I want to watch baseball, then drink.

February 28, 2008 1:09 PM

I need a good dive bar in Phoenix. Or two.

I'm making my annual Spring Training pilgrimage in a couple weeks, and I need bars to go to when I'm not at baseball games. I'm familiar with Phoenix, my sister's family used to live there, but therein lies the problem: in all the years I've been going down there, I've never really gone out to bars there, because I'm usually hanging with my sister's toddlers.

This year, they're in Tucson, and I've realized I know no bars in Phoenix except the bars that are right around the Mariners' ST facility in Peoria. I'm staying at basically N. Central & Indian School Rd., and according to Yelp there's a few bars in that area, but mostly what I'm looking for is:

Dive-y
Not hipster/scenester
Outdoor seating if possible
More of a rock n roll bar (not necessarily live music, though) vibe than a sports vibe - I'll be getting more than enough sports during my days.

Basically, a good working-class bar with no pretension and a good jukebox (Alice Cooperstown-ish, maybe, without the pre-game frat boys?). Anybody in Phoenix have a fave bar that fits any/most of these?

posted by pdb to food & drink (7 comments total)

My dive-bar afficiando friends hang out at the Swizzle Inn, which is on the SE corner of 16th St & Bethany Home. Right in your neighborhood. No outdoor seating though.
posted by mullacc at 1:18 PM on February 28

The Bikini Lounge downtown is apparently legend here ... I don't much like it. It's very popular though and has a great juke box, nice seating (though not outside). There's a bartender there who is known for being mean. Apparently, they think this is charming. It's not.
posted by notjustfoxybrown at 1:25 PM on February 28

In my haste to badmouth Bikini, I forgot to mention other places you can check out. For some reason, the name of the bar I like the most in this town is completely escaping me.

The Ruby Room (scenester-ish, but kind of cool)

Hidden House

The bar I end up going to the most is called Lost Leaf. It's not divey but it is very homey and doubles as a gallery for local artists..but any place here worth visiting will definitely have a scenester feel here.
posted by notjustfoxybrown at 2:04 PM on February 28

I remembered the name!!! It's called Shady's . Meets all your criteria ... including outside space.
posted by notjustfoxybrown at 2:19 PM on February 28

The Lost Leaf and most downtown bars qualify as hipster and/or scenester. I like em, but you probably won't. You might try Rosie McCaffery's and the Sonora Brewhouse in your neighborhood. I also have to recommend four peaks, even though it's in tempe. just go.

And I love harvey's wineburger. mmmmmm.
posted by Chris4d at 3:55 PM on February 28

Seconding Harvey's Wineburger. I visited my sister in Phoenix last February, and she took me there for a burger and a drink. Delicious and divey.
posted by kevin-o at 4:59 PM on February 28

We always wind up at Seamus McCaffrey's when we're in Phoenix. It's great for some middle of the day drankin' and right next to the insane Hotel San Carlos. (I personally think their web site makes the bar look less divey than it really is.) It's in downtown, too, BTW.
posted by Kloryne at 7:48 PM on February 28