Best restaurants for a 2-sport doubleheader
The biggest spring training dilemma doesn’t involve packing, transportation or logistics. If ever there was a vacation where you can completely wing it once you get there, it’s a trip to watch preseason baseball in Arizona.
The real problem is that moment in the seventh inning, when you have half a buzz, it’s 3:45 p.m., and you have no idea where you and your tribe are going to go next.
I’m on my 15th annual spring training trip with two college buddies, and we spend our greatest amount of energy deciding where to watch a game after the game. We’re so focused on the postgame bar scene that we pick spring training dates coinciding with March Madness, allowing us to enjoy baseball by day and watch our brackets implode by night.
(The NCAA Tournament lasts from March 17 to April 6. Spring training baseball lasts from March 3 to April 1. Bay Area fans should also keep in mind that the Warriors play the Suns in Phoenix on March 9.)
Below are eight choices for sports watching and food eating after a day game, focusing on good proximity to the Giants’ longtime Scottsdale home and the Oakland A’s recent move to Mesa.
Fans who just want more baseball: Note that some of the newly built super-stadiums host night games — allowing for a cross-town double-header.
1 Pink Pony (Scottsdale): 3831 N. Scottsdale Road, www.pinkponyscottsdale.com. Worth going to exactly once, just so you can affirmatively answer all your friends back home who ask, “Did you go to the Pink Pony?” Once the premier spring training hangout for baseball writers and players, it has changed hands a couple of times, been de-grimed with a modern makeover, and it’s more of a typical steak house/ bar scene. But it will always have the best ghosts of any steak house/bar scene in the greater Phoenix area.
2 Don & Charlie’s (Scottsdale): 7501 E. Camelback Road, www.donandcharlies.com. Like the Pink Pony, Don & Charlie’s has a strong legacy factor — except this space (for better and worse) has managed to stay frozen in time. There’s a museum’s worth of unique sports memorabilia on the wall. The food is priced a bit high by Arizona standards, but portions are generally huge. An especially nice place to go if you’re traveling with both your kids and their grandparents. Waits are often long after Giants games — you can make online reservations on weekdays.
3 Frasher’s Steak House (Scottsdale): 2122 N. Scottsdale Road, www.frashers.com. Sadly, this insider’s favorite is getting discovered by the masses. But no amount of notoriety is going to kill the steak house’s laid-back vibe. Nothing about this oasis a short drive from Scottsdale Stadium is pretentious — the excellent St. Louis-style barbecue and steaks are served in a comfortable dining room, and the chef and owners casually interact with fans. There’s a huge bar and another TV area with couch seating.
4 Majerle’s (Phoenix): 24 N. Second St., www.majerles.com. “Thunder” Dan Majerle was a Warriors killer during his time in the 1990s playing for the Phoenix Suns. So why would a Bay Area resident patronize an establishment bearing his name? The bar food is solid, and the brick flagship restaurant offers ambience that the common strip mall sports bars of Arizona can’t match. Majerle’s is also in Scottsdale now, but we recommend heading to the original in downtown Phoenix — just a block from Chase Field.
5 Four Peaks Brewing Co. (Tempe): 1340 E. Eighth St., www.fourpeaks.com. The college town of Tempe, which borders Scottsdale, hosts an unmemorable tavern scene with too many faceless sports bars and Hooters clones. (Plus, of course, an actual Hooters.) Four Peaks Brewing Co. rises above the clutter, with excellent beer choices, locally distilled hard liquor from the Arizona Distillery Co. and a more mature vibe. We’re guessing this is the first choice for students who want to take their parents somewhere adult-friendly, and drop bad news about a decision to abandon an engineering major for English lit.
6 Long Wong’s (Mesa): 1455 S. Stapley Drive; also in Scottsdale, Phoenix; www.longwongsmesa.com. We elect this the “Best Bar If You Wake Up on the Street With Seven Crumpled Dollars in Your Pocket and Need Hangover Food.” Extremely fast and cheap bar food and beer — coming from the Bay Area, you won’t believe it when the bill comes. My college buddies and I patronized a grubby Long Wong’s in Tempe for years, before it was torn down and the lot remained empty for years like a Superfund site. We miss it fiercely.
7 Desert Eagle Brewing Co. (Mesa): 150 W. Main St., www.deserteaglebrewing.com. Bay Area residents weaned on Anchor Steam and Pliny the Younger may not be impressed yet, but the brewery scene in Arizona is definitely growing fast. Desert Eagle is situated in an unremarkable main-drag location, but the owners make up for it with a fun local vibe. There’s a steady rotation of local blues musicians playing as house bands, and a dedication to quality brewing. While it’s more of a beer aficionado’s lair than a sports bar, there’s a long bar with several big-screen televisions.
8 Diamond’s Sports Grille (Mesa): 161 N. Centennial Way, www.diamondssportsgrille.com. We’re not sure how the sports bar scene is going to shake out, now that the Cubs have left Hohokam Stadium and the A’s return to the ballpark that they opened in 1977. The Chicagofriendly bar Sluggo’s is reportedly closed, so Diamond’s Sports Grille seems like the best post-game sports bar choice for A’s fans. Walking distance from Hohokam, it’s a baseball-focused establishment with more personality than most in the area. East Bay sports fans: This may be the closest you get to a Ricky’s in the greater Phoenix area.