Rose & Crown to close Nov. 21

For more than a decade, The Rose & Crown Pub has been a downtown Phoenix destination for a cold pint and some of the best fish and chips in town. In particular, the bar has been a haven for soccer fans, who have counted on the English pub to host sometimes rowdy, often crowded viewing parties for English Premier League games.

General manager Donny Phillippi says the pub’s popularity has more than exceeded expectations.

“It just kind of took a turn we never thought it would,” he says.

Ironically, that’s also the reason the bar will close at its current location in Heritage Square on Wednesday, Nov. 21, the day before Thanksgiving.

Phillippi is planning a “goodbye to Heritage Square party” for Saturday, Nov. 17.

“I mean, we came here when there was nothing around us,” says Phillippi, who was the pub’s original owner. “We just kind of outgrew Heritage Square,” which today also houses acclaimed restaurants Pizzeria Bianco and Nobuo at Teeter House.

In October, pub regulars heard the bar would be closing when Phillippi, in a closed Facebook group, posted about the possibility of moving.

“At that point, we really had no idea what was going on,” he says.

Now, however, he’s sure the bar will close. But he and the pub’s current owner, Jason Bell, are busy scouting new home’s for The Rose & Crown.

“Our main goal is to stay downtown,” Phillippi says. “We’re looking at a few spots. But we’re definitely moving.”

According to a lawyer for the Heritage Square Foundation, which manages the property for the city of Phoenix, the bar’s lease is up at the end of November.