ICON Lounge

Ask for clint «spotty» best Ramos Gin Fizz in town bar, nae the universe. Live the dream and make sure he shakes it for fifteen minutes and makes his creamy gin goodness right there in front of you!
Pub fries are good too!

Ever eat something and wish you could have more? This gal just devoured the Braised Lamb Tongue Taco while at FED After TEDx. (Food /​beer pairings at the Phoenix Convention Center organized by the Evans Churchill neighborhood.)
Alas no, I have not been to experience the magic of the ICON Lounge, tucked inside the Renaissance Hotel. Given the delicious greeting Brandon Rogeness (the Mgr of Operations) and Dora Galantai (the guru behind private dining in Marston’s Café) I WANT TO GO.
Here’s why:
+ The food!
+ The lively people!
«What is a meal without wine?»
«Breakfast.»
[I knew I liked Dora from that moment on.]
If the the lamb taco is any indication of the delights awaiting I will be very, very happy. The avocado salsa tomatillo offers spicy heat without being overpowering. This is a must eat.
I fell in love with Brandon when he humored me by repeating «It’s deeehleeeecious.» At least three times. He hails from Iowa and is so adorable I’d steal him.
The Renaissance Hotel is committed to offering a local vibe to their guests. If you’re just popping in to eat and drink, have no worry. Art is on display from our Phoenix friends for all to enjoy. They even do this neat thing where canvas art will be painted while you watch.
If you’re wondering where the heck this is think downtown. A block north of CityScape, adjacent to the light rail. (It even sounds like partial parking validation is coming.)
If that was Chef Judson Branch at the event tonight I sincerely apologize. I was too wowed over by my food to say «Thank You!»

Great place to stop by after work for some GREAT cocktails.
Make sure to see George, he makes the best mojito’s and a good mule.

This is really not a bad place to come have a relaxed drink downtown. It’s true that like most hotel bars there’s not necessarily a lot of umph here. But I’ve recently been lamenting lately the lack of true lounges here.
Many places call themselves lounges but there is something I can’t quite articulate that must be in place in order to qualify as a lounge. ICON actually is somewhere within the realm of a lounge.
Although it’s off the lobby of the Renaissance Phoenix (formerly The Wyndham) it is comfortable and quiet, has an agreeable level of lighting and I found it to be a nice place to come a relax for a beer. Let’s face it, Blue Hound, Tilted Kilt and Copper Blues will be über-​crowded around happy hour. As much as I like Hanny’s it’s almost too vast unless I’m in the right mood. Steve’s??? yeah, not so much. Seamus’s? I always get a drink spilled on me when I’m here. To clarify the drinks were spilled on me, not thrown in my face.
On this particular day where I wanted to have a drink with a co-​worker, it fit like a glove. I’m certainly not going to complain about $ 3 craft beers during happy hour either.
So I don’t see myself being a regular here but I know I can come here when I want a drink and just don’t feel like going to any of the other places downtown.

I have been here a few times and the bar is very cool. I swear it is one of the coolest atmospheres.
There have not been cocktail waiters when I have been there, so expect to stand in line and go to the bar for food/​drinks.
Need to host a small party here? Call and ask. I have had friends host small get togethers and they have been accommodating.

Great cocktails!

Cool bar in central Phoenix… love this place!

For a hotel bar, it’s decent. If anyone heads downtown to go here just to go here, please move on. Their food is just okay. I’ve had the lamb sliders (okay, and interesting), the sweet potato fries (barely okay, just frozen fried stuff with cream sauce over top), the crab tacos (think mostly mayo and cold crab, in taco shells), and the tuna wraps (nice chunks of raw tuna, with pineapple?, in lettus, okay). Beer on tap was down, nothing specactular. Nice modern décor, like the rest of hotel. Look, if I was in town on business and wanted to have a beer with colleagues, you could do worse than sliders and a beer at the bar. But there are so many better restaurants downtown, including the truly outstanding Red Elephant just up the street a block (thai, not fancy, but outstanding food). Or I’d try the Ghost Lounge for drinks in the San Carlo not too far away.

Okay, this was our last stop on the Urban Wine Tour before we took the party elsewhere…
Again, the place was super crowded, but as soon as we walked in a table built for 3 in a prime people watching location opened up for us. The hotel is very pretty (although it looks like they skimped when it was time to decorate the lobby bathrooms, tsk tsk!) The waitress was attentive, the seating was comfortable and the wine was yummy. What more could we ask for? Well, I’ll tell ya, the unlimited cheese and crackers was a nice touch as well… after swilling wine all day, it’s nice to have something to nosh on. So kudos for their hospitality, and if I need a place to crash in lieu of going home, I would definitely give one of their rooms a try and would love to taste something off the menu.

I went here last night with a party of 4 before a concert at US Airways. The place was about ½ full when we arrived and I think the other people were hotel guests or going to the concert as well. The place is smack dab right in the middle of the hotel’s lobby which is a bit weird but whatever I’ll try anything.
The service was friendly but a bit slow. I think the place is way understaffed so it wasn’t our waitresses fault.
Here is what I tried:
* Kettle Martini = very good
* Flash Fried Spinach & Calamari = excellent… LOVED the spinach
* Bruschetta = eh…
* Artisan Cheese Flight = eh…
* Ahi Lettuce Wraps = very good
* Kobe Beef Sliders = excellent
Overall I actually thought the food was pretty decent. It is definitely not the correct choice for a meal though because it would cost $ 700 and take 5 hours. The prices are a bit excessive for what you get but if you buy a gift cert from
then it makes it a bit more bearable.

My review is a little biased as I know someone who works for the Wyndham so my experiences at the ICON Bar have always been great. I have had their blueberry mojito which was freaking FANTABULOUS and the drink I had last night was a melon or cantaloupe martini. WOW! Very good indeed. I have also had just about every appetizer and again, I am biased because they have all been very good.
So stop in for a drink before you head on your way to wherever you are venturing to downtown. You may just be pleasantly surprised.

My Cousin came in to town and stayed at the Wyndham so we all met up in the Icon for drinks before we started our night downtown. My BF and I were the first people here, so that was pretty sweet, specially for 5pm on a Friday night. Sad how dead downtown is right now. Anywho, the bartender called in sick that night, so they had a stand in, who admitted he wasn’t very good behind the bar. For me, I like to know these things, when I’m in a lounge type place I normally go for the dirty martini’s or specialty drinks, so it was nice to know not to order them as they wouldn’t be that good. I mean, dirty martini’s don’t sound hard, but people mess them up all the time, you have to get the perfect mix of olive juice and vodka. Their happy hour last til 6, so we had some wine while waiting for our group to show, and then went off on our way. I liked it, I did see people from behind the bar going to the bar for their drinks, which could be annoying, but the place was empty, I’d pretty much expect to go get it with that many empty tables. I definitely wouldn’t mind heading here to get my night started again.

I *really* want to give this place more stars. Like really do. The ambiance of the Wyndham lobby and this bar are slick and fun. The tap selection (kiltlifter baby!) is decent and the tapas selections sound great.
The problem is the last few times the service is just painful. Maybe you’ll be luckier than I.
If you go get the shu mai shooters, these almost even worth the service problems.

Sit near or at the bar, appletini is super apple-​ie, hummus was great — skip the polenta.
We headed here to while away an evenign during a conference.
There was a pretty good amount of people in the bar.
We picked a sofa to the left behind the bar. Luckily some older ladies arrived at the same time and were a little more forceful than hubby and I would have been, so we got a server after not too long of a wait.
There appeared to be one poor fella servicing the entire non-​bar area. Including the outside seating area.
We picked what we wanted and got it ordered up right when he stopped by.
The hummus has a great flavor! The fried polenta was just so-​so and the marinara sauce didn’t add much to it.
The wine was good and the apple-​tini was super great!
Not cheap, but that’s not what I expected!
The waiter did the best he could, but if you want faster service and attention sit at the bar!

It’s possible that all of my recent abysmal experiences at downtown «hotspots» (see my reviews of Networks and Majerle’s) are making me rate ICON much higher than I otherwise would, but in the spirit of promoting downtown development and praising businesses that are actually making an effort to be a place where you might want to hang out, I’m going to give the spot four very enthusiastic thumbs-​up.
Located directly across from what is now Hanny’s, ICON occupies the south side of the Wyndham and spills out into a small but cozy patio. As you can see from the pictures I’ve uploaded to this listing, the space is modern and hip without being too cold or uninviting. Yes, you can still see the lobby for the actual bar and from many of the inside tables, but the space is definitely an improvement over the cookie-​cutter and outdated look of many hotel bars.
We visited ICON on Saturday night around 7:30pm. The place was virtually empty, although I blame this less on a particular flaw of ICON and more on what appears to be the chronic unpopularity of downtown Phoenix. We decided to take a seat outside and have an appetizer and a drink. Our server, Zane, was really polite and took our order pretty much immediately, which may not seem like a big deal since there were so few other patrons. However, having been a server for three years, I can tell you that it’s often the times when a restaurant is the most empty when the servers will slack off the most. Kudos to Zane for still being on top of it.
The food section of the menu was divided into «Nibbles» and «Bites,» both essentially categories of small plates/​tapas. There was also a small selection of artisanal cheeses, as well as a sampling of desserts. The distinction between the «Nibbles» and «Bites» (words that seem more inappropriate to me each time I repeat them!) was not entirely clear since some of the plates in the «Nibbles» section seemed just as substantial as the «BItes»; for example, we ordered the fried calamari with flash-​fried spinach from the «Nibbles» section, and even though it wasn’t large, it was a decent-​sized plate to share before going to dinner. It’s entirely possible that the «Bites» are larger portions, which I’ll have to report back on next time we go.
In terms of flavor, we found the calamari to be perfectly fried and not too chewy. The flash-​fried spinach was a bit greasy, but we loved the unique crispy texture and thought it tasted delicious with a squeeze of lemon. There were some other dishes that sounded great – the pork belly sliders and lamb ribs sounded especially worth trying – and none was more than $ 10 or so, which is pretty reasonable as far as small plates go. I’ve been places that charged $ 12 or more for a much smaller small plate!
The specialty drink menu was about 10 – 15 drinks long, and just like the small plates list, was filled with interesting and creative options. I opted for the classic lemon drop, which was «twisted» due to the addition of Grand Marnier. I thought it was refreshing without being too sweet. My husband’s Ketel One martini was very-​well mixed, with his request for «lightly dirty» being perfectly executed. However, the olives it came with were gross and were in sore need of an upgrade. Both drinks were around $ 9, which is expensive compared to a dive bar but not for a nicer lounge in a hotel.
I think ICON stands out compared to a lot of other places downtown. Effort has been paid to its décor, food, and drinks, and that means something in an area of the city that is struggling to attract attention and make a name for itself. Hopefully, as Hanny’s grows in popularity, ICON will get more drop-​ins who realize that it’s a decent spot for a beverage and – dare I say – a nibble. I personally plan to return at some point very soon, perhaps in combination with a drink and food item at Hanny’s, which I am very interested in trying.

I have fond memories of ICON. I worked in the building years ago and always thought it was a cool, trendy spot. It never is very busy, possibly due in part to the fact they don’t advertise. The dessert menu is very unique, with everything served in double shot glasses. The tapas and and small plate menu is delicious and unique. The short ribs are nothing short of phoenomonal. There are spots you can get some privacy, like the back corner behind the bar, or places where can be in the action and watch the game if you want, i.e. the front of the bar. The prices though, are ridiculous. If budget is not an option, and you just want some interesting food and a fun place to hang out this is the place.

ICON is the bar inside the Wyndham Hotel, downtown.
Since this newly renovated bar is walking distance from my home, I was dying for this to be yet another cool place in downtown Phx to hang out. My first impression upon entering the hotel was that my dream had indeed come true. The new lobby of the hotel is, relative to the older version, spectacular, and impressive. As you enter the lobby and first glance at the new bar, with its chic décor and sleek furniture, that impression continues.
But something just doesn’t work with this bar as you find a seat and make yourself comfortable. I’m no architect or interior designer by any means and don’t pretend I am. But somehow the bar doesn’t «fit» with the lobby, even though the wall décor, the lounge chairs and sofa, and the backdrop to the bar itself all look very modern and… er… sexy. (You can see what I’m talking about from the web link above). Maybe it’s the fact that there’s too much open space. If you’re seated at this bar with a friend or date, you feel like you’re in the same space as people and employees wandering around the lobby who have nothing to do with the bar. There’s no sense of intimacy, with either who you are with or with the rest of the bar. There’s too much light, from the lobby of course.
Plus, when I came here with a friend we ordered drinks and some «tapas», which I’ve come to learn over the years is the American translation for «tiny portions of food at rip-​off prices», as opposed to what I expect in real tapas in Europe. In fairness, the «tapas» here were very good and tasty. But they are in fact very expensive and not at all worth it in my humble opinion.
It’s not that I had a bad experience per se at ICON. I just feel a bit disappointed. The Wyndham is located directly across the street from another 2 or 3-​story bar currently being constructed in downtown Phoenix that’s expected to be a true destination bar for people from all over the Valley (built by the owner of Scottsdale’s AZ 88). A great bar at this location would have transformed this part of Adams Street in a major way. Instead of being great, it’s middle of the road though. I’ll drop in now and then.
EDIT: After my second visit here in August ’07, I have to downgrade to one star. One star for me means: I will never come here again (and I live walking distance from it); and I will never recommend anyone else come here either, except maybe to just walk through the lobby to check out the new look. I came here on a First Friday, when downtown Phoenix is jam-​packed to the hilt with visitors, and the «vibe» here was absolutely dead. There was no one in the bar other than hotel guests wondering what the fuss was about everywhere other than in ICON. Our waitress was extremely annoying. We stopped here intending to check it out, get one quick over-​priced drink, and move on. She was so slow that this process somehow turned into an HOUR. Talk about a buzz-​killer. Big mistake stopping here. One I won’t make again.