Swizzle Stick Cocktail Lounge

Cool neighborhood sports bar. We watch the Cardinals games here. The bartenders and servers are attentive but don’t hover, they make sure you glass isn’t empty and they don’t persistently upsale like some other places. Great environment! Nice and relaxing.

I’ve been to the swizzle stick a few times, and every time I was quick to make new friends, have fun, and treated great by the staff, except for last night. All the staff was very polite and courteous, except for one bouncer. After having a couple of drinks inside I decided to go out to the patio with my drink in hand to have a smoke. I innocently mistook the enter/​exit door for the patio door (they are right next to each other) Anyway, that’s when I was assaulted by who I assume was a bouncer, he had nothing identifying him as an employee. Instead of simply telling me I was going out the wrong door, or saying you cant take that drink out, he aggressively ripped the drink from my hand in a total dominating way. Being treated aggressively by a man in that manner I responded aggressively, then was thrown out. When my husband went to talk to the owner about how I was treated, he was rudely dismissed and was told we were drunks. In now way are we «combative drinkers.» As a matter of fact we were playing pool with several people having a good time and taking turns buying rounds of drinks. I WILL NEVER return to that bar in my life, based solely on how they agree with treating women aggressively. The punk Im talking about, is young, with dark hair that’s shaved and he was wearing a blue shirt. I may have been drinking, but I wasn’t drunk and I will never forget that guys face.

great neighborhood bar. nice staff and great drink prices.

Swizzle ’ s expansion is great shuffleboard darts and pool. Lots of tv’s football Sundays will be great tv’s everywhere.
Free breakfast and afternoon buffet. Bartenders are right on top of things no waiting for anything love this place

The liquor board needs to do something about this place. The owner is a complete intoxicated fool and it’s becoming a problem. Stay away.

Maureen was much too forward for my tastes I didn’t want to go home with someone with that much red dye in their hair. I was flattered though. The bathrooms should have had drains on the floor, because that was where every one was urinating on. Most of the patrons look like ZZ Top roadies (and I don’t say that in a good way). One patron was complaining about the «baby» cucarachas in her ice — at least her’s were babies. All things considered this is by far the best bar in Glendale AZ.

I visited the Swizzle Stick this past Saturday with my buddy Kevin O. and his wife. I had fond memories of this place from about a decade ago when it was located a few shops down. My memory stood true as we had a great time interacting with the locals, sipping on cheap, strong drinks. As Kevin mentioned in his review, there was a fellow that appeared to be a regular peddling religious propaganda with his cute little dog in tow, however the bartender was quick to curb his preaching and even came to check on us to make sure we weren’t uncomfortable. All in all, it is a great value and the people are friendly.

This place was the cleaner of the dive bars we hit up one Saturday night. They also scored on the cheap and strong drink qualities. The crowd on the other hand was a bit harder and shadier. One homeless man with a dog was preaching god, another lady insisted she saw us earlier, and a whole Lotta bad karaōke! If the crowd isn’t a big quality with you or your group, this place would probably be for you!

I hope they don’t take it personally, but this place blows. I appreciated the pool tables and the couple of games lined up against the wall, but when I just came from a place not too far that has twice as many (and more space, too!) I just couldn’t be impressed.
But let’s get down to business.
The bar was terrible. The selection was sparse, and disorganized. I saw a flask (What’s a flask doing on a bar counter?) of Smirnoff next to a small bottle of jäger, with a bottle of pinnacle butterscotch vodka on the top and center. That’s just tacky.
I was stuck on the butterscotch vodka for some reason, and when I asked what a good mixer may be, I was met with a clueless shrug and impatient stare. Yes, I know I can be clueless at times, but I feel the mark of any bartender worth their salt is the ability to be engaging, and have no shortage of ideas for curious clientele. It’s how you retain customers and make your establishment a more exciting place to be.
The patio is also awkward. The outdoor bar stools face a grill, but when no one is grilling you have only a wall and an empty elbow of a strip mall to look at. Booooring.
So when my buddy ordered a nice little well drink, it came out pretty pricey for a desolate Monday night. I don’t expect classy or popular bars to have reverse happy hours, but there are way too many dives that will give the same thing for less in a more awesome place, it feels like a waste of time.
I tried to think of reasons to bump this place up to two stars. Apparently they are very active during the day, where whatever few patrons they have are excited for barbecue and cheap beer during the afternoon happy hour. But cheap food/​beer during the day is easy as hell to find, and exists in much cooler places than next to a grocery store, and is served by much less apathetic staff.
I don’t *hate* you, Swizzle Stick, there are just way better places to spend time and money.

It’s only been a couple of days, but Swizzle Sticks is getting better by the moment. I’ve now visited 3 times, and each time, they customer service reaches a new high. Not to mention, 3.50 pitchers (small pitcher. but still!) These folks are about as friendly as it gets. I might just become a regular.
I use the dry cleaner right next door and it’s so funny that even the owner of the dry cleaner, without my mentioning anything about the bar, started to tell me about how happy she is that they moved there, and that they are as nice as can be. This just doesn’t happen every day.
Hats off to you Swizzle Sticks!
Oh, one quick FYI, this is strictly a cocktail lounge and they do not serve food.