The Arrogant Butcher sits inside the CityScape complex at 2 E Jefferson Street, a few steps from the light rail in downtown Phoenix. It opened in 2011 as a Fox Restaurant Concepts room and built its reputation on a bar program that runs longer and louder than the kitchen.
Who would love it: downtown workers and game-night crowds who want a real cocktail and a plate of oysters in the same sitting. Who would hate it: anyone after a quiet corner, because the bar runs two and three deep through happy hour.
The room reads as a polished American brasserie, with a long marble bar, leather booths, and a raw bar stacked with oysters and shellfish. Phoenix Magazine, reviewing the opening in September 2011, flagged the kitchen and bar pairing as the draw, and that balance still holds.
What to order: a classic Old Fashioned built on a deep bourbon list, a plate from the raw bar, and a local draft from the rotating Arizona tap selection. Happy hour, weekdays in the late afternoon, is the value window, with reduced prices on bar bites and house cocktails.
Best time to go is a weekday between four and six, before the post-work surge fills the bar. Weekend nights run loud and full, so book a table if you want to sit. The patio is the better seat when the evening cools.
It works as a reliable downtown anchor near the arena and the convention center. See where it sits among the city's rooms in our guide to the best cocktail bars in Phoenix, and browse more Phoenix cocktail bars.
