Well guys I am back! I am going to the Fiesta Bowl (of course) and if anybody has any questions on where to go, what to do, what VIP lists to get one, etc please reply back and I will help you out! It is good to be back
I'm probably doing a road trip situation to get there. I've heard I should stay in Scottsdale. Where will Alexa be staying?
I can't talk about that anymore.... Anyway yes depending on what exactly you like to do activity wise....definitely stay in Scottsdale. That is where all the magic of AZ happens. It is a very nice/classy city, but its more expensive, and about 30-45 minutes away from the stadium. Anybody that has lived or currently living you should stay in Scottsdale. Glendale is still developing and eventually will be a great city, but it still is in the process with all the new stuff being built. DO NOT DO NOT stay in South Phoenix aka 'Down Town' Phoenix (Phx Suns Arena Area)...very shady area
Activity wise I would say golf would be fun except that a round would cost more than the entire trip. I like to drink? I don't know, what goes on around campus? Any places that are great to hit up to eat at?
Campus? I'm 23 I don't really do the campus nightlife for 22-30 yr old in Scottsdale there is a bunch of Hip Clubs, Bars, VIP Area, etc kind of night life which is usually where I go. also there are clubs where they have "cougars" if that is your type of thing too. My brother works at a resort, so maybe I can swing some deals on golf, because in right now golf is going to get pretty popular w/ the weather. also for people coming...try out In-N-Out Burger...absolutely amazing. also a place called "The Yard House" look it up has like 120 beers ON TAP! plus really good food, plasmas, hot chicks, etc...its a pretty classy sports bar/grill There are tons of restaurants in "Old Town" Scottsdale which is the area where all the clubs, etc are at. It is like its own little city. Plus there is a place called "Philly Cheese steak Co." that is open 24/7...absolutely phenomenal @ 3am lol
Also Phoenix, Glendale, Mesa, Tempe, Scottsdale is like all merged together...everything is easy accessible with our Freeway system.
In-N-Out for Fast Food Burgers....amazing Sapporo (in Scottsdale) for Japanese Food, hot hot chicks, good atmosphere. Buca Di Beppo...italian food, family sized, so bring like 3-4 other people...not usually for 1-2 people. Durant's....great steakhouse....very well known phoenix restaurant Furio (on Sunday's) in Old Town Scottsdale....good steak/classy dining place and Sunday's are 1/2 bottle wines and nice band plays music..very good place to go...plus I am usually there! The Yard House...I'm telling you one of my personal favorite restaurants...they place classic rock and roll, cute staff, 100 + beers on tap, and great food I'll think of some more
Cactus Wren and As of 2007 the population of the city was 240,410. Scottsdale is regarded as an upscale tourist and shopping destination and as a representation of western American style. The New York Times described downtown Scottsdale as "a desert version of Miami's South Beach" and as having "plenty of late night partying and a buzzing hotel scene.
I'm 24 so I figured maybe dropping by Campus or something and checking out the stadium or something like that. This place of beer you speak of. This intrigues me. Any specials? Will I be paying 4 bucks a beer or do they do something cool where I get to pay 1-2 bucks a beer? In-N-Out. It is a great place. Ate it up in Cali and still wear my shirt with pride. Nice place to **** up on the run.
I'm telling you...you should try it out! Go to the website to check it out. They have Happy Hour, but I don't know exactly when it is! Hope to see you AZ, Ill get you a round or two or three
Where is the best birding site in Phoenix? Is there non-smoking policies in the restaurants? Bars? Good local brew pubs with highly rated beers? Hiking, natural attractions?
Anyone who talks about both Buca di Beppo and VIP lists on a something to do thread...I'm out. (Actually, anyone who talks about either one of those...I'm out.)
Tempe sucks as a college town? What, are freaking crazy!!! I would put it in the top 5 in the nation, it probably is in the top 10 college towns. 1.) Reason number 1 is Hot Co-eds, that right there makes it a great college town.
I'm going to try to save this thread from complete disaster and repost what I wrote on another board ...As xx said in his earlier post, its kind of difficult to stumble upon cool **** -- you kind of have to know what you are doing or know someone who will take you around since everything is so spread out and randomized.There are exceptions ... as xx mentioned ... Old Town scottsdale. This is about the most urbanized part of the Valley and very walkable with a ton of really good restaurants either a walk or cab ride away. Lots of bars in the area and probably most of the crowd that y'all are looking for anyway.Most of it is the J.Black's, Union Station, Molotov, The Ranch style of bar with their own twists on it. Its kind of a headache, but if you like W. 6th, you'll like old town Scottsdale. There are some great bars in that area like Mickey's Hangover, which coincidentally is the Ohio State gamewatch spot, but on other nights its a pretty nifty bar with a cool patio. Also in Old Town, the Rusty Spur will be the anti-Ohio State spot -- a proper country bar with a three piece playing REK and Willie. I think the drummer is a Texas Ex or something. One time he lent us the blow-up inflatable 8 foot bevo for a gamewatch or something. I don't know ... i went in there with a buddy to get it and an our later was spun out again f'ed up on shiner and shots of jack. And I was carrying a 8 foot bevo in downtown scottsdale. Oh, and the Rusty Spur is smaaaalll.I also had some good times at Drift, which tiptoes on the dirtyscottsdale.com side, but is still a good tiki bar that apparently has good food. Of course there are dozens of bars inbetween these spots that you can grab a drink at, but these form a pretty nice triangle as destination points. Also, those who don't regard Phx as a foodie city doesn't know their ****. Lots of well-regarded chefs here (Nobu owns SeaSaw, Peter Kasperski's Cowboy Ciao and Digestif are awesome, one of three Roka Akor worldwide, Chris Bianco at Pizzeria Bianco, etc). While dining is reasonable for a major tourist city, drinking tends to be on the expensive side for whatever reason. As xx said, you're best bet is probably to stay in OT scottsdale, or if you must downtown Tempe. There are some decent spots and will probably have a lot of ohio state fans polluting the place. Rula Bula on Mill Ave is a non-chain Fado. Great patio (sensing the trend here that Valley establishments are made-broken by their patio seating?) and the best fish-n-chips i've ever had (including London). Off of Mill Ave on Ash St, is one of my favorite bars ever Casey Moore's that is an old house conversion in the middle of a Tempe neighborhood. Its mostly all outdoors and very chill with a mix of clientele. Then, to the north of Mill is Four Peaks Brewery which has turned into more of a ****-show lately, but still the powerhouse of local brews -- and pretty much the only local brew that is bottled and sold in stores. The crown jewel of Phoenix dining is supposed to be Pizzeria Bianco in downtown Phoenix (Heritage Square), but since there are no reservations allowed unless you can ball like Amare or Nash, you will be waiting anywhere from 2-3 hours. Its been rated by several as the #1 pizza in the US. Personally, I fuckin love this place ... there are others who ***** about "fuckin 3 hour wait for pizza!!!" Its more of a night-out event. There are two bars (Bar Bianco & The Rose and Crown) and the front patio of Pizzeria Bianco that you are welcome to wait at and they will go get you when your table is ready. If you go, don't go hungry. The experience is worth it, and since they close fairly early, you will still have enough time to get to other parts of the valley for after dinner drinks. I'm pretty sure they are closed on sunday (C. Bianco makes every single pizza himself, so he gives himself the day off).I think that the other place worth making a special trip to is Lo-Lo's Chicken and Waffles. I've been to Roscoe's and I've eaten the **** at Cafeteria in NYC and Lo-Lo's dominates them both. There is usually a wait, but at least the weather is nice right now. If you go on a sunday, beat the church crowd there, which will usually show up around noon.A couple of upscale places that are kitschy and cool are Durant's Steakhouse in midtown Phoenix, which pulls hard from the time when Phoenix was a mafia safe haven. So the atmoshere is cool. The food is decent. My fiancee loves it, and I give it a solid 7 ... but it is still the place we went for our post-engagement dinner because the ambiance is pretty neat. Central ave in Midtown also has some decent (although frequently dead on an off night) bars if you want a night cap.I've never been to Donovan's (Biltmore area) or City Hall steakhouses (Scottsdale area), but those are supposed to be two of the best anywhere in the western part of the US from what I've heard and read. Personally, my go-to restaurant for fine dining is Lon's at the Hermosa in Paradise Valley (neighbors scottsdale). They do some very special **** with their menu and their wine selection is impressive. Also, I'm a well-documented In n Out fan. There is one in Glendale that could be convenient coming off the 10. Or there is a fairly newish one in Tempe by ASU. If you are driving into PHX from Austin (or wherever out east), you can take the chandler exit and go north for the one in Chandler. IIRC, its the furthest east I n O restaurant in the US. I absolutely echo xx's suggestion of a morning hike. There is very few places that have the immense amount of urban hiking than Phoenix does. Camelback is my #1, but it is fuckin difficult and will probably kick your *** if you aren't used to it. Piestawa Peak is also nearby and is steeper, but shorter. Both of those will take about an hour and a half max for ascent and descent. For an easier climb with the same stellar views, go to South Mountain. You can see Glendale from this South Phoenix mountain, and if you know anything about the valley, you will know that this is faaaaar. If you decide to the Tonto National Forest, do as BS instructed and make a post-hike pitstop at Greasewood Flat in far north Scottsdale. Worth the time, and there is nothing quite like it. It was voted in the top 50 bars in Esquire this past year, FWIW. Finally, Glendale is probably somewhere you want to stay out of until gameday. However, something that is pretty unique is that the stadium was literally built out in the middle of cotton fields with NOTHING surrounding it three years ago. Now, it has been built up to have a "town square" type appeal to it (albeit, chain restaurant and bars like "Margaritaville" and "The Yard House") ... but still kind of different in that you can either choose to tailgate or bar hop. I know what I'd choose, but its up to you. I would also suggest looking into the Hotel Valley Ho in old town scottsdale as the room of the week. A renovated 50s throwback kitschy hotel that is reasonably priced. Kind-of a party vibe, hipster crowd, FYI. Anyway, hope this helps and if you need any clarification or advice, feel free to PM me.
Great post Bottlecap- Last time I was at Lo-Lo's we sat next to Amare Stoudemire. If you go to Four-Peaks have a Kiltlifter- best beer there. Rusty Spur is cool but it is very small. And I lived in Phoenix for several years and Tempe does indeed suck-*** as a college town with the exception of the hot co-eds. Flagstaff is a way better college town than Tempe. But to each his own... maybe I'm just spoiled by Austin. Squaw Peak (Piestewa) is a nice hike, but I prefer National trail on South Mountain.
Thanks for the info everyone. A few things come to mind that I am curious about... - Where will all the Texas fans be? - Where will all the OSU fans be? - Where will all the ladies be?
Don't go to Mickey's Hangover....it is an Ohio State Bar Ladies will be in Old Town every night....especially Wednesday through Sunday ASU Bar Area might be slow, because everybody is gone back home for break (youngin's)
Keep checking HornFans .... Robert/Katy are organizing something and will let us know the final details here. Kinda hope they find a place like Hoffbrau in Dallas for Texas fans to congregate .... that was a blast!!
What is The Thing? The billboards on I-10 told me it was the mystery of the desert. Despite thousands of billboards I chose not to stop. Did anybody stop driving to/from either rose bowl? If so, what was it?
Flagstaff is a better college town than Tempe, dude what are you smoking? What is the one thing that makes a college town, HOT Chicks!!!!! ASU can compete with any school in the country!!!!
