City Guide 20253 Central Phoenix Cocktail Lounges
Editorial StaffDecember 25, 2024
Take a tipsy tour Downtown at these trendy drinking dens.
Dine at some of our favorite picks from our rotating master list of Phoenix restaurants.
THE SCENE Bars and restaurants are playing it fast and loose with the word “experience” these days. Calling a dimly lit bar a speakeasy and charging $20 for a cocktail does not an experience make. But over at the Century Grand compound on Indian School and 36th Street – the playground of cocktail innovators Jason Asher, Rich Furnari, Jeff Holland, Mat Snapp, Kailee Asher and Jax Donahue – true experiences abound. At each of Barter...
Desert DigestFood & DrinkUnderTow Drifting to Gilbert with Second Location
Sara CrockerJune 30, 2022
Fans of the immersive cocktail experience at UnderTow will find a new port in Gilbert’s Epicenter at Agritopia this fall. This is the first expansion of the tiki-inspired cocktail bar that puts its patrons onboard a turn-of-the-century clipper ship, immersing them in their voyage through custom decor, lighting and special effects like thunderstorms. “Growth has been a key goal of ours, and thanks to UnderTow’s incredible fanbase, the demand is there,” Jason Asher, a founding...
Desert DigestFood & DrinkFirst Dish: Highball
Madison RutherfordFebruary 18, 2021
If UnderTow and Century Grand taught us anything, it’s that transportive restaurant environments enrich the dishes and drinks being served. Downtown-ish cocktail lounge Highball, set in the old SideBar space near the Willo Historic District, is no exception. In fact, Mitch Lyons – former beverage director for the immersive menus at the aforementioned Barter & Shake concepts – is the program manager at this sleek new speakeasy. Lyons has put together a fun cocktail catalog...
Drink ThisLiquid Arizona: Century Grand’s Experimental Cocktail Series
Craig OuthierSeptember 21, 2020
Century Grand’s new Experimental Cocktail Series invites drink fans to mix it up.
Desert DigestWhat’s Next for UnderTow?
Marilyn HawkesSeptember 17, 2020
The popular Arcadia bar, UnderTow, at 3620 E. Indian School Rd., will reopen in its original location beneath Sip Coffee & Beer on Tuesday, Sept. 22, with six-foot social distancing at 50 percent or less capacity, according to Barter & Shake Hospitality’s Kailee Asher. “Realistically (because of the bar’s small size), we’ll be closer to 25-30 percent capacity.” Seating will be by reservation only. But don’t get too comfortable there, because the underground bar will...
Drink ThisDrink This: Honest Day’s Wage
Craig OuthierJune 25, 2020
Jason Asher shares a recipe from the menu at Century Grand.
Food ReviewsCentury Grand
Nikki BuchananMarch 26, 2020
Climb aboard a dining experience like none other in the Valley, where chef Sacha Levine’s dim sum program is almost as transportive as the ticklish Prohibition-era train motif.
Food ReviewsSpace Case: Century Grand
Nikki BuchananJanuary 23, 2020
We asked owners Jason Asher and Rich Furnari about the Art Deco environs of Century Grand.
Desert Digest6 Eating-and-Drinking Things We’re Looking Forward to in December
Craig OuthierNovember 26, 2019
Stuffed lobster at Bluewater Grill on December 10. The Camelback clam-peddler returns with its all-inclusive $45 holiday mashup. bluewatergrill.com Breakfast with Santa at the Montelucia on December 14 and 21. Ho, ho, ho, little one-percenters! $55/adult, $40/child. Kids 5 and under free. omnihotels.com Eating more, drinking more at train-station-themed Century Grand. The UnderTow sister property instantly becomes the Valley’s premier culinary amusement park. centurygrandphx.com Trying the charred octopus at FLINT by Baltaire. The Esplanade space...
THE SCENE It’s grand indeed at Century Grand, the 1920s-inspired cocktail compound from the minds of Jason Asher and Rich Furnari of Barter & Shake. You feel like Jay and Daisy from the moment you walk into the Arcadia building that houses Century Grand (a Prohibition-era cocktail bar with dim sum carts bearing nibbles, cocktails and wine), the Grey Hen Saloon (a tasting room and spirits shop where Valley whiskey maestro and general manager John...
Desert Digest6 Eating-and-Drinking Things We’re Looking Forward to in October
Craig OuthierSeptember 30, 2019
1. The legendary fire-roasted seafood tower at Maple & Ash. It’s actually more of a platter than a tower, but you’ll be unconscious with pleasure while eating it, so who can tell? mapleandash.com 2. The Arizona Taco Festival on October 12 and 13 at WestWorld of Scottsdale. It has all the local stars of Mexican hand-food. aztacofestival.com 3. The ridonkulous fried chicken sandwich at New Wave Market in Old Town Scottsdale. Popeye’s? Child, please. Available...
If you’re curious about what’s happening at the shuttered Gino’s East restaurant, we’ve got an update.