The Spot: Rose and Crown, 628 East Adams Street Phoenix, 602-256-0223, www.theroseandcrownaz.com.
See Also: - Best English Pub - 2012: The Rose & Crown Pub - Casey Moore's Oyster House: Happy Hour Report Card
The Hours: Happy Hour is offered Monday through Friday from 2 to 7 p.m.
The Interior: Made from a converted home in Heritage Square right across from Pizzeria Bianco , this little Brit-style pub is kind of like Casey Moore's older sibling in terms of ambiance-- a little classier, a little more exclusive (because it isn't absolutely ginormous) and with updated décor. Not to mention the porch seating, which is sure to make anyone feel at home downtown. Rose and Crown also features both pool and foosball tables, for your gaming pleasure. Other than that, it's a pretty standard aesthetic take on a Brit pub.
The Food: While Rose and Crown doesn't offer discounted meal pricing during happy hour, they do have daily lunch specials for $5.99 and some other dinner deals that you can overlap with happy hour drink pricing if you time it right. While that's all fine and good, for $2 more you can get a massive plate of poutine and we can never resist ordering the Canadian classic when we see it on a menu.
Made with the pub's perfectly crispy seasoned chips, the poutine has a strong base to start smothering gravy and cheese on top. While the spicy brown gravy wasn't really spicy in any sense of the word other than maybe the British consideration, it was tasty. Our main beef was the use of what looked to be shredded cheddar cheese. Poutine should use chunks of fresh cheese curd. It just should. After all, we always say don't try to fix or alter something that isn't remotely broken.
The Drink: $3.50 wells and pints isn't a mind-blowing deal for happy hour, but it's better than most places for sure. With 50 beers on draft and in bottle, including lots of local and seasonal options, it's definitely a better spot to enjoy a brew-- it is a pub after all and there's not really much you can say about a well cocktail. Since we were feeling sort of festive, we decided on the Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale, a spiced and hoppy winter ale.
The Conclusion: There's nothing really that special about Rose and Crown's happy hour. However, their food is pretty good and you can get a deal if you plan your trips accordingly. Mostly, Rose and Crown is a nice place to just hang out, happy hour or not, which earns the joint the bulk of its grade.
Grade: B
