Anthony Diaz realized when he was just a little kid that he wanted to be some kind of artist, but he didn’t really consider tattooing until his coworkers started asking him for tattoos. “Ever since I was little, I was always drawing,” Diaz says. “I always wanted to do art,…
Men say a lot of stuff while they’re trying to find their way into a woman’s heart (or bedroom). Sometimes it works. Sometimes it’s just plain stupid. Sometimes it works even though it’s just plain stupid. The bottom line is that our basic social interactions often depend on this possibly…
This time of year, conversations at Chow Bella staff meetings tend to turn to who’s eaten what and where. With the summer travel season winding down, we bring you one last Food Tour…
When Ian Loughlin’s brother bought him a tattoo kit and asked for a tattoo, he probably didn’t expect it to lead to a career. “I was just doing graffiti and drawing at the time, and I was getting tattooed myself a lot, so my brother just asked me to tattoo…
It shouldn’t shock anyone that men and women might prefer to live in significantly different situations, but the truth is a lot of guys will clean up their lives (or at least their homes) when they get into at least a semi-serious relationship. You might think your boyfriend or husband…
T.J. Miller might be best known as Erlich Bachman from the HBO television show Silicon Valley, or for his movie roles, like his supporting role in She’s Out of My League or “getting yelled at by Michael Bay on the set of Transformers,” but there’s much more to him than…
A few weeks ago, I figured I’d sneak into Bitter & Twisted, one of Phoenix’s newest upscale bars, to eat and drink for a Happy Hour Report Card before the dinner rush hit. At about 4:30 p.m. on a Thursday, I walked in to find a mostly empty restaurant and…
Ladies, there are a lot of things you can do to make yourself appealing to guys. Unfortunately for many of you, it’s usually not the stuff you think it is. Believe it or not, most dudes aren’t going to notice a lot of the little things that you think you’re…
When 26-year-old Mario G. stopped by a tattoo shop to watch his buddy get tattooed, he didn’t think it would lead him to tattooing as a career. It just so happened that on that particular day in 2007, Mario was wearing a T-shirt that he had designed and silkscreened. The…
As the weather cools off and the snowbirds start flocking, the short waits and summer discounts at restaurants go out the window. It’s not all bad for food lovers, though, as September marks the official beginning of the fall food festival season. There are new and old food festivals popping…
We spin the globe and search for otherworldly spots to expand our eating horizons around the Valley. The Place: Times Square Neighborhood Italian Restaurant 2602 West Deer Valley Road www.timessquareaz.com…
When Mikey Sarratt was growing up, he wanted to be a hockey player. Sarratt’s NHL aspirations didn’t work out, but now, after a stint in semi-pro hockey, he gets to be involved with the Arizona Coyotes in a different way. He tattoos most of them…
With the popularity of adding French fries into Mexican food (i.e. the California Burrito), it’s no surprise that carne asada fries have grown in popularity in recent years. The combination of French fries, cheese, sour cream, guacamole, and carne asada can be found at any number of greasy Mexican drive-through…
There’s been a lot of Instagram love for the artists and photographers in the Phoenix area, but for a city with four major sports teams and a wide variety of other athletes, it’s time to venture into the realm of athletes worthy of a follow on Instagram…
When she was 13, Meg McNiel, now co-owner of Love and Hate Tattoo & Piercing in Phoenix, hand-poked a moon tattoo on her ankle in her home outside Seattle. “I don’t even know how I knew it, but I knew that if you wrapped a sewing needle in thread so…
The Spot: The Lodge 4422 North 75th Street, Scottsdale 480-945-0828 www.lodgescottsdale.com The Hours: Happy Hour is offered every day from 3 until 7 p.m…
Some tattoo artists specialize in Japanese-style bodysuits, while others focus on more traditional Americana pieces. Golden Rule Tattoo’s Stephanie Flannery thinks those are cool and all, but she’s more interested in creating tattoos of a different subject matter…
Tony Klett has seen the growth of the tattoo culture firsthand. When Klett began his tattoo apprenticeship in 1999, there were only three tattoo shops around the portion of Ohio he lived in, now Klett says there are about 20. “Tattooing is mainstream now. It’s in everybody’s face,” Klett, 37,…
UFC, the premier organization for mixed martial arts, is hosting its first-ever event in Arizona on Saturday, December 13 at the US Airways Center. It will be broadcast internationally as the UFC’s 13th event on Fox…
Mark Walters is just another victim of the evil subject known as math. The owner and one of the artists at Living Canvas Tattoos in Tempe didn’t intend to go into tattooing, he wanted to work with his dad as an architect, but he always found himself struggling with the…
The Spot: Delux 3146 East Camelback Road, Phoenix 602-522-2288 www.deluxburger.com The Hours: Happy Hour is offered Monday – Friday from 4 until 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. until 2 a.m. daily, though the sushi kitchen closes at midnight Sunday – Thursday…
Historically speaking, bars aren’t known for having great food. Serviceable in a pinch, sure, but generally not places you’d go to have a delicious dinner (or breakfast). These days, modern bars and clubs are trying to change all of that by serving restaurant-quality food during the day before they focus…
