In writing my last post about Old Town Scottsdale and Old Town Scottsdale homes, what to expect in the homes, I started thinking about how a big picture article was necessary about Old Town Scottsdale. I started researching what the main Scottsdale visitors sites said, and oh my was I overwhelmed!
It was so nitty gritty, I mean how many articles about Old Town Scottsdale do I want to read before visiting? Plus, have you ever visited another city (i’m sure you have) and read books (I did when we went to Spain), then on the day of the visit somewhere, I couldn’t remember the exact details of the area because I read about too many attractions. I mean a total sense of overwhelm.
Since I live about as close to Old Town Scottsdale as one could live, in the 85251 zipcode, I figured I would give a big picture idea of the main areas.
I will start at the top of the Downtown Scottsdale Neighborhoods map.
Scottsdale Fashion Square - The entire area is the Scottsdale Fashion Square Mall. This is the best mall in town by far, however, there is one caveat, it’s not amazing for strollers, at some point you will need to find an elevator, no big deal, but just a disclaimer. You can shop, eat, see a movie, have a drink or just watch the show and by this I mean people watch. There are several high end stores, including Barney’s of New York, so the patrons of the mall are quite mixed. It’s a good time. The restaurants are all great and even the food court has a couple good options, my favorite is the Pita Jungle, a Mediterranean chicken and pita local restaurant.
The Waterfront - It is contiguous to Scottsdale Fashion Square and it’s all walkable. It is really an outdoor extension of the mall. You can eat at Olive & Ivy, it’s fairly casual or even Sauce, which is quick serve. You can even walk along the “waterfront” aka the canal painted blue. Note: if you take the free Scottsdale Trolley, which I think is pretty fun to get the lay of the land it drives right over the canal. Pretty fun!
SouthBridge - Is the south side of the Waterfront (the canal). It has some really great restaurants with patios. One of my favorites if you like spicy food is Barrio Queen, the tacos are amazing and you can mix and match them! I've heard the margaritas are great, I drink the draft Mexican beer. Chips and salsa are an extra charge, but I think it’s well worth the three bucks! I have heard Marcellino Ristorante is good too, but I haven’t been. Also, The Herb Box is a Scottsdale restaurant staple, great lunch with tea or cocktails. On Thursday nights and Sundays, during the season October - April, they have SouthBridge Street Fair.
5th Avenue Shops & Boutiques - This area has tons of shops and is a perfect walking area. There are restaurants, a few bars, a tea shop, wine shop, probably one of the better walking areas of Old Town Scottsdale. You can go from SouthBridge and walk around the shops and such. Across Stetson Street are two higher end restaurants, Cowboy Ciao & FNB, both farm to table restaurants.
Scottsdale Arts District - This is the area with most of the art galleries, every Thursday there is the Scottsdale Art Walk. It’s a great area for walking.
Old Town Scottsdale - This area probably looks like the photos you’ve seen of Scottsdale, it seems western, there are western galleries, restaurants and saloons. The main saloon is the Rusty Spur, they have live music on weekend nights. Plus, all the restaurants are fabulous! A couple of my favorites here are Bandera, The Mission & RA Sushi.
Civic Center Mall - You can walk here from Old Town, the plaza is lovely with fountains. There are a couple of hidden restaurants and bars on the plaza. Look for AZ88, it’s fabulous! The Orange Table serves breakfast and lunch and the restaurant at the Saguaro hotel faces the mall too!
Entertainment District - I saw the name of this district and I laughed a little, the entire Old Town Scottsdale area is full of restaurants, bars and shops, so for this area to be designated the entertainment disrict seemed funny to me. However, it is full of entertainment, there are bars, bars that have pools and this area has the W Hotel, which is a hotspot. One of the main attractions is Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row bar, a pretty happening bar, with tons of country music, I don’t even like country music and I had a blast!
- Brown & Stetson Businesses - Not too much to say, it’s mostly offices and businesses.
The Scottsdale Trolley is free to ride, take a ride around all the districts of Old Town Scottsdale, it takes about an hour from start to finish, you can also jump on and off!
Note: The map of the neighborhoods in Downtown Scottsdale is from http://downtownscottsdale.com/. This site offers a FANTASTIC newsletter of all the upcoming events in the next month or so. I receive this newsletter and I love it, especially, not in the summer when their are tons of festivals, art fairs, etc.
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About the Author
Charlie Allred is a Phoenix area real estate broker, designated broker for Secure Real Estate and an online marketing expert. She works primarily in the east valley of Phoenix, which includes Scottsdale, Tempe, Paradise Valley Ahwatukee, Chandler & Gilbert. She helps her home seller’s homes be found everywhere online. She is also a Pinterest expert teaching other real agents how to gain more leads, followers & clients by using Pinterest. She is the mother of twin daughters. If you are considering selling your Phoenix area home or buying a Phoenix area home, contact Charlie today at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 480-220-9979 to create a plan to get your house sold or find you the best home for you!
