Whether you agree with his decisions or not, there can be no doubt that President Obama has already accomplished many things since entering office in January of 2009. He has closed Guantanamo Bay. He has supported stem cell research. But it is one of his most recent decisions that has…
When J.K. Grence is working behind the bar at Trader Vic’s at the Hotel Valley Ho in Scottsdale, he imagines himself to be playing Penn to the other bartender’s Teller. “I’m standing there talking constantly,” he laughs, “while he’s just standing there silently making drinks.” He’s busy telling you stories…
J.K. Grence has big dreams. He’s planned out the ideal bar — the one he would like to open one day in the distant, fuzzy future. “I’d want it to be some tropical hideaway,” he says. “You just sink into the atmosphere of it and have nice people bring you…
Once again we’ve ventured directly into a bottle to bring you a couple more beers to consider for that top spot as the kings of summer beer enjoyment. This week we skulked around Lost Leaf in Downtown Phoenix until they gave us some recommendations. Check out what we found in the…
Why Chuck Norris? I love a good Chuck Norris “fact” as much as the next guy, but why make a martial arts star who went from getting his ass kicked by Bruce Lee to selling gym equipment on infomercials the subject of an internet phenomenon? Isn’t there a better, larger-than-life…
When Barry Solomon was 12 years old, he got a job in a restaurant. Apparently, they let you do things a little prematurely in small towns like the one he came from in northern California. “I didn’t want to be a shop rat the rest of my life,” he says,…
Barry Solomon is a lot like the bar he works behind: Cool. Merc Bar is so cool, in fact, there’s barely a sign marking its existence outside the door. “It’s sort of — you either know we’re here or you don’t,” Solomon says. That message of exclusivity resonates inside as…
Another week, another three beers to put to the Summer Beer Quest test. This week we might up with Top’s Liquor owner Greg Eccles to see what brews he fancies during the Summer months. We also got the skinny on a new bar he’s opening up at the end of the…
A few weeks ago I had the great pleasure of attending the Draft Magazine Microbrew Festival at Turf Paradise. It was a fairly great time marred by one great disappointment. I ran into Louis Dolgoff, Arizona’s Dogfish Head sales manager who explained to me that he was in possession of Sah’tea, a…
Tempe residents will soon have a new watering hold to consider when attempting to decide how to spend those precious drinking hours between leaving work hitting the snooze button.The good folks at Tops Liquor on University are opening a wine and beer bar called “Taste of Tops” right next door…
There are 57 vodkas, two shelves of tequila and 50 different kinds of beers taking up the limited shelf space of SideBar in downtown Phoenix. For a bar that’s about the size of a college dorm room, that’s not too shabby. OK, a college suite. With house-made flavors and fresh-squeezed…
Josh Parry is serious about drinks. He will not allow his bartenders to free-pour the sweet and sour in one of their signature cocktails, a Cucumint Martini. It must be measured with a jigger. “It’s that exact,” he says. “If you pour it perfectly, it will taste perfect.” He insists…
We’re beginning to count the weeks in lagers instead of days. But worry not, fellow drinkers! We shall press on in our quest to find the tastiest of Summer brews. This week: Coney Island Lager. We met up with the folks at Shmaltz Brewing to try their line of freaky…
Today I write to you a changed man. No, I have not found a beer so good that I’ve felt the touch of God. Rather, I’ve found a beer-drinking mecca. I can only apologize that it’s taken me this long to discover Sun Devil Liquor in Mesa; though I have…
A Moscow Mule was one of the first cocktails in American history. It was vodka mixed with ginger beer, served in a copper mug. Complete with a culturally insensitive reference (to the Russian-imported liquor) and a convenient alliteration, the drink was a sensation. For the first time in this country,…
Steve Douds remembers when his bar was a line of identical men in suits. Brick-sized cell phones and gin and tonics sat in front of them in a neat row. “Scottsdale used to be a town of conspicuous consumption,” he says. “It was big glasses of vodka and little old…
Another week, another stab at finding the most delicious beer built for Summer in the Valley. This week we jaunted over to Turf in Downtown Phoenix to see what Ireland has to offer in beers appropriate for the hottest months of the year. See what we thought about the selection…
Irish beer. Is there anything else so delicious? I decided to find out by taking a visit to Turf, a semi-new Irish pub in Downtown Phoenix. As you might expect, Turf is stocked with well-knowns including Guinness, Harp and Smithwick’s but I wondered if there was a selection off the…
Mike Bunker’s concoctions at The Mission in Old Town are often sweet, often strong, and almost always delivered with a touch of flair. “I feel like I have a good palate for cocktails,” he says. “And I like to drink, so it just fits.” The self-proclaimed mixologist and well-seasoned bartender…
When a girl came up to Mike Bunker, asking the question he most dreads when he’s behind the bar, he gave her a drink he called “A Punch in the Head.” Funny, from a bartender who minored in Religious Studies in college. The girl told him: “Make me whatever you…
Hit print on this one, people. Or at least cut and paste. Here’s your guide to good happy hour deals across the Valley, with food and drink from around the world, at all levels of sophistication. Happy Monday. 1.Rosie McCaffrey’s 906 E. Camelback Rd., Phoenix 602-241-1916 Good Irish pubs are…
This week we checked out the beers on tap at Santan Brewing in Downtown Chandler. Yup! We ventured far into the depths of Chandler to bring you this week’s update. At last weekend’s Craft Brewing Festival we ran into some Santan Brewers keen on their Strawberry Wit. To see what…
