Slices on Mill
11 East Sixth Street, Tempe480-590-0511 Slices on Mill serves pizza with a side of people watching. This is the place to go when the Tempe bars let out. The late-night line can be bananas, as in long and a little crazy. You might spot someone asleep at a table or too drunk to count out his or her money. Good thing slices only take about a minute to fire up. Not that this food should only be eaten on a beer stomach. Pizza is foldable and formidable, with standouts like chicken Caesar salad pizza and shrimp and bacon. Plus there's a cauliflower crust option, and brag-worthy, build-your-own-calzones, all served Friday and Saturday until 3 a.m. Bonus: ASU students can score two slices and a drink for 8.99 with their student card, not including game days.
La Frontera 1
209 North 16th Street602-699-0229 There’s no better place to crush a late-night taco craving than La Frontera 1, a Phoenix food truck fixture that’s been turning out perfectly-grilled street tacos well into the night for 32 years. Tender cuts of thinly sliced carne asada are tightly packed on soft, warm corn tortillas, topped with shredded cabbage and diced onion with a side of chunky cucumbers. Pro tip: request a side of grilled onions and peppers. You can also order burritos, quesadillas, tortas, tacos, and vampiros stuffed with lengua, chorizo, al pastor, tripe, buche, and more – there are no wrong choices. You won’t regret capping the night with a huge cup of house-made horchata. And no, you won’t be alone. Open Sunday to Tuesday 8 a.m. to 12:45 a.m. and Wednesday to Saturday 8 a.m. to 1:45 a.m., this place has a loyal following of late-night noshers.
5 & Diner
5220 North 16th Street602-264-5220 Looking for a party after the party? Follow the neon lights to 5 & Diner, the iconic '50s-style diner at 16th and Colter Streets known for its signature burgers, malts and milkshakes, meatloaf, and chicken fried steak. The vibe is a total throwback, complete with Formica tabletops, laminated booths, and a checkered floor. The portions are hefty, and the seasoned night crew, a fast, friendly, no-nonsense bunch, have seen it all. And where else can you order a Reuben piled with fresh corned beef, sauerkraut, and melted Swiss on grilled rye or a banana split topped with whipped cream and cherries practically around the clock? The place is open every day from 6 a.m. to 3 a.m.
Chickadees
4441 North Buckboard Trail480-687-7319 When fried chicken cravings come calling after hours, the recently opened Chickadees is there to heed the cluck. A standout in the Scottsdale bar district, it looks all polished and new with its sparkling yellow subway tile interior. The menu of saucy, stacked chicken sandwiches and Southern-style sides including potato salad, queso mac, waffle fries, and slaw, more than defies drunk food. Whether you go with the crunchy, coated OG Chickadee or the much spicier Southern Heat, expect a juicy sandwich that sings with house-made sauces. Along with local chicken and slab pickles, a rich challah bun holds it all together. Open 11 a.m. to 3 a.m.
Lupita’s Hot Dogs
16618 North 32nd Street602-296-5645 Night owls roll into Lupita’s Hot Dogs for one reason: To score a beloved Sonoran hot dog. The dog comes with diced tomatoes, grilled onions, pinto beans, guac, jalapeno sauce, mustard, and ketchup under a blizzard of cotija cheese and drizzle of mayo on a toasted, billowy bun. Of course, you take matters into your own hands at the condiment bar, adding pickles, diced onions, cheese sauce, salsas, and pickled jalapenos for an even saucier stacked dog. But on its own, this is a crumbly, salty, savory, just-right bite that’s both thrown together and perfectly balanced — much like the hybrid hot dog stand restaurant itself. Pick your favorite house-made agua fresca to wash it down. Open Friday and Saturday until 2 a.m. and the rest of the week 1 a.m. Pro tip: bring cash to avoid the $1 card charge.
El Paisano
1035 East Lemon Street, Tempe480-557-5000
1000 East Apache Boulevard, Tempe
480-474-4010 The menu at El Paisano, or El P’s for those in the know, includes Cheetos. There are the Hot Cheetos Nachos, the El Gran Cheetos Nachos, and the Hot Cheetos Burrito. Plus expect stuffed tacos, oversized burritos, and cheesy quesadillas. This is serious drunk food, and with two Tempe locations — El Paisano Market tucked in a neighborhood convenience store and El Paisano Restaurant at the Rise located on the ground floor of the Rise on Apache apartments — ASU students and the like don’t have to stumble far for after-hours, Cheetos-infused eats, which are available 8 a.m. to 4 a.m.
Spinelli's buffalo chicken comes with breaded chicken, hot sauce, Fritos, and housemade ranch.
Allison Young
Spinelli’s Pizzeria
420 South Mill Avenue, #101, Tempe602-800-5300 Spinelli’s Pizzeria in Tempe is a go-big-or-go-home kind of joint. There’s the place itself, a two-story industrial-style palace clad in punk graffiti and chandeliers. And then there’s the pizza, gargantuan thin-crust pies that come in one size: enormous. Even the slices are monstrous, like bigger than your head big, with crust so flavorful and flaky it demands to be dipped. Pro tip: get ranch or extra sauce for this pursuit. What’s more, the cheesesteak sandwich is all Philly, big and bold with meat and rolls flown in directly from the City of Brotherly Love. Don’t get us started on the Fried Oreos. Pig out in person until 3 a.m. Thursday to Saturday or get the gluttony delivered.
Original Geno’s
1932 East University Drive, Tempe480-804-1111 Original Geno’s is like the mullet of restaurants. The front of the house is all business, buttoned-up, and corporate-looking with its cleanliness, orderly menu board, and fancy fountain drink machine. But the food is all party. Pizzas come good and greasy, wings all saucy and sassy, oven-baked subs come super stuffed on scratch-made bread, and then there are the loaded fries, baked extravaganzas in flavors like Buffalo chicken, chicken bacon ranch, and Greek, that elevate the humble spud from side dish to full-on meal — all served until 3 a.m. every day.
Zio’s Pizza & Wings
1620 West University Drive, Mesa480-834-2224
Zio’s, a strip-mall standout on University Drive, has the late-night eats covered: Cheese-drenched pizza? Check. Saucy wings bathed in every conceivable level of mouth burn? Check. An endless menu that satisfies your late-night lust for everything from fries to Philly cheesesteaks? Tripple check. So what sets it apart? The bros who own it. Nico and Manny Aguilar have been spinning pizza dough longer than most of us have been old enough to drink and it shows in their just-right crust that tastes delish drunk or not. Get slices all the way up to 32-inch pies until 3 a.m. daily.
Gus’ New York Pizza Lounge
7333 East Shoeman Lane, ScottsdaleIt’s not totally out of the ordinary to see gals in barely-there clothing or dudes on the prowl ordering pizza at the counter at Gus’ New York Pizza Lounge. This place is in bar central, after all, with the nonstop thump-thump-thump of bass constantly going. Customers stumble in for a slice or order a whole pie any night of the week until 2:30 a.m. Neither the menu nor the no-frills vibe is going to win any prizes, but at least the pizzas, wings, and toasted subs will soak up some of that alcohol to make the next day a little more tolerable.
Joe’s New York Pizza
7321 East Shoeman Lane, Scottsdale480-947-5637 Battling with pizza supremacy — or at least decency — with Gus’ is Joe's, another New York-style pizza joint just a few yards away in Old Town’s bar district. Both arguably serve more sloshed customers than sober, but neither has a breathalyzer to prove it. Both dish up calzones, strombolis, wings, salads, and subs. But Joe’s wins for cleanliness by a landslide, plus the pizza gets extra points for chewiness and foldable softness. Oh, and they serve up slices until 4 a.m. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
Oasis Cafe
4441 North Buckboard Trail, Scottsdale480-946-9000 Sometimes a slice won’t cut it. Sometimes counter ordering won’t cut it. Sometimes you want a legit late-night oasis with plush booths, mood lighting, and a total VIP vibe where you’re waited on until 4 a.m. on weekends. The aptly named Oasis Cafe is your place, a hybrid hookah lounge, bar, and restaurant that lets you keep the buzz going well past last call. A new menu of upscale bar eats includes nachos, gyro wraps, and street tacos. Cap it off with a puff of flavored tobacco alongside your pleasure-seeking counterparts and revel in the resplendence of it all.
