Highball

Highball, touted as downtown Phoenix’s newest neighborhood cocktail bar and lounge, opened at the tail end of October 2020 in the former SideBar space (we recently gave that much-missed Phoenix bar a proper sendoff). The concept is overseen by Libby Lingua and Mitch Lyons, formerly of Barter and Shake Hospitality, but the new, sleek establishment is gimmick-free. Expect an elegant copper bar, black leather couches, and exposed brick walls at the top of those stairs (note: be sure to now enter off Seventh Avenue, old Sidebar patrons). Highball offers an eclectic craft cocktail menu via QR code and extremely helpful staff. A recent conversation went something like this: “Hello. I usually dig Palomas. What should I get?” Less than a second passed, then our masked server said, “Ah, our Amongst the Trees.” Round two: “So, I kind of like coconut.” Very quickly: “Try the Shogun Powder.” Each cocktail was very drinkable, photogenic (shoutout to the ice cubes with the H on them), and pretty effective, hint hint. The kimchi popcorn was good, too.