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When a taproom left Phoenix’s Uptown Plaza, craft beer drinkers were left parched, but only for a matter of weeks. The Sleepy Whale opened on Friday in the shopping center at the northeast corner of Camelback Road and Central Avenue. The tavern replaces Dynamite Beer Co., which closed in June.
“Just being in Uptown is going to be exciting,” Sleepy Whale co-owner Tony Fatica says. “It fits us.”
In addition to the original location of The Sleepy Whale in downtown Chandler, the team is also behind The Theodore in downtown Phoenix, Beer Barn in Gilbert and the Silver King smokehouses, which have outposts in Pinetop and Superior.
Beer fans will find the same “local, super unique, rare craft beer” at The Sleepy Whale’s Uptown outpost, Fatica told Phoenix New Times earlier this month.
The beer bar will celebrate its opening weekend with a California tap takeover that includes brews from North Park Beer Co., Pure Project, Everywhere Beer Co. and “local stuff sprinkled in.”
“We just wanted to go off with a little bit of a bang,” Fatica says. “Not everybody has access to (these breweries), and it’s always been a huge draw for us.”
What’s on the menu at The Sleepy Whale?
At the group’s other Valley bars, a rotation of food trucks provides eats to pair with their brews. But at Uptown, The Sleepy Whale runs its own kitchen.
The menu features a mix of bar bites and smoked meats from Silver King, including wings and sandwiches topped with brisket, pork and turkey. Diners can also opt for other stacks, like a play on a BLT with thick-cut candied bacon, provolone and chipotle mayo on Texas toast. The Sleepy Whale’s food menu also includes salads, loaded green chile mac and cheese, nachos and pretzel nuggets. There’s also a kids menu with options like peanut butter and jelly sliders.
In addition to beer, the bar pours “a mixture of old-world and natural” wine, Fatica said, and nonalcoholic options. Beer and wine will also be for sale to-go.
After the opening weekend, The Sleepy Whale plans to keep guests entertained with weekly live music, trivia and other events.
The taproom and kitchen is the latest dining addition in the plaza, which has also welcomed the Korean sandwich shop Let’s Toast and the Oregon ice cream chain Salt & Straw in the past year.
“There’s a lot of really cool spaces in there,” Fatica says. “We’re excited to be part of that.”
The Sleepy Whale Uptown
100 E. Camelback Road, #160
