Pretty Penny holds the corner of Roosevelt and Fifth in downtown Phoenix, a cocktail bar and restaurant that opened in February 2024 in the former Pour Bastards space and put a charred tomato martini at the center of the menu.
Who would love it: drinkers who want a designed, ingredient-driven cocktail and a plate worth lingering over on Roosevelt Row. Who would hate it: anyone hunting a cheap, fast round, because this is an upscale room with restaurant pricing. The pedigree is the headline. Founders Sam Olguin and Brenon Stuart already run the city's cult cocktail spots Killer Whale Sex Club, Disco Dragon and F.Y.P.M., and they built Pretty Penny with chef Marcelino "Mars" Ramos and hospitality director Ivan Herrera, a team Mouth by Southwest framed as a downtown heavyweight pairing.
The room reads as a polished neighborhood bar rather than a speakeasy, set on the northeast corner of Roosevelt and Fifth streets in the heart of the arts district. The bar program leans on precise, named drinks, with the charred tomato martini the one regulars and reviewers keep flagging, and the wider list built to sit alongside the kitchen.
For ordering, start with the charred tomato martini, then build a meal from the internationally inspired small plates that Phoenix New Times singled out, including an octopus tostada, a creamy lamb ragu with paccheri, and a seafood tower for the table. This is a place to order slowly and let the bar and kitchen trade courses, not a spot to chase a quick happy hour.
Best time to go is early in the 5pm to 10pm window on a weeknight for a seat at the bar, or a booked table on Friday and Saturday when Roosevelt Row fills. Note the schedule: open Monday and Wednesday through Sunday, closed Tuesday. The downtown location puts it inside an easy walk of First Friday art crowds and the rest of the central nightlife.
What makes Pretty Penny worth the trip is the way the bar and kitchen are built as one program rather than a cocktail list bolted onto a restaurant. The same team behind Killer Whale Sex Club and Disco Dragon designed the room to feel like a polished neighborhood corner spot, and the menu rewards a slow pace, trading courses between the bar and chef Mars Ramos's globally inspired plates. The corner address on Roosevelt and Fifth puts it at the center of the arts district, which means First Friday art crowds and the surrounding gallery scene spill into the room on the first weekend of each month. Reviewers consistently single out the charred tomato martini as the signature pour, and the wider list leans savory and precise rather than sweet. For a first visit, an early-evening bar seat is the read; for a group, a booked table on a weekend lets the kitchen show its range.
Practical notes for a first visit: bar seats are the best vantage on the cocktail program, and arriving near the 5pm open is the surest way to claim one before the dinner crowd builds. The Roosevelt Row address sits on the light-rail line and within an easy walk of the rest of downtown, so it slots into a longer night without a car. Remember the Tuesday closure, budget for upscale pricing across both the drinks and the plates, and treat the charred tomato martini as the non-negotiable first order before working through the small plates.
It is one of the strongest recent additions to the city's cocktail scene. See where it lands in our best cocktail bars in Phoenix ranking, browse the wider city on the Phoenix bar guide, and measure it against the global field in our best cocktail bars pillar.
Sources
- Phoenix New Times — opening, team and menu
- Mouth by Southwest — location and concept
- Yelp — 509 E Roosevelt St listing, reviews and photos
