by Craig Outhier | photography by Alanna Goodman
Famously settled by turn-of-the-century tuberculants, Phoenix’s Sunnyslope neighborhood has always presented bracing contrasts. Urban yet untamed. Hardscrabble streets mixed with million-dollar views. But like a tannic wine, the ’Slope is rounding out nicely with age – particularly on the mountainside community’s less-developed eastern half, where an emerging colony of restaurants and artisans is giving oxygen to a new generation of visitors.
3 PLACES TO EAT
Driftwoods Sports Grill
Perched at the foot of North Mountain, this sprawling “sports gastropub” marries the spacious seating, copious screens and showpiece patio of a sports bar with an aspirational menu featuring global pleasers like Korean steak fries and a pit-style pork Cubano. Terrific weekend brunch, too.
9832 N. Seventh St. | 480-393-3261
driftwoodsaz.com
El Bravo Mexican Food
If you worship mole, Mexico’s mythic chile-nut sauce, then this might be your new Vatican. The venerable ‘Slope eatery recently added two moles to its menu: a hyper-toasty, chocolaty mole negro, and a fruitier, more nuanced brown mole. Both available as enchiladas, both instantly addictive.
8338 N. Seventh St. | 602-943-9753
elbravoaz.wordpress.com
Los Reyes de la Torta
Sure, you could get one of LRDLT’s award-winning Mexican sandwiches – or you could go off-script with the pizza-size quesadillas, served de maiz (with corn flour tortillas) and plied with mozzarella, green chile and a selection of meats, from salty chicharrón (pork belly) to braised chicken tinga.
9230 N. Seventh St. | 602-870-2967
losreyesaz.com
3 THINGS TO DO
Ironwood Mills
Woodworker Scott Mills salvages felled trees and turns them into striking tables and art pieces. Meanwhile, life partner Leah Bosworth runs the yoga studio in back. This singular third space of craftsmanship and wellness is a Sunnyslope must-visit and a prototype for its emerging maker scene.
8342 N. Seventh St. | 602-300-5661
ironwoodmills.com
Little Miss BBQ
We’re cheating on this one: It should be in 3 Places to Eat. Our justification: A visit to Scott Holmes’s genre-defining smokehouse is more than just a meal. It’s a full-body experience of sight, sound and sensation, from the impressive ovens to the pang of panic you feel in line when the brisket is running low.
8901 N. Seventh St. | 602-314-6922
littlemissbbq.com
North Mountain National Trail
One of the Valley’s signature micro-hikes, this 1.6-mile out-and-back quad-killer takes you through the North Mountain foothills and up a series of paved switchbacks to a 2,100-foot summit with terrific Valley views and a gated radio tower. Great way to work off the mole. Start at Maricopa Trailhead.
10600 N. Seventh St.
phoenix.gov/administration/departments/parks
The “Other” Space Needle
Described by Atlas Obscura as a “trippy, Gaudí-esque wonderland,” the Sunnyslope Rock Garden is a funky, semi-public space founded in the 1950s by eccentric resident Grover Cleveland Thompson, who filled it with hundreds of rock-hewn likenesses of world landmarks and mythical characters, including a certain Emerald City tourist trap (pictured).
10023 N. 13th Pl.
