Downtown Disappointment

This just in…phoenix has no soul. I’m hesitant to even call it ‘downtown’ phoenix. we rarely venture downtown because, well,  there’s really not much there for us. people live in the suburbs, drive downtown to work, then drive back home to suburbia. some restaurants and shops downtown aren’t even open nights and weekends because of a lack of customers walking through the doors. sounds pretty exciting huh? we grew up on the east coast near some of the greatest cities in the world (nyc and philly), so maybe we shouldn’t be comparing phoenix to what we consider a downtown, because most places in the world can’t compare to what we’re used to. that being said, phoenix certainly has grown considerably since i first came out here over a decade ago, but that’s still not saying much. hopefully we’re on the right track though. downtown phoenix lacks culture, nightlife, entertainment, shopping, restaurants and most importantly people and the electric atmosphere a thriving downtown of a major city should have. have i bashed phoenix enough yet? it’s not ALL bad though, there are SOME great things to see and do, and SOME places to grab a decent meal or adult beverage. the sun shines on a dog’s ass every now and then as the saying goes. when we heard about Carlys Bistro through friends, i got pretty excited. It sounded like a diamond in the rough, our kinda place. Artsy, eclectic, laid back, good food, good music, local art, a bar and a decent bloody mary. Nothing fancy, just a cool, hip place to grab a nice lunch and a beer or cocktail if you so desire. With a description like that, i had high hopes. Especially knowing Carly’s was downtown, where i feel like places like are exactly what’s lacking. Places like this should bring people and keep people. Young, creative people who could potentially make downtown a more interesting, lively and diverse place. The fact that it’s right off the lightrail is nice too…well it WOULD be nice if the lightrail actually came anywhere near central and north scottsdale. 

So it was a lovely & sunny saturday morning. julie and i had to run downtown to take care of some errands so we decided to give Carly’s Bistro a try. On the weekends my body automatically goes into bloody mary mode. i heard Carly’s makes a decent bloody mary so i was excited. Artsy and eclectic it certainly was. It appeared to be a little dirty, not to say it actually was, it just had that look. I’m ok with that though, as long as the food is good and safe to eat. The place has character. As for being laid back, any restaurant with more employees than customers will tend to be laid back. As you can see in the photo, the place was dead. When we first walked in, i wasn’t even sure if they were open, and this was just before noon on a beautiful saturday. If you ask me, thats a bad sign. I wouldn’t say there was a bad vibe in there, there was just no vibe, at all. I almost felt the need to whisper in there because it was so quiet. Whatever though, a good bloody mary makes up for a lot of shortcomings, including a server who certainly wasn’t the friendliest but man was she artsy. The bloody mary was good, highlight of the meal for myself. The rim of the glass had some sorta spice/celery salt mix on it which was a nice touch. Added a little bit of spice and a lot of flavor. We both went for the half sandwich and bowl of soup combo. Considering there was only 1 soup, that decision was made for us, roasted red bell pepper bisque. They do have a large selection of sandwiches to choose from, many of which sounded good making it a rather tough decision. Julie went for the grilled caprese sandwich while i chose the grilled cuban sandwich. cuban sandwiches happen to be a favorite of mine. The bread choices are ciabatta, lavash, focaccia, or napolitano, all which happen to be vegan, organic and locally baked. i’m all for organic, local ingredients, locally made things and all that great stuff so i was happy to see that. Unfortunately though, none of those heart-warming things mean a thing when the final product served to you is bland, boring and uninspired. i was rather underwhelmed with both the soup which should have been hotter and the soggy sandwich. And like i said, the place was empty, yet we still had to wait a decent amount of time to get our meal, a lot longer than it should have taken especially considering it wasn’t even cooked properly. Upsetting.

Would i go back? I hear this place gets pretty packed on first fridays, which might be fun. I’d consider going back for a drink but i definitely do not foresee myself going to downtown to eat at Carly’s Bistro again. As i mentioned, downtown phoenix is lacking cute little bistros and cafes, so i was pretty excited to give Carly’s a shot. I had high hopes that it could become a good go to place for lunch or a quick dinner downtown. Unfortunately, i think Carly’s turned out to be big on style, little on substance.

Bloody Mary

Roasted Red Bell Pepper Bisque & Grilled Caprese Sandwich - Tomatoes, fresh mozzarella & pesto on ciabatta

Roasted Red Bell Pepper Bisque & Grilled Cuban Sandwich - Thinly sliced ham, turkey & swiss with whole grain mustard & pickles on ciabatta

Carlys interior