Sauvage Wine Bar and Shop Hip natty wine bar Sazerac Lively LGBTQ+ leaning party Seamus McCaffrey’s Irish Pub Whiskey, Guinness and chips Sidewinder Tiny diner Stardust Pinbar Pinball disco Valley Bar Underground adventure BIKINI LOUNGE 1502 Grand Ave. This wood-paneled Grand Avenue bar has been around since 1947 and used to welcome truckers as they traveled through town on U.S. Route 60. Phoenix has changed a lot in the decades since the tiki drive bar opened, but it still remains a place that sucks you in and dares you to leave. The bartender serves beer on draft from a glass he just took out of the freezer behind a bar that is decorated with kitchy tchotchkes. Bargoers sit at tiki-style tables, play pool and share a cig at the bar’s outside patio. It fills up on Tuesdays, or 602’sdays, as a DJ spins actual vinyl to play self-described “funky mutant dance music.” Before you know it, you’ll be ordering another round and heading to the dance floor until the bar closes. Just remember to make a trip to an ATM before visiting this cash-only establishment. CLUB CONTACT 747 W. Van Buren St. Phoenix’s newest nightclub came in hot. By 8 p.m. on opening night, the downtown dance spot opened by Gracie’s Tax Bar owner Grace Perry had a line wrapped around the building. Club Contact took over the former Thundercat Lounge in April, and since then, it’s been nonstop DJ sets, pop-up food nights and shoes gliding on the check- erboard dancefloor. What’s enticing is the customer base. The diverse clientele is eager to participate in lube wrestling events and the club’s periodic Dance Dance Revolution parties. The space is small, and broken up into a bar-dance-floor combo, a downstairs lounge with light-up floors, and a moody patio. The intimate atmosphere is just what downtown Phoenix needed: a funky, reckless older sister to Gracie’s. CARRY ON 2 N. Central Ave. #101 Phoenix’s hottest flight isn’t departing from Sky Harbor. Instead, people are lining up, sometimes dressed in vintage togs, to get a seat at Carry On. The immersive cocktail lounge is modeled after the first-class expe- rience of a Mad Men-era flight, complete with martini service. Once flight attendants check you in, you’re whisked aboard the 1970s-inspired plane cabin that’s awash in burnt orange, cream and warm walnut wood tones. Carry On has all the tropes of airline travel – preflight announcements, a roving beverage cart, peanuts – without any of the stress. Simply pick one of the cocktails created by the award-winning bar wizard Jax Donahue, sit back and relax. Watch the city disappear from the “windows” and admire the view of the wild blue yonder. Like a real-life trip, Carry On is an experience you’ll need to plan and save for. Reservations are a must and drop weekly. And those cock- tails, while heady, can add up. Once you set your feet back on the sidewalk, your head will still be in the clouds. SANA SANA CERVECERIA 915 N. Fourth St. There’s an astonishing assortment of taprooms along Phoenix’s Roosevelt Row. Sana Sana Cerveceria is one that is not to be missed on your bar crawl. You’ll know you’re at the right spot when you see the vibrant mural by Lalo Cota on the side of the building. Let’s start with the basics of any brewery: the beer is top-tier. That’s courtesy of brewer Greg Suschsland, who has worked at renowned breweries, including California’s Bottle Logic Brewery. Order a crisp and lightly roasty Sana Negra dark lager or the sweet-tart Berlinerweiss, Mango Loco. Then, you’ll want to find a spot at Sana Sana’s lowrider-inspired bar, which has shimmering pinstripe detailing, because the taproom is always a vibe. No one’s shy about dancing when the brewery has a DJ in to spin, the bar team is warm and chatty and the brewery books popular food trucks, like La Hamburguesa, to encourage patrons to hang out a little longer. GREATER PHOENIX UPTOWN Charlie’s Gay bar, always a party First Draft Book Bar Books and beers Linger Longer Lounge Perfect Friday with friends Swizzle Inn Christmas lights all year The Greedy Hamster Homey, convivial gathering spot The Womack Sexy, dimly lit lounge Upstairs at Flint Views, bites and people-watching THE GREEDY HAMSTER 4750 N. Central Ave., #140 With one of the smallest rooms on this list, the Greedy Hamster proves the power that walkable urban density has on a bar. You could throw a cantaloupe from here and hit the 17-story Landmark Tower, making this pocket-sized wine-and-beer nook a great perch to grab a pint, half- watch a ballgame and nibble on the concentrated neighborhood drama that the regulars bring. Lurk long enough (like, 90 minutes) and you’ll hear inside jokes, lovers’ spats, first dates and new friendships forming. There’s always some sort of wine or food special on offer — a pizza plus a pitcher of beer for $25, for example, or all-day happy hour on Thursdays — as well as a beer club, a wine club and enough camaraderie that >> p 16 Steve Pearson brewing up a Tiramisu Martini with a cinnamon Bitter & Twisted logo. (Brigette Doby) Sonny Cano of Bitter & Twisted Cocktail Parlour serving up a “Lime and the Coconut.” (Brigette Doby)
