The Top 100 Things to Do Near Mr. Sweets Bakery

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Store to Show a Wrestling Geek · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Store for Wrestling Fans · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Pet Grooming · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Gaming Store · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Cheap Massages · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Miniature Golf · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Rides · Best of Phoenix
3. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Rides · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Video Store · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Place to Sell Gold · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Rage Room · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Rage Room · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Antique Mall · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Antiques Mall · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Place to See Classic Cars · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Place to See a Metal Show · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Place to See a Metal Show · Best of Phoenix

1. Forbes Travel Guide Forbes Four Star

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Blues Bar · Best of Phoenix

A neighborhood dive bar that fully commits to the bit: vintage furniture with backstories, a cigarette machine, free arcade games, and a jukebox that always has Marty Robbins on deck. The drinks are cold, the Old Style is colder, and the backyard patio with lawn games fills up with the kind of crowd that looks like they've been regulars for years, even if they just discovered it last week.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Outdoor Dance Party · Best of Phoenix
2. Eater The Best Bars in Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Place to Buy Something Small · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Tiny Things · Best of Phoenix

Shelves of wine bottles line every wall of this small, happily unpretentious wine bar tucked into a strip mall on Indian School. The vibe is couch-and-conversation, the kind of place where you sit down next to strangers and somehow end up closing it down with them. The food menu runs to pimento cheese and Moroccan spiced meatballs, which is a perfectly reasonable way to soak up a second pour. Phoenix New Times named it one of the top 100 bars in the city.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Bottle Shop · Best of Phoenix
2. Eater The Best Bars in Phoenix
3. Phoenix New Times The Top 100 Bars in Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Comic Book Store · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Japanese Market · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Used Everything · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Used Bookstore · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Chicano Art Space · Best of Phoenix
2. AZ Central Best Midtown Phoenix coffee shop for working or studying · The ultimate guide to the best Phoenix cafes

1. Foodist Awards 2023 · Finalist: Lobstah Roll · Standout Signature Dish
2. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Fish Shop · Best of Phoenix
3. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Fish Market · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Art Classes · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Ceramics Studio · Best of Phoenix
3. AZ Central Best Coronado coffee shops for more than just coffee · The ultimate guide to the best Phoenix cafes

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Gag Gifts · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Plant Shop · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Plant Shop · Best of Phoenix
3. AZ Central Best Grand Avenue coffee shops for more than just coffee · The ultimate guide to the best Phoenix cafes

1. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Way to Cuddle Cats · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Cat Cafe · Best of Phoenix
3. AZ Central Best downtown Phoenix coffee shops for more than just coffee · The ultimate guide to the best Phoenix cafes

1. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Place to Trace Your Balls · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Children’s Resale · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best New Age Store · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best New Age Store · Best of Phoenix
3. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best New Age Store · Best of Phoenix

A mile-and-a-half paved path cutting through the Phoenix Mountain Preserve, Dreamy Draw is where the city comes to jog, bike, and pretend the heat is fine. Boulders break up the trail for anyone who needs a dignified excuse to stop, and drinking fountains appear often enough that you won't have to choose between cardio and survival. It opens at five in the morning, which makes it a genuinely good place to catch the sunrise before the desert decides to cook you.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Place to Watch the Sunrise · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Bowling Alley · Best of Phoenix

Forty-four pool tables is a lot of commitment to a cue, and Bull Shooters makes good on all of it. This spacious north Phoenix pool hall and sports bar runs 7 and 9-foot tables alongside poker, darts, karaoke, and 34 taps pouring everything from beer to cider. Staff take the felt seriously, so keep your pint on a coaster or expect a word about it. The kind of place where regulars have a favorite table and know exactly which one it is.

1. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Pool Hall · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Vape Shop · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Public Pickleball Courts · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Public Tennis Courts · Best of Phoenix

The taco truck parked out front sets the tone before you even get inside. Charlie's is an old-school gay bar and dance hall on Camelback with a big outdoor patio, bleacher seating, two bars, and a dance floor that earns its own reputation after midnight on weekends. The calendar runs from drag nights and karaoke to Latin and country two-stepping, so the crowd varies wildly depending on when you show up, which is most of the fun.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Gay Bar · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best After-Hours Dance Spot · Best of Phoenix
3. AZ Central Best bars in metro Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Roller Skating · Best of Phoenix

1. Foodist Awards 2024 · Finalist · Outstanding Bar/Nightlife Experience
2. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Bougie Bowling · Best of Phoenix

The lounge here is comfortable enough that you could forget there are lanes out back, which is either a design triumph or a problem depending on how serious you are about bowling. This Sunnyslope alley has been independently owned forever, and the bar leans into the Big Lebowski energy hard enough that ordering a White Russian feels basically mandatory. Plush seating, warm lighting, geometric walls, and plenty of beer on tap round it out.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Bowling Alley · Best of Phoenix

Karaoke spills out of this LGBTQ+ bar at Park Central before you even reach the door. Inside, Kobalt runs on the pleasant fiction that everyone already knows each other, with drag shows, RuPaul's watch parties, and trivia filling the calendar alongside the sing-alongs. Show tunes, '80s ballads, and early-aughts pop keep the room generous and loud. Cocktails hover around eleven dollars, which makes it easy to stay for one more song, then another.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Gay Bar · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Drag Shows · Best of Phoenix
3. AZ Central Best bars in metro Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Aquarium Store · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Walking Path · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Walking Path · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Running Store · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Running Store · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Park · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Used Bookstore · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Thrift Store · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Thrift Shop · Best of Phoenix

1. Forbes Travel Guide Forbes Five Star

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Bat Colony · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Communing With Creatures of the Night · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Waterpark · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Sunset Hike · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best High-End Sneakers · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best High-End Sneaker Shop · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best High-End Furniture on a Budget · Best of Phoenix

A gallery-shop in northern Phoenix where the inventory changes constantly because everything is made by hand and no two makers work the same week. Forged knives, blown-glass tumblers, ceramic oil pourers, and natural-edge cutting boards share shelf space in proportions nobody can predict. It's the kind of place where you come in for a gift and leave reconsidering your kitchen entirely.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Place to Support Local Artists · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Place to Buy Local Art · Best of Phoenix
3. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Local Art · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Women’s Clothing · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Vintage Furniture · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Midcentury Modern Furniture · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Game Store · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Hike · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Hike · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Bones · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best In-Store Events · Best of Phoenix
3. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Creepy Stuff · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best New Vintage Shop · Best of Phoenix

Yucca Tap Room is an old-school dive bar and live music venue where cheap drinks and a no-fuss atmosphere have kept generations of Tempe regulars coming back. The punk shows are a fixture, and moshers in Halloween costumes remain a perfectly normal Tuesday-in-October situation. Half the space now belongs to Electric Bat Arcade, a pinball room that on some nights draws a bigger crowd than the bar itself.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Place to See a Punk Show · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Place to See a Punk Show · Best of Phoenix
3. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Place to See a Punk Show · Best of Phoenix

A museum with over 15,000 instruments drawn from nearly every country on earth, where the displays sense your approach and pipe the corresponding music through wireless headphones. It sounds gimmicky and it works beautifully. The Artist Gallery leans into celebrity worship without apology, and larger nations get subsections drilling into folk and tribal traditions. The cafe handles global food at reasonable prices, which is not a given for a museum this size.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Place to Take an Out-of-Towner · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Museum Gift Shop · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Pet Supplies · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Hip-Hop Shop · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Hip-Hop Shop · Best of Phoenix
3. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Hip-Hop Shop · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Place to Get Your Shoes Fixed · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Place to Buy a Guitar · Best of Phoenix

A live music club on Indian School Road that's been the Valley's home for blues, jazz, and roots acts for as long as anyone can remember. Owner Bob Corritore, a serious figure in the blues world, has put Pinetop Perkins and Sanford Clark on that stage. Local and touring rock acts fill the gaps. The bartenders are half the reason to stay, apparently able to match any set with a story.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Blues Club · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Blues Venue · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Fabric Store · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Fabric Store · Best of Phoenix
3. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Fabric Store · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Comedy Club · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Mani-Pedis · Best of Phoenix

An art gallery that holds an open call every two years, gets over 500 submissions, and sometimes picks exactly one artist. That's the curatorial standard at Lisa Sette Gallery, an old-school institution in the Phoenix arts scene representing a tight roster of Arizona painters, photographers, and mixed-media artists. The work tends toward the serious and the strange, in the best possible, completely non-graded sense of that phrase.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Art Gallery · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Art Gallery · Best of Phoenix
3. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Art Gallery · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Way to See Phoenix From the Air · Best of Phoenix

Shrek raves, all-trans oil wrestling, and Christmas burlesque in July: the weekly calendar at this LGBTQ bar on 7th Avenue reads like a dare. The dance floor splits the difference between intimate and actually dancing, surrounded by decor that suggests Dracula discovered neon. The back patio exists for the moment you want to learn someone's name. Karaoke, drag brunch, and gothed-out Wednesday nights fill in the gaps.

1. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best ’80s Night · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times The Top 100 Bars in Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Phoenix-Centric Music Venue · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Really Big Honor · Best of Phoenix

The floor doesn't fill until after midnight, which tells you everything about the kind of night Karamba is built for. It's a Latino gay nightclub where dancers in little more than underwear work elevated platforms while the DJs do the heavy lifting, threading reggaeton into club classics into top 40 without a seam. The pours are generous enough that an Uber home counts as planning ahead, not an afterthought. Phoenix New Times named it the best after-hours dance spot in town.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best After-Hours Dance Spot · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best After-Hours Dance Spot · Best of Phoenix
3. Phoenix New Times The Top 100 Bars in Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Interactive Art Activity · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Place to Make Art and Get Messy · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Outdoors Store · Best of Phoenix

Kachina dolls centuries old sit alongside contemporary paintings, jewelry, and weavings made by Native artists from across the country, with the Southwest's tribal traditions given particular depth. The Heard is a serious art and cultural museum in downtown Phoenix, been around forever, with permanent collections, rotating shows, festivals, and education programs. A shop and cafe round out the visit for anyone who lingers.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Museum Mainstay · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best First Friday Stop · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Go-Karts · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Place to Buy a Turntable · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Record Store · Best of Phoenix

A former department store at Desert Sky Mall that now holds more than 200 vendors under one roof, Mercado de los Cielos is a Hispanic marketplace where shopping and eating blur into a pleasant afternoon-long problem. Counter stalls turn out tortas, mariscos, gorditas, and agua frescas, with photos above every register for the indecisive. Pick up a raspado from the fruit stand and let it guide you around the rest.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Mercado · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Marketplace · Best of Phoenix

Over 17,000 works spread across 285,000 square feet put this art museum firmly in the "clear your afternoon" category. The collection runs from American and European classics to Latin American, Asian, and contemporary work, plus a fashion design wing that earns its place on the same floor. A dedicated kids' gallery keeps the family from splitting up at the entrance. Free admission on Wednesday evenings and the first Friday of each month.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Art Museum · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Art Museum · Best of Phoenix

The Praying Monk formation on the southeast face is the shot everyone posts, but the ridge routes above Echo Canyon are where the real character shows. Camelback is a hiking and climbing destination right in the middle of the Valley, accessible enough that you can squeeze it into a morning, challenging enough that you'll feel it the next day. The rock gets called "choss" by the purists, which just means more routes for everyone else.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Intense Hike · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Hike · Best of Phoenix
3. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Intense Hike · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Place to Buy a Housewarming Gift · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Housewarming Gifts · Best of Phoenix
3. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Upscale Party Supplies · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Boutique · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Boutique · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Park · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Urban Park · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best EDM Venue · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best EDM Venue · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Bilingual Bookstore · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Spanish-Language Bookstore · Best of Phoenix

Koi drift under a 12-foot waterfall while the rest of Phoenix does whatever Phoenix does. This three-and-a-half-acre Japanese garden, formally called Ro Ho En, sits inside Margaret T. Hance Park and moves at a completely different speed than the city around it. Stone lanterns, quarried Arizona rocks along the shore, and a traditional teahouse pull the place toward genuine stillness. A quiet hour here requires almost no effort and costs almost nothing.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Place for Meditation and Quiet · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Oasis in the Desert · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Adult Shop · Best of Phoenix

An artist-run collective on Roosevelt Row, Eye Lounge has been the gravitational center of Phoenix's First Fridays artwalk for years, which is either a sign of quality or a sign that everyone else gave up. Contemporary exhibitions rotate through, the murals outside change with the shows inside, and the crowd on a First Friday runs heavy on the local artists whose work might be on the walls next month.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Place to Stop During the First Friday artwalk · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best First Friday Stop · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Vintage Clothing · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Vintage Clothing · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Outdoors Store · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Outdoors Store · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Public Basketball Courts · Best of Phoenix

A checkerboard dancefloor, light-up floors downstairs, and a patio that sulks attractively outside, all packed into a small downtown nightclub that drew a line around the block on opening night. DJ sets and pop-up food nights keep the calendar full, but the periodic Dance Dance Revolution parties and lube wrestling events are what really set the tone. The crowd is genuinely mixed in the best way, and nobody seems to be here ironically.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best New Nightclub · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times The Top 100 Bars in Phoenix

The tiered stadium seating along the back wall means you never spend a show craning around someone's hat, which is a small miracle for a mid-size Phoenix music venue. Crescent Ballroom books a steady diet of indie, art rock, and folk acts, with a candlelit bar and lounge up front serving tacos and cocktails alongside free sets from local musicians on quieter nights.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Medium-Size Music Venue · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Small Music Venue · Best of Phoenix

A mid-size indoor concert hall seating around 5,500, sitting in that useful gap between arena and nightclub. Downtown Phoenix's go-to for touring musical acts, stand-up comics, Broadway productions, and the occasional boxing card. George Lopez filmed a live HBO special here, which tells you something about the room's range. It handles Doc Severinson and Nickelback with equal indifference, which is either a compliment or a programming philosophy.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Large Music Venue · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Large Music Venue · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Nursery · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Ice Skating · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Ice Skating · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Bodybuilding Gym · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Attraction Gift Shop · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Nighttime Encounters With Wildlife · Best of Phoenix
3. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Attraction Gift Shop · Best of Phoenix

A small live music venue on a one-way stretch of Central Avenue, south of downtown in a neighborhood that keeps the vibe honest. Touring acts and local bands share the bill, and people show up on a Tuesday without needing much convincing. Parking and security have been sorted, which clears the last excuse. Phoenix New Times named it the city's top small music venue in 2025.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Small Music Venue · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Small Music Venue · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Butcher Shop · Best of Phoenix