Elite Event – A Kick-Off To Arizona Cocktail Week

Apologies for the late review. This one slipped by me.
The Montelucia is one of my favorite resorts and they were host to such a fantastic Unilocal event. Don Julio Cocktail Competition with an amazing background was the prefect setting for this Kick-​off to Cocktail Week. We were privileged to have several location bartenders give us tips and show their skills during this competition. Thanks to Don Julio for supplying the tequila for this great event. The Montelucia staff were the perfect hosts. I loved the build your chicken tacos bar and quesadillas. Thanks to the Lindsey, Unilocal,Montelucia, Don Julio, all the amazing bartenders, and staff for an awesome night!

Had a wonderful time!!! Great view, great food, and great company with my fellow Unilocalers! Love the never ending tacos… YUM! Sorry, I don’t drink so I couldn’t comment on the alcohol. I just know there was a lot of selections to try.
The never ending prizes was a ++. Lindsey and Unilocal staff — Kudos!

This was one of my fave Elite events to date.
Firstly, the location was bea-​u-​tiful. Secondly, the food (both passed and the stations) was delicious. And thirdly, well you know Im gonna say the drinks were awesome.
Im not a huge tequila girl, but I could drink the haberero cocktail, and the Highland cocktail all day. I ultimately voted for the habenero (excited to find out who won tonight).
The staff was awesome, and the Don Julio rep was hilarious. We had a great time sampling the DJ 70 and chatting w/​him.
Thanks to the Montelucia resort, Don Julio, all the fab bartenders, the staff and of course Ms Lindsey for an awesome night!

Wow. Sorry for the late review!!!
This was one of the best Elite events that I have been to. First of all the resort was amazing. It had an amazing view of Camelback MT in the background. The event was in the lounge next to the pool. I kept looking towards the mountain. I wish I was staying here!
The drinks were amazing. I really felt like thought and love were made into every drink. My favorite was the drink with the Smoke Misquote and peppers in it. I thought it was very well thought out and took the longest to make. My wife Kat K thought the drink that had the shot of Don Julio 1942 was the best because she love bloody marries. And I had no idea that 1942 was the highest grade of tequila that Don Julio.
The food was also great. We had tacos and quesadilla bars but something you would expect from a fine dinning establishment, I absolutely loved the chicken tacos and the cheese and chicken quesadillas. Pair them up with fresh quac and its heaven. I even saw the Executive Chef of Montelucia here making sure the tacos and the quesadilla were perfect. I thought that was a good touch.
All in all this might be my new favorite Unilocal Event. I would totally come back to the resort and its Spanish theme. Service was great and the view Camelback was amazing!!!
Thank you again Lindsay for another great Unilocal Elite event!

Wow this experience was more than I could have ever hoped or dreamed. This was my first Unilocal elite event and it was amazing.
The resort was so beautiful. I loved everything about it. The views were amazing. I wish I could stay there one night. I really liked the feel of the grounds and the architecture. It was upscale and well put together.
The even itself was so much fun. It was by the beautiful pool. The food provided was delicious. They had a taco bar and made them fresh for you. Then they had salsas, chips, and quesodillas. Everything was tasty and fabulous. They even had appetizers passed around.
The bartenders each provided such a unique drink. I could see how Arizona was represented in the drinks. Some drinks had habeneros and other peppers to bring a spicy flavor. I enjoyed every single one of them, and had a hard time deciding which one to leave my card to.
I will definitely be back to try the restaurant there and maybe stay the night.

I loved this event! Perfect weather+my favorite tequila+great company+veggie quesadillas. How can you go wrong?!
The Montelucia was a great location for this event. I had never been before, and now I can’t wait to come back for a spa day so I can lounge around the pool and take in the view of Camelback. The staff was great, and the event seemed to go so smoothly.
The mixologists really got creative with the cocktails. My favorites were the poblano drink from Sean at Postino and the habanero one from Clint at Mabel’s (yes, I found out where they work so I can stalk them. I’m mad about a good cocktail!).
Thanks Lindsey for another fun night!

Another fierce cocktail competition! This time was with DonJulio Tequila. A gorgeous evening to have a cocktail challenge outdoor at the Montelucia Resort.
I had the opportunity to try all the featured cocktails. The bartenders did a great job creating unusual drinks that were each tasty but very different from one another. It was tough to just vote on one cocktail. I ended voting for the habanero cocktail.
Loved the selections at the taco & quesadilla stations. The wait staff were so attentive by time I returned with my food my drink had disappeared. I’m glad that I still have few tabs left.
Thank you to everyone for an incredible sensory experience to kick-​off AZ Cocktail Week!

The Montelucia is a great place to have an event. The mountains of Camelback are a great back splash. It will be on my list of places to stay a night or two for a quick, relaxing local vacation.
The kick off event was perfect. Plenty of food, fresh tacos, quesadillas, and Tequila. I was brave enough to try all the drinks and my favorites included beet syrup while the second had habanero in it. Habanero earned my card for the night. What a great mix of spice and Tequila.
The event was all about the cocktails, but the food was great. Plenty of soft shelled beef and chicken tacos with fresh guacamole and salsa were devoured. I was part of the devouring for sure. My diet clause allows 1 day a week of food enjoyment.
I have to congratulate the Unilocal staff this has to be the best cocktail event I have ever been to. The venue, food, and drink were all top notch. The events are only getting better. Thanks Lindsey and Unilocal,my night on the town box is checked for the week.
Now time to relax and enjoy cocktail week. :)

Another great event! This was my very first time at the Montelucia resort. It is absolutely beautiful. The event was held on the back patio. It was just a little chilly, but they had a gorgeous fire pit.
We had a chance to try five different tequila cocktails. I liked the sweetest one with the egg whites mixed into it.
The food was really good too. I didn’t have a chance to try the quesadillas because I couldn’t stop eating the soft beef tacos. The tortillas were so fresh and delicious I couldn’t make room for anything else!
Great event! Thank you Lindsey!

I was so lucky to be Invited to the event here at the Monte Lucia resort.
What a lovely setting. Here I have lived here for 25 years and never knew it was here. Another great thing about Unilocal you are always finding things you never knew were right around the corner.
The kick off to Cocktail Week in the Valley.
Wonderful drinks were served as sample to the 5 finalist in the running all made with Tequila.
I really can’t say enough about the lovely parties that Lindsey and her crew put together, they are always the absolute best!

Unilocal and the Montelucia couldn’t have chosen a nicer night out for this outdoor event.
And, if anyone was chilly, the drinks were sure to warm them up. 5 stations, 5 drinks, and we were the judges for one of them to be featured in AZ Cocktail Week. Most of them had a hint of spice and offered something unique. I thought the smoke infused habanero cocktail had the most flair and popularity during the night but I ended up giving my card (vote) to another that had a more refreshing taste and classy presentation.
The finger foods were fantastic as usual. If you didn’t like the cocktails (but, who really couldn’t?), then you were sure to enjoy the quesadilla and b.y.o taco spreads. I enjoyed both the hard and soft taco options and thought the chicken was very well prepared.
This was the first event I’ve attended that really featured Twitter in an interactive way. I thought it was a clever use of the medium and offered a great way to give away prizes and keep everyone on their toes. We walked away with a few gift cards to AZ Cocktail Week at the end of the night, so no complaints here! I hope to see Twitter and even Facebook or Instagram used more in upcoming events.
Thanks to Lindsey, @YelpPHX, @DonJulio, and the Montelucia for a brilliant evening under the stars as we kicked off Arizona Cocktail Week in a way that only Unilocal can do!

Thanks for another Elite Unilocal event!
Don Julio 70 was my favorite of the night! Cocktails with horseradish and Beet sugar? Who knew? I tried drinks I never thought I’d try before this event. Between red chili flakes, hot sauce and habanero chili infused choices this was a rockin’ event. You could almost see the steam exploding from some of those imbibing!
The make your own taco bar tasted fantastic and the pool area couldn’t have been more beautiful. It was a night unlike any other. Lots of fun Unilocalers and I won a raffle! Bring on cocktail week!

This was one spicy kick off to cocktail week!
We arrived to a wristband with 5 drink tickets, a playing card, a Unilocal shot glass and instructions to keep an eye on Twitter. There were 5 cocktail booths set up with amazing bartenders showing off their own tequila drinks. The idea was to taste each one and vote via the playing card. Meanwhile, a quesadilla booth and make your own taco bar stood to the side to perfectly compliment our beverages.
Each cocktail had some sort of spice to it… habanero infused honey, horseradish infused tequila, chili powder, hot sauce, etc. The 5 drinks were each unique, creative, beautifully presented, and a little bit hot! I really loved the horseradish infused tequila with beet! It had a nice kick without making me turn beet red. This guy got my queen of hearts (the playing card, people).
The Twitter game kept things lively, and it was exciting to win some prizes that way, and through the raffle at the end. Arizona Cocktail Week provided us with some awesome prizes that will keep us around for the week of festivities! The Montelucia provided a perfect atmosphere on a beautiful night.
Thanks to Unilocal,Lindsey, AZ Cocktail week and the Montelucia!

This was my first Elite event in Phoenix and all I can say is wow! Not only was it a beautiful night but the location was pretty incredible. The Montelucia grounds are so pretty with the mountains in the background. This is the kind of place I want to come and sit outside, drink a glass of wine and relax. I can’t wait to return for date night with my man.
As for the event itself, the food was super good and there was a great selection. There was also a ton of it! Definitely no reason to walk away hungry. The drinks were very interesting and it was fun to try some things I would never have thought of. I also loved getting the chance to try the Don Julio 70. I have been a fan of Don Julio for years, but it always amazes me how delicious straight tequila is when it is quality. The first thing I did when I got home was check the prices at Total Wine because I will be buying some soon.
Thanks Lindsey and team for such an awesome event! I am looking forward to the next one. Unilocal on!

Hot diggity! This event was AMAZING! They seriously just keep getting better and better! Woohoo to you, Montelucia, Lindsey, Unilocal & Unilocalers, Don Julio, and the wonderful bartenders!
Let me ask you a few questions:
Have you ever had a cocktail with beets? Holy crapola, this was amazing. Very earthy, very yummy, and I could totally pretend I was being healthy.
Have you ever seen a smoker used by a bartender? Me neither! Very cool; I almost wanted to go camping! But instead… I drank. Lots!
Have you ever heard someone say «you just HAVE to try the quesadillas!!» Yeah… me neither, but my fellow Unilocaler was correct. I’m not sure what made them so special, or if it was my tequila brain talking, but they were hands-​down, the best ‘dillas I’ve ever had. And the guac? Yum!
Have you ever been to a place that is so beautiful, you thought to yourself «I wouldn’t mind being homeless, as long as I had this view forever?» Yeppers. The Montelucia’s amazing lighting and mountain views is one you HAVE to see.
Have you ever been someone’s guest to an event and ended up taking home an awesome prize? Lucky me, my «date» Kelly R won a raffle of 2 passes to the Dear Beer Cocktails seminar at the AZ Cocktail Week. She declined the prize to exercise… (wha??) so I get to drink it up while she gets healthy.
Cheers!

I came, I saw, I conquered
… the taco and quesadilla bar that is.
I had the pleasure of experiencing a fancy filled evening out with a great bunch of Unilocal 2013 Elites in the beautiful Montelucia Resort with a backdrop of Camelback Mountain. We partook in the sampling of awesome drinks and good food. I loved getting to spend time and chat with people I’ve not met before. Very cool of the bar tenders to show us some of their tips and techniques.
I loved all the infusions of different tequilas and am happy to have tried the Don Julio 70 — it was smooth to drink with barely any bite, a true sipping tequila if there ever was one. The Montelucia staff was a great pleasure to meet. The restaurant manager insisted on us coming back in the future for their 3 — 6 pm Mon — Fri happy hour. You know I’ll take you up on that soon!
This was another very successful event, thanks Lindsey and Unilocal for keeping my dance card filled. I’m not sure what I’d do without you!
Happy Unilocaling Phoenix, don’t forget to say Hi if you see me around!

This was my first Elite Event! It was great! First, the Montelucia resort is beautiful. Beautiful views, great area for the party and the manager came around and introduced himself which was nice. I went to get some food first before getting all the tequila! The tacos, chips and guacamole, and quesadillas were very good. The soft tacos were filled with either chicken or beef and there was a great selection of salsa’s to put on them.
On to the tequila! It was fun to watch each of the bartender’s making their concoctions and learning about the unique ingredients in each. My favorite was the grapefruit/​egg white one that I think was called kiss of the devil.
It was fun watching the twitter posts by Lindsey for items in your bag to win prizes and she was very generous giving away tons of cocktail week prizes. Thank you for putting together such a great event and I am looking forward to many more elite events!

Wow, what a great way to kick off Arizona Cocktail week with an amazing Elite Cocktail party!
Lindsey & Unilocal Staff you have done an amazing job yet again!
This Cocktail party was set out in the patio area at the Montelucia Resort, couldn’t ask for a better back drop, what a beautiful place, and great staff, very helpful and friendly, even ran into an old favorite bartender of mine who now works for the resort that and cool seeing him there.
There were plenty of drinks on hand, all tequila based, a habanero grapefruit infused drink, another grapefruit tequila infused drink with whipped egg whites, a beet & horseradish infused drink, Don Juilo 70, and a double shooter of golden Don Juilo Tequila & V-​8 mixture, when sip one and then the other, there was this amazing exposing of flavors, that by far was my favorite and it got my card! And the bartenders, they were beautiful eye candy for sure!
I enjoyed the great tasting chicken soft tacos, and that salsa man, that stuff was amazing, could have ate it like a soup haha, the guacamole and chips were a perfect side dish too! Also there was a quesadilla bar, and though I’m a meat eater, I have to say the veggie quesadilla was my favorite! Everything was so yummy!
Since I don’t twitter, I wasn’t able to follow along with the game, but from what everyone was saying, it sure sounded fun! Had so much fun seeing & talking with fellow Unilocalers and even some I haven’t seen in a very long time!
Another fun filled event I got to attend, again thank you Lindsey, Unilocal Staff, Montelucia & awesome staff too, for the fabulous evening!

To really love a Unilocal Event, to attend it
You gotta Unilocal and know Lindsey F.
Let them hear every thought, check-​in every time
And give it stars and let it fly
Then when you find yourself lying helpless at an Elite event
You know you really love a Unilocal Event
When you love a tequila mix (of Don Julio)
You tell the bartender, that he’s really wanted
When you love a tequila mix you tell him that he’s the one (by dropping your cards in the box)
Cuz he needs some cards
To tell him that he’s gonna last forever
So tell me have you ever really
really, really ever been to an Elite Event
(Lyrics — Bryan Adams — Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman?)
Cocktail week hosted by Montelucia and Don Julio mix. This one was special. I really enjoy the tacos and the quesadillas — hats off to the chef. It wasn’t just because I was hungry, but it really taste damn good!
I like the idea of voting for the best cocktail drink. Granted I didn’t get my «I voted» sticker it’s all good. I was never big on tequila, but Don Julio is fast changing my mind.
Overall, great atmosphere. Classical Spanish guitar serenading the patrons at the beautiful Montelucia Resort with an amazing view of Camelback Mts. To really love a Unilocal Event — great job tonight Lindsey! Keep pop, rock and rolling cause you’re on fire, or was it stop, drop, and roll. Hmmm, we don’t stop not drop, but keep those Elite Events rolling! — Enjoy!

Such a lovely setting for an Elite event! The weather was perfect, the food was scrumptious, the Unilocalers were in a festive mood! I’d say all-​in-​all the night was fabuliscious!!!
The samplings of 5 different cocktails were priceless, seeing as how each cocktail donning Don Julio Tequila touched the palette in a unique way! My favorite by far was the habenero pepper one that had smoked mesquite aired somehow with a special gadget. The heart breaking part is… This so called Rise of the Phoenix or whatever this drink was called requires that mesquite fog which was an elite touch that is not quite so accessible to make at home. The Beso de Diablo which contained grapefruit juice, tequila, and some other special ingredients was on the sweeter side and a nice chaser after the habenero drink. I also enjoyed the doubly shot that required you to alternate sips between tequila and a v8 mixture.
The food complimented the mix of tequila drinks flawlessly! The taco bar which included seasoned chicken and beef with a choice of crispy or soft tacos had comfort written all over the taste and feeling you had when eating them. The quesadillas themselves had variety from plain cheese, to chicken, to veggie… There was something for all flavor types!
The staff at the Montelucia was so welcoming and friendly! The head chef at Prado, one could tell, was put hard to work tonight entertaining so many people, and I am so grateful to him and Chris, the restaurant manager for helping make the night extra special! Thank you Lindsey, Jenny and the rest of Unilocal for taking another super fun night and creating something beautiful!