Live walking distance, went in a few years ago, and the owner/manager was drunk yelling at some girl to get out of his bar. Making a total scene. Telling her she was a bunch of names, and that it was his bar. It was very little mansyndromish. So I moved, but still the closest bar. Tried giving a few more try's. Bar tenders sucked. They are busy talking to each other and ignore customers. It's normally way too loud, and the crowd is douchey. The whole thing about them refusing service to a transgender woman does not seem to be blown out of proportion. The owner straight said they kick people out all the time that look "weird" because the adult arcade next door. That's rude and ignorant. Just apologize, don't blame. Why can't people go jack off, then grab a beer or catch a show afterwards. I have bought lube and condoms from Modern World next door, and I wouldn't consider myself a weirdo. How about don't own a bar off the light rail if you don't want to deal with all walks of life. Will never again go in there, purely based on the fact the owner blamed discriminating and made lame excuses. I'll be happy when they go under and something cooler goes in. Blaming throwing someone out of your bar on the shop next door. Tempe Tavern is in the shame box. read more

Great place and wonderful dive bar. Big beer selection and nice menu. Live music on a Wednesday! Comfortable seating and good wait service. We just had beer and chips - but had a great time. We will be back. read more

Good divey vibe. Good band playing. Shut their kitchen down an hour early, which sucks if you're like me - drunk and in need if food. read more

Tempe Tavern - Dive Bars Near Me - Tempe, Arizona

You know what I love most about this place? The music. It is most lively from Thursday through the weekend, in my opinion. The best part is I don't even have to go to the tavern to enjoy it, I can hear it from my apartment! It's the best when I've had a long day and they keep playing all night. So happy I live across the street from this place. read more

Went there for my birthday last night. Ended up leaving with my party of 6 without ordering. The bartender was extremely rude, and unaccommodating. My boyfriend and I have gone there several times and never had an issue before. We have never before been asked to leave both our card and ID with the bartender, which is a lot of personal information for someone to hold onto. When discussing why this was happening for the first time the bartender started using foul language and yelling at us. When asked to calm down and not talk to a customer like that, she proceeded to raise her voice further and curse at us. It was a highly uncomfortable and hostile situation. As a former bartender it's entirely unacceptable to treat people, let alone your customers that way. Definitely not how I wanted to spend my birthday, or even a night out with friends. They definitely lost our business along with family and friends who frequented the establishment. However, quick walk to Starters and the night resumed with EXCELLENT service. read more

I'm always looking for great dives, and this is by far the best I've been to. Great atmosphere and the staff are fantastic and friendly. Always an event happening or band playing and the owner, Rob, is always wandering around and mingling with the patrons. Every night has great drink specials, which is almost unnecessary as the drinks are cheap and the food... The food is AWESOME. It is not normal crappy bar food. Even simple onion rings are spiced and fresh, not frozen. I go there just for the food sometimes. Hit it up, you won't be disappointed. read more

Tempe Tavern served me rotten lemons with my glass of water. I even sent the first lemons back and the waitress returned with more rotten lemons. Now i'm questioning my entire meal. is the meat rotten, does this bar sanitize anything? my trust in food safety for this restaurant just went right out the door. food inspection definitely needed at this location. hopefully i dont wake up sick 2moro. read more

After a 6+ hour RV ride, we were ready to eat and drink some tasty beverages. Not busy and a live band was about ready to perform. We were seated and when the server came by to take our orders, she said that in order to open a tab we needed to surrender BOTH ID and credit card. Me thinks not. Deuces! read more

Staff is personable and welcoming, food is underrated, and their beer selection is surprisingly good. Cheers!

Here is a copy of the email I sent the owner: Rob, I am taking a moment of my day to write to you to inform you of our experience last night in your bar which could be described as unethical and unimaginable. We were in there until about 10:30 or 11:00pm last night and went home to get more money because I make it a practice not to bring my bank card to a bar. We went home, had something to eat and walked back. We live at the Tempe Travel Trailer Villa right down the street and have been coming to your establishment off and on since the end of last May which I am sure you could care less about. There are reasons we are not more frequent which I may get to later. We came back in at 11:42pm (you can check your bar cameras) and we were asked by the bouncer if we were next door. It was late, we had some drinks in your bar earlier ($30 worth to be exact and we tipped the bartender about $10, so we're not scum) and were taken by surprise by this question and I said "yes" not realizing that he had meant Modern World. My partner had asked him "what do you mean next door?" Even though TTTV is not exactly next door it is less than a block from your "bar" and could be considered "in the neighborhood". We have patronized your bar to the tune of probably $500 regrettably since last May between us and friends that we had brought and while your bar could be considered a place to frequent on the way to something better we are close to it and don't have to drive. After this question was asked and we had told him, after the confusion was eliminated, we went home and came back he had promptly said "We don't allow that." I said you don't allow what? I can't go home and get more money and come back? He said "NO, get out, we don't allow that. You know what I am talking about?" What is this guy talking about? May I ask why patrons of Modern World are not allowed into your bar? Let me remind you that you own or manage a bar which doesn't exactly attract Christian folks ready to preach the gospel. You attract drunks, the homeless, broke college kids, and if your entertainment was any mark of what to expect it's no wonder why you're not busy. Every time we have been in there it's been dead and we've been there ranging from happy hour to Friday and Saturday nights. If someone is causing trouble in your bar, you boot them out. The key word here is causing. You don't assume that someone is going to start trouble ESPECIALLY when you don't know the facts and boot them out. We were in there before and have been there before and to prove it, no one on your staff knows us by name which means we're not on their radar or they're not friendly and care not to know their customers. I was completely offended by that asshole assuming we came from Modern World which in my opinion is not a problem. I didn't know you were in a position to be able to afford to kick folks out which happens every time we're in there. At one time the bartender told a guy last month he wasn't going to be served because he had already had some drinks. She told him to come in sober and SHE would get him "fucked up" which to me means no difference. If someone leaves your establishment and gets into trouble drunk it's not any different than someone coming in with some drinks under their belt and leaving. People bar hop. I have read reviews and have heard testimony from our neighbors at TTTV and they all say the same thing, you guys are quick to throw people out rather than accept the challenges that come with running a bar. We are now going to Starters and they have better drink deals and food. I'm an average guy with no title but "customer" and I expect to be treated like one when entering an establishment. I am 38 years old and have NEVER been kicked out of a bar because I know how to behave even intoxicated. Legally? You're drunk after one drink. Are you going to boot everyone after one drink? I later established that they were wanting to go home and were closing up shop. I think they were worried that we would stay until 2am (which I believe is posted, could be wrong) and we had no intention of it, especially after that. I did NOT tip the bartender after she served us last night (the last round, we tipped her before we left) as I felt that she could have told the guy to cool it off since she is the one in charge. He was so rude and after we told him we went home to get more money and we had cash in hand, he looked at us and rolled his eyes in the manner that we were lying. Bar closed at midnight. It would not let me cut the entire email because it was lengthy. I don't expect to hear back. I assume it's a prejudice bar and the staff really has a thing with who can come in and not. They're never busy. I wouldn't be so picky. read more

Neat little dive bar, bartender was friendly, beer was cold.

The bar tender was rude and was refusing to serve people. Plenty of places with better ambiance and better service nearby.

Because of a horrific experience I had with the bartender in whom ordered me the hottest wings known to man, he refused to take them back, especially when I specifically asked for not hot. He got in my face and ordered me to eat them. Ever since that night with scum bag behind the bar I've never stepped foot in there since. This is the kind of place where the saying applies: you get what you pay for. So far I've not been in that establishment and life couldn't be better read more

2 stars because their food is good and beers are cold. But in the last two weeks me and a friend have tried to visit the tavern twice after 11 to take advantage of their "kitchen open daily until 12" which they proudly advertise everywhere. Both times the kitchen has been closed "because they felt like it". Waste of time. read more

OMG. This is the Palo Verde lounge but clean!! I came here tonight and the gin and tonics were only $2.50 each and it's a Friday night!! They also have bar food which is decent ( we got the french fries,served with ketchup and mayonnaise). There's also a veggie burger. I didn't try it but I will the next time I come. When I first walked up they were playing Alanis Morissette. Nothing but 90s throughout the night. I also met a nice dog named Molly which should be the mascot for the bar.The only complaint I have is that there is only one stall in the ladies room. There needs to be at least 2 people come on.. I also just want to point out that they had bubblegum vodka. BUBBLEGUM. Enough said. The service was great and there so many seating options. I moved three times because I wanted to take advantage of every seat. There's no stupid college kids in town so it was really enjoyable. There's also Modern World next door so if you meet some guy for a one night stand, you can gear up next door to make sure it's a pleasurable night. The bar is DIRECTLY across the street from the lightrail so there's no excuse for you not to go.. Go now...What are you waiting for??? read more

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As I sat and made small talk with a blonde waitress, the bartender took her order. He proceeded to make what I believe was a martini, a dirty martini. I only say a dirty martini as I nerver had one but since he was adding olive juice by holding his bare hand over the olive and fruit tray (BARE) just nasty. Juice pouring through his fingers like an added boost of flavor. Then I ordered a shot, and it was double the price of one in a downtown Chicago night club. Makers Mark. A double in one shot glass wtf. Waitress was rude, and I mean nasty. So nasty I wrote as a tip, learn to be less rude. This place is a dive. Or in better terms a dark Dungeness shit hole with bitter servers and bands that can't even play the wedding circuit. I swear the stench of drunk nasty is still on me from sitting on the stools. If you plan on going here, slam your in a discount cab door first. Its as much fun and three times cheaper. By the way this was my second time here. I always go twice read more

I've been here a bunch of time, and the bartenders are plain bad. I've seen multiple drinks terribly messed up (bartender, you can't tell that a drink is wrong when it has coke in it and is still clear?) as well as bartenders try to force and guilt people into buying water. I organize a group event every month that comes here with about 20-30 people and we won't be coming back in the future. read more

The Tempe Tavern has been nothing but an amazing experience, the enviroment and the bartender (Sarah) have made our time there amazing. The wait staff (Jess) took care of us and made us feel at home. Amazing location, great food, cheap drinks. 10 of 10 will come back for more. read more

Don't stop here unless you want to roll the dice. Lousy food, lousy service. The bartenders, specifically, Sarah, seem to think unprofessional behavior is acceptable. That's not where my money will go. read more

This place is just generally uncomfortable. The atmosphere is dive bar, which we love, but it was a sketchy dive bar, Which we didn't like so much. (Tattoo's bikers heavy metal) We sat at the bar for some food and Drinks. The taps were in the bartenders way, every time she served us I felt bad. She was too short to reach over it and it was painful watching her try to get us our drinks. The food was pretty good for bar food. Fries were good the burgers were good. Nothing to write home about but great drunk munchies. Aside from the servers obstructed view, she was pretty nice. Good service. (Except they double charged us and we had to call to get it removed) pain in the ass but whatever- mistakes happen. We came with the intention of eating dinner, drinking all night and listening to the band. We had our food had a couple drinks and left. Like I said, we were uncomfortable. Don't think we will be back. read more

Great milk stout! Awesome food. Perfect dive bar environment. I tried their burger, fried zucchini, and some fries and all were surprisingly good. Those not in the know may mistake this place for a seedy dive bar, and there are definite elements of that here. But don't judge a book by its cover. The Beer is cold, the food is good, and they are also known for their local music scene. read more

Okay everyone, relative to this review realize I'm comparing this establishment against it's own kind, the often lauded and equally cursed, dive bar. In this specific category of bar/pubs, I found Tempe Tavern to stand out. First feature I liked, the building is the last of it's kind, built out of river stone and referred to as the White Dairy Barn, it was constructed in 1918, which means it will soon be a 100 years old, which is crazy cool! 2nd, along with cheap beer and hard liquor, often paid for with cash by what seemed like the regulars, it has an excellent selection of craft beer, both in the can and on tap and the lines are clean so you get the intended taste of the beer - places that are much nicer than this don't seem to take care of their beer lines as well as the Tempe Tavern and yes, it is served in a chilled beer glass. Next, the food, reasonably priced and OMG, it is good! I had the Juan burger with the green chili and the fresh made onion rings and it was delicious and by the way, locally made hamburger bun, not something one often sees in a dive bar. Finally, not something we appreciate as much in the summer, but this place is right off of a rail stop so you can eat, have a few drinks, and use mass transportation to get you where you need to go, even if that is a stop closer to your home where you can get an Uber ride home! By the way, when you look at the Tempe historical site you can see that the building has been restored to its original look - at one time all the rocks were painted white so this is a renovated historical dive bar. All kidding aside, beer selection is good, food is great and the service more than met my expectations. As with all dive bars, misunderstood within the larger bar category, I'm sure that many will have a mismatch of expectations but that is the lot of the dive bar, even when it shines within its category it will be misunderstood - for me though, I have a warm place in my heart for this establishment and oh yes, they have live music five nights a week - crazy cool! read more

I was here for literally 3 minutes. Loud, jiving spot right next to the light rail. When we arrived they had a local band playing. There were also a lot of college-aged kids there, which is due to the fact that it's surrounded by apartments meant for university students. Definitely a dive bar, but seemed to have lots of character. read more

When it comes to dive bars, a total gem. Good service tonight at the bar, but then, it is Monday. Great specials and happy hour. Drinks are not crappy, but pretty affordable. $2 pbrs or $5 for a tall whiskey with lime. It's got that divey feel, but it's not dicey. Plenty of good craft brews or middle of the shelf liquors. Also, it's clean. read more

My nice neighbor hood dive bar. Can always find T there and get lucky! Always great beer on tap and a,good supply of Jameson.

Great place for a dive bar! Bartenders are great and attentive. Good place to chill and have a good time.

Great bar. I enjoy my pint while sitting in the patio area in the front of of the bar. Due to it being a busy intersection in a college town, you never know what you will see. Good selection beers and drinks. The building is historic and adds to the personality. Food is "meh". They do house cut fries and just like most places that do house cut fries, they are soggy and flaccid. Don't come for the food. Come for the environment. read more

I went here on Monday with a couple friends to use a deal I had bought. I thought this bar was just ok. When we entered we noticed it was really warm in the bar, like warmer than it was outside...which is pretty bad considering we live in Phoenix....We had a decent amount of money to spend, so we got a lot of food. The waitress (and bartender) was nice enough, but seemed a little upset that we were using a deal. Also, it was kind of strange because while we were there she spilled something on herself so her solution was to take her shirt off and walk around in her bra....and she kept talking about how naked she felt....it was pretty awkward. We tried: The hot chick, fried zuc, chicken fingers and fries, cheese crisp, and a grilled cheese. It was a lot of fried food. Anyway, the hot chick was recommended by the waitress, but in all of our opinions, it was straight up bad.... it had a really weird flavor that I can't explain. Also, I asked for mine with mayo on the side, but it was slathered all over it. All of the food was pretty meh, nothing special, especially considering they claim to use a lot of fresh and local ingredients. The cheese crisp was probably the best item of the night. I probably would not come back here to eat, but I might come back to drink! They had a lot of beers and their happy hour specials looked good. read more

I showed up once and never left. Good food for cheap and drink specials. Fun place to hang out and listen to live music. Awesome staff, Marsha is my favorite. Check it out! read more

Nice little chill place! Went for an art showing, so that's pretty awesome. Happened to be 2 for 1 night, double awesome! With tip, I got 4 beers for $8! Tempe Tavern, our future looks bright! read more

The worse customer service today...she wasn't very welcoming and didn't care of our requests which she made on the decision of other patrons. read more

Good little bar with Rogue - one of my favorite beers - on tap. Good bar food too. Check out the weekday specials and bring a friend because there's always a 2 for 1 special. read more

I'd love it if the a/c was on. Great bar. What's up with a 100o day and no a/c. We Would've stayed and spent more & had food, but too hot. Bummer. Not cool. read more

Great prices and atmosphere here. 12 chicken wings, a shot and a gormet beer was less than $20! They played good, classic music, other than The (fucking) Cranberries and the wait staff (Sarah) was friendly. This is a cool spot for sure. read more

The food is good but the day time rockabilly grandma bartender is horrible!! She is so rude and very inconsiderate!! I will never go back there again! read more

Love this place. Pretty solid beers on tap, and security at this place is legit. I sit on the patio when I go and they ensure it stays classy. This is the definition of a DIVE bar!!! Thank you for some great nights! read more

Came here to see Dead Hot Workshop play their weekly casual happy hour gig one late afternoon/early evening on a Friday. Had a few beers - beers are cheap but don't expect too much variety on tap. Kind of a small stage with a pillar blocking the view right in the middle. Still, not a bad place to see a band crank it up and jam out. They also have one of those AMI Barlink jukeboxes - the kind most dives have as opposed to TouchTunes that the fancier bars have. Place is on the northeast corner of McClintock Drive and Apache boulevard. It's not exactly on the corner - one business away from it. Pretty much the only way to get into their parking lot is to be heading west on Apache and turn into the last driveway before the corner - where it says Modern World Bookstore. Yup. Place shares a parking lot with a bookstore. The kind that probably doesn't carry any Harry Potter or Dr. Seuss titles. Don't overshoot this entrance though because although there are other parking lots that are right next to this one, they are for other businesses and you might get towed depending on your luck that day. Good divey times - check out local bands and get drunk for cheap!!! read more

Tempe Tavern - Dead Hot Workshop - Dive Bars Near Me - Tempe, Arizona

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Great atmosphere and prices! Bottle caps are amazing I always add melted cheese on top! :)

Always a highlight of our annual Light Rail Pub Crawl. This year Maddie was awesome, and even though she was the only one behind the bar and the waitress hadn't come in yet, as was constantly checking on us and keeping us well watered and fed. She went above and beyond. Now if they only brought back the 2-for-1 PBR specials... read more

Great little dive bar! It has really good bar food. We tried the wings and fries and they were both good. It's a little too loud for my taste but I should have said something. Our waitress was so nice and drop dead gorgeous! read more