252 NIGHTLIFE SEPTEMBER 25, 2025 | WWW.BESTOFPHOENIX2025.C0M | BEST OF PHOENIX 2025 e e e B E S T B A R TELL YOUR FRIENDS 17797 N. SCOTTSDALE ROAD, SCOTTSDALE TELLYOURFRIENDSAZ.COM Budget is the only thing slowing us from setting up a residence at Tell Your Friends. The speakeasy under The Americano in north Scottsdale is not cheap. Rather, it is gorgeous, intimate, luxurious. The velvet chairs, mirrored walls and retro lighting provide a fitting backdrop to top-notch cocktails. For something fresh and bright, the Green With Envy pairs vodka and aloe liqueur with cucumber and lime. Their espresso martini, Call the Paparazzi, is also a solid pick. Order light bites off the menu or ring The Ameri- cano upstairs and they’ll bring your food down to you. To knock a couple of bucks off your (substantial) bill, make a reservation for Tell Your Friends’ happy hour. You’ll get a decent discount on the signature cocktails and a separate food menu. e e e B E S T N E W B A R CARRY ON 2 N. CENTRAL AVE., #101 CARRYONPHX.COM Phoenix’s hottest flight this year didn’t depart Sky Harbor. Once the long-awaited immersive bar experience Carry On landed downtown in November, its weekly ticket releases became the drop that Valley resi- dents set alarms to secure. And for good reason — this night out is a trip. Guests enter a lounge tricked out as a 1970s-vintage plane cabin, awash in a palette of burnt orange, brown and cream. Once seated, sip your welcome drink and peck at peanuts while your crew reviews pre-departure announce- ments. Then get your cocktail order going and gaze out a “window” that displays cities and skies mid-flight. The drinks likewise take inspiration from earlier decades, updated with modern twists and techniques from the bar team led by Jax Donahue. Those heady tipples, and the playful, luxe space, soon racked up awards and nomina- tions. Carry On doesn’t make for a cheap night out by any stretch. But damned if your head isn’t still in the clouds once you set your feet back on the sidewalk. e e e B E S T D R I N K W I Z A R D JAX DONAHUE Jax Donahue has been a heavy hitter in the Valley’s cocktail scene for a decade, working at spots with notable bar programs such as Clever Koi, before serving as beverage director for the group behind the award- winning immersive cocktail bars Platform 18, UnderTow and Grey Hen Rx. Since joining Pretty Decent Concepts last summer, Donahue has been on a tear, even for him. He helped the team behind Wren & Wolf and Chico Malo expand their beverage offerings at all kinds of concepts, from coffees and sodas made with house syrups at the upscale bakery Creampuff Donuts to jaw-droppingly good cocktails at Carry On, the buzziest bar to open in the Valley of late. Pretty Decent Concepts, and Donahue, aren’t done yet, with three new hotspots on the horizon in downtown Phoenix. This drink alchemist (yes, his IG handle is @bevwizardjax) is a font of magical ideas for cocktails, shaping an array of tastes in the Valley. e e e B E S T S P O R T S B A R BACKYARD 21001 N. TATUM BLVD., #14 480-585-5900 1975 E. WILLIAMS FIELD ROAD, GILBERT 480-428-8444 BACKYARDUSA.COM There are bars where you can watch sports, and there are movie theaters that serve food. Then there’s Backyard, a combination of both, with a dog park for good measure. This multi- purpose spot can’t be beat if you’re looking to watch a game and grab some grub. Enormous screens fill the top half of the high-ceilinged room, and on game days, the sound blasts at full volume. Smaller screens tile every cranny, meaning there’s no bad seat in the house, and everyone can catch the most minute details of the game. Their stacked beer list, shareable snacks, wings, burgers and pizzas make this a consummate low-stress hangout. e e e B E S T N E W S P O R T S B A R TITLE 9 SPORTS GRILL 4221 N. SEVENTH AVE. 602-290-9910 TITLENINESPORTSGRILL.COM Your average sports bar can leave female patrons feeling like an afterthought, particu- larly when they want to watch women’s games. That changed this spring with the arrival of Phoenix’s first bar and restaurant dedicated to women’s sports. Founded by longtime Melrose restaurant and bar owners (and former athletes) Audrey Corley and Kat Moore, Title 9 Sports Grill celebrates women’s sports on its 22 TVs and in just about every corner of the dining area. There are historic photos and details about the subjects, along with an entire wall covered with a photo of Mercury legend Diana Taurasi driving to the hoop — embellished with a real basketball. A neon sign trumpets “Play like a girl!” The kitchen is excellent, as are the drinks on tap, including spirits, wine and beer from women makers such as Phoenix’s Greenwood Brewing. Though women’s sports are the focus, you’ll find men’s games on view. You just may have to watch college football on mute if Serena Williams or the WNBA play- offs are on. e e e B E S T R O O F T O P B A R LUCERO ROOFTOP LOUNGE AND TERRACE 7 E. UNIVERSITY DRIVE, TEMPE 602-794-8670 OMNIHOTELS.COM/ HOTELS/TEMPE-ASU/DINING/LUCERO The Valley is so rich in rooftop bars that we can stake out an opinion here that will sound like heresy to a cold-weather reader: A rooftop bar beside a hotel swimming pool is often too much. Sometimes we want a different vibe. Lucero Rooftop Lounge and Terrace is in a hotel — the Omni Tempe Hotel at ASU — but it’s many floors above the pool, giving it a more sophisticated feel. You can enjoy Lucero’s craft cocktails and inven- tive food options indoors, either at tables or the bar, or outdoors on a terrace dotted with comfy couches and fire tables. Either way, you’re on the 16th floor, so you’re going to have spectacular views of Tempe and beyond — all the way to State Farm Stadium, in fact. Lucero is a great spot to take a date, to score a bite before an ASU Gammage show or to sneak a nightcap under a full moon. e e e B E S T H O T E L B A R LITTLE RITUALS 132 S. CENTRAL AVE., FOURTH FLOOR 602-603-2050 LITTLERITUALSBAR.COM Little Rituals isn’t just the best hotel bar in Phoenix: Spirited Awards recently dubbed it the top hotel bar in the country. On the fourth floor of the downtown Residence Inn by Marriott, this sleek and swanky nook serves some of the Valley’s finest cocktails and offers excellent views of the city’s center. Overhead starburst chandeliers and neon douse the room with vibrant overtones. The bar’s sprawling menu features such cocktail lounge classics as martinis and highballs as well as fruity, smoky and spirit-forward options, each with an illustration and brief description of the drink’s essence. Every detail — from the decor to drinks — is just right. e e e B E S T S P E A K E A S Y MELINDA’S ALLEY 50 E. ADAMS ST. INSTAGRAM.COM/MELINDASALLEYAZ A subterranean jewel, Melinda’s Alley isn’t the easiest place to find — but that adds to the fun. A door under a red light in a down- town back alley signals what lies below down a stairwell: a cocktail cove drenched in red lights reminiscent of the ones that drove Kramer stir-crazy in “Seinfeld.” Here, the light sets a mood (everyone looks good in red light, after all) befitting the divine rotating selection of cocktails placed in elegant vessels. The space and its low coffee tables, vintage velvet and fabric chairs, and long hallways summon the grand spirit of Prohi- bition times, making it feel like a true speak- easy — and the city’s coolest, at that. e e e B E S T C O C K T A I L S W I T H A S I D E O F T A S T E F U L N U D I T Y KILLER WHALE SEX CLUB 922 N. SIXTH ST. 520-352-7768 THOSEPOURBASTARDS.COM/ KILLERWHALESEXCLUB Stroll in and give yourself a moment to adjust to the space. Then, take a closer look at the white background and black squares on the walls. The clientele of Killer Whale Sex Club have played their part in adorning the cavernous lounge with lewd Polaroids, all of which were taken in the bar. But don’t let the tastefully off-color decor distract from the truly excellent cocktails. The veteran mixol- ogists who run it — and maraud under the name of Those Pour Bastards — change the menu a few times every year, making your every visit fresh and interesting. At once classy and playfully irreverent, KWSC’s blue ambiance and, yes, killer drinks earn it this singular crown. e e e B E S T T I K I B A R UNDERTOW 3626 E. INDIAN SCHOOL ROAD, #100 602-739-1388 3150 E. RAY ROAD, #184, GILBERT 602-818-7424 DRINKUNDERTOW.COM “Exotic” and “immersive” aren’t just buzz- words at this pair of cocktail bars, both seductive, tropical hideaways smack dab in the desert. Here, those descriptives are part and parcel of the 90-minute experience that requires a reservation to land in the cargo
