The Best Places in Phoenix

The bubble-ring shape of a mochi doughnut, six or eight chewy spheres connected in a loop, is practically engineered for the "just one more piece" problem. MochiDot is a local dessert shop making them with rice flour for that signature springy chew, with flavors that rotate by season, running from Oreo to vivid purple ube to Lotus Biscoff. Bring someone to share with, or don't and pretend you did.

1. Phoenix New Times A delicious dozen: The 12 best doughnut shops in the Valley

1. Eater The Best Bakeries in Phoenix, Arizona

1. Phoenix New Times The 10 best Chinese restaurants in Phoenix

1. Foodist Awards 2023 · Finalist: Lobstah Roll · Standout Signature Dish

This Mesa outpost of Novel is a small scoop shop at the end of an alley, which is the kind of location you find only if someone sent you, or if you're very committed to a hunch. Flavors run unconventional, think peppermint mocha or peanut butter and jelly, and the local collaborations rotate through. Ask for a Dough Melt, a warm doughnut stuffed with ice cream, and order the waffle version by name if you're a Parks and Rec person.

1. Phoenix New Times Where to find the best ice cream in Phoenix

The ice cream sandwich here comes on a fresh-sliced doughnut, which is either genius or a personal liability depending on your self-control. This small-batch ice cream shop keeps a core menu of eight flavors, rotates in new ones weekly, and does fruit sorbets for the dairy-free crowd. The original location sits in a tiny historic building on Grand Avenue, which gives it more character than a strip mall scoop shop ever could.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Ice Cream · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times Where to find the best ice cream in Phoenix

1. Eater The Best Bakeries in Phoenix, Arizona

Onyx is a soft-serve shop on North Seventh that looks closed from the street until you spot the neon "open" sign, which is the first of several lighting decisions. Inside it's all black-and-white walls, dancing LED bars, and a plant wall built for photos. The swirls come out electric purple, orange, pink, and green in jet-black cones, and the flavors rotate weekly. A toasted marshmallow rim is available for anyone who wants more going on.

1. Phoenix New Times Where to find the best ice cream in Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times A delicious dozen: The 12 best doughnut shops in the Valley

Prep & Pastry is a sunny, white-washed brunch spot near Fashion Square, the Scottsdale outpost of a Tucson original, with a menu that runs to dossants, which are exactly what they sound like. Expect a cast iron duck confit, a chickpea scramble, and a Monte Cristo built on herb brioche French toast with pineapple and jalapeño mascarpone. It opens at 8 a.m. daily, and Eater has put it on a list of Phoenix brunches.

1. Eater The 15 Best Brunches in Phoenix

1. Eater The Best Bakeries in Phoenix, Arizona

The giant rooftop donut made Randy's a Los Angeles landmark long before the chain showed up in the Valley, and the Gilbert shop carries the same energy: a bright display case packed with vivid, glazed options and a drive-thru line that moves faster than you'd expect. It's a classic donut shop, which means cheap, cheerful, and open early. The maple cake and cinnamon crumb cake are the regulars' picks, but the matcha raised donut is hard to walk past.

1. Phoenix New Times A delicious dozen: The 12 best doughnut shops in the Valley

1. Phoenix New Times A delicious dozen: The 12 best doughnut shops in the Valley

1. Phoenix New Times A delicious dozen: The 12 best doughnut shops in the Valley

1. Foodist Awards 2023 · Finalist: Common Ground Culinary · Outstanding Hospitality Group

1. Phoenix New Times Our top 10 favorite restaurants in Tempe

1. Phoenix New Times Where to find the best ice cream in Phoenix

Scooptopia is a small ice cream shop on Central Avenue, a satellite of the Scooptacular operation out in Laveen, serving a wide run of that kitchen's flavors. The scoops lean playful, with Playdough in three pastel stripes, bubble gum, and birthday cake. Sundaes and milkshakes are on offer too, so you can eat dessert in the shape of a meal. Expect a short line, a paper cup, and no dress code.

1. Phoenix New Times Where to find the best ice cream in Phoenix

1. Foodist Awards 2023 · Winner: Strawberry Marzipan Shortcake · Most Delectable Dessert

Sophia's Brunch Counter is a counter-service daytime spot in a curved, metal-wrapped building that looks like it was meant for something with more ceremony. Inside, a chalky green marble counter and a lot of plants set a slow, airy, vaguely coastal mood. The menu stays small, bouncing between comfort food and lighter plates, with espresso up front and a little wine and cocktails behind it. Eater put it on its list of Phoenix's best brunches.

1. Eater The 15 Best Brunches in Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times The 10 best new Phoenix restaurants of 2025

1. Foodist Awards 2023 · Winner: Barter & Shake · Outstanding Hospitality Group
2. Eater The Best Bars in Phoenix
3. AZ Central Best bars in metro Phoenix

1. Eater The Best Bakeries in Phoenix, Arizona

A family-owned donut shop in the West Valley that keeps things classically in their lane: yeast, cake, apple fritters, bear claws, and a roster of filled options generous enough to cause real indecision. The vanilla cream version rolled in toasted coconut is a regular argument-settler. Smoothies and ice cream round out the menu for anyone who wandered in looking for something else and stayed for the donuts anyway.

1. Phoenix New Times A delicious dozen: The 12 best doughnut shops in the Valley

Sweet Magnolia is a counter-service barbecue spot in an Ahwatukee strip mall, and the smoke announces it from the parking lot before you've found the door. It cooks Mississippi-style, so the sauce runs sweet and pork gets its due in a Valley otherwise devoted to Texas brisket. It started as a food truck, which explains the order-at-the-counter, grab-a-tray ease, and the mac and cheese is a side that behaves like a main.

1. Phoenix New Times These Valley smokehouses serve the best barbecue in Phoenix

1. Foodist Awards 2023 · Finalist: Common Ground Culinary · Outstanding Hospitality Group

1. Eater The Best Bakeries in Phoenix, Arizona

1. Phoenix New Times The 10 best Indian restaurants in Phoenix

1. Foodist Awards 2023 · Finalist: Potato Pureé · Best Dish in a Supporting Role

1. Foodist Awards 2023 · Finalist: Common Ground Culinary · Outstanding Hospitality Group

1. Foodist Awards 2023 · Finalist: Maggiore Group · Outstanding Hospitality Group

1. Foodist Awards 2023 · Finalist: Maggiore Group · Outstanding Hospitality Group

A tiny donut shop tucked into a shopping center off Hayden, where the menu categories are literally named Classy, Fancy, and Schmancy, so expectations are appropriately calibrated. Yeast donuts, cake donuts, mochi donuts, fritters, and seasonal pastries all share the case, and the creme brulee donut gets a kitchen torch before it reaches you. Phoenix New Times put it on their list of the Valley's top dozen donut shops.

1. Phoenix New Times A delicious dozen: The 12 best doughnut shops in the Valley

1. Foodist Awards 2023 · Finalist: Common Ground Culinary · Outstanding Hospitality Group

1. Foodist Awards 2023 · Finalist: Maggiore Group · Outstanding Hospitality Group

1. Foodist Awards 2023 · Finalist: Maggiore Group · Outstanding Hospitality Group

1. Foodist Awards 2023 · Finalist: Common Ground Culinary · Outstanding Hospitality Group

The box says "We are not affiliated with other Rainbow Donuts" before you've even opened it, which tells you something about the regulars here. This North Phoenix donut shop runs a classic menu of yeast and cake donuts, maple bars, fritters, crullers, and cinnamon rolls, all leaning fluffy and fresh without the cloying sweetness that plagues lesser cases. The Tiger Tail, chocolate and vanilla dough twisted together and glazed, is the one to start with.

1. Phoenix New Times A delicious dozen: The 12 best doughnut shops in the Valley

1. Foodist Awards 2023 · Finalist: Maggiore Group · Outstanding Hospitality Group

1. Foodist Awards 2023 · Finalist: Maggiore Group · Outstanding Hospitality Group

1. Foodist Awards 2023 · Finalist: Maggiore Group · Outstanding Hospitality Group

1. Foodist Awards 2023 · Finalist: Maggiore Group · Outstanding Hospitality Group

1. Foodist Awards 2023 · Finalist: Maggiore Group · Outstanding Hospitality Group

1. Foodist Awards 2023 · Food Pioneer · Mark Tarbell

The Thumb is a north Scottsdale gas station where you pump gas outside and order brisket by the platter inside, under a chandelier that looks lost. Counter service, cash-register prices, and a gift shop and coffee bar to browse while your number comes up. The beans are so meaty they flirt with chili. Phoenix New Times has named it one of the Valley's top barbecue spots, which is a sentence about a place with a fish tank.

1. Phoenix New Times These Valley smokehouses serve the best barbecue in Phoenix

1. Foodist Awards 2023 · Winner · Top Mixologist/Bartender · Kyla Hein

1. Foodist Awards 2023 · Winner · Top Mixologist/Bartender · Kyla Hein

1. Foodist Awards 2023 · Winner · Top Mixologist/Bartender · Kyla Hein

1. Foodist Awards 2023 · Winner · Top Mixologist/Bartender · Kyla Hein

A fully plant-based burger shop where the patties, cheese, and buns are all vegan, yet every meat-eating friend you drag here tends to go quiet mid-bite. Counter service, casual prices, shopping plaza setting. The menu runs from a straightforward classic to pineapple or jalapeño-topped builds, with loaded fries worth the mess. Phoenix New Times has named it among the top burger joints in the metro two years running, vegan or otherwise.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Vegan Burger · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Vegan Restaurant · Best of Phoenix
3. Phoenix New Times The top 10 burger joints in Phoenix

Life-sized Spider-Man watches you eat your burger, which feels about right for a counter-service spot where the menu hangs on the wall and you can hear the flat-top sizzling from the register. The patties come on sweet King's Hawaiian rolls, loaded with things like mac and cheese or pastrami, while Marvel films loop on the TVs and kids work free arcade games. Gyros and other diner bites round out the menu for anyone not in a superhero mood.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Restaurant to Take a Geek · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times The top 10 burger joints in Phoenix

1. Foodist Awards 2023 · Finalist: Common Ground Culinary · Outstanding Hospitality Group

1. The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In Scottsdale

Wild Barbecue is a counter-service Texas smokehouse near ASU, run by two Jordanian brothers who picked up the craft in Dallas and then slipped their own history onto the tray. Beef ribs and brisket are there if you want to stay in your lane. The tandoori turkey, lamb chops, and Mediterranean rice suggest you shouldn't. It started as a food truck, and the Phoenix New Times put it on its list of the Valley's top smokehouses.

1. Phoenix New Times These Valley smokehouses serve the best barbecue in Phoenix

Word of Mouth Grill is a counter-service barbecue joint in a Tempe strip mall, smoking its meats over mesquite and offering eight housemade sauces ranging from sweet honey to habanero, which is more sauce decisions than most people want to make while hungry. Brisket and pulled pork come by the pound, on a combo plate, or in a brioche bun, and the rib tips are the crisp, craggy move. Order the four-cheese mac and grab napkins.

1. Phoenix New Times These Valley smokehouses serve the best barbecue in 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 2024 · Best Drag Shows · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Gay Bar · Best of Phoenix
3. AZ Central Best bars in metro Phoenix

Dungeon masters run scheduled D&D nights here, but the tabletop games, rotating support groups, and writers' meetups make this cozy Tempe coffee shop feel more like a community center that happens to pull excellent espresso. The decor leans Oz, the music leans groovy, and the crowd leans toward people who are relieved to have found it. Phoenix New Times named it the best LGBTQ game night in the valley.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best LGBTQ Game Night · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix Magazine 2025 · Best Coffee Shop for the LGBTQ+ Community · Best of the Valley

The cabin is dressed in burnt orange and warm walnut, the windows show a looping blue-yonder reel, and a flight attendant is rolling the beverage cart your way. Carry On is an immersive cocktail lounge built around the first-class, Mad Men-era flight fantasy, preflight announcements and all. Reservations drop weekly and go fast, so plan accordingly. The Spirited Awards named it a Top 10 U.S. Nominee for Best New Cocktail Bar.

1. The 50 Best Bar Design Award
2. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best New Bar · Best of Phoenix
3. Imbibe Where to Drink in Phoenix

Fifty acres of Sonoran desert planted with thousands of cacti, succulents, and wildflowers in the middle of Phoenix. On summer Saturday nights the garden runs Flashlight Nights, a self-guided after-dark walk where night-blooming plants open and the wildlife, scorpions included, wanders freely. During the day the trails draw everyone from serious botanists to families who've already said "wow" forty times. The gift shop, no small afterthought, stocks prickly pear everything and locally made goods worth the detour.

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

The attached market selling frozen pierogi and chilled soups to go tells you everything about the vibe here. This casual Ukrainian family restaurant in Mesa treats borders as a loose suggestion, pulling in beef goulash, plov over cumin-scented rice, pork schnitzel, and thick, buttery pierogi that pair well with griddled sausage. The chicken Kiev arrives loaded with dill and herb butter. Unpretentious, generous portions, and priced like someone actually wants you to come back.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Eastern European Restaurant · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Eastern European Restaurant · Best of Phoenix

The two-level track is lit in multicolored neon, which makes the electric Superkarts feel less like a family outing and more like a fever dream you're steering. This massive indoor entertainment complex near the highway packs in go-karts, arcade games, laser tag, duckpin bowling, VR stations, and a full bar, so pacing yourself is an actual consideration. Tall guests may find the karts a snug fit, but that's part of the negotiation.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Go-Karts · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Go-Karts · Best of Phoenix

Set a budget before you walk into this curated vintage clothing shop in the Roosevelt Arts District, because the racks run from 1920s eveningwear to a 1980s purple fringe jacket and your willpower will not survive unassisted. Prices aren't thrift-store prices, but the inventory is the kind that makes you want to become a slightly more interesting version of yourself. A clearance rack in the back starts at $5, for those who want the daydream on a discount.

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

A sneaker resale shop on Central Avenue that also stocks Labubus, those unsettling little monster toys currently colonizing every shelf on social media. Archive AZ is a buy-sell-trade hub for high-end kicks, mostly Nike-heavy, with rare past releases alongside current drops. The storefront is easy to walk past, which somehow feels right for a place that lets the inventory do the talking.

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

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

Somewhere past the hiking packs and climbing gear, there's a homebuilt tunnel maze where search-and-rescue crews wriggle through pipes hauling a 200-pound dummy. That's not the main event for most visitors, but it tells you something about this old-school Phoenix outdoor shop. Gear, rentals, high-res topo maps, a vintage climbing collection organized by era and country, and classes on backpacking and wilderness survival round out a place that takes the outdoors more seriously than its drop ceilings suggest.

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

Frank Lloyd Wright designed this 3,000-seat performing arts auditorium for Baghdad before it ended up on a college campus in Tempe, which tells you something about its scale and ambition. The circular hall sits on the ASU campus flanked by pedestrian bridges and hosts touring Broadway shows, opera, symphony, and lectures. It's a proper night-out venue, the kind where you dress up a little and feel like the evening has stakes.

1. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Place to See a Broadway Show · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Large Playhouse · Best of Phoenix
3. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Place to See a Musical · Best of Phoenix

A tiny paperback copy of "Fifty Shades of Grey" sitting next to a miniature bag of Lay's barbecue chips pretty much sets the tone. Auntie Em's is a dollhouse supply and curiosity shop in Historic Downtown Glendale with thousands of small-scale items, from hand-painted furniture to tiger-skin rugs. The other half of the store belongs to retro toys: pedal cars, vintage Barbies, model trains. No website, so you just have to show up.

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

The Ice House Tavern overlooks the rink so you can watch hockey with a drink while your kids are doing laps below, which is a pretty good deal for everyone involved. Phoenix's go-to public ice rink keeps the Zamboni humming with public skates, figure skating lessons, youth and adult hockey leagues, and pick-up games. Admission runs on the cheaper end of the spectrum, and free intro lessons sweeten it further.

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

The circuit grading system here is the tell: instead of chasing pitch ratings, you work a color-coded route until the movement clicks, which turns a climbing gym visit into something closer to a puzzle session. The walls are rope- and harness-free, the floors are padded, and the whole warehouse-scale space runs yoga and fitness classes most days of the week. There's a coffee kiosk, a dog-friendly courtyard, and enough community events that regulars treat it like a neighborhood club.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Climbing Gym · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Climbing Gym · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Lesbian Bar · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Lesbian Bar · Best of Phoenix
3. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Lesbian Bar · Best of Phoenix

A gift shop in Phoenix's Melrose District where butterfly claw clips and gravestone stickers reading "DIDN'T DRINK ENOUGH WATER" share shelf space with gold jewelry and desert-themed graphic tees. Bunky Boutique stocks men's and women's apparel, quirky cards, candles, and accessories with enough rotating inventory that regulars leave with something they didn't know existed last month, usually for a friend who absolutely needs it.

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

The First Draft Book Bar sits inside this independent bookstore, which means you can browse for an hour, lose track of time entirely, and justify it with a glass of wine. Changing Hands stocks the full range from beach reads to gifts to knickknacks, with staff who actually know the shelves. Regular author readings, workshops, and book clubs keep the place feeling like a neighborhood institution rather than a retail transaction.

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

Dollar bills papering the walls floor to ceiling, Christmas lights above, and a stage that gets a rock band most nights of the week: Chopper John's is a dive bar that knows exactly what it is. The black-and-red room off Indian School Road draws regulars who look like they were designed to match the decor. Pool tables, a patio for smokers, and baseball on the TV fill in the gaps between sets.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Dive Bar · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Rock Bar · Best of Phoenix
3. Phoenix New Times The Top 100 Bars in Phoenix

The lighted bays stay open until 9 p.m., which tells you everything about who this driving range is for. Coronado is the anti-Topgolf: no bay reservations, no cocktail menus, no Instagram moments, just a bucket of balls and a borrowed wood if you need one. A nine-hole course and chipping greens round things out. Happy hour drops ball prices and brings $2 cans of beer, which is about as civilized as a Tuesday evening gets. Bring cash.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Driving Range · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Driving Range · Best of 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 fine natural history emporium in the Melrose District where the inventory runs from entomology specimens and coyote vertebrae to, if you have three grand lying around, a human skull, all ethically sourced. The shop also carries books, crystals, and botanicals for those who prefer their curiosities still living. The event calendar is where it gets interesting: taxidermy classes, Victorian seances, and the occasional chat with a coroner.

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

An 80-minute narrated cruise around Saguaro Lake, which feels like a minor miracle given how thoroughly the Sonoran Desert surrounds you. Desert Belle runs sightseeing tours on a two-deck boat, with an air-conditioned lower level and an open-air top deck where mountain goats occasionally materialize on the canyon walls. The schedule also includes live music, craft beer, and wine cruises for anyone who needs the excuse.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Boat Ride · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Boat Ride · Best of Phoenix

The stone ramada at the top of South Mountain was a New Deal project, which gives it a pleasantly melancholy grandeur. Getting here takes a twenty-minute wind up a paved mountain road, and the payoff is a panorama wide enough to hold Camelback, Papago Park, and what feels like every last suburb Phoenix has ever annexed. Come at dusk and the sprawl goes from overwhelming to genuinely cinematic.

1. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Place to Watch the Sunset · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best View of Phoenix · Best of Phoenix

The Coors bottle piñata, hanging next to Pokémon and a classic star-pointed sphere, tells you pretty much everything about this place. Dulceria La Bonita is a Mexican candy and party supply store that calls itself a wholesale operation but is open to anyone with a cart and ambition. The selection of sweets runs deep enough to reward a few laps before you commit, and the piñata wall alone is worth the detour.

1. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Place to Buy a Pinata · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Mexican Candy Store · Best of Phoenix

A 50-foot spiral tower at the entrance to a Goodyear neighborhood, designed by a local astronomer to function as both a lookout and a quiet prompt to feel small in a good way. Climb the staircase for views of the Estrella Mountains, then stay for sunset, when tiny lights embedded in the exterior begin to glow. It closes at 8:15 p.m. sharp, which is the desert's way of telling you not to linger past the point of wonder.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Place to Reach for the Stars · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Stairway to Heaven · 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

Baskets of polished crystals sorted by type, shelves of tarot decks, deity statuary, magickal oils, and candles fill this long-running New Age and occult shop in north Phoenix. You can order online, but the whole point is choosing your tiger's eye in person. Beyond retail, the shop runs classes on candle magic, divination, and protection spells, and offers psychic readings when you need something more bespoke than a book recommendation.

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

Portraits of the late Queen and Buckingham Palace ephemera cover every surface, which tells you exactly what kind of pub this is. Footy on the TVs, jerseys and flags around the bar, bangers and mash from the kitchen, and a tap list that runs well past Guinness. The native-English owner has a story involving Bar Rescue's Jon Taffer that he'll gladly share on the patio, in language the royals would find bracing.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best British Pub · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best British Pub · 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 2023 · Best First Friday Stop · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Museum Mainstay · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Place to Take a Wine Geek · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Wine Bar · Best of Phoenix
3. AZ Central Best bars in metro Phoenix

A sandstone formation in Papago Park shaped by erosion over millions of years, with a literal hole worn through it that frames the Phoenix skyline like a proscenium arch. The hike up is 0.3 miles, doable in questionable footwear, and the payoff at sunrise or sunset is the kind of thing that makes locals forget they've seen it a hundred times. The Hohokam may have used it as a calendar; now it's an Instagram backdrop, which feels like a lateral move.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Place to Watch the Sunset · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Place to Take an Out-of-Town Visitor · Best of Phoenix
3. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Place to Watch the Sunrise · Best of Phoenix

Duckpin bowling, axe throwing, and a copper frog you try to land coins into: Lane Park is an adult games hall in Old Town Scottsdale where the activity rotates with the season, shuffleboard in summer and curling when it cools down. Craft cocktails and pizzas keep things going between rounds. It reads like someone asked what a bar would look like if it took the games as seriously as the drinks.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best International Games · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Upscale Indoor Fun · 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 2023 · Best Oasis in the Desert · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Place for Meditation and Quiet · Best of Phoenix

A bulletin board by the register plastered with fliers for local art classes and studio events is a good sign you've found the right art supply store. Jerry's Artarama in Tempe is a sprawling shop stocked with canvases, every conceivable brush and paint, custom framing, and art books, with sales deep enough that serious artists plan trips around them. Local artwork lines the walls, and browsing counts as half the visit.

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

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

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

The I-10 freeway runs underneath it, so the park above feels like a magic trick: grass, dog runs, a playground, and a Japanese Friendship Garden built with Phoenix's sister city of Himeji, all floating over the highway in the middle of downtown. It sits right on the edge of Roosevelt Row, so a morning walk can turn into a long afternoon without much planning required. One of the few spots in central Phoenix where pedestrians have the obvious upper hand.

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

A rusted steel and glass aquatic center building that people apparently stop and stare at instead of swimming. The complex packs in a lap pool, diving well, tube slide, lazy river, and a splash pad, all framed by McDowell Mountain views and a public art installation that, yes, belongs to the pool. Non-Scottsdale residents pay a modest surcharge for the privilege of wondering why their city's public pools don't look like this.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Public Pool · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Public Pool · Best of Phoenix
3. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Public Pool · 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 2023 · Best Marketplace · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Mercado · Best of Phoenix

The Día de los Muertos section alone runs from traditional calacas to Marilyn Monroe in skeleton face, housed in a dense, color-saturated shop on 24th Street where the shelves have no empty corners. Mexican Arts Imports carries Talavera, Lupita dolls, metal work, textiles, and clay figurines at a scale that makes a single visit feel genuinely insufficient. Plan for more time than you think, and budget for things you didn't know you needed.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Mexican Imports Store · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Da De Los Muertos Treasures · Best of Phoenix

A packed-dirt trail running about 2.5 miles along Central Avenue, shaded by ash and olive trees with some of Phoenix's finest historic homes lined up alongside it. The path was laid out for Orangewood residents who got around on horseback, which feels improbable now that it's full of joggers, dog walkers, and people nursing coffee from the Uptown Farmers Market. In a city that runs hot and hard, the shade here is something to plan around.

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