The 86 Best Places to Eat and Do in Tempe

Mesquite and pecan wood smoke drifts out of the open kitchen at this Chihuahuan-rooted restaurant inside Tempe's Culdesac neighborhood, where the grill does serious work on meats, peppers, and open-faced quesadillas. The team behind Tacos Chiwas built something more personal here, moving from taqueria to family table. Moles, micheladas, and brunch dishes like concha French toast fill out a menu that runs morning to night. A James Beard Outstanding Restaurateur semifinalist in 2024.

1. AAA Three Diamonds
2. USA Today Restaurants of the Year
3. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Chiles Rellenos · Best of Phoenix

Somewhere between a diner and a log cabin, this cash-only Tempe burger shop has been grilling patties over a live mesquite fire since forever. You order at the counter while the smoke does its thing, then dress your own burger at the condiment table. Sizes run from a modest fifth-pounder up to a full pound of beef, which should cover most life situations. An old-school Valley institution, and the zucchini fries are not optional.

1. Foodist Awards 2025 · Finalist: The Great One · Most Crave-Worthy Burger
2. AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants
3. Phoenix New Times The top 10 burger joints in Phoenix

The injera arrives with every order, a spongy sourdough flatbread that doubles as plate and utensil, and first-timers get a menu with a glossary to help them figure out what they've just ordered. This Ethiopian restaurant has been an ASU rite of passage for what feels like forever, a family-run strip mall spot that leans hard into vegetarian dishes and fragrant stews. The dining room is cozy and carpeted, and the coffee ceremony is not decorative.

1. Phoenix New Times The top 50 restaurants in Phoenix right now
2. AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants
3. Phoenix New Times Our top 10 favorite restaurants in Tempe

1. Foodist Awards 2025 · Winner: Double Burger · Most Crave-Worthy Burger
2. Phoenix New Times The top 10 burger joints in Phoenix

1. Foodist Awards 2025 · Winner · Phenomenal Fast Casual Concept
2. Foodist Awards 2024 · Finalist · Phenomenal Fast Casual Concept

A bright red neon sign marks this Sichuan restaurant tucked into a Tempe strip mall, where turquoise booths and mural-covered walls set the scene for lazy Susans loaded with mapo tofu, braised eggplant, and the Chongqing-style spicy chicken that Phoenix Magazine named one of Arizona's top dishes. The batter is thin and shatters, the peppercorns do their characteristic lip-numbing work, and the portions are large enough to make you reconsider your afternoon plans.

1. Phoenix New Times The top 50 restaurants in Phoenix right now
2. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Traditional Chinese Restaurant · Best of Phoenix
3. Phoenix New Times Our top 10 favorite restaurants in Tempe

An old house in Tempe that may or may not be haunted, depending on how many drinks in you are. Casey Moore's is a seafood and oyster bar that's been around forever, and it draws the full cross-section of college town life, from freshmen to people who were freshmen here decades ago. The patio, the well-priced drinks, and the raw bar keep everyone coexisting peacefully, which is harder to pull off than it sounds.

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

1. Foodist Awards 2025 · Finalist: Church Music · Favorite Local Craft Beer

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. Phoenix New Times Our top 10 favorite restaurants in Tempe
2. Phoenix Magazine Curry Lamb Pot Pie · Top 100 Dishes of Arizona

The coffee here traveled from a family farm in Colombia to a mural on the wall mapping the whole journey, and eventually into your cup. This Tempe coffee shop serves arepas and pandebono alongside the usual avocado toast, and regulars at the counter tend to get greeted by name. The seasonal menu turns over often enough to reward repeat visits, and the vibe leans comfortably toward long mornings with homework or nowhere particular to be.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Coffee Shop · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times The 10 Best Coffee Shops in Phoenix
3. Phoenix New Times The 10 best coffee shops in Phoenix

1. Foodist Awards 2024 · Finalist · Phenomenal Fast Casual Concept

1. Foodist Awards 2024 · Finalist · Phenomenal Fast Casual Concept

Baby pink tiles and floor-to-ceiling windows set the mood at this Mexican coffee shop inside Tempe's car-free Culdesac community. Daytime runs on carajillos, mazapan lattes, horchata, and breakfast bites; Thursday through Saturday it pivots to wine, amari, and ceviche. The team behind Tacos Chiwas brought the same ease here, and the cozy booths fill with people who seem in no particular hurry to leave.

1. Phoenix New Times The 10 Best Coffee Shops in Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times The 10 best coffee shops in Phoenix

The curved brick entryway opens into an oblong room of deep green walls, gold candelabras, and picture frames, which is a lot to pull off inside a Tempe strip mall. Bar Capri is an Italian restaurant and bar with the bones of a big-city neighborhood spot: cocktails and a tight wine list from a back bar, lasagna and arancini coming through the kitchen window. Tiramisu closes things out, and nobody seems in a hurry to leave.

1. Phoenix New Times The top 50 restaurants in Phoenix right now
2. Phoenix New Times The 10 best new Phoenix restaurants of 2025
3. Phoenix New Times Our top 10 favorite restaurants in Tempe

1. Foodist Awards 2024 · Finalist: Day Drinker · Favorite Local Craft Beer

1. Foodist Awards 2024 · Finalist: Portobello Mushroom Pita Pocket · Best Vegan Delight

Wood-paneled walls and a parking lot that fills before most people have checked their phones: Harlow's is an old-school Tempe diner that hasn't felt the need to update anything. Booths pack in early birds and retirees at dawn, then hand off to the hangover crowd around nine. The coffee is black, the burritos are large, and the servers are the kind who remember how you take it. Phoenix New Times named it one of the ten best brunch spots in Phoenix.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Old-School Diner · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times The 10 best brunch restaurants in Phoenix

1. AAA Approved

1. AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants

1. AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants

1. AZ Central The 100 Best Metro Phoenix Restaurants

Named for the roadside pit stops where Indian truck drivers fuel up on cheap, filling food, this casual Punjabi restaurant in Tempe takes the concept seriously: long menu, affordable prices, homemade breads, and tandoori meats that smell like someone's actually cooking back there. The thali is the move if you want the full picture, chai and dessert included. Street snacks, deep-fried things, and curry round out a menu that rewards indecision.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Neighborhood Indian Spot · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times The 10 best Indian restaurants in Phoenix
3. Phoenix New Times Our top 10 favorite restaurants in Tempe

Shokupan, the pillowy Japanese milk bread, is the anchor of this quiet strip mall pastry shop near Fujiya Market. The egg salad sandwich built on thick slices of it has a following all its own, and the matcha rolls, red bean buns, and strawberry cakes lean subtle rather than sweet. A couple of tables invite lingering over green tea cheesecake, but the filled crepes and melon pan tend to disappear early, so arriving with a plan is not the worst idea.

1. Eater The Best Bakeries in Phoenix, Arizona

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

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

The Kilt Lifter Scottish Ale has been filling pints here long enough that it's practically a local institution, and the Mission Revival warehouse it lives in only adds to the effect. Four Peaks is a full-scale brewpub with a cavernous brick interior, a sprawling patio, and a menu that covers wings and nachos but also green chile mac and cheese for anyone who needs more than bar food. Spring training crowds and ASU students pack the place, which tells you most of what you need to know about the vibe.

1. Foodist Awards 2023 · Winner: The Joy Bus · Favorite Local Craft Beer
2. Eater The Best Bars in Phoenix

The homemade pita, puffy and fresh, is the detail that keeps ASU students coming back across generations at this no-frills Tempe restaurant and grocery. Shawarma, falafel, kebabs, and baba ghanoush fill the menu at prices that don't require a financial aid disbursement. Baklava in pistachio and Arizona pecan closes things out. The strip-mall setting is deeply unromantic, which seems to be the point.

1. Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Phoenix

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

The delivery vehicle is called an Emergency Donut Vehicle, which tells you everything about the vibe here. This 24-hour doughnut shop leans hard into nostalgia and spectacle, piling its yeast and cake rings with candy bar crumbles, cereal, roasted marshmallows, and glazes in colors not found in nature. The flavors skew s'mores and Little Debbie rather than artisan restraint, so come hungry for dessert energy at any hour you please.

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

1. Foodist Awards 2023 · Finalist: Koffee Kolsch · Favorite Local Craft Beer

1. Phoenix New Times Our top 12 favorite sushi restaurants in Phoenix

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

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

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

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

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

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Discount Movie Theater · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Discount Movie Theater · Best of Phoenix
3. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Discount Movie Theater · Best of Phoenix

A resale and new boutique in Tempe whose T-shirts announce it as "a safe haven for weirdos," which is accurate marketing. Rocket a Go~Go covers the full spectrum of alt fashion, from pinup and rockabilly to goth, punk, and rave, with brands like Doc Martens, Tripp, and Demonia filling the racks alongside studded belts, horror-themed jewelry, and Halloween housewares. Sizes run 0 to 3X, and you can buy, sell, or trade.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Secondhand Punk Clothes · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Alt Fashion · 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

Endless bins of vinyl organized well enough to lose an afternoon in, plus shelves of CDs, books, instruments, memorabilia, and toys for anyone still convinced that owning a thing beats streaming it. Zia buys and trades more liberally than most used-music shops, though the math is roughly a quarter of resale value in cash. Bring your duplicates, leave with someone else's.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Place to Trade Vinyl or CDs · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Store for CDs · Best of Phoenix

A chest-high sea of pink balloons is probably not how you pictured spending a Tuesday, and yet here you are. Bubble Planet is an immersive walk-through attraction inside Arizona Mills Mall with a psychedelic sound-and-visuals dome, a mirrored infinity room strung with blinking lights, and a ball pit styled as a giant bubble bath. Bring your own socks or you'll pay mall-kiosk prices for a pair at the door.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Immersive Attraction · Best of Phoenix

Nine outdoor pickleball courts sit inside a sprawling indoor-outdoor complex with cabanas, firepits, a DJ, and a bar that takes mocktails as seriously as cocktails. The crowd skews young enough that nobody here grew up watching their grandparents play. When the courts fill up, bocce, cornhole, and table tennis keep the restless busy. The globally inspired menu runs breakfast through sushi, pizza, and tacos, so nobody goes hungry between games.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Trendy Pickleball Spot · Best of Phoenix

Milk crates of used vinyl occasionally block the aisles here, which tells you everything about the organizational philosophy. Ghost of Eastside Records is an old-school Tempe record shop where browsing is really excavating, and you come in hunting a Sun Ra reissue and leave with an armful of Thelonious Monk. The selection runs from punk to local indie releases to VHS tapes. Go with time to spare and no fixed agenda.

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

A squad of Dax robots, three feet tall and rolling on tank-like treads, patrols this 18-acre campus near Tempe Town Lake. Spot one during business hours and it might tilt its head or flash digital heart eyes. Show up after dark and the flirty energy evaporates into a stern warning. One local filmed himself blowing smoke in their faces; nine million Instagram views later, he was banned. The "yet" at the end of that story is doing a lot of work.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Place to See a Robot · Best of Phoenix

A compact Japanese gift shop that ships nationwide, so you don't have to feel bad about ordering the fountain pen ink from your couch. In person, the Tempe storefront runs deeper than it looks, with notebooks, journals, loose-leaf teas, kettles, gel and ballpoint pens, and a sticker selection that will test the self-restraint of anyone under twelve, and most people over it.

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

The entrance looks like a Blockbuster that somehow survived, right down to the patterned carpet and VHS shelves. This Tempe escape room complex uses a fake video rental store called Quest Video as its lobby, where a clerk greets you, hands you a brief intro challenge, and sends you into one of three themed rooms: an Indiana Jones-style treasure hunt, a prison break, or a zombie apocalypse. Six thousand square feet of nostalgia-flavored puzzles, no late fees.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Place to Make It a Blockbuster Night · Best of Phoenix

A flower shop and coffee shop sharing a roof, which is either a stroke of genius or proof that someone ran out of square footage and improvised beautifully. Rowan Tree handles custom arrangements, wedding bouquets, and same-day delivery across the Valley (order before noon), while the adjoining Jasmine Jo Coffee Shop ensures you never have to choose between flowers and a latte. You can browse fresh blooms in person or order from home.

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

Motorcycle jackets share rails with lacy tops and Y2K graphic tees at this Tempe thrift shop, where the owners' fashion backgrounds show in every rack. Prices run with cut-rate thrift stores, but the edit is far tighter, and upcycled denim gets the kind of rework you'd actually want. Inventory turns over daily, so there's always a reason to stop back in.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Secondhand Clothing for Men and Women · Best of Phoenix

A rage room where you suit up in white protective gear, pick your targets (a computer, colorful bottles, assorted trinkets), and smash things to a playlist of your choosing. The vibe is deliberately inclusive, with a Pride flag at the front desk and signage whose language suggests the staff's commitment to welcoming everyone runs pretty hot. Adult nights add drinks to the destruction, and a neon paint room exists for those who'd rather make a mess than settle a score.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Rage Room · Best of Phoenix

Parking near a college football stadium ranks among life's reliable miseries, and Tempe's solution is a boat. On ASU game days, a water taxi runs across Tempe Town Lake, dropping fans at the stadium after a $5 park-and-walk at the Watermark garage and a $10 ride over. Hundred Mile Brewing is a partner, which explains the general good cheer on deck. Maroon and gold optional, but everyone seems to wear it anyway.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Way to Get to ASU Football Games · Best of Phoenix

A Birkenstock-forward shoe shop that has quietly become a fixture in downtown Tempe, drawing students, professors, and people who finally admit their feet deserve better. The selection runs from sandals and clogs to dressy leather styles, with brands like Dansko and Pikolinos filling out the racks alongside leather goods and accessories. The staff actually knows the inventory, which helps when you're deciding whether orthotics are a personality trait or just good sense.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Place to Find Cute, Comfortable Shoes · Best of Phoenix

Pinball leagues run here most weeks, which tells you something about how seriously Tilt Studio takes its arcade. Tucked inside Arizona Mills mall, it's a full family entertainment center with laser tag, a snack bar, and a long row of Street Basketball machines that actually work, a small mercy in a genre plagued by stuck balls and swallowed credits. The hoops even feature a moving basket for anyone who finds a stationary target too easy.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Arcade Basketball · Best of Phoenix

A small Tempe shop packed floor to ceiling with single issues, trade paperbacks, manga, graphic novels, and enough indie and small-press titles to make a distributor nervous. Staff carry the kind of encyclopedic knowledge that can match a superfan or gently redirect someone who just wandered in. The wall of collectibles, including some genuinely odd merch, rewards browsing. Recent shelf finds included "Sir Charles Barkley and the Referee Murders," so the range is real.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Comic Book Shop · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Comic Book Store · Best of Phoenix

A festival-wear shop on Mill Avenue stocked with shiny bodysuits, fuzzy sets, wild sunglasses, flow toys, and everything else you need to look properly unhinged under a light rig. Most of the merchandise comes from Arizona makers, so the sequins carry some local pride. The store has a posted zero-tolerance policy for bigotry, which shouldn't be a selling point but somehow still is. Go when your next event is two weeks out and you've convinced yourself you have something to wear.

1. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Rave Gear · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Rave Gear · Best of Phoenix

A 360-degree ocean tunnel sits at the center of this mall aquarium, and yes, it's inside Arizona Mills, which somehow makes the sharks feel more surreal. Over 5,000 species move through 161,000 gallons, including reef sharks, stingrays, jellyfish, and a tank where kids can locate both Nemo and Dory without a map. The tide pool lets you touch baby sharks, and a paid add-on gets you up close with rescued sea turtles. Cheaper than its Scottsdale rival by a wide margin.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Aquarium · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Aquarium · Best of Phoenix

The side-pull tap that delivers a European-style pour with an extra few inches of foam is a good signal of what kind of taproom this is. Catalyst leans into big, playful styles, including sours, imperials, and hoppy IPAs, alongside a rotating cast of more traditional options. An in-house kitchen called S.A.L.T. handles food, and there's a generous patio when the weather cooperates, which in Tempe is most of the year.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best New Brewery · Best of Phoenix

A crystal shop tucked inside a warehouse that shares a building with a storage facility, so easy to walk past that finding it feels like half the ritual. Inside, the scale surprises: room after room of crystals, including one dedicated entirely to amethyst. A resident cat roams the floor. Weekly sound healing and yoga sessions run under lighting made entirely of crystals, which is either very on-brand or a fire code conversation waiting to happen.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Crystals · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix Magazine 2025 · Best Workday Lunch Break · Best of the Valley

The flatbread menu alone runs past thirty varieties, which tells you something about priorities at this Levantine restaurant and bakery in Tempe. Manakeesh, slow-cooked meats, hummus, and baba ganoush fill out a menu rooted in the kind of food that takes real patience to make. The kenafa, a cheesy semolina pastry dessert, is the thing people come back for. Casual, inexpensive, and easy to overorder.

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

The 9-foot bong is reserved for special occasions, and the staff will tell you so with a straight face. This Tempe smoke shop has been around forever, and while the name got a subtle refresh somewhere along the way, the mission hasn't: walls of glass pieces, a deep vape section, grinders, rolling trays, hookah supplies, and a staff that actually knows the inventory. Phoenix New Times named it Best Smoke Shop in 2024.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Smoke Shop · Best of Phoenix

The vintage gas station theme, complete with retro signage and pedal cars, gives this Tempe Italian ice shop a cheerful reason to walk in. Joe's makes its Philadelphia-style ices in-house from whole fruit, and the difference shows up in every flavor. A drive-thru keeps things moving when the Phoenix heat turns urgent. The lemon is the crowd favorite for good reason, though the menu runs long enough that picking is half the fun.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Italian Ice · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Italian Ice · Best of Phoenix

Sixteen floors up in the Omni Tempe Hotel, Lucero puts enough distance between itself and the pool that it actually feels like a rooftop cocktail bar rather than a pool deck with ambitions. Craft cocktails and food, indoors at the bar or outside on couches around fire tables, with views stretching all the way to State Farm Stadium. The Phoenix New Times named it Best Rooftop Bar in 2025, which tracks for a spot this good before an ASU Gammage show.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Rooftop Bar · Best of Phoenix

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.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Reggae Venue · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix Magazine 2025 · Best Cold Brew: Chocolate Peanut Butter Shaker · Best of the Valley

1. Phoenix Magazine 2025 · Best Cold Brew: Chocolate Peanut Butter Shaker · Best of the Valley

Eighteen floors above Mill Avenue, this open-air rooftop bar and pool lounge sits atop The Westin Tempe, claiming the highest perch of any outdoor bar in the Valley. The bar itself is the only covered spot up there, so order first, then wander the full 360 degrees: A Mountain one way, the Mill Avenue Bridge glowing at night the other. Seasonal cocktails and local Arizona beers do the heavy lifting, with flatbreads and tacos for ballast.

1. Phoenix New Times The Top 100 Bars in Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Rooftop Bar · Best of Phoenix
3. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Rooftop Bar · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix Magazine 2025 · Ice Cream · Best of the Valley

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.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Open Mic Night · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Guardians of Local History · Best of Phoenix

Chiptunes hum over a system where you can buy, sell, trade, or just linger with a controller at the in-store lounge. This retro and modern video game shop stocks titles, consoles, and accessories across every system ever made, plus repair supplies and reproduction cartridges for the obsessives. Coin-op rarities like "Demon Front" sit alongside weekly "Super Smash Bros." tournaments. The Phoenix New Times named it Best Video Game Store in 2024, and the regulars look like they already know why.

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

A $600 steak finished tableside, a golden dragon statue, and an LED wall of tropical fish that looks like it was designed by an algorithm that studied Las Vegas for a decade. Three Thirty Three is an Asian fusion restaurant that knows its audience: the dining room is built to be filmed. Expect a loud, theatrical night on the Scottsdale-Tempe border where the appetizers arrive like they have publicists.

1. Phoenix New Times 2025 · Best Place to Take an Influencer · Best of Phoenix

1. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Free Art Museum · Best of Phoenix

Row after row of paint, paper, clay, brushes, and mediums you'd need a degree to name fill this sprawling art supply store near ASU's campus. It draws everyone from grad students panic-buying portfolio supplies to hobbyists who wander in for one sketchbook and leave with a cart. If something isn't on the shelf, the website usually has it. Either way, you'll leave with more than you came for and a vague sense that your creative era is finally beginning.

1. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Art Supplies · Best of Phoenix

Most convenience stores have given up trying by midnight. El Paisano Market in Tempe stays open until 3 a.m. on weekdays and 4 on weekends, with a full Mexican restaurant inside running nearly the same hours. Hot Cheetos nachos and a rotating burrito of the month sit alongside chicken sandwiches and cheeseburgers, which covers the full spectrum of what people actually want at 2 a.m. There's also a respectable Faygo selection, if you know, you know.

1. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Late-Night Convenience Store · Best of Phoenix

Horror-themed arcade tucked next to Tempe's Yucca Tap Room, Electric Bat runs about 60 pinball machines alongside a curated spread of Japanese rhythm games, all played on house-branded tokens. The pins skew toward beloved classics, the decor skews toward gothic, and a monthly goth night called Play Dead keeps the regulars coming back even when they've cleared every machine. There's a tiki bar inside, which feels like the logical conclusion of all this.

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

1. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Piano Bar · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times The Top 100 Bars in Phoenix

A small vintage shop on the Scottsdale-Tempe border stocked with psychedelic rompers, prairie dresses, and old Levi's that will make you quietly reconsider your entire wardrobe. Pieces are true vintage, some carefully restored, and the selection rotates enough that nothing feels like a costume bin. Prices are on the higher side for thrift but reasonable for the category, and the occasional fill-a-bag sale draws a line out the door.

1. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Vintage Clothing · Best of Phoenix

A movie theater that runs 35mm repertory screenings alongside cult oddities like "Reefer Madness" is already a different animal from the multiplex down the road. Majestic mixes first-run releases with arthouse picks, grindhouse fare, and anime imports, plus weekly horror nights and movie parties with singalongs and themed food pairings. There's a full bar, which makes the celluloid oddities go down easier.

1. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Place to See a Classic Movie · Best of Phoenix

Cash only, dark inside, and on any given night you might have to squeeze past a metal band unloading gear in the parking lot just to get through the door. Palo Verde is a Tempe dive bar where construction workers in hi-vis vests share the rail with ASU newcomers and neighborhood lifers. Drinks are cheap and poured strong, and the bartender has your order memorized before you've taken your jacket off.

1. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Dive Bar · Best of Phoenix
2. Phoenix New Times The Top 100 Bars in Phoenix

The fuzzy handcuffs are practically the greeting cards section here. Smokin' Lingerie is an adult shop where the inventory goes well past anything you'd find at Target, stocking a deep run of BDSM gear, kink equipment, and smoking supplies for good measure. The Phoenix New Times named it the best place to buy BDSM gear in the Valley, which tracks given the sheer ambition of the catalog. Come with a clear sense of what you're after, or at least a tolerance for surprises.

1. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Place to Buy BDSM Gear · Best of Phoenix

Film still on the shelves is the first clue that this isn't a big-box camera department pretending to care. Tempe Camera is an old-school camera shop and repair house where the staff are all photographers, happy to talk you through a lens decision without making you feel like a tourist. Downstairs handles repairs, sensor cleanings, and gear rentals. They also run workshops if you're still figuring out what half the buttons do.

1. Phoenix New Times 2023 · Best Camera Store · Best of Phoenix

Pears, gorgonzola, dried cranberries, and toasted hazelnuts in a house cider vinaigrette is the move that explains the name at this family-owned East Valley bistro. Ten composed entree salads anchor the menu, with enough add-on proteins (salmon, shrimp, falafel, mock chik'n) to handle any table's dietary politics. Quinoa bowls, tacos, pasta, and a full bar round things out for groups that can't agree on anything except where to go.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Salads · Best of Phoenix

Charcoal-grilled hot dogs at a counter where the walls are buried in memorabilia: Ted's is an old-school hot dog shop with roots in upstate New York. The White Hot, dressed with sauerkraut and mustard, is the move, but the real sleeper is the fries with gravy, a combination rare enough in Phoenix that people drive across town for it. The buns come toasted or plain, which feels like a small thing until you're asked.

1. Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Hot Dogs · Best of Phoenix