A playful Glendale bar with nostalgic flavors and games
Even as night falls, it’s hard to tell what time of day it is as you walk through the sprawling courtyards of Glendale’s Westgate Entertainment District. Twinkle lights illuminate towering palm trees and jumbo screens cast an electric glow over the revelers below. At Carousel Arcade Bar the hum of neon beckons.
The restaurant, bar and arcade is located at the south end of Westgate, between Bar Louie and The Lola. Inside, the focus is on a large, circular bar with rows of light bulbs made to look like a carousel. High top tables and plush booths wrap around two thirds of the bar, leaving space for a collection of arcade, video and fair games along the walls.
Whether you’re partying before a concert or want to end your night with a round of air hockey, Carousel Arcade Bar offers a dose of fun and nostalgia in Glendale.
Game and food options at Carousel
Carousel Arcade Bar is a relatively new addition to Glendale, opened in March 2021 by owner John Tsailakis and Salt Entertainment Group. It’s a sister bar to SALT Tacos y Tequila and Whiskey Rose, which are also both located in Westgate.
The spot functions as a full restaurant, bar and arcade with more than 20 games. Food options include burgers, baskets of fries, flatbreads and other bar classics.
An item to note, the Mac Daddy Cheeseburger ($15) comes topped with a hearty helping of macaroni and cheese.
Dessert options include jumbo milkshakes, including the S’mores Shake ($13) made with vanilla soft serve and whipped cream topped with toasted marshmallows and a s’mores Pop-Tart.
While the food options are fun, Westgate offers such a wealth of food options throughout the district, customers could make a night of it and grab dinner elsewhere and head to Carousel for pre-dinner drinks or post-dinner games.
To access the games, customers can use a modified ATM machine to load money onto game cards. These cards are then scanned at each game and can be reloaded. The game money goes surprisingly far, which is a nice departure from many of the over-priced games at arcade bars.
Play a tournament of Skee-Ball or crush your opponent in Phoenix Suns-themed NBA Hoops while others cheer. Get an arm workout with an old school fair game in which players try to knock down bowling-pin shaped clowns by throwing red balls at them or try your hand at virtual motorcycle racing.
What’s on the cocktail menu at Carousel Arcade Bar?
The drinks are as fun and bright as the decor and also seem to be trying to tap into nostalgia. Many come topped with candy and cost $11 each.
The Blue Mermaid Mule comes topped with gummy sharks, the Sour Patch Margarita gets a namesake candy garnish and the Cotton Candaze tops a vodka cranberry with a ball of fluffy cotton candy.
The Pink Panther, a mix of vodka, passion fruit and ginger beer, is sweet and enjoyable, reminiscent of pink lemonade. The bright pink drink comes garnished with a stick of rock candy.
Other drinks on the menu require a more serious sweet tooth, including the Very Berry, a mix of blueberry vodka, raspberry puree and lemon. As the dark red martini arrives at the table, it bubbles and smokes with dry ice.
Though the theatrics are fun, the most subtle options win for flavor.
Subtle drinks steal the show
Two well-balanced cocktails stood out from the selection of sugary sippers.
The Cocktail #9 is made with bourbon, sugar syrup, Cointreau and Angostura bitters. Garnished with an orange twist, this drink is served in a martini glass and provides a simple, spirit forward option.
If you are only going to have one drink at Carousel, try the Freakshow Old Fashioned. This drink provides a hint of the sweetness and fun spirit of the place, but rounds it out with a dose of classic flavor.
The cocktail is made with bourbon, elderflower liqueur, peach puree and lemon juice with an orange twist and cherry garnish.
The elderflower and peach blend to create the flavor
of candy, but the bourbon and lemon cut the sweetness to create a drink that tastes nostalgic, but also grown up.
Served in a rocks glass that has a comical slant, this drink’s sweet and bitter flavors work well to balance each other out, making it a perfect pre-game drink to sip while crushing your opponent in Mario Kart.
Details: 6770 N. Sunrise Blvd., Suite G111, Glendale. 623-877-9777, carouselarcadebar.com.
Reach the reporter at tirion.morris@arizona republic.com. Follow her on Twitter at @tirionmorris, on Facebook at Tirion Rose and on Instagram at tirionrose.
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