Find the Cool, Cool Summer in Downtown Mesa

No need to tell you - it’s hot all up in here! To get through the next few weeks, we’re jumping in on the first day of summer with the Downtown Mesa “Cool, Cool Summer Ice Cream Scavenger Hunt,” because what’s cooler (and more delish) than ice cream cones? We’ve hidden 33 googly-eyed cones in merchant windows – the more you find, the more chances you have to win! Now that’s what we call a cool, cool summer!

To start your summer off in a very cool place, check out the Farm to Mesa Market. You’ll find this artisan market tucked inside The Post (26 N Macdonald) every Sunday (10am to 1pm), keeping it cool in the hottest Arizona months with baked goods, holistic products, arts, crafts, foods, and so much more. Adding to the cool factor – The Nile Theater produces this weekly event.

Book Gallery Mesa

Toss your electronic readers – real books are making a comeback. And in the Downtown Mesa used bookstore often described as “The best bookstore I’ve ever been in,” by book lovers from across the country, Randy, the ubiquitous manager of Book Gallery Mesa (50 W Main), thinks he may know one reason for the love. “We have more than 100,000 books here, on three levels, filling 5,000 square feet.”

Yeah, but what else? The store carries a huge collection of classic Sci-Fi and Fantasy titles, rare first editions, signed copies, and vintage children's books. Randy points out mint copies of titles by beloved local authors Stephenie Meyer (the Twilight Saga), Diana Gabaldon (the Outlander series) and a whole shelf by American West author (and dentist!) Zane Grey. The store boasts a one-of-a-kind state of Arizona-shaped bookcase, specifically designed to hold the “Arizona Fifty: A List of Fifty Books about Arizona Published Since Statehood,” by Donald M. Powell, historian and professor at the University of Arizona. Lastly, what’s the coolest book in the store according to the guy who’s run the place for 16 years? “The True Ahiman Rezon,” a small first edition of the Freemasonry constitution from 1805. Yup - very cool.

Arizona Distilling Co

Hands down, AZ Distilling Co (155 W Main St) is one of the coolest, hippest places on Main Street. Sip a handcrafted cool (“iced”) cocktail at the horseshoe-shaped copper-covered bar, an homage to the building’s origins as the OK Livery Stable. You’ll find the history of the building, owned in 1901 by Dan Hibbert, and by 1915, Zeb Pearce here. Of note: Zeb Pearce was awarded the first Coors distributorship outside of Colorado in 1933 – be sure to check the plaque in front of Zeb’s statue.

Owners Jon Eagan and Jason Grossmiller have known each other since high school and have been business partners since 2012. This location is their third, with one big difference: “It’s our first one on a main drag like this – there’s a synergy here,” Jon says. Like most successful business partners, their differences work well for them. Jon, the passionate one, promptly throws down a challenge. “This is an industry strip, there’s nothing like this density of producers – you can’t name one!” Jason, the more laid back one, demurs, “Well, Whiskey Row in Nashville.” Jon concedes.

But the 10 available spirits (whiskeys, vodka, brandy, even their own espresso liqueur) are only part of the unique experience. The floor-to-ceiling distillery windows showcase equipment designed to conjure up Dr. Seuss, or maybe Willy Wonka’s factory. The sunken bar puts patrons eye level with the mixologists. The rich blue color of the walls and booths is inspired by the Arizona state flag, the copper bar top, a nod to the Copper State. Jon says, “We traveled to bars all around world, looking for what we could ‘bar-row’ to create the most beautiful distillery/cocktail bar!” Try the Verde Valley – it’s their take on a Bloody Mary but with celery juice, making a refreshingly green cocktail. Cool, right? Right!

Mesa Arts Center

If you’re looking for a place to see some cool performances this summer, look no more. Mesa Arts Center (aka, MAC, at 1 E Main) is bringing in some cool performers to heat up the town. Get your ticket now for Kamasi Washington, Tesla, Hauser, Il Divo, Idina Menzel, and the Mirage Summer Music series, including Giovanni Kiyingi and Inkblot. And don’t forget to swing into the Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum, a visual arts exhibition space dedicated to presenting exceptional regional, national, and international exhibitions. And it’s FREE – how cool is that?!?

Oro Brewing Co

Real talk: one of the coolest TV shows of the 80’s/90’s was Cheers. If you’re looking for that “everybody knows your name” vibe in Downtown Mesa (and of course you are), we humbly submit Oro Brewing Co (210 W Main). It’s a dark, comfy place with 28-feet of bar top and enough stools to drink like a local and meet your cronies and beer-loving buddies. Flinging open the doors in 2016 of the second brewery and one of only three in all of Mesa (at the time), owner Dave Valencia serves as your jovial host. This small batch brewery, tucked into an early 1900’s historic adobe, hired Head Brewer Jesse six years, one of the best brewers in the state – and it shows. Downtown Mesa’s most awarded brewery has brought home multiple beer awards in the past eight years, including Arizona Brewery of the Year (2022). Specifically, Oro’s “Trigo Suave,” a tangerine wheat ale, has won state competitions twice (2022 and 2023), and the true feather in Oro’s beer-brewing cap, a Silver award in the Word Beer Cup in 2022. Dave says, “We always appreciate the awards and accolades from our peers from the state and the World Beer Cup, but what brings us the greatest satisfaction every day is our local regulars, as well as the people who discover us for the first time on a daily basis.”

One of Dave’s customers sums it up best. “What I like about your beer, it’s NOT just ‘OK,’ it’s NOT just ‘not bad,’ it’s just always great beer.” Doesn’t get much cooler than that.

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BY KATE SCHWAB, DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS ENGAGEMENT | DOWNTOWN MESA ASSOCIATION

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