House of Tricks

So Mary, Mike and I have lived together now for over 3 years. Since Mike has the pleasure of living with 2 girls, he also has the pleasure of having to do things that only girls would do...like celebrate anniversaries!!

In September we celebrated 3 glorious years of living together, and we had to celebrate with style since it would in fact be our last year together. I must say, I am totally impressed with us as roomies. Most people I know don't last much past a year together, and aren't as wonderful as the 3 of us are, in my opinion at least. So, after several schedule conflicts, we finally celebrated in October by going to House of Tricks on Mill. We missed happy hour, so did dinner instead, which I guess is sort of off with the mission, but we drank, so I think it all evens out.

We sat outside, which was fine until it started raining, but we just huddled under an umbrella and we were fine. We ordered the Artisan Cheese Plate because we love cheese, and it was very delicious. We had dinner, and to be honest I don't totally remember what we all ordered, but it was good, just not very filling, so we had to get dessert too. That was super yummy. But all in all, this place wasn't a good spot for us. The prices compared to the portions really weren't impressive. The place itself is very cute, and maybe we'd try it out again for happy hour, but probably not for dinner. I think if I were to crave some wine and cheese, this would be on my list of places to go to.

So basically, is it good? Yes. But not totally worth the price, and as a non profit employee, that is always a factor in my book.

Seamus McCaffrey's, The Turf Accountant, The Roosevelt, American Junkie and Saddle Ranch...phew

Mary turn 27 on October 1st and her friend Justin came in from Wisconsin to celebrate with us. Whenever friends come in town, it's always pressure to make them think you live this crazy fast paced party life, so, that's what we made Justin believe. Lucky for us we had this bar mission so had plenty of bars to hit up. Friday night, we went to Downtown Phoenix to check out the nightlife, I must say, after this night, I really love going out in Downtown. It's such a laid back fun vibe. Our first stop on the bar tour was Seamus McCaffrey's. I've been here before, as Ryan frequents this place Fridays after work some times. Anyway, we got here probably around 9 and bellied up to the bar...haha had a couple of beers at Seamus, waited for the entire party crew to arrive and celebrated Mary's annual celebration of life. We like this bar, it's a prime spot for hanging out with friends. I think we agree it's not really a Friday night, group hang out spot, maybe more of a after work good time, or with a smaller crowd. I think we had like 12 people with us, so it wasn't easy for standing around talking. Good time though, would of course go back to this place.

After we left Seamus we walked over to The Turf Accountant which is probably one of my favorite bars now! They had a great band playing inside, and lots of patio space outside. The place was huge, and very accommodating for our masses of friends! :) We grabbed some beers at the bar and headed out to the patio area, for our friends who must enjoy fresh air while at the bar. We really loved this bar, in fact we've gone back since!! I think as we get a touch older, we all appreciate being able to sit and chat with friends, which this bar was great for. It's always nice to be able to sit and drink, rather than clutching on to your drink for dear life as people squeeze by you every 15 seconds. So obviously we'd go back to this place...we did go back. Great bar, you should go too!

Once we left The Turf we wandered over to The Roosevelt, which I was a bit

worried about since we had been at irish pubs all night, and I had been to The Roosevelt, I thought no one would like it, and it would be maybe a downer on the night. Well I was wrong. I had only

been to The Roosevelt for happy hour, and at the time, it's a calm little bar, full of people sipping wine and eating their yummy food. At night though, it's a totally different vibe. We all said it was like being at a house party, since in fact, the bar is a old house.

We wormed our way to the back room, cozied up in a corner and had a great time. We got a couple drinks each visit to the bar since this place was packed, much like a house party would be, but we had a

wonderful time, hanging out having fun. You can tell it was later in the night because we actually started taking pictures of everyone! This

was the last stop for most of us for the night. The whole idea was to light rail it around downtown and we never got on the light rail except for to go home. So I don't know about everyone else, but I was tired after walking around all night. The Roosevelt is definitely a favorite and I'm sure we'll be heading back there.

Saturday night, we headed to Scottsdale, to show Justin the other side of Phoenix people.

I had this really cute dress I was going to wear, then if I recall it got chilly and rain-esque out so I decided on jeans instead. When we got to American Junkie, I think I was wearing the most clothes out of every girl there. Oh Scottsdale...

Anyway, so we started off at American Junkie, we got there early, like 10 ish, so we were able to get a bench on the patio. Mary and Justin got there a little later than Ryan and I, so when Justin got there we had to do shots and some serious drinking to catch him up, again, he had to think we live a crazy life 24/7! There really isn't much else to say about American Junkie, it's a typical Scottsdale bar, nothing really stands out about it. I guess the wheel inside is cool, but they seem to have gotten stricter about people spinning it, and I don't know why girls would want to tell the whole bar how much they weigh anyway, but maybe that's the old lady in me talking. I think you should probably go to American Junkie once if you're in Scottsdale, but would I make it a point to go every time I'm out? Probably not, why pay $15 for a drink and wait 30 minutes to get it, when there are so many other options out there.

We then headed to Saddle Ranch, sorry no pictures, we still aren't great about remembering that stuff. Sort of the same feel at AJ, not Apache Junction...American Junkie. It's crowded and everyone looks the same. If you're scouting for some meat heads, it's definitely the place to be though. I think bull riding can be fun, but I feel like now so many bars have that, it's no longer something that sets Saddle Ranch apart. The only place to be in my opinion if you're at Saddle Ranch is upstairs. It's the only place, where it's not super crowded and you can do some amazing people watching. Adam (I think that's his name) from the Real World works here, or did, so if you're into that, that's cool too. Needless to say, Scottsdale didn't do too much for us.

We actually finished the night on Mill, thought Justin should see some college girls. We went to Cue Club at like 1 a.m., drank some long islands, well Ryan and Justin did, rest of us just had beer. We closed that place down! I know it's not on the list of 50 best bars, but we all had a great night. Mike, Mary, Justin, Ryan and I then went to Filiberto's. I think Justin thought we were pretty cool with all our bar hopping. I must say though, I'm glad we don't do this every weekend, so exhausting!!

D'Vine Wine Bar & Bistro

In early September, Mary, my mom and I went to Uptown Bridal to try on some wedding dresses, it's a super cute shop and I was really happy I found my dress there! Anyway, after dress shopping, since we were out in Chandler, Mary and I decided to try D'Vine Wine Bar & Bistro for our next stop on the 50 Best Bars. They have a great Happy Hour, that starts at 2, and anytime I can start drinking at 2 in the afternoon, I'm happy! :) So we enjoyed the $5 glasses of wine they have during their happy hour and some of the tasting food they had. We ordered the bruschetta, it was $2 off during happy hour, and it comes with your choice of 3, so we got the Brie, Marinated Artichoke and the Caprese. They were all very yummy. We also had the hummus, which wasn't on happy hour, but was only $7, it too was delicious.

We both really liked this place, the food was great and a

glass of $5 is nothing to complain about, if we lived in Chandler, we'd probably frequent this place much more. They have art work on the wall that you can purchase, which I think is cool, it makes it seem like we live in some fancy city.

Agreed that this is great place for happy hour with friends during the week. So check it out the next time you're in Chandler!

Sorry we've been out of commission...

Remember in September when I was apologetic and said I'd never let my blogging lag again?! Paint my face red, I am a liar. I must say, the last few months haven't been the best, and although Mary and I did knock out like 5 bars the first week of October for her birthday, and I was excited to back to the regular blogging, the next week hit me with some shocking and saddening news. My dear Stephanie, best friend in the world, passed away in Niger, while serving in the Peace Corps. They say it was natural causes, she died in her sleep, which I suppose I'm happy she didn't suffer, yet I still can't believe she's really gone. So of course, in my time of grief I thought, is going to 50 bars really important in this life I'm leading?! What even is important?! How can I go out and have fun knowing Steph will never come back to join us at these bars? But, knowing Steph for a decade or so, I know she'd never give up on a mission, and she'd never turn down a good night out with friends. She'd also be judgmental of me if I gave up on anything, as she always wanted her friends to follow through. So, Mary and I soldier on in our quest...we'll probably not finish the 50 bars before Phoenix Magazine releases the latest addition of the 50 best bars, but we will do it!!

I promise this week I will get blogging on the 6 or so bars we've been to since the last entry. I know you're all dying to know what we think!! :) I also promise Mary and I will get some quality bar time in before I go off and become a married woman!

Skeptical Chemist

Wowza I haven't blogged in forever!! My deepest apologies, walk and wedding planning have consumed my life! NO excuses! Bars should always come first I know.

So anyways...way back on August 10th Mary and I with a few from our crew headed out to Skeptical Chemist. We went on a Tuesday, since they have trivia on Tuesdays and Mike G is a trivia guru.

We had a wide array of beers that night, Grimbergen, Sweaty Betty, Smithwicks and Guiness. Mary and I really liked the Sweaty Betty, fun name and it was yummy. Not really a huge dark beer fan, but the boys enjoyed.

As far as food goes, we had the basics, chicken fingers, wings,the cod sliders and the steak sandwich. The steak sandwich was super delicious!!

Happy hour had pretty good deals, 50% off all appetizers and flat breads and $2 off beer and wine.

It was a nice atmosphere at Skeptical Chemist, great bar if you live in the area, it was just a tad far from our neck of the woods.

We liked this place, it was a cool place to hang out and enjoy happy hour. Trivia was hard. Either that, or we aren't as smart as we think we are. But I'm pretty sure that's not the case!

So check out Skeptical Chemist, and if you're a Seahawks fan...this is your bar for football this weekend!!!

Geisha a Go Go

Friday night, after we both had hair appointments, Mary and I headed to Geisha a Go Go for some sushi. We really liked this place, we were supposed to go there for happy hour, but since we put beauty before business, we missed it, but the happy hour specials were pretty impressive, and I will be going back to enjoy them! Who doesn't love half price happy hour?!So first thing, Mary gave them a thumbs up for their website, I just went on it and agree it's pretty cool. So props to their website designer!!

The place is smaller than I thought, but we didn't go in the back area where the private karaoke rooms are so it's probably spacious back there. Anyway, we had some lovely wine and sat out on the patio which was nice, there was even a double rainbow (what does it mean?! haha)

We ordered a few sushi rolls, Philadelphia Roll, Caterpillar Roll and the Fresh Water Eel Roll. All very yummy. My only issue was with me and Mary, neither one of us is really a sushi expert and Geisha a Go Go had a very exciting list of specialty sushi we were to scared to try so we didn't. I'd totally want to go back with a sushi pro and try out the other kinds.

<-- Sorry if my rock blinds you in this photo hahaha jk!!! Obviously we didn't take pictures of our meal...we seriously need someone there reminding us what we're supposed to do. You'd think this far in we'd remember!! So yes, Geisha a Go Go is a winner in my book! The waitresses were super sweet and cute. Note to single dudes, you'll feel like they are totally macking on you, yes, macking. I loved this place, I was actually sad that I'd never been there before. I'm not a karaoke person, but if I were I'd bet that would only add to why I love this place.

The cool "cleaning" options in the bathroom were also a plus in my book. Mary and I held up a line for awhile checking out this amazingness. I love bathrooms that do something weird or interesting, I don't know why, but it's a real draw for me. Kudos Geisha a Go Go.

So...yes we'd go back again! This place was super cool and really good, who can turn down sushi and drinks at a good price?!

San Tan Brewing Company and Fibber Magees

On Friday night, we ventured out to Downtown Chandler to check out San Tan Brewery. We didn't get there until close to 11 p.m. but there seemed to be a lot of people there for it being more of a like go out early kind of place, if that even makes sense. Anyway, we ordered beers and some food. Mary got the HefeWeizen, good, but a bit stronger of a beer then what we light beer gals are used to. I got the Sunspot Gold, which I thought was good and Ryan had the Epicenter Amber Ale, he liked it, of course, I don't think Ryan ever doesn't like a beer.

So Mary and I shared the Chips and Dip Trio, which was delicious, the beer cheese was amazing! Ryan got the Devil's Chicken Fingers and they were huge!! They were really good too. Ryan got another beer, Devil's Ale and I had the Arizona Cosmo, which was good. This place was pretty cool. I don't think I'd go there on a Friday night to get crazy by any means, but say on a Saturday, I'm in Downtown Chandler and I want some good food and beer, this would be the place to go. The other cool thing about this place was you could take their beer home with you! They had cool jugs for bottling and they also had six packs you could buy. So that was pretty cool. I think if this place wasn't so far from where I lived, I'd go there pretty regularly, for now I suppose I'll have to save it for all those times I head out Downtown Chandler! But it was good, and we'd go back again!!

So after San Tan we headed over to Fibber Magees. A little bar in a strip mall, not what I would usually think of for one of the top 50 bars in Phoenix. We went in, it's probably around midnight, and there were about 20 people in there. There was a band but not too many people sitting around actually listening to them. The bar was spacious, and lots of different seating areas so that was cool. We went into the back area to play pool and lose a quarter to the hunting game. That was sad...

Anyway, all in all, if I lived across the street from this bar, I'd probably go there. Otherwise, there wasn't really anything spectacular about Fibber, except it's name. When we left San Tan, there was a Irish bar, <>Murphy's Law next door that was poppin, I wondered why that place wasn't on the list. When we started this mission my dad, the cinical dude, said these bars were only on the list because they paid to be. Always willing to argue with my pops and said no way. But it is sort of seeming to be that way. We've seen a few pretty great bars not be on the list, but on the other hand we've also been to some cool places on this list that we didn't know about before. It's a toss up really. So I'd probably never go back to Fibber Magees again, but I know why people around there go, it's a chill place, but I felt like I was on vacation at a random bar, not just a few miles away from my house.

The District

Hello all! Well playing a bit of catch up with our posts, please forgive us. If this blog was my full time job, you'd be annoyed at how many updates you got!
So, a couple weeks ago Mary, Ryan and I went to The District, at The Sheraton Downtown Phoenix. I was looking forward to this place because I long to be hip enough to live and work downtown. I know downtown Phoenix isn't the hip area that some downtowns are, but I think it's getting there, and how cool that I knew about it before the rest of Phoenix?! Anyway... we went to The District for Happy Hour, the place was pretty full, but there were a few open tables. We ordered our drinks at the bar and then snagged a table by the window. Maybe it was because we already had our drinks, or maybe it was something else, but from this point forward we were never acknowledged by any of the waitresses walking around. Mary and I both got the White Peach Sangria, as it was a suggested idea from Phoenix Magazine. It was okay, a little too peachy, and not enough ice for me, not cold enough in my opinion. Ryan got the Four Peaks Scottish Amber, and he thought it was enjoyable.

So there we sat, for a good 15 minutes, as waitresses hurried by us to ensure all the other patrons were receiving good service. Finally I just went up to the bar and asked if we could order food from him as the waitresses seemed to have it out for us. We ordered the All-American Cheeseburger, Spiced Sweet Potato Fries, and the Sloppy Joe's Sliders.

The food was good, but I wasn't blown away by the menu options. The bartender who brought us our food also brought us more drinks, Mary and I had wine while Ryan tried the Nimbus Blonde. I think by this time the bartender felt sorry for us, because he also came out and cleared our table and validated our parking. As we sat there with nothing on our table, a waitress finally came over and asked if we wanted our parking validated...seriously. It was like we were wearing invisable suits for over an hour and then all of a sudden right before we left it was gone!

Pretty sure we won't go back to The District. The Happy Hour wasn't that impressive, and the fact that we never once were acknowledged by the wait staff, well that never sits well with me.

Trader Vic's

Mary came back from all her travels and we got right back into the swing of things with our Bar Mission. We met at Trader Vic's for Happy Hour to plan out the rest of our adventure...note to followers, the title of this blog may say Summer, but don't get crazy when you're still hearing from us in December!! Yes, we do think it will take that long. Did we bite off more than we can chew? Probably. But we also weren't really thinking of all the things that pop up in our busy

lives, birthdays, work events, engagement parties (woohoo I'm engaged!), meetings, tailgating, vacations...the list could go on.

So, as we caught up on all excitement missed in the weeks we weren't together, we enjoyed the $6 happy hour drink specials, I had a Honey Money, very yummy, and Mary had a Naughty Lemonade, super good, also super strong. Thursday night is also ladies night, so the specials continue for ladies past 6 p.m. which is nice, especially for my friends as we usually can't keep Happy Hour to a few short hours.

We got a lot of yummy food for really cheap too. We had the Lettuce Wraps, Maui Burger and two orders of Bruschetta. The Maui Burger was enough for a meal, and it was only $3, seriously, amazing deals here at the Vic!

Outside Trader Vic's they have a sandwich board boasting about being voted Best Happy Hour, and I'd have to agree, getting food for $3 is amazing! And $6 for a drink when you really only need one to feel good, is also a great deal.

We would go back to Trader Vic's in a heart beat! I've actually made the decision to add it to my groups regular Happy Hour spots!

Another adorable anecdote about this place...this tissue dispenser in the bathroom. Reason enough for me to return!

This Saturday night, July 24th, we'll be heading to Scottsdale to hit up American Junkie, Saddle Ranch and Coach House. Come out and see us!! And if you love reading about our Bar Adventure why don't you follow us, literally, follow the blog, I don't mean sit creepily in the bars we're at and watch us! :)

Four Peaks

So...I bet you thought we gave up on this adventure, well we didn't!!!

We went to Mexico, then got busy I suppose and them off went Mary to travel around the midwest for what seems like months! Well we're back together again, and ready to take on the rest of the best!! <----- Clever!!

So, before all the madness of summer took off, we went to Four Peaks to enjoy Happy Hour and the kick-off party for the Roger Clyne concert in Mexico.

Nate and Paula joined us, as they were headed to Mexico as well for RCPM, Elise stopped by too, and of course Dave came, because he's an avid follower of this mission. The place was pretty full, it was a Thursday, and they were doing the RCPM kick-off but I am pretty sure it would have been a good crowd no matter what.

We tried the Arizona Peach Ale and the Sunbru Ale and both were pretty tasty. We're still new at this, so our food photo was pretty much half way through actually eating, but I think you can get the point. Mary and I shared the Shrimp and Goat Cheese Brushchetta, it was amazingly good. I could have eaten the entire thing myself. Paula and Nate shared the Margherita Pizza, they enjoyed it, but thought it was bit too cheesy. I'm a huge cheese fan so I'm not sure I would ever say something like that, but I guess not everyone feels the same.

All in all, we had a really good time. They were giving away prizes for the concert that weekend, we didn't win anything, but the guy felt sorry for us, so gave us some free shirts, which is always a plus in my book!

Four Peaks definitely is a great Happy Hour, and we'd go back there again for sure!

I was super excited to go to Greasewood Flat, I was really the only one who had gone before, so I was looking forward to sharing the fun with everyone. The four of us (Mike and Ryan tagged along) got there I think a little after 10 p.m. and there was probably 30 people there, we figured it was still pretty early so we got some beer and grabbed a seat. The boys got hamburgers, which were delicious and as they ate a few more of our friends met us out there. There was a cute old man on stage playing guitar and singing some classics, yet slowly but surely the crowd kept getting smaller and smaller. Then entertainment took a break, which actually ended up being the halt on any music in the place. By 11 p.m. our group was literally the only people left at Greasewood Flat. Not sure why no one stuck around, the times I've been there before there's always been a pretty decent crowd. Since we were up in Cave Creek, and it was still relatively early, we decided to hit up another bar on the list, Buffalo Chip, but not before we gave the staff something to do and had them take this group picture.

If you've been bar hopping in Cave Creek you know the Harold's is across the parking lot from Buffalo Chip so we stopped there first. Please note, Harold's is not on the 50 Best Bars list. The place was, I wouldn't say packed, but they weren't hurting for business by any means. We got a table out on the patio and hung out for awhile. For the Cave Creek natives it was like a school reunion, for the rest of us it was interesting people watching.

At about 12:45 a.m. we headed over the Buffalo Chip to continue on our quest to see and judge the 50 Best Bars. We were able to grab a beer pretty quickly since the bar was empty. We went outside to where the bull riding is done on Wednesdays and Saturdays and there were a few people out there, but seriously a few. I probably could have talked to everyone there in an hour and know a pretty good chunk about their lives. Of course Mary loved it because Buffalo Chip is the Packer Bar, so it was heaven for a Wisconsin girl. We closed out the night here, we had fun, singing about Filberto's and just being generally cool, but it would have been nice to share the night with some other patrons.

*Note that I went to Buffalo Chip last July 3rd to watch fireworks and it was poppin, and I also think it's safe to say that when the Packers are playing, pardon the pun, but I'm sure the place is packed!! Also, if it were a night bull riding was going on, I'm willing to say the crowd would be a bit bigger.

We were disappointed to say the least, we were convinced this mission would encourage people to come out to the bars we went to, not to stay clear of it!!

But in the end we both agreed we'd go back to these bars, they have great potential to host great nights, we just need to get better about planning what nights those are. I guess if all else fails, Harold's will have a crowd.

Blanco

So we started our adventure Thursday night with Happy Hour at Blanco Tacos & Tequila. I was really excited to start off here since I've been wanting to go here forever it seems. We sat out on the patio since it was probably the last time this summer it'd be cool enough to do so, and it was nice, comfy chairs and the bigger tables had fire pits as tables. We had to ask what the Happy Hour specials were, there wasn't a menu and the waitress didn't offer up the specials to us even though we were smack in the middle of it. (It's half off appetizers and drinks just so you all know.) Phoenix Magazine said to try their guacamole, we did and it was delicious! You can't go wrong with the classic margarita but I'd also recommend the white peach and hibiscus margarita, it was so refreshing!! We got the chicken tacos and a chicken quesadilla. Both good, but we probably could have shared one quesadilla, it was pretty big. Since it was our first night we were really bad at taking pictures, but we promise that will improve. We didn't have the best service but the food and drinks were great, and half off during happy hour is a great deal!

So is this a happy hour we'd do again? For sure!!

Phoenix's 50 Best Bars

A few months back, Phoenix Magazine released their list of the 50 best bars in Phoenix. We decided it would be our mission for the summer to go to every bar on the list and post photos and thoughts on each place we visit.

Our adventure starts June 3rd when we enjoy some tacos and tequila at Blanco's Taco & Tequila.

On Friday June 4th we head up to Greasewood Flat, to enjoy some country music, cold beer and maybe a game of horseshoe.