Top Five Bars for a Fall Saturday in Tempe
When the monsoon cranks up and Arizona State football draws nigh, where do you dream of raising your glass in honor of impending Sun Devil victories?
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Be sure to check out our farewell to Camp Tontozona and our assessment of Rudy Carpenter’s legacy.
We fondly remember the days of knocking back a Kilt Lifter on a misted patio overlooking Mill Avenue like they were just last weekend. Probably because they were.
But for those who’ve outgrown Mill (or have yet to discover it) the Arizona Republic listed their picks as Tempe’s six best bars. It failed to impress. Zuma Grill? Big Bang? Puhlease, we’d rather make a beer run to the Sexy Safeway and call it a night.
So, here’s our own top five.
1. Four Peaks Brewery: The only thing holding back Four Peaks is its location—and popularity. Parking and seating are hard to come by on game nights, but at least their beer’s available at the next two spots on our list.
2. Casey Moore’s Oyster House: Jimmy Eat World say Ninth and Ash on a Tuesday night. We say every night is a good night to visit this unique haunt. Try the French Onion Soup. It’ the best, Jerry. The best.
3. The Tavern on Mill: Not the best postgame destination unless you seek to be ground upon by coeds. But Tavern’s excellent wraps, ample patio space and wall of TVs are perfect for pregame.
4. Mill Cue Club: When it came time to mourn ASU’s loss to LSU a couple years back, you know we were drowning our sorrows in $4.50 Long Island Ice Teas. Damn you, Jamarcus Russell. Damn you!
5. Ra Sushi: Upon our Friday evening release from the ol’ cubicle farm, we often find ourselves swilling sake bombers and cheap sushi. And we hear they’re honoring happy hour prices on Saturdays now too.
Oh, and an honorable mention shout-out to McDuffy’s, even if only for memories of the 2002 ASU-Oregon game. Like Metallica without Cliff Burton, Tempe just isn’t the same without you.
Now, don’t be shy. Debate our list or relive your favorite ASU-related bar memory in the comments.
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the ASU game over Oregon at McDuffys was one of the greatest times I’ve had being a Sun Devil. That room was deafening when we started the come back.
I like your site Matt. I’ve had it bookmarked, just haven’t had a lot of time this week to respond. Keep up the good work and hopefully we’ll have much to discuss this year with ASU football.
I was with Matt when many of these memories were created, and Nate, I have to agree with you about the deafening roars at McDuffy’s. I remember standing on a chair and going crazy. Andrew Walter was fun, wasn’t he? 536 yards in that game!
I can’t argue with the Top 5 list, but I would add one more drinking/ASU memory that Matt will surely appreciate. It had something to do with Iowa in town, a luxury box and two bottles of Capitan Morgan. Thanks Marsh!
I would like to also mention a pre- and postgame stop that we enjoyed last year: Bisonwitches. But only if they bring back the massive schooners of beer! And Four Peaks also has a great breakfast on Sundays and the Four Peaks Mimosa…..for when you need a little hair of the dog….
Thanks for the kind words, Nate.
I really beleive that anyone who was at McDuffy’s that day will never forget it. Easily the most memorable sports viewing experience I’ve ever had that didn’t involve me being at the event. What an electric atmosphere!
Check out this article from the archives …
When Arizona State football fan Kevin Felix of Gilbert found out the Sun Devils’ road game Saturday at Oregon would not be televised, he was livid.
“When we heard it wasn’t going to be picked up (on television), we were jumping and screaming,” Felix said.
But the ASU Alumni Association used a little modern technology to save Felix and more than 1,200 other East Valley football fans who packed into McDuffy’s sports bar in Tempe from listening to ASU’s 45-42 upset win over the Ducks on radio.
Gold-clad members of the overflow crowd stood four rows deep at the bar, sat on pool tables and on the floor, and cheered loudly as the Sun Devils rallied from a 21-point first-half deficit to post their biggest victory since 1997.
Midway through the third quarter, McDuffy’s general manager, Jake Guzman, was forced to close the bar’s doors to customers who were drawn to the establishment by cellular phone-toting patrons inside. Not to be deterred, fans lined the fence around McDuffy’s and watched the game on television sets on the patio.
“I expected a big turnout, but nothing like this,” Guzman said. “We’ve never had to turn people away when the team was on the road.”
The week leading up to the impromptu party was filled with enough cloak-and-dagger intrigue to fuel a bad James Bond film.
Days after it was announced the game wouldn’t be televised in Oregon or Arizona, an anonymous Internet-user known only as “L.A. Duck” posted the coordinates for the Oregon Sports Network’s satellite feed of the game on a popular ASU message board called Cactus Ranch. The feed was intended for the Yes Network, a New York-based cable channel that broadcasts Oregon football games on tape delay.
The ASU Alumni Association saw the post and contacted McDuffy’s about hosting a viewing party. When McDuffy’s agreed, the association announced the party on e-mail lists and Cactus Ranch. Within two days, the association received 280 RSVPs and McDuffy’s was fielding calls from sports bars up and down the West Coast for the coordinates. The ABC network also saw the Internet messages and had the feed’s coordinates changed.
But Guzman’s satellite operator was able to locate the new feed and the party was on to the delight of ASU fans.
“When (the feed) goes into the sky if you have the proper equipment you can pull it down,” Guzman said. “I’d say the East Valley is definitely jumping on the (ASU) bandwagon.”
It still amazes me how many people on the various message boards and websites bring up that ASU-Oregon game at McDuffy’s. In a few years it’s gonna sound like the place held as many people as SDS (and it just about sounded that loud in there too.)
Oh you youngsters! We are so fortunate to have those wonderful establishments now for pre and post game activities but for a moment let us go way back to the glory days. The days when Mill Ave was just Mill Ave and Four Peaks was still a dairy. The only entertainment in walking distance was the newly opened Minder Binders or Northbank (now known as Chili’s). Neither compares to following ice chests to Sin City after the Saturday evening game. That even pales to the extraordinary evening when we were treated like royalty. That evening began with spotlight on a Jimmy Hendrix impersonator performing to the JH version of the Star Spangled Banner on the roof of Irish Hall. WOW!