Tired of the same old restaurants with the same old menu? Try these entertaining and unique restaurants throughout the Valley that not only serve great food but also have unique themes and quirky decorations to ensure you’ll have an enjoyable night.
Snakes and Lattes Tempe
You won’t be board at this restaurant. The newly-opened Snakes and Lattes in downtown Tempe provides entertainment for every type of person thanks to their immense gaming library. For $5 a person, you can play: Apples to Apples, Monopoly, Pictionary and more. The owners named the restaurant after the board game Snakes and Ladders. Because the chain originates from Canada, the menu offers a selection of poutines, a dish that includes fries, cheese curds and gravy. However, the gaming restaurant is open from 7 a.m. to midnight each day of the week, so you also have a multitude of café options from lattes to cold brew. You can also choose from a variety of beers, wines and cocktails.
MacAlpine’s Diner & Soda Fountain
This old-fashioned diner serves comfort food and history. The restaurant opened as a pharmacy in 1929 on what is now 7th Street and Oak Street. It became the local soda fountain and attracted guests such as Barry Goldwater, the U.S. Senator and presidential nominee. The diner has an extensive ice cream and ice cream sodas menu. They also have over 99 syrup flavors of soda, such as s’mores and strawberry cheesecake.
The Perch Brewery and Pub
Over 50 tropical rescue birds have found their home at this brewery in Chandler. According to their website, The Perch helps to “rebuild trusting relationships with unwanted, abandoned, abused and neglected pet birds and give them a loving forever home.” While providing a second chance for these colorful birds, the Brewery also has 40 beers on tap and their ever-changing selection of Perch-made brews. Their menu provides an assortment of foods for brunch, lunch, happy hour and dinner.
The Duce
This quirky hangout spot has music, a boxing ring, macaroni and cheese muffins, corn hole and hula hoops. The Duce in Phoenix looks like it’s in a massive warehouse and the décor has a vintage flair. The food is provided by an in-place food truck. You can enjoy organic food and drinks, and they have karaoke on Wednesday nights and Latin dancing on Thursday nights.
Uncle Bear’s Brewery
Are you a self-described dog person? Do you enjoy looking at dog photos on Instagram? This restaurant is for you. Named after a Labrador mix, the brewery has an obvious dog theme, and you can enjoy looking at pictures of family dogs of breeds big and small that come from their regular customers, hanging from almost every inch of available wall space. All of the glasses for their crafted beers have the brewery’s logo paw print etched into them, and they continue their dog theme in their menu, such as their golden ale named Uncle Bear’s Fence Jumper and their hoppy IPA called Uncle Bear’s The Mutt’s Nuts.
The UnderTow
This disguised cocktail bar advertises its exotic, sailor-themed drinks. The UnderTow has a true belly of the ship, speakeasy vibe completed with tiki decorations and immersive stories from the mythical ship. Walk-ins are welcome aboard the ship, but reservations are strongly recommended because of the limited amount of space. There are also no phones, so make your reservations online to visit this unique cocktail bar. Be sure to keep your eyes peeled when you arrive, as there are no street or building signs that say “UnderTow,” but you can find the bar inside the Sip Coffee and Beer Garage.
Short Leash Hotdogs + Rollover Doughnuts
This menu was not kept on a short leash, with its wild hotdog creations. Short Leash Hotdogs and Rollover Doughnuts have put their own twists on the classics. They specialize in their creative gourmet hotdog choices, including one topped with peanut butter, smoked gouda, bacon, barbecue sauce and crackerjacks, and made-from-scratch brioche doughnuts. Your doughnut can be traditional chocolate glazed, maple bacon or boozy filled. They also have over 80 craft beers and 11 unique whiskeys.
Taco Guild
Don’t judge a book by its cover. Or, in this case, don’t judge a church until you eat the food inside. The restaurant may not look traditional from the outside, but once you try the food, you’ll forget the exterior. In 1893, George and Edna Smith built the Bethel Methodist Church. Then, 119 years later, the church was repurposed into the Taco Guild in Phoenix. The restaurant only uses ingredients from local farms and upcycled plate ware. The restaurant is highly-acclaimed for their healthy, innovative tacos, such as the Peking duck taco.
Organ Stop Pizza
Pipe up if you want pizza! Pairing pizza and a pipe organ may seem like an odd combination, but Organ Stop Pizza has turned it into an opportunity to eat entertainingly affordable food with the whole family. A pizza parlor with the entertainment of a Wurlitzer pipe organ opens its doors each evening on the southwest corner of Southern Avenue and Stapley Drive in Mesa. Different organists from all over the United States play while customers dine on pizza, sandwiches, salads and desserts. The hours depend on the time of the year, and they are not typically open during daytime hours. Credit and debit cards are not accepted, but there is an ATM in the lobby.
Rustler’s Rooste
Looking out over the city of Phoenix is a restaurant with a distinctly western menu with an interesting choice of protein on the menu: rattlesnake. Of course, customers can order more traditional western dishes with pork, chicken or sirloin. However, daring patrons can try authentic rattlesnake with a side of Prickly Pear Cactus Fries. When you first walk in the front door, you walk into what looks like an old mine shaft, then you go over a waterfall, and finally, can take a tin slide into the dining area. The saloon is positioned near Arizona Grand Resort in Phoenix.
