Monday, August 31, 2026

The Top 37 Things to Do in Tempe

37 places in the record

The best things to do in Tempe, by the professional record: Phoenix New Times and Phoenix Magazine have both weighed in, and their honors are what rank this list. Yucca Tap Room comes out on top.

Brick Road Coffee and ASU Gammage hold the next two places. Phoenix New Times shows up on more of this list than any other guide, with Phoenix Magazine next.

Categories

  1. Rank 1. Yucca Tap Room

    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.

    Awards
    Address
    29 W Southern Ave, Tempe, AZ · Tempe
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
    On the Way What's Around

  2. Rank 2. Brick Road Coffee

    Awards
    Address
    4415 S Rural Rd, Unit 10, Tempe, AZ · Tempe
    Hours
    Mon 7 AM–10 PM
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
    On the Way What's Around

  3. Rank 3. ASU Gammage

    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.

    Awards
    Address
    1200 S Forest Ave, Tempe, AZ · Tempe
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
    On the Way What's Around

  4. Rank 3. Bouldering Project

    Awards
    Address
    2626 S Hardy Dr, Tempe, AZ · Tempe
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
    On the Way What's Around

  5. Rank 3. Jerry's Artarama

    Awards
    Address
    4421 S Rural Rd #1-3, Tempe, AZ · Tempe
    Online
    Website
    On the Way What's Around

  6. Rank 3. Pollack Cinemas

    Awards
    Address
    1825 E Elliot Rd, Tempe, AZ · Tempe
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
    On the Way What's Around

  7. Rank 3. Rocket a Go~Go

    Awards
    Address
    15 E Southern Ave, Tempe, AZ · Tempe
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
    On the Way What's Around

  8. Rank 3. Zia Records

    Awards
    Address
    3201 S Mill Ave, Tempe, AZ · Tempe
    Hours
    Mon 10 AM–10 PM
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
    On the Way What's Around

  9. Rank 9. Bubble Planet

    Awards
    Address
    5000 S Arizona Mills Cir, Tempe, AZ · Tempe
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
    On the Way What's Around

  10. Rank 9. Electric Pickle

    Awards
    Address
    8688 S Emerald Dr, Tempe, AZ · Tempe
    Online
    Website
    On the Way What's Around

  11. Rank 9. Ghost of Eastside Records

    Awards
    Address
    45 W Southern Ave, Tempe, AZ · Tempe
    On the Way What's Around

  12. Rank 9. IDEA Tempe Campus

    Awards
    Address
    850 W Rio Salado Pkwy Suite 201, Tempe, AZ · Tempe
    On the Way What's Around

  13. Rank 9. Kinkan Gifts

    Awards
    Address
    2016 E Wildermuth Ave #1124, Tempe, AZ · Tempe
    Hours
    Mon 11 AM–7 PM
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
    On the Way What's Around

  14. Rank 9. Paranoia Quest Escape The Room

    Awards
    Address
    1746 W Ruby Dr # 112, Tempe, AZ · Tempe
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
    On the Way What's Around

  15. Rank 9. Rowan Tree Flowers

    Awards
    Address
    107 E Baseline Rd a4, Tempe, AZ · Tempe
    Hours
    Mon 7:30 AM–5:30 PM
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
    On the Way What's Around

  16. Rank 9. Sew Used

    Awards
    Address
    2011 E Apache Blvd Suite 155, Tempe, AZ · Tempe
    Online
    Website
    On the Way What's Around

  17. Rank 9. Simply Smashing "a Rage Release Room"

    Awards
    Address
    1845 E Broadway Rd Suite 120, Tempe, AZ · Tempe
    Hours
    Mon 3 PM–8 PM
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
    On the Way What's Around

  18. Rank 9. Tempe Water Taxi

    Awards
    Address
    72 W Rio Salado Pkwy, Tempe, AZ · Tempe
    On the Way What's Around

  19. Rank 9. The Shoe Mill

    Awards
    Address
    398 S Mill Ave #100, Tempe, AZ · Tempe
    Hours
    Mon 10 AM–6 PM
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
    On the Way What's Around

  20. Rank 9. Tilt Studio

    Awards
    Address
    5000 S Arizona Mills Cir Suite #669, Tempe, AZ · Tempe
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
    On the Way What's Around

  21. Rank 21. Ash Avenue Comics & Books

    Awards
    Address
    806 S Ash Ave, Tempe, AZ · Tempe
    Online
    Website
    On the Way What's Around

  22. Rank 21. Rave Circus

    Awards
    Address
    414 S Mill Ave #106, Tempe, AZ · Tempe
    Hours
    Mon Noon–8 PM
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
    On the Way What's Around

  23. Rank 21. SEA LIFE Arizona Aquarium

    Awards
    Address
    5000 S Arizona Mills Cir Suite 145, Tempe, AZ · Tempe
    Hours
    Mon 11 AM–5 PM
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
    On the Way What's Around

  24. Rank 24. Everything Just Rocks

    Awards
    Address
    2235 W 1st St Unit 104-105, Tempe, AZ · Tempe
    On the Way What's Around

  25. Rank 24. HQ Vape & Smoke

    Awards
    Address
    219 W University Dr, Tempe, AZ · Tempe
    On the Way What's Around

  26. Rank 24. Marquee Theatre

    The floor bar sits right next to the stage so you never have to choose between a drink and the show. This mid-size live music venue on Mill Avenue holds around a thousand people, which is somehow both big enough to book national touring acts and intimate enough that there isn't a bad spot in the house. A Perfect Circle, Social Distortion, and the Black Keys have all played here, and local showcases keep the calendar full between the headliners.

    Awards
    Address
    730 N Mill Ave, Tempe, AZ · Tempe
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
    On the Way What's Around

  27. Rank 24. Tempe Center For The Arts

    A wood-clad 600-seat auditorium anchors this performing and visual arts center on the edge of Tempe Town Lake, with a black box studio theater, a gallery that spills into the lobby, and an outdoor amphitheater for when Arizona evenings cooperate. The Tempe Symphony Orchestra, Childsplay, and several other resident companies call it home, so there's almost always something on. Public art installations are scattered throughout, in case you arrive early and need somewhere to look thoughtful.

    Awards
    Address
    700 W Rio Salado Pkwy, Tempe, AZ · Tempe
    Online
    Website
    On the Way What's Around

  28. Rank 24. Tempe History Museum

    Awards
    Address
    809 E Southern Ave, Tempe, AZ · Tempe
    Online
    Website
    On the Way What's Around

  29. Rank 24. The Gaming Zone

    Awards
    Address
    930 W Broadway Rd #5, Tempe, AZ · Tempe
    Hours
    Mon 11 AM–7 PM
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
    On the Way What's Around

  30. Rank 30. ASU Art Museum

    Awards
    Address
    51 E 10th St, Tempe, AZ · Tempe
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
    On the Way What's Around

  31. Rank 30. Blick Art Materials

    Awards
    Address
    930 E University Dr Suite 101, Tempe, AZ · Tempe
    Online
    Website
    On the Way What's Around

  32. Rank 30. El Paisano Market

    Awards
    Address
    1035 E Lemon St, Tempe, AZ · Tempe
    On the Way What's Around

  33. Rank 30. Electric Bat Arcade

    Awards
    Address
    25 W Southern Ave, Tempe, AZ · Tempe
    Hours
    Mon 6 AM–2 AM
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
    On the Way What's Around

  34. Rank 30. Luxie Vintage

    Awards
    Address
    2240 N Scottsdale Rd #101, Tempe, AZ · Tempe
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
    On the Way What's Around

  35. Rank 30. Majestic Tempe 7

    Awards
    Address
    1140 E Baseline Rd, Tempe, AZ · Tempe
    Online
    Website
    On the Way What's Around

  36. Rank 30. Smokin' Lingerie

    Awards
    Address
    1450 N Scottsdale Rd, Tempe, AZ · Tempe
    Online
    Website
    On the Way What's Around

  37. Rank 30. Tempe Camera Repair Inc

    Awards
    Address
    606 W University Dr, Tempe, AZ · Tempe
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
    On the Way What's Around

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