CitySkate, the outdoor ice rink centered by a giant Christmas tree at CityScape, a shopping and entertainment district in the heart of downtown Phoenix, is back. But due to light rail construction, the rink, which used to inhabit a space on Central Avenue between Jefferson and Washington Streets, has moved to an adjacent space at Patriots Park.
The compact area, which features splash pads and outdoor seating when the weather is warmer, is surrounded by businesses like Stand Up Live, 810 Billiards & Bowling, and Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii. The new rink debuted on November 28 and will be open through January 1, 2023 from 4 to 11:30 p.m. daily, including holidays like Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Day.
The 90-minute skate sessions cost $20 for general admission. Whether you are doing spins or just trying not to fall over with your family and friends, it’s sure to get your appetite going. Here are seven great dining and drinking options around the rink.
Chico Malo
602-603-9363
Chico Malo is one of the restaurants that envelops Patriots Park so once your skates are off, it will be an extremely short walk to the Mexican eatery. The dimly-lit restaurant and bar serves dishes like the Pork Belly Tostada with black bean puree, cured egg yolk, and chicharron, or fried pork rinds and a Tijuana Caesar with cotija cheese, heirloom tomatoes, and cilantro. Margaritas, sangrias, and the Abismo Negro, a mezcal cocktail with creme de cacao and mole bitters, are also on the menu.
The Fresh Shattered Potato Chips at Ingo’s Tasty Food are sure to be a family favorite.
Allison Young
Ingo’s Tasty Food
101 East Washington Street, Suite A
602-825-3000
The all-day menu at Ingo’s Tasty Food includes a Troubadour Egg Sandwich on an English muffin with arugula, baby Swiss, avocado, and housemade hot sauce, a Crispy Chicken Sandwich with sliced apples and spicy aioli, and a very popular kale and quinoa salad with Manchego cheese, red grapes, and preserved lemon. And trust us, the Fresh Shattered Potato Chips served with labni, a thick, herbed, Middle Eastern yogurt dip, are shareable and not to be missed. Ingo’s is a family-friendly joint that also serves coffee and cocktails, so bring the crew before or after your skate and stay awhile.
The Yard Milkshake Bar stacks its creations high with decadent toppings like an entire slice of New York cheesecake.
The Yard Milkshake Bar
The Yard Milkshake Bar
50 West Jefferson Street
602-296-4473
For dessert, or if you prefer to skip dinner altogether in the name of something super sweet, head to The Yard Milkshake Bar, which is located south of Chico Malo. Sip on some serious cheer with a Christmas Cookie Shake made with cookie batter ice cream topped with a scoop of cookie dough, a holiday sugar cookie, and red and green sprinkles, or a Peppermint Frozen Hot Chocolate with marshmallow drizzle. If you’re all holidayed-out, try the colorful Cereal Killer shake rolled in Fruity Pebbles or a Strawberries and Cream Cheesecake rendition topped with an entire slice of New York cheesecake. The Yard stacks each milkshake sky-high with toppings, so the kids can definitely share one of these enormous concoctions.
Wren & Wolf
2 North Central Avenue, Suite 101
602-562-3510
This is a great spot for a post-skate date or upscale dinner with the girls. Wren & Wolf offers an eclectic menu from a moody interior with taxidermy strewn throughout. The menu pulls from different genres to offer dishes like Peruvian ceviche made with Chilean sea bass, a Japanese Wagyu steak served tableside hibachi over hot charcoal, and Maine lobster ragu with mafaldine noodles, a ribbon-shaped pasta that soaks up the white wine and garlic sauce nicely. Pair your dinner with an array of cocktails like the Honeydew List with botanical gin and melon liqueur or the Solid Gold with your choice of mezcal or tequila shaken with Jamaican rum, allspice, pineapple, and an egg white. The place is Instagram-worthy, so show off your skating outfit post-rink. Wren & Wolf is also open for coffee and pastries beginning at 7:30 a.m. during the week.
Coabana
1 East Washington Street, #124
602-529-2630
Step off the chilly rink and head across the street into a tropical paradise at Coabana. The cocktail and tapas bar, an ode to Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood, is vibrant and festive with sweet boozy drinks. Try The Get Away, made with two types of rum, apricot, pineapple, lime, and Peychaud’s Aperitivo, which provides a hint of bitter orange. Or drink solo with The Recluse, made with Plantation Private Barrel Peruvian Rum, cacao, demerara sugar, lime, and a bit of absinthe, no handsome stranger necessary. Coabana also offers Latin small bites including fried mashed plantains called tostones, guava and cheese empanadas, and flan. It’s open until 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, so remain in Little Havana late into the evening if your little heart desires.
Hanny’s
40 North First Street
602-252-2285
Hanny’s is one of the most classic cocktail bars in the downtown city blocks. What was once dubbed an “architectural divergence” by the Arizona Times upon its opening in 1947, according to the Hanny’s website, has been repurposed into a buzzy and stylish space with filled-to-the-brim martinis and Old Fashioned cocktails. Hanny’s also offers a vast dining menu, from a margherita pizza to Pork Chop Calabrese, a favorite that’s thinly breaded and fried, topped with cucumber and radish slaw, and served with grilled potatoes and savory onion strings. Gaze at the Christmas tree display, which changes colors as the night wears on, and take advantage of the liquid courage to head downstairs for a creepy glass doll display that will only give you nightmares if you don’t have enough to drink.
A Vengeance and Fashion cocktail, bacon board, and a tome-like cocktail menu at Little Rituals.
Jackie Mercandetti
Little Rituals
Inside the Residence Inn by Marriott Phoenix Downtown
132 South Central Avenue, Fourth Floor
602-603-2050
Don’t be deterred by the fact that this sleek bar is housed inside of a Residence Inn by Marriott — we promise it’s not your typical hotel bar. Little Rituals has won plenty of awards, from the New Times’ designation as one of the top 100 bars in 2021, to a James Beard Foundation outstanding bar program nomination in 2020. But seriously, let’s talk cocktails. There’s no wrong decision, whether you go with the Daiqurry, a twist on the rum classic with curry syrup and Sichuan pepper oil, or the Midnight Snack made with shiitake-infused Rittenhouse Rye and Vicario Nocino Walnut Liqueur, it’s nutty, savory sweet, and served with a cookie. Little Rituals has food as well, incliding a wide range of options from edamame to a chef’s board of meats and cheeses to fried chicken sliders and burgers, both impossible and beef.
CitySkate at Patriots Park
reddevelopment.com/cityskate
4 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. through January 1, 2023, including holidays
Pro Tip: Receive $5 off if you bring your own skates.
