Yucca Tap Room

In a bar scene where spots often open and close faster than we can finish our beer, Yucca Tap Room is the wizened old man who just keeps chugging along. A Tempe staple since 1972, Yucca has served generations of patrons who just want cheap drinks, live music and a divey, no-bullshit atmosphere. Ask an East Valley night owl about their Yucca story, and they’ll almost certainly have one, whether it’s the hilarity of a Halloween night punk show where all the moshers are in costume or watching the security guys fling a troublemaker out the back door, shoes flying behind him. The 2018 addition of Electric Bat Arcade, Rachel Bess’s pinball wonderland, elevated the Yucca experience even further, and these days, that side of the space is sometimes busier than the bar proper. Like anything old, Yucca Tap Room is fragile; the ongoing discussions about what to do with its home, Danelle Plaza, make its future uncertain, and a recent microburst did some real damage to the roof. But we can’t imagine Tempe without it.