Opened in 2014 by Scottsman Ross Simon, a master mixologist, Bitter & Twisted specializes in cocktails vintage and new, made with carefully curated liquor, freshly squeezed juices, perfect ice and handmade syrups. Gliding past the Heard Museum, Phoenix Art Museum and Arizona State University’s downtown campus along Central Avenue, we headed to our first stop, Bitter & Twisted, near the 1st Avenue and Jefferson Street station. We then caught the southbound rail at the adjacent station. We started our urban exploration by parking at the free Valley Metro park-and-ride lot at Third Avenue and Camelback Road. Lest anyone ask, I need to explain that we are women of a certain age, and our version of a pub crawl means sampling food menus, with a few libations thrown in.

Liz and I planned to use the rail as a kind of conveyer belt, whisking us between those interesting stops. But my goal was to explore the rail’s unexpected bonus prize-the bumper crop of indie restaurants and bars that have popped up in the Central Avenue corridor, within earshot of the whooshing rail cars. I’m sure that when the 28-mile stretch of Valley Metro Rail began operating in 2008 from northwest Phoenix through downtown and on into Tempe and Mesa, transportation planners had lofty goals like removing cars from roads and offering an efficient, eco-friendly way to get Greater Phoenix commuters to work and school. A pub crawl, I suggested to my friend, Liz.

I needed something to shake up my Friday after-work routine. Who needs a car when a ‘conveyer belt’ can transport you between CenPho libations and indie food?

Roosevelt light rail