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Seven Great Brewpubs in Greater Phoenix

(This post has been updated.) Brewpubs, restaurants that sell beer brewed on the premises, combine tasty eats washed down with unique fermented concoctions for an experience folks can't get anywhere else. Where to go for bites and a venue-made brew in greater Phoenix? (Distributing brews to the destination doesn't count.)...
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Clownin’ Around

With the right amount of confidence and enough liquid courage, anyone can be a karaoke star for a night. What takes true bravery, however, is being able to perform your own material in front of a crowd at the peril of being booed off the stage. One such opportunity to...
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SanTan Brewing Co. Negro Nitron

​Beer: Negro NitronBrewery: SanTan Brewing Co. (8 S. San Marcos Place, 480-917-8700)Style: Black IPAABV: 7.3 percent The Black IPA is so hot right now. As in fashion, music and baby names, trends in the craft beer world progress rapidly. Last year, Belgian IPA was the tits, and lately it seems...
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The Best of SXSW Music: Wednesday 3/14/2012

Nick RalloSharon Van Etten, at the NPR showcase, was a stunner. Plus, there was a box accordion​If you're familiar with chaos theory, which in its basic form is the attempt to find patterns in the random acts of shit on Earth, then you may understand the difficulty that comes with...
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Deschutes’ The Abyss

​Beer: The AbyssBrewery: Deschutes BreweryStyle: Imperial StoutABV: 11 percent The philosophizer Friedrich Nietzsche once said, "Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster, and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." I'm no historian, but I'd be willing to bet old Freddy came up...
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Sierra Nevada/Dogfish Head Life & Limb

​The beer: Life & LimbThe brewery: Sierra Nevada Brewing Co./Dogfish Head Craft BreweryStyle: American Strong AleABV: 10.2 percent Craft beer is a funny business, wherein traditional ideas about competition and market domination are thrown out with the spent grain. Rather than attempting to destroy one another, contending breweries often join...
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Matt Slenske at American Junkie

​The tender: Matt SlenskeThe bar: American Junkie (4364 N. 75th St., 480-990-3000)The pedigree: Slenske got his start at Devil House, his local hangout during college. Since then he's tended bar at Sanctuary (now Mist) and Acme as well as Loco Patron, where he spent four years before American Junkie's owner...
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Cafe: Cave & Ives

Sometimes less is more. A supreme pizza can be be a mouth-watering exercise in sensory overload, but does it stack up to a classic slice of pepperoni and extra cheese? There's a reason we put yellow mustard on hot dogs and not basil foam. Reading this week's Cafe column, it...
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10 Favorite Gay Bars in Greater Phoenix

Here's a little factoid that's perfect for your mental Rolodex: The Valley's oldest gay bar still in operation is the venerable Nu-Towne Saloon, which has been alive and kicking over by the Tovrea Castle since 1971. A few years later in 1974, the equally esteemed Apollo's Lounge opened up along...
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Stone 15th Anniversary Escondidian Imperial Black IPA

​​Beer: 15th Anniversary Escondidian Imperial Black IPA Brewery: Stone Brewing Co. Style: Black IPA ABV: 10.8 percent I wasn't kidding when I said black IPAs were everywhere. Adding to this growing group of uncooperatively-colored and hoppy brew, Stone Brewing Co. recently released their Anniversary Escondidian Imperial Black IPA to celebrate 15...
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Windsor’s Menu Needs Some Buttoning Up

If you've been to Postino — either the original in Arcadia or the wine bar's Central Avenue location — then you have a good idea of what Windsor, the latest venture from restaurateurs Craig DeMarco and Lauren Bailey, has in store. Save for a small sign out front, Windsor prefers...
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Top 5 Things to Do This Weekend

If you're looking for weekend haps worthy of attending, then you're in luck; American Junkie will host a snowboarding block party (just in time for this chilly weather), while sugar fiends get their fix at Saturday's Pie Social, and innovative chatterboxes share their ideas during TEDxPhoenix tonight. In case that's not...
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Stax Burger Bistro: Happy Hour Report Card

​The Spot: Stax Burger Bistro, 4400 N. Scottsdale Road #12, Scottsdale, (480) 946-4222. www.staxburgerbistro.com The Hours: 3 to 6 p.m. daily The Details: The Stax happy hour is all about 3 hours of $3 deals. On the $3 menu: five choices of Stax mini-burgers, like Turkey and Beef; Baskets of...
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Grimaldi’s Opens Second Coal Burger Location in Chandler

The idea of a healthful burger joint is pretty laughable, especially considering how much fat and calories are packed into the average Big Mac (29 grams and 540, respectively). But Coal Burger, the "coal-fired burgeria" which launched this past March at Scottsdale Quarter, is aiming to make fast-food better for...
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Seven Businesses on Our Mill Avenue Wish List

In celebration of the opening of Betty Alatorre's gourmet Mexican popsicle shop, Paletas Betty, on Mill Avenue, our foodie friends at Chow Bella did some big dreaming.  And we totally agree; Tempe's main drag could definitely use all of the droolworthy stops suggested on Chow Bella's Mill Avenue Wishlist. But we...
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Five Beers and Their Musical Pairings

​As Munich's 17-day slosh-a-palooza wrapped up yesterday, it left us feeling a little empty. We didn't celebrate Oktoberfest the proper way -- by getting shithoused in lederhosen and violently gesturing toward the breasts of a beer wench with a full mug of god's greatest nectar, all while listening to polka. (As...
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Rock Art Vermonster

​The beer: The VermonsterThe brewery: Rock Art BreweryStyle: American BarleywineABV: 10 percent Normally, I like to introduce you to new beers in this space. There's been no shortage of choices in that regard -- tons of great breweries have been entering Arizona lately. But while some grow and expand, others...