Happy Hour Happy Meal: Phoenix Public Market Cafe

The Food: BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich and Downtown Devil Fries
The Drinks: Mama’s Little Yella Pils, Oskar Blues Brewery
The Place: Phoenix Public Market Cafe
The Location: 14 Pierce Street Phoenix, AZ 85004

My coworker and I split a small pitcher of Mama’s Little Yella Pils, a personal favorite beer of mine. We are sitting at the cafe bar just to the side of an open room with wooden tables for seating other then the bar. A mix of packaged foods and local crafts for sale create an aisle between the bar and the tables. Above this are high ceilings with exposed rafters that bring to mind being in a farmhouse or barn-no surprise then the menu here features local and farm fresh ingredients.

It is not a sports bar by any means. The nearest item on the menu to an order of 12 boneless buffalo wings is a 1/2 rotisserie chicken that has been seasoned and slow roasted over a hardwood fire. I doubt you will need extra napkins for it.

Above the bar though are several TV’s that, while muted, occasionally have a sports network or local professional team on-this is how I knew we could eat here. It’s the night of the NBA draft and we made it from the office to the restaurant in time to see the Phoenix Suns pick. Good food aside, being able to watch the Draft is the requirement of the evening. It’s a little after 5pm, traditional happy hour time.

Our food arrives shortly after we order. Placed in the middle of the two of us is a large bowl of fries with ketchup, a spicy aioli and Russian sauce for dipping. After biting into a couple of fries we find out they are at different states of cooked. Some break easily while others let out a loud crunch when you bite. Perfect for fans of the double fried fry. The seasoning is a pleasant take on a staple side dish: peguin chili, garlic, parsley and parmesan. The chili and garlic provide a pleasant pungent flavor while the parmesan adds a richer taste to the fry.

We both order a pulled pork sandwich. It is the size of our hands and heavy to pick up. The sandwich comes with BBQ sauce spread over the meat. Not in excess though, just the right amount for taste. On top of this is a spread of coleslaw to compliment the pork flavor. Delicious.

Even with alternating bites of pork and fries we quickly finish our sandwiches first and enjoy the fries being washed down with our beer.

The happy hour at Phoenix Public Market Cafe is a huge selling point. The small pitcher of beer, $5. The pork sandwich, $5 each. The seasoned fries, $5. Split all of that in two and your looking at a filling and reasonable priced grown up happy meal, if you will allow me to call it that.

I like restaurants that are hard to describe. What type of place is Phoenix Public Market depends on what time of day it is. In the mornings it is a coffee shop and an order at the counter breakfast place for commuters or local residents. Midday its a lunch break for office workers and college students. In the evening the menu expands and it becomes a restaurant where waiters take your order from the table and you can drink a glass of wine.

You can enjoy happy hour every day 3-6pm. During the summer Phoenix Public Market holds a farmers market on Saturday mornings where you can buy local produce, crafts and enjoy local food truck eats.