Think about being a stowaway at midnight bellows of a clipper ship, full with the sounds of creaking wooden and portholes with sea views and altering climate patterns. Or hop on a sublime early Twentieth-century practice, sip a high-end cocktail, and revel in surroundings of fog rolling in over Louisiana’s bayou. These aren’t far-off voyages. They’re the settings of bars in Phoenix’s rising world of cocktail theater—the place elevated cocktails accompany immersive, efficiency art-esque settings.
Over the previous few years, Phoenix has change into dwelling to 3 unorthodox areas for these very reasonable theatrics. Although bars have lengthy hosted dwell acts like bands or burlesque, the bars Platform 18 (practice themed), UnderTow (ship themed), and 36 Under (botanical wonderland) are a brand new breed. In these areas, a bar turns into the stage and bartenders are the administrators. Flip to the again of the menu at Platform 18 or UnderTow, and as an alternative of simply drink descriptions, you’ll meet the plotline of the evening. Possibly it’s the fictional Hollis Cottley Pennington’s bootlegging adventures within the Rockies, or the story of Captain Mallory’s doable journey to discover a shipwrecked Undertow. Learn rigorously and also you’ll discover the cocktail names are weaved into the story as locations or characters.
“We’re storytellers,” says Mat Snapp, vp of operations at Platform 18 and UnderTow. “Creating an setting to entertain that’s optimistic, enjoyable, stuffed with surprise, nostalgia, and emotion is our objective.”
Whereas elaborate storytelling is essential to those bars’ enchantment, the drinks play a starring function. Platform 18 and Undertow supply encyclopedia-sized menus that includes advanced concoctions—classics and originals, alike. At Platform 18, you’ll discover funky historic cocktails like Sizzling Pants (a shiny pink, 70s-era recipe that melds tequila, grapefruit, and mint into an inexplicably scrumptious drink) and house-made boozy ice lotions, just like the Grasshopper. UnderTow gives tiki drinks, unique and classics, such because the Scorpion Bowl cocktail—rum, cognac, orgeat, orange, lemon and nutmeg— served in a bowl full with swimming pools of flames on the rim. Seize some associates; you’ll need assistance.
Hidden within the basement of a espresso store, 36 Under is a wonderland of lush greenery. There are wall-to-wall digital naturescapes and cocktails served in dramatic glassware, like a stone chalice formed like a Greek goddess. The bar shows digital artwork, like fish swimming by from the porthole of a submarine , and even diffuses the room with aromas that mirror a quarterly theme, reminiscent of Roman Ruins or Aquatic Mediterranean.
Now, you is likely to be rolling your eyes, questioning if all these bars quantity to a tacky present with crappy, overpriced drinks. Your skepticism is legitimate. However these bars are usually not like these overplayed speakeasy ideas the place you squeeze by means of, say, a popcorn maker and click on your heels twice to enter. The cocktails are pristine. In 2022, Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards, just like the Oscars of hospitality, honored Century Grand—the advanced that homes Platform 18, UnderTow, and sister bar Gray Hen Rx—as one of many prime ten “Greatest U.S. Cocktail Bars within the West.”
Visiting these spots takes some planning. Very similar to going to a Broadway present, it’s best to attempt to reserve your seat prematurely, costume to impress, and plan to be there for the complete expertise—roughly an hour and a half. Have a look inside these Phoenix bars, the place loads of smoke, buried treasure, dramatic vibes, and most significantly, rattling wonderful drinks can be found.
