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| - Vincent Damon Furnier. You may know him as Alice Cooper. As much as he's revered as a rock God, Alice is a longtime staple of the Phoenix area and even a jock at heart. You'll regularly see him at pro sports games throughout town and he's even a scratch handicap golfer. In 1998, Phoenix got its first Major League Baseball franchise, the Arizona Diamondbacks. That year, with the Suns and Diamondbacks playing their ballgames just a stones throw from one another, Alice decided to buy up a 1925 historic building on Jackson Street previously known as the Western Wholesale Drug Company Warehouse. He opened up a restaurant in that space meant to serve great food and good beer with a business model catered to "Rocks & Jocks". I've been here once for a beer, but never tried the food. That was until lunchtime on a Friday.
Alice Cooperstown is easily found on the southeast corner of 1st Street and Jackson in Downtown. Talking Stick Arena (home of the Suns) is directly across the street on the north side, and Chase Field (home of the Diamondbacks) is three blocks directly east. The venue is an indoor/outdoor space that gets crammed to the brim with humanity during game nights (particularly during D'Backs game nights). Between the indoor and outdoor spaces, I'm guessing they could pack in upwards of 400 people on a busy night. The place is very much an extension of Alice's personality with a mix of music and sports memorabilia on the wall, the bartenders are dressed in gothic clothes, there's 80s rock music in the background, and the wait staff even wears Alice's trademark gothic makeup. The outdoor space is used primarily as a beer garden and a staging ground for live music events, while the interior is the sports bar.
For those hoping my first dive into the food menu would include the Man vs Food Big Unit Hot Dog challenge, I'm sorry to disappoint, but I had a big meal the night before and just wasn't feeling that bold this time around. FYI, said challenge is a 2 foot long hot dog covered in chili and 5 other toppings and includes well over a pound of fries. Maybe next time, but not today. Today I was hungry for other items on the menu. Specifically, I wanted No More Mr. Nice Guy. Okay sorry, that was not helpful. It's their Chipotle Chicken Pasta dish. Penne pasta with grilled chicken, a hot link, chipotle cream sauce, and sun dried tomatoes (also comes with a dinner roll). To wash that down, I got a glass of Oak Creek Bavarian Wheat (brewed in Sedona FYI). And for dessert, it was Alice's Coop-Zookie. You've likely heard of Lou Malnati's Pizza Cookie and Oregano's Pizzookie. Well, this is Cooperstown's version of a warm soft cookie covered in ice cream, whipped cream, chocolate sauce, and a cherry. Total price for all the food, drink, tax and tip came to about $35.
I was actually surprised how impressed I was with the pasta. The dinner roll is...well...a dinner roll and I guess I figured the pasta would also have been made with a minimalist effort. But I really enjoyed the chipotle cream sauce and the mixture of meats gave it a nice kick. Not too spicy, but it woke up my taste buds just fine. The Coop-Zookie is a little different than other pizza cookies I've had for a couple of reasons. For one, its smaller than the aforementioned versions I've had elsewhere, but the cookie almost tasted like an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. I think they ground up all the macadamia nuts to give the cookie a nuttier texture almost like an oatmeal cookie. Take that description however you wish, but its still a cookie that can easily shared by two (or one of me in this case). Pretty solid, though it's pretty tough to top Oregano's version.
It would seem easy to write off Alice Cooper's venture into the restaurant business as a frivolous ego fueled money dump by a local celebrity. But based on my two experiences here, it sure seems like Alice and his staff are taking the business seriously. And food was surprisingly solid for a music and sports bar. Having been around for almost two decades, the formula for Cooperstown sure seems to be working. So perhaps the Alice Cooper who gave Wayne and Garth a history lesson on the city of Milwaukee is also a business genius too? We are indeed not worthy.
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