Arizona Wilderness DTPHX Beer Garden
Rating
Family of 4
Plan on roughly $55 to $95 for two adults and two kids without alcohol.
Duration
1-2 hours
Best Ages
Works from toddler through teen, with the easiest window being roughly 3 to 12 during daylight hours. Two things make it manageable with kids: there is a kids menu with a quesadilla, chicken fingers with fries, and a cheeseburger, and there is a large casual patio with picnic tables and a bocce area, so a restless six year old has somewhere to be that is not your lap. Teens do well because the main menu runs to burgers, tacos, handhelds, and salads rather than kid food, with a strong set of vegan options. Infants are welcome as companions but there is nothing here for them, changing facilities are not published, and the patio is loud. This is a brewery first, so the later it gets, the less it works for young kids.
About
Arizona Wilderness DTPHX is a brewery, so let us start there. It sits at Roosevelt and 2nd Street in the middle of the Roosevelt Row arts district in downtown Phoenix, it pours Arizona Wilderness beer, and for most of the 2,200-plus people who left it a 4. 6 star average, the beer is why they walked in.
What makes it work with kids is the space. The patio is large and deliberately casual, with picnic tables, a converted 1970s trailer serving as an outdoor bar, and a bocce area, which means a six year old who cannot sit still for ninety minutes has somewhere to be. Families and dogs are both a normal sight here.
The food is a real kitchen rather than an afterthought, running to burgers, tacos, salads, and handhelds with a heavy emphasis on Arizona-sourced ingredients and a genuinely good set of vegan options. There is a kids menu with a quesadilla, chicken fingers and fries, and a cheeseburger, and non-alcoholic options include lemonade, juice, and coffee, so nobody at the table is stuck with water. Third-party menu listings for this place go stale quickly, so treat any price you find online as a ballpark and check the current menu when you order.
Timing is everything with a brewery. Go early. Lunch and the late afternoon window are calm, family heavy, and easy.
Later in the evening the room shifts adult, the patio gets loud, and a stroller becomes an obstacle. Some Phoenix breweries also restrict minors after a certain hour, so if you are planning to arrive after dinner, call (480) 462-1836 first and ask about the current policy rather than driving downtown to find out.
The location is the other thing to plan for. Downtown Phoenix means metered street parking or a paid garage, and a light rail stop on Central Avenue is close enough to skip the car entirely. If you take the train, pair the meal with the playground at Hance Park a few blocks west, which has a shaded ropes course, animal climbers, and a seasonal splash pad.
First Friday, when Roosevelt Row fills with an art walk crowd, is either the best or the worst night to bring kids, depending entirely on your kids.
One seasonal warning: from roughly May through September the patio that makes this place great is unusable in the afternoon. Sit inside during those months, or come at 8 p.m. and skip the patio games. Changing table availability is not published, so bring a portable pad if you have a baby along.
Age Suitability
Parent Logistics
Stroller-Friendly
Limited
Nursing / Changing
Unknown
Kid Meals
Available
Setting
Indoor & Outdoor
Rainy Day
Great option!
Plan Your Visit
Best Time to Visit
Lunch through late afternoon, roughly 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., which is when the room is family heavy and the patio games are actually available. Hours have recently run 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday, so confirm before you go. From about May through September the Phoenix patio is unusable in the afternoon, so plan on indoor seating or push the visit to evening. First Friday, when Roosevelt Row fills with the downtown art walk crowd, is either the best or the worst night to bring kids depending entirely on your kids.
Wait Times
There is no admission line, and at midday you can usually walk onto the patio and pick a table. Expect a 15 to 30 minute wait for a table on a Friday or Saturday evening and during First Friday, when the whole Roosevelt Row district is busy. Service style can be a mix of table service and counter or QR ordering depending on where you sit and how busy it is, so check when you arrive rather than waiting at a picnic table for a server.
Nearby Food
You are in the middle of Roosevelt Row, which is one of the densest walkable food pockets in downtown Phoenix. Coffee, pizza, ice cream, and dessert shops sit within a few blocks along Roosevelt Street and Central Avenue, and the downtown core just south adds a full range of sit-down options. If Arizona Wilderness is too busy or the crowd has turned adult for the evening, walking a couple of blocks in almost any direction gives you an alternative without getting back in the car.
Why Kids Love It
The patio is the whole draw for kids: a big casual outdoor space with picnic tables, a converted 1970s trailer serving as an outdoor bar, and a bocce area, which means they are allowed to get up and move instead of being pinned to a chair. It feels more like a backyard party than a restaurant, and dogs are a normal sight, which for a lot of kids is the highlight of the meal. The kids menu keeps it simple with a quesadilla, chicken fingers and fries, and a cheeseburger, so the picky eater at your table has something recognizable while everyone else eats tacos and burgers.
Pro Tips from Parents
- This is a brewery first, so timing matters more than anything else. Lunch and late afternoon are calm and family heavy. Later in the evening the room shifts adult and a stroller becomes an obstacle in a crowded patio.
- Some Phoenix breweries restrict minors after a certain hour. If you are planning to arrive after dinner, call (480) 462-1836 first and ask about the current policy rather than driving downtown to find out.
- Ask about the kids menu when you order. It exists, with a quesadilla, chicken fingers and fries, and a cheeseburger, but it is not always the first thing you see on the board or the QR menu.
- The bocce area and the picnic-table layout are what make this work with young kids, so ask for patio seating in cooler months and interior seating from about May through September when the Phoenix sun makes the patio unusable in daylight.
- You are four blocks from the playground at Hance Park, which has a shaded ropes course and a splash pad. Parking once and walking between the two turns a one hour lunch into a half-day outing. Changing table availability is not published here, so bring a portable pad if you have a baby along.
What to Bring
- A card, since ordering may run through counter or QR service depending on where you sit
- Sunscreen and hats if you are taking the patio in warm months
- A light layer for the air-conditioned interior in summer
- A portable changing pad, since changing facilities are not published
- A quiet activity for the wait on a busy weekend evening
- Water bottles for the kids if you are walking over to Hance Park afterward
Cost Info
Estimated Cost (Family of 4)
Plan on roughly $55 to $95 for two adults and two kids without alcohol.
Kids menu items like the quesadilla, chicken fingers, and cheeseburger are the cheapest part of the check, while adult burgers, taco plates, handhelds, and salads land in the mid to upper teens on third-party menu listings.
Add tax and tip and you are in that range; add two beers and you are at the upper end or past it.
Third-party menu listings for this place go stale fast, so treat any online price as a ballpark and check the current menu when you order.
Downtown parking is the hidden cost: metered street parking or a paid garage near Roosevelt Row, which the light rail avoids entirely.
Tips to Save
- Go at lunch rather than dinner, since the same kitchen at midday runs cheaper per plate than an evening visit with a beer flight.
- Order kids items off the children's list rather than splitting adult plates, since they are the lowest-cost line items on the menu.
- One source notes a Sunday kids deal, so ask about it when you call or arrive rather than assuming it is running.
- Take the light rail to a nearby Central Avenue stop instead of feeding a downtown meter or paying a garage, which for a family of four often beats the cost of parking.
- Skip the flight and order one beer if the adults are drinking, since draft pours are where a family check quietly doubles.
