one splurgy dinner option: an eight-ounce ribeye with smoked salt and cowboy butter for $30, or two ribeyes and three sides for $65.
At the bar, imbibers can choose from a handful of $5 beers or shots. There’s a simple wine list consisting of a house sparkling, white or red, and four house cocktails, including the Sonoran Slush, a frozen prickly pear margarita.
Unlike most sports grills, Pinky’s will open for breakfast. Sip on 99-cent drip coffee and choose from breakfast burritos, sandwiches or a waffle melt with scrambled eggs, a sausage patty and American cheese sandwiched between two churro waffles and served with maple syrup. The breakfast menu is available all day.
Cissel says staying open throughout the day is part of what will make Pinky’s a go-to neighborhood joint.
“We’re closed zero days, so we’ll be open (at) 6 a.m. every day, all year long,” Cissel says. “That dependability of, you know, Pinky’s is open.”
Pinky’s
Opens June 17
810 N. Second St.
