Arizona Hot Spots: Acitvities and Dining
They don’t call it the South Beach of the Desert for nothing. With more than 80 nightlife options—including wine bars, restaurants, lounges and dance clubs— within walking distance of one another, downtown Scottsdale pulses with action after dark. See experiencescottsdale.com for a complete menu.
Get Cultured
Scottsdale boasts one of the highest concentration of art galleries and studios in the nation. For 39 years, those along Main Street and Marshall Way open their doors every Thursday, from 7 to 9 p.m., for the free Artwalk, where you can drink and eat while taking in the art. Meanwhile, down at Tucson’s Museum of Art, the 8th Annual World Margarita championship will take place October 25 as part of the Tucson Culinary Festival.
Hot Spots
- Scottsdale Fashion Square is the largest shopping mall in the American Southwest, with hundreds of stores and restaurants filling 2 million square feet of space.
- Kierland Commons sprawls in openair glory across north Scottsdale. It’s the see-and-be-seen kind of place.
- Scottsdale Gun Club rents everything from eye and ear protection to handguns and machine guns at its indoor range.
- Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix has to be one of the cooler cultural attractions around. More than 300 exhibits and 10,000 items from around the world fill the space.MIM stages concerts, videos and all things musical.
- Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving in Chandler lets you pretend you’re Jimmie Johnson, who was also once a student.
- Biosphere 2 at the University of Arizona in Tucson approxmiates what life on another planet would be like.
Eat and Drink in Style
Drink in the colorful sunsets on Camelback Mountain while dining alfresco at the award-winning mountaintop Elements at Sanctuary on Camelback in Paradise Valley.
elementsrestaurant.com
Handlebar J, the Rusty Spur and Pinnacle Peak Patio Steakhouse—all in Scottsdale—rattle the rafters with country music and straight-up grub and beer. For a Wild West treat, two-step to Rawhide Western Town & Steakhouse in Chandler.
Monkey Burger is the name of a popular Tucson restaurant, not a menu item at it. Innovative offerings include The Sonoran—a marriage of Chihuahua cheese, shredded cabbage, bacon and avocado salsa.
monkeyburgerrestaurant.com
Chelsea’s Kitchen
Phoenix
chelseaskitchenaz.com;
602-957-2555
Downtown Kitchen + Cocktails
Tucson
downtownkitchen.com
520-623-7700
La Hacienda at the Scottsdale Princess
fairmont.com/Scottsdale
480-585-4848 x.7320
Mastro’s Ocean Club
Scottsdale
mastrosrestaurants.com
480-443-8555
Orange Sky Restaurant at Talking Stick
Scottsdale
talkingstickresort.com
480-850-8606
Arizona-Sonora Desert Musuem
Tucson
desertmuseum.org;
520-883-2702
Talisen West
Scottsdale
franklloydwright.org;
480-627-5340
Get more Arizona travel information here:
- Luxury Lodging: Scottsdale, Phoenix and Beyond
- Resort Roundup: The Old Pueblo
- Where to Play: Tucson and Southern Arizona
- Where to Play: Scottsdale, Phoenix and Beyond
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