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Old Town Scottsdale, cowboys and cocktails
Half Western movie set, half bachelorette party. Old Town is better than its reputation if you know which blocks to hit and when to bail.
Old Town is downtown Scottsdale: a tight grid of galleries, saloons, boutiques and loud bars wedged between Scottsdale Road and the Arizona Canal. It sells itself as the West's Most Western Town, and the hitching-post look is real on a few blocks.
Go in the afternoon for art, history and a long lunch. Go at night if you want the club strip. Go on a weekday if you want to actually hear your friends. Whatever the plan, nobody in your crew should be driving home from here after a sesh.
Old Town Scottsdale history and the vibe now
Winfield Scott showed up in 1888 and put a down payment on 640 acres near what's now downtown. The Arizona Canal ran right by his homestead, and that water is the reason anything grew here. The canal itself follows a route the Hohokam dug more than 1,000 years ago, and today it's the spine of the Scottsdale Waterfront.
The cowboy costume came later and on purpose. The local Chamber of Commerce formed in 1947, set a Western design theme for downtown and picked the slogan West's Most Western Town to pull in tourists. When Scottsdale incorporated in 1951 with about 2,000 residents, it made that line the official motto. The galleries moved in over the following decades, and the restaurants and nightclubs piled on in the 1990s and 2000s.
What you get now is a weird, fun mix. A working blacksmith shop from 1910 sits a few blocks from velvet-rope clubs. Old adobe walls share a sidewalk with tequila bars. It's more polished than downtown Phoenix, and way less chill than Arcadia next door.
Things to do in Old Town Scottsdale
The best stuff is walkable and a lot of it costs nothing. Start around Brown Avenue and Main Street, then drift toward the Civic Center and the canal.
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Scottsdale Civic Center
Knight Rise skyspace at SMoCA
7374 E 2nd St, Scottsdale, AZ 85251The Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art has a James Turrell skyspace called Knight Rise in its outdoor sculpture courtyard. You sit on a concrete bench and look up through an elliptical hole in the ceiling, and the sky starts to look like it's sinking into the room. Lights in the walls shift how the color reads, most dramatically at sunrise and sunset.
It's free to visitors whenever the museum is open. Ten minutes in there will do more for your head than an hour on the club strip.
TipTime it near sunset if the museum hours line up. That's when the sky gets strange.
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Brown Avenue
Old Adobe Mission
Built in the 1930s by Mexican immigrant families out of roughly 14,000 big adobe blocks, it's one of only three adobe structures left downtown. It's small, pretty and a good reminder that the town existed long before the bars did.
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Scottsdale Civic Center
Little Red Schoolhouse
Built in 1909 for $4,500, it's been a school, a police station and a visitors center. Now it holds the Scottsdale Historical Museum, with photos and artifacts from the early farm town days. The Civic Center park around it covers 21 acres of lawns, gardens and public art, including Robert Indiana's LOVE sculpture.
TipWalk the Civic Center lawns in the cooler months. It's the calmest part of Old Town.
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Arts District
Western Spirit: Scottsdale's Museum of the West
A Smithsonian Affiliate museum on the history and art of the American West: cowboy gear, Hopi pottery and big Western paintings. Air-conditioned, quiet and genuinely good. Perfect for a hot afternoon.
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Main Street and Marshall Way
Scottsdale ArtWalk
Every Thursday evening since 1975, the galleries along Main Street and Marshall Way open their doors for receptions and live entertainment. Wander, look at stuff you can't afford, enjoy the free snacks.
TipEat first, then walk. Gallery cheese is not dinner.
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Brown Avenue
Cavalliere's Blacksmith Shop
Started in 1910 as a tin building and rebuilt in adobe in 1920, it's still a working, family-owned blacksmith shop. You're standing in front of the oldest kind of business in town.
Old Town Scottsdale restaurants and bars
You can eat very well here or very badly, often on the same block. These are the ones locals keep going back to. For more munchie spots around the Valley, check our eat guide.
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Historic Old Town
Rusty Spur Saloon
7245 E Main St, Scottsdale, AZ 85251Scottsdale's oldest cowboy saloon lives in the old Farmer's State Bank building, which was a bank from 1921 to 1933. The original vault now holds liquor. Live music most nights, peanut-shell energy, zero pretension.
If you only do one bar in Old Town, make it this one.
TipGo early evening before the bachelorette parties find it.
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Brown Avenue
The Mission
3815 N Brown Ave, Scottsdale, AZModern Latin food right next to the Old Adobe Mission. House-made tortillas and salsas, and espresso churros for the sweet tooth. The room is dark and candlelit, which helps.
TipSave room for the churros.
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Fifth Avenue
Citizen Public House
7111 E Fifth Ave, Ste E, Scottsdale, AZ 85251Opened in 2011 and still one of the better dinners in Old Town. The Stetson Chopped salad is the local legend here. It's a salad you'll actually think about later.
TipDinner only, so plan accordingly.
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Scottsdale Road
Sugar Bowl Ice Cream Parlor
Pink, family-owned and pouring sundaes since the 1950s. Diner comfort food, tea sandwiches, the Camelback Soda and the Tin Roof Sundae. This is the munchie endgame.
TipGet the Tin Roof. Split it or don't.
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Old Town
FnB
Chef Charleen Badman won the James Beard Best Chef: Southwest award in 2019, and this is her place. Vegetable-forward, seasonal and a serious dinner. Bring the friend who orders for the table.
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1st Avenue
Hula's Modern Tiki
Tropical cocktails and tiki-style plates. The Duke's Luau Pork Plate is the order. Easy, loud and fun with a group.
Questions about Old Town Scottsdale
Can you smoke weed in Old Town Scottsdale?
Not in public. Smoking marijuana in a public place or open space is a petty offense in Arizona, and that includes sidewalks, bar patios and the Waterfront. Smoke at a private residence where the owner says it's fine, then head out.
Is the Scottsdale Trolley free?
Yes, the city runs it as a free trolley, with routes that serve downtown Scottsdale. It's the easiest way to hop between Old Town and nearby stops without dealing with parking.
Why is Scottsdale called the West's Most Western Town?
The Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce adopted the slogan after forming in 1947 and gave downtown a Western design theme to attract tourists. The town made it the official motto when it incorporated in 1951.
What is the oldest bar in Old Town Scottsdale?
The Rusty Spur Saloon on Main Street bills itself as the town's oldest cowboy saloon. It's in the old Farmer's State Bank building, and the original vault now stores liquor.
What's free to do in Old Town Scottsdale?
The Knight Rise skyspace at SMoCA is free during museum hours. Thursday ArtWalk, the Civic Center park and its public art, and the Scottsdale Waterfront along the canal also cost nothing.