Category: craft beer

Sips & Bites: News you can use from the Phoenix restaurant community

Quick sips & bites of news about what’s going on around the Phoenix restaurant community, breweries and wineries.

Duckhorn Wine Dinner at The Boulders Resort &Spa

Reservations are being taken for the March 11th dinner with the iconic Napa Valley winery. The 4-course dinner will be paired with wines only found at the winery. Dinner will be under the stars in the resort’s Organic Garden. Seats are $175 per person and reservations can be made by calling 480-595-4668.

PHX Beer Co.’s new beer supports Arizona Craft Brewers Guild

The new Hefeweizen styled beer, Rebuild the Guild Benefit Beer donates part of the sales to the struggling non-profit while supplies last. Reliant on events the ACBG has not been able to hold any due to the pandemic. Saturday March 27th both Scottsdale & Phoenix locations will donate all money from sales to the organization that support and lobbies for Arizona’s craft brewers.

Cider Corps owner receives big honor

Veteran and owner Jason Duren was named one of 29 Rising Stars in the food and beverage industry from around the country. FSR Magazine recognizes people in the industry who are making a positive change in the industry. Two of the reasons for the honor are Jason’s leadership in the cider industry and his continued support of the veteran community.

Belle’s Nashville Kitchen starts nutritious meal prep service

The new honky tonk bar in Old Town Scottsdale just launched “Belle’s on Wheels” meal prep service. Chef Samantha Roberts created a clean eating & nutritious selection of meals high in protein, low in sodium with no added chemicals. Gluten free and dairy free meals are available. Meals are made in advance with proteins costing $4-$14 per serving and sides are $3. Buying in bulk for family meals is also an option. Curbside and in- store pick -up is available with deliveries available for those within 3 miles of the restaurant. To order your meals call 480-590-3190 or visit their website.

World Famous cream puffs coming to Scottsdale

Beard Papa’s build your own cream puffs opens its newest location at Scottsdale Quarter on Saturday February 27th. The Japanese based bakery will offer free cream puffs with all purchases and a FREE SWAG bag to the first 100 customers.

 

Sips & Bites: News you can use from the Phoenix restaurant community

Quick sips & bites of news about what’s going on around the Phoenix restaurant community, breweries and wineries.

New Year, new menu at Kasai Japanese Steakhouse

The Scottsdale teppanyaki restaurant added several new dishes and a dozen cocktails to its menu. Coconut Chicken Skewers, Lobster Fried Rice and Kabayaki Scallops are just a few of the new dishes. Cocktails include the Woodsman & Sweet Orchard which uses Japanese whiskeys and other ingredients. A full list of sake and Japanese whiskey are available.

Keto friendly bread now available from Mediterra Bakehouse

The family-owned artisan bakery now sells breads for those who follow a keto diet. Keto wheat flower is lower in carbohydrates and rich in protein. Sunflower, flax and sesame seeds are added for more nutritional value. Each loaf is $8 and can be found at local farmer’s markets, AJ’s Fine Foods, Divine Bakery, Luci’s Healthy Marketplace and Le Grande Orange.

Michael Waltrip Brewing Co. partners with Mobetta Golf Tour

Golfer John Daly co-founded the tour has named the NASCAR champions  “Two Times” beers “Official Beer of the Mobetta Tour”. A Phoenix brewery and taproom are in development.

Match Market & Bar to host Great Gatsby dinner

The signature restaurant at the Found:RE Hotel will be transformed into an epic event on Saturday February 6th. A Gatsby inspired five-course dinner paired with themed cocktails of the times will be served to those in attendance. Dinner is called for 7 p.m. and is $75 per person and can be purchased here.

Morning Squeeze coming to downtown Phoenix

The popular breakfast and lunch spot will open its 3rd location in the Spring at 1st and Washington streets. Known for playing 70s and 80s music the new restaurant will include an indoor and outdoor bar, grab n go area for take- away food and ample outlets to plug in your devices for people to meet, eat & work.

 

Sips & Bites: News you can use from the Phoenix restaurant community

Quick sips & bites of news about what’s going on around the Phoenix restaurant community, breweries and wineries.

All Mac & Cheese dishes Buy 1, Get 1 Free at Fired Pie

In honor of National Cheese Lovers Day on Wednesday January 20th all locations are offering up the deal on the popular comfort food. Baked and topped with Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs guests can choose from 40 different toppings. This deal is only good for dine-in and is good on mac n cheese of equal or lesser value.

Found:RE Hotel’s Passport Series goes to Mexico

The downtown Phoenix hotel hosts their monthly night with international flavor on Saturday January 16th. The pool and bar area will be transformed for a Mexican vacation with food, cocktails and more. The fiesta goes from 6 – 10 p.m. and more information can be found on their website.

Good news as Cider Corps releases seasonal pie ciders

The popular Pumpkin Pie, Peach Cobbler & Cherry Crisp ciders are now available by the can. Delayed due to the pandemic as ingredients were harder to source these ciders are available for a limited time. 6-packs are $20 and include 2 of each cider or can be purchased individually to be drank at the cidery. 6-packs can be ordered in advance for take away at https://www.toasttab.com/cider-corps-31-s-robson-103/v3

Signature cakes turn to pies at Chase’s Diner

Saturday January 23rd is National Pie Day at the Chandler diner, known for their scratch made desserts, is making two signature pies for the occasion. Turning their Carrot & German Chocolate Cake into pies guest can enjoy them by the slice ($4.29) or the whole darn pie ($13.99). Whole pies need to be ordered in advance.

Round 5 of Hotel Valley Ho’s Versus Series pits beer vs. wine

Which goes better with food, beer or wine? Find out on January 23rd when the Old Town Scottsdale hotel hosts another reception and three-course dinner. Tempe’s Huss Brewing Co. and Sonoma County’s Rodney Strong Vineyards will pair the beers and wines to see who wins. Dinner starts at 6:30 p.m. and is $129++ per person.

Hiring happening at new Twin Peaks Restaurant in Tempe

Twin Peaks Restaurant is opening new location at Tempe Marketplace in February and is hiring over 100 people for jobs throughout the restaurant. The new restaurant is a build-up of over 7,500 square feet of indoor and outdoor dining spaces and a large kitchen.

“We are very excited to introduce Twin Peaks’ delicious scratch-made food and ice-cold beer to everyone in Tempe,” said Franchise Owner Carolyn Vangelos. “With 102 TVs located throughout the sports lodge, Twin Peaks will definitely be the best spot for locals to cheer on their favorite teams. We’ve secured a great location on the south side of Tempe Marketplace, easily accessible from Rio Salado Parkway, so our next step is to hire a talented group of outgoing people to join us in preparation for our grand opening.”

hiring
Lumber Jills

Flexible work hours and a fun work environment is just a couple of reasons to find work at Twin Peaks. They’re hiring 65 Twin Peaks Girls and 35 Heart of the House members including cooks, hostess, bartenders and others. Interested candidates can drop by the restaurant any day of the week from 10 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. to apply for a job or can apply online.

Once opened the sports bar will serve comfort food, 32 beers on tap including local craft beers and a full bar.

This will be the 4th Phoenix area location and will be at 2050 E Rio Salado Parkway Tempe, AZ 85281. For more information visit their website.

Atlas Bistro owner takes over AZ Wine Co. renames it Atlas Wines

The once legendary AZ Wine Co. is no more as Todd Sawyer, owner of the award-winning Atlas Bistro has bought the boutique wine shop. After several months of re-modeling Atlas Wines is reminiscent of AZ Wine’s early days of mid 1990s.

The original AZ Wine Co. has played a big part in the local wine community as it was one of only a few places in the Phoenix area to get hard to find wines and Arizona made wines. Young wine geeks would shop the aisles, read labels, speak with knowledgeable staff and even “try before you buy” wines. Restaurateurs, future sommeliers, chefs and more knew they could find good wines at reasonable prices at the south Scottsdale shop. As time went by the valley grew, wine became mainstream and consumers would start to buy wine at big box stores or other wine shops/bars closer to home.

I had a first-hand look as I was an early employee at AZ Wine Co. learning about wines and becoming a resource to regular customers or someone just stopping in for a gift. To this day have friends I met working their and bump into customers around town asking for wine advice and reminisce about the good ‘ol days.

Gone are the living room sofas, rows and rows of wines, storage space and large wine bar. Sawyer reduced the square footage by 2/3rds and got rid of dead inventory and hopes a local restaurant will take over the left over store front.

Atlas Wines compliments Atlas Bistro

The wine shop plays an integral part to Sawyer’s Atlas Bistro as the small restaurant doesn’t serve wine and the wine friendly menu had customers bringing their own wine (BYO) or buying a bottle or two at AZ Wine. It was a no brainer for him to take over the shop to compliment the restaurant as he was sharing the wine buying for several years. Local wine geek Jock Wulffson continues to help Sawyer with wine buying and with customer relations. Wulffson himself is well known in the local wine community as he’s been involved with local wine & food groups and owned his own wine shop before coming to AZ Wine Co.

Customers will still find food worthy wines from across the globe from reputable wineries and lesser known, small production wineries. Craft beers from Arizona along with imported and domestic beers are available in the refrigerator. Several hundred labels are on shelves from everyday drinkers at under $20 to highly rated and sought after wines costing the price of a monthly car payment. The small wine bar will pour a selection of wines and beers once Covid-19 restrictions allow for.

Sawyer hopes to be re-opening Atlas Bistro in the near future for dinner and once opened it will provide European styled appetizers at the wine bar.

Atlas Wines is at 2515 N. Scottsdale Rd. Scottsdale 85257. (480)423-9305. Follow them on Facebook, Instagram or see their website.

 

The Watermark Tempe to welcome Dog Haus Biergarten in early 2021

Restaurants are putting 2020 behind them and moving forward with new locations in 2021. Dog Haus, the gourmet hot dogs and sausages fast casual concept will open another location along Tempe Town Lake at the new Watermark Tempe. Expected to open in early in the New Year Dog Haus joins Sweet Republic Ice Cream, Monroe’s Hot Chicken and Crumbl Cookies at the mixed-use development.

The Watermark Tempe Dog Haus will be franchisee Jeron Boemer’s second location in Arizona, his first is in Yuma and opened in 2015. “I am excited to bring Dog Haus’ unique and delicious offerings to the Tempe community. Having found this ideal location, I know the Dog Haus culture of serving excellent food with welcoming service in a fun atmosphere will be embraced by the vibrant and growing Tempe neighborhood.”

Joining gourmet hot dogs on the menu will be Black Angus burgers, one of a kind fried chicken creations, side dishes and 24 craft beers on tap. Signature Haus cocktails are being crafted by Phil Willis of “Bar Rescue”. The 2,444 square foot restaurant includes a full bar and dog friendly patio.

Guest’s favorite hot dogs include Sooo Cali, with wild arugula, avocado, tomato, crispy onions and spicy basil aioli, and the Reservoir Hog, featuring a Polish kielbasa, Haus chili, Haus slaw and yellow mustard. Haus burgers include The Freiburger®, with white American cheese, fries, Haus slaw, fried egg and mayo, and the Holy Aioli, with white American cheese, smoked bacon, caramelized onions and garlic aioli. Burgers are made with beef from humanely raised Black Angus cows and all sausages and hot dogs are free of added nitrates and made with hormone- and antibiotic-free meat.

Dog Haus Tempe Biergarten will be at 430 N. Scottsdale Rd 85281. For more information and updates visit their website.

Sips & Bites: News you can use from the Phoenix restaurant community

Quick sips & bites of news about what’s going on around the Phoenix restaurant community, breweries and wineries.

PHX Beer Co. goes to the dogs

The Scottsdale location with its dog friendly patio is now serving grass fed burgers ($8) and grilled chicken ($5) for man’s best friend. They’ve also started making their own dog bones for purchase at all locations. Puppy friendly ingredients include the breweries spent grain, peanut butter, whole wheat flour and eggs. A portion of sales of single 3 oz. or 18 packs bones are donated to the Arizona Small Dog Rescue.

Los Sombreros Mesa Grand Opening party

Wednesday December 16th is the Grand Opening of the third location of the regional Mexican restaurant. From 11 a.m. – 9 p.m. guests can get 50% off food & drink when you dine-in or take-out except for family meals. Reservations are recommended. The celebration continues Thursday – Sunday with House Margaritas only $3.

Pedal Haus Brewery celebrates with Ugly Sweater Party

The downtown Tempe brewpub celebrates its 5 year anniversary with its traditional party. Wednesday December 16th party goers can win $50 for the Ugliest Sweater, enjoy live music starting at 6 p.m. and Happy Hour all night starting at 3 p.m. VIP tickets are $5 and includes 2 drinks and slice of cake with proceeds going to Rob Dollar Foundation.

Koibito Poke bottles 2 popular sauces.

Customers can now take a bottle or 2 home with them of Island Teriyaki or Spicy Shoyu sauces. Both are gluten-free and made with natural ingredients for the best tasting and healthy sauces. Each bottle is $6.99 and can be purchased at any of their locations around the valley.

New seasonal menu at Pita Jungle

Customers favorite dishes from the past are now on the new “Pita Jungle Favorites, Hello Again” menu at all Phoenix, Tucson and Flagstaff locations. The new Mediterranean Ramen joins the return of Seared Ahi Tuna Hummus, Burrito of the Sea and Baba Gnoosh.

IL Bosco Pizza opening new location in downtown Phoenix

You can never have enough good pizza and with many choices in downtown Phoenix another pizza oven is getting fired up. Scottsdale’s award-winning IL Bosco Wood Fired Pizza hopes to be open no later than late December in the former Dvina Modern Fare at 918 N. 5th Street.

Owners Jeff Carlberg and John Dorsey are excited to bring their quality pizza, experience and atmosphere to the downtown restaurant scene. “This is the place, we fell in love with the decor, the downtown vibe, everything,” Carlberg says. “We are really happy to be part of the downtown community.” IL Bosco Wood Fired Pizza will be housed in a 100 year-old bungalow that was also Jobot Coffee’s original location.

Chef Chris is looking forward to a larger kitchen than he’s used to in Scottsdale. With the larger kitchen he’ll be able to increase the offering of pizzas, salads and appetizers. A full bar allows the new location to offer signature cocktails along with its California and Italian wine and craft beer list.

An east facing patio will allow the restaurant to provide a safe and healthy environment for dine-in and will offer take-out and delivery. For more information and updates visit their website.

Angelo’s Ale on tap at Barro’s Pizza in the East Valley

Beer drinkers wanting to taste the new Angelo’s Ale from Four Beaks Brewing Company need to get the east valley. It’s for a good cause as Barro’s Pizza’s east valley locations will pour the beer named after Barro’s founder Angelo Barro. In 1961 Angelo opened the first restaurant Chicago then opening in Arizona in 1980. He passed away from Alzheimer’s in 2015 and proceeds from Angelo’s Ale are being donated to the Alzheimer’s Association, Desert Southwest Chapter.

“We are really moved by Four Peaks’ offer and partnership to honor our Dad with a local brew,” said Bruce Barro, co-owner of Barro’s Pizza. “We saw our dad suffer from Alzheimer’s, and it means a lot to be able to help fund Alzheimer’s education and support.”

During a kickoff event in mid-November a $5,000 check was presented to the Association.

There is no better combination than pizza and beer,” said Rocky Arredondo, Four Peaks’ sr. director of marketing. “We wanted to find a way to honor the patriarch of the Barro family while also Four Peaks Brewing Company and Barro’s Pizza helping fight Alzheimer’s. He was an important icon in Arizona, and it only felt right to come up with a brew that we could dedicate to him. We’re honored to have our beer available at Barro’s locations across the East Valley.”

 

Expansion happening again for Cider Corps in 2021

The continued popularity of cider is causing Mesa’s Cider Corps to expand for the 2nd time since opening three years ago. This expansion has the veteran owned business move production to a new larger facility in nearby Gilbert in mid-2021. Don’t worry cider drinkers the downtown Mesa taproom will still be open along with Myke’s Pizza.

Co-owners brothers Josh and Jason Duren (retired U.S.M.C.) need the additional space to meet demand for its cans and keg business. “Our immediate goal is to ramp up production to be able to share our ciders with even more people in Arizona,” said Josh Duren. “As we grow, it’s nice to have kind of a blank page of space that can evolve as we do, and that can adapt as life beyond the pandemic does.”

Expansion plans in Gilbert

The 11,500 sq.ft. Gilbert facility will have a main building for production and retail sales for customers to take cider home. When it becomes safe to do so the brothers will host tours of the cidery and have events scheduled. Upon entry to the facility a canning line will be visible and customers can see the packaging process. A second building will be used for cold storage. The additional production will allow for experimentation of new ciders and techniques.

The current equipment will be moved and new equipment will be purchased so they can triple production to 1,000 barrels. Cider Corps opened in November 2017 and in 2019 expanded with by 2,000 sq. ft to accommodate the growth of their ciders.

“We get a ton of people from the East Valley, Gilbert and beyond, who make the trek to the taproom. We’re really excited about being closer for them” he said. “But I’m just as excited about being able to grow and create more ciders for all of Arizona”. The new facility will be at 685 S. Gilbert Rd. Gilbert 85296.