Best Gin and Tonic 2009 | Tuck Shop | Bars & Clubs | Phoenix
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Best Gin and Tonic

Tuck Shop

Jackie Mercandetti

We're not sure whether it's the small-batch Scottish Hendrick's gin they use, which boasts "infusion of cucumber and rose petals," or the housemade tonic water, or that thin slice of cucumber garnishing this refreshing adult beverage, but the combo rocked our palate. Beware, once you've experienced this magical toddy, you might not settle for a G&T anywhere else, ever again. Don't say we didn't warn ya.

Best of Phoenix 2009 In Photos

Best Rock Club

Hollywood Alley

When Hollywood Alley debuted in 1988, bands didn't exactly beat a path to its door.

Back in those days, the epicenter of the local music scene was undoubtedly Mill Avenue and such venues as Long Wong's and Chuy's, and not some pissant bar and grill off the beaten path in Mesa. In fact, owner Ross Wincek didn't start booking bands until months after he opened.

More than 20 years later, it's hard imagining a Valley without Hollywood Alley, as it's become a mainstay of the music scene while other establishments have come and gone. It's no surprise, considering the place has all the ingredients that make any rock club great: dim lighting, kitschy décor, black leather booths, and an ample stage that's hosted shows almost every night of the week for the past two decades.

Plenty of nationally known artists have performed at the Alley, running the gamut from spoken word/art rock chanteuse Lydia Lunch to psychedelic indie rock band The Apples in Stereo. (Public Enemy even stopped by for an impromptu show one evening in 2007 after getting booted from the Marquee Theatre). More importantly, however, the joint has served as a launching pad and stomping ground for some of the biggest bands in Valley history.

The old-school punkers of both the Sun City Girls and Beats the Hell Out of Me were regulars way back when, as were such members of the '90s Mill Avenue movement as The Refreshments, Gin Blossoms, and Dead Hot Workshop. Local legends like Jimmy Eat World and Authority Zero used to rattle the roof constantly before graduating to more mainstream concert halls. The modern-day tastemakers of Back Ted N-Ted, What Laura Says, and The Love Me Nots also regularly include the Alley in their gig schedules.

In addition to its myriad musical talent, another draw has been the extended family atmosphere provided by the three generations of the Wincek clan working behind the scene. Famished patrons and starving rockers alike have feasted on the delicious homemade recipes of Ross' grandmother Rachel and his late mother, Lucy, from the kitchen. Meanwhile, 67-year-old paterfamilias Roger helps make the place spotless after the last drunk has ambled out the front door.

Thanks to the Winceks' untiring dedication, you can undoubtedly look forward to another 20 years of hanging out at the Alley.

Best of Phoenix 2009 In Photos

Best Hip-Hop Night

The Blunt Club

Though we've had a feud or two with the Blunt Club posse in recent years, it's time to man-up and give 'em much respect for putting on the biggest and best weekly in the city. After all, mic-wielding luminaries like host Emerg McVay, as well as turntablist talent Pickster One and remix king Element have done their Thursday-night thing for more than seven years. In that time, they've brought in bodies by the hundreds, not to mention a rogue's gallery of local hip-hop heroes, including freestyle freaks The Insects, the golden-voiced Golden Tung, and rhyme-spitter extraordinaire Span Phly. The lineup of underground and alt-rap superstars who've visited in recent months is equally as impressive, ranging from Scarub and the other members of L.A.-based collective Living Legends to the Grammy winners of Digable Planets. Even Public Enemy were in the house back in 2007, with Chuck D. and Flavor Flav collaborating and performing with the Blunt Club boys. And if that isn't the ultimate sign of respect, we don't know what is.

Best of Phoenix 2009 In Photos

Best Art House

Alwun House

Before there was a First Friday or a Roosevelt Row, the best — and for a while, the only — place to find alternative contemporary art was Alwun House. Folks looking for a funky, big-city art scene had only Alwun, downtown's first gallery, to rely on for "something different," art-wise. The first independent non-profit art space, Alwun set the current trend of galleries' advocating for artists with its Alwun House Foundation, the first local arts organization to address the significance of historical buildings.

The name is phonetic for "all one," as in "we're all in this together," a principle that Alwun House founders Kim Moody and Dana Johnson have clung to since purchasing the old, dilapidated property and commencing their rehabilitation on the house and property in 1971. Built in 1912 by shop owner John Sedler, Alwun originally rested on five acres on the northeast corner of 12th Street and Roosevelt, overlooking alfalfa fields south of Roosevelt, before there were even sidewalks out that way. Following its funky restoration, Alwun House quickly became the first gallery in downtown Phoenix, and has stayed on as a maverick torchbearer for the downtown arts community. Its central floor houses an art gallery; its basement is home to a multi-media theater, and its rambling backyard gardens and patio are the settings for poetry slams, music concerts, and exhibits by local visual and performance artists. Alwun's annual Exotic Art Show showcases uncensored and frankly naughty works, and its bar and cafe make this a jumping joint for any kind of off-hours party. Alwun's a three-decades-old mainstay among those of us who need an alternative art fix.

Best of Phoenix 2009 In Photos

Best Blues Man

Bob Corritore

Bob Corritore arrived in Phoenix in 1981, figuring he'd be here only for a year, at most.

Almost three decades after the fact, the Chicago-born harmonica player is still around, and local blues connoisseurs are grateful he decided to stay put. He's been plenty busy in that time, using his lifetime love of the blues to help the Valley get hip to the down-home genre personified by B.B. King and Bo Diddley.

Since 1984, he's served as Phoenix's reigning blues guru, broadcasting choice cuts from his ample album collection and sharing an infectious fervor for the American-born art form every Sunday during his weekly KJZZ 91.5 FM program, Those Lowdown Blues. Meanwhile, Corritore has also devoted the past 18 years to making his CenPho joint the Rhythm Room the preeminent spot for blues and roots music.

It's become a hallowed ground of sorts, having featured gigs by such giants as Pinetop Perkins, Leon Redbone, and Jimmy Rogers. A number of renowned artists have also recorded live at the Rhythm Room, including the Fabulous Thunderbirds' Kim Wilson and the late Robert Lockwood (stepson of the famed Robert Johnson). Corritore has also provided a home for Arizona's blues and R&B practitioners — ranging from Windy City-style trio The Rocket 88s to Texas transplant Big Pete Pearson — as well plenty of Americana, country, rockabilly, and other roots-oriented bands.

The place evokes the spirit of the South Side Chi-Town joints that Corritore haunted during his youth, blowing his mouth harp alongside legends like Honeyboy Edwards and Big Leon Brooks. In fact, his relationships with countless greats is why CenPho property owner Lenny Frankel asked him in 1991 to help transform a vacant cinder block building — which had housed everything from a '60s go-go bar to late-'80s music venue the Purple Turtle — into the Rhythm Room.

Corritore, who'd already been performing with local blues bands and booking shows at such bygone hangouts as Chuy's in Tempe, began bringing in buds like Louisiana Red, Junior Walker, and other marquee-level artists to who ordinarily might have skipped Phoenix altogether. (He'd already encouraged the late Chico Chism to relocate here in 1986, and the former Howlin' Wolf drummer became a frequent collaborator and a regular at the club before passing away in 2007).

It's helped Corritore (who became sole owner in 2001 after Frankel pulled out) build a devoted patronage and weather many a storm over the years, as has his recent practice of hosting a variety of indie and alt-rock acts. So regardless of what night of the week it is, you're guaranteed to find a good show at the Rhythm Room.

Best of Phoenix 2009 In Photos

Best Drink That'll End Your Night

The Trashcan at the Rogue Bar

James Bond would not drink the Trashcan. Elegant, classy, or sophisticated it is not. It is, however, effective. Very effective. This mysteriously delicious elixir is served in a mini-pitcher and made with generous pours of whatever liquors and liqueurs the bartenders grab (we really don't believe it's consistent) garnished with a crushed can of Red Bull. Completed, it takes on an enchanting blue hue — the color of a mermaid's eyes, some say — and packs a powerful punch. Save a $10 bill (plus $1 for a tip) and don't order the Trashcan until after midnight, because after this drink, you're done. Oh, and after you've slurped it down through the handful of cocktail straws the bartenders toss in each pitcher, eat something or expect to wake up with the jitters, a flavor reminiscent of the top of a nine-volt battery lingering on your palate.

Best of Phoenix 2009 In Photos

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