JT's Bar & Grill
4829 E. Indian School RoadThe strip malls spread throughout the Arcadia area are some of the most dense in the Valley. They are jam-packed with all sorts of small businesses including JT's Bar & Grill. Inside the Indian School Road haunt, you'll find a mix of regulars chatting with the bartenders and groups of friends gathering to watch the game. Sports memorabilia and flags adorn the walls and ceiling in this shoebox-sized spot. Behind the bar, servers pour pints and craft simple cocktails while a team of cooks puts out baskets upon baskets of wings. JT's serves burgers, some Mexican food and other fried snacks. But the fried and grilled wings are the money maker. Customers can order two sauce flavors per basket, and if you truly can't decide, order The Works, a blend of teriyaki, Buffalo and barbecue that creates the perfect pairing for a cold beer.Gypsy's Roadhouse
5122 E. McDowell RoadThis kinda-biker bar, kinda-sports bar in the shadow of Papago Park has gone by many names over the years: Baja Redās Cantina, Daisy Dukeās, The Lark. In 2014, Bill Voss, a Harley-Davidson enthusiast with a wife named Gypsy, took over. Gypsy's namesake roadhouse is a reliable pit stop for cold beer, burgers and perhaps a Steelers game. There's a sturdy crowd of day-drinking retirees at Gypsyās, too. Stop in for a stiff drink and a plate of wings and find out if its toga night or a pirate party ā anything's possible at Gypsy's.Palo Verde Lounge
1015 W. Broadway Road, TempeA perplexing question is, "Whatās the crowd like at Palo Verde Lounge?" All kinds park themselves at this dark, cash-only Tempe bar: construction workers in hi-vis gear at a prolonged happy hour, weekly regulars from the neighborhood, new drinkers from nearby ASU. Like the clientele, the atmosphere can be hard to predict. Some nights you may walk into a quiet bar filled with laid-back folks nursing beers, shooting pool and watching TV while āNeon Moonā plays serenely over the speakers. Other nights youāll find a packed bike rack outside and a DJ presiding over a full dance floor inside. And then there are those evenings when youāll have to squeeze past a metal band unloading gear in the parking lot in order to enter. The man who oversees it all, Chuck Marthaler, is a former patron turned bartender turned owner, and he retains a keen sense of what drinkers are looking for in their local bar: cheap drinks, poured strong, by a bartender whoās quick to commit a regularās order to memory.Bikini Lounge
1502 Grand Ave.In a town as young as Phoenix, a bar thatās been around since 1947 certainly counts as a grande dame of the local drinking scene. Long before Interstate 10 connected us to California, The Bikini Lounge welcomed visitors from the west into town as they exited the U.S. 60. Today, there are divier dive bars and tiki-er tiki bars, but thereās no other establishment in the Valley with The Bikiniās exact flavor of lowbrow kitsch. The bar has no windows, so the place is always as dark as a confessional, conferring intimacy on the most casual of interactions. Thatched coverings, vintage paintings and tiki masks watch over the patrons, who are a mix of grizzled regulars and hipsters dropping in after First Fridays or a show at The Van Buren. Drinks arenāt fancy, but theyāre strong and cheap ā just how we like them (make sure you bring cash, though). Over the decades, The Bikini has seen plenty of growth around its Grand Avenue location, but we love it best because, despite the passing of the years, it never seems to change.Swizzle Inn
5835 N. 16th StreetThe first rule of Swizzle Inn: no Starbucks parking. The parking lot in this plaza at the southeast corner of 16th Street and Bethany Home Road is tight, and the Swizz canāt be sharing spots with the multitudes of Starbucks fiends the intersection attracts. Opened in 1996, Swizzle's plain outside gives little indication of the fun within. Inside, there's a very specific theme of Christmas at the beach. It is one of finest neighborhood bars in uptown Phoenix, a low-key place with a couple of TVs; a pool table; a jukebox pumping out Queen, The B-52ās and Willie Nelson; and a half-circle bar behind which the bartender pours nothing particularly fancy ā but thatās not why youāre here. Just about every square inch of the ceiling is dressed with tinsel and lights sure to bring anyone a little cheer.Yucca Tap Room
29 W. Southern Ave., TempeYucca Tap Room is foremost a music venue ā and a legendary one at that. Itās been around since the early 1970s and is known for offering a stage to the practitioners of the Tempe Sound, touring punk bands and many other alternative acts. But this windowless, wood-paneled strip mall tenant is also an excellent neighborhood tavern, frequented by regulars who sometimes arrive when the doors swing open at 6 a.m. to slap the bar and down bloody marys. Yucca has expanded in recent years, taking over neighboring suites in order to add the Electric Bat Arcade. The place boasts good food, too, from breakfast burritos to late-night bites. Thereās an impressive selection of craft beers and daily drink specials, as well as a busy dance floor most weekends.Chopper John's
2547 E. Indian School RoadChopper Johnās is primarily known as a biker bar, thanks to owner John McCormackās taste for steel steeds and the open road. Itās also one of central Phoenixās best small venues ā a rip-roaring dive, neighborhood hang and low-key sports bar. Music fans have known about the place for years, as the former residence was home to a string of blues bars from the ā70s onward, including Louieās, VJās, McGuires, Warsaw Wallyās and Bogieās. Once McCormack took over in 2008, the multiroom establishment became a rock haven with framed T-shirts from local bands covering the walls, rowdy shows, cheap drinks and cheap thrills. Punks, tattoo artists and other rock ānā roll types hang out here even when there isnāt a show, and the turnout is big on Sundays when Chopper Johnās whips up loaded Bloody Marys topped with impossible amounts of skewered food items (weāre talking full-sized cheeseburgers and and Sonoran hot dogs loaded with fixings). At only $5 a pop, theyāre a steal and tend to go quickly. Rock on.
Grab a seat at the bar or cozy up in a cracked-leather booth at The Dirty Drummer in Phoenix.
Lauren Cusimano