Pretty Decent Concepts is opening a restaurant and an adjacent cocktail bar in the former P.F. Chang’s and Great Clips storefronts on the northwest corner of Mill Avenue and University Drive.
The group, which is also behind Wren & Wolf, Trophy Room and Chico Malo in downtown Phoenix, remains tight-lipped regarding menus and specific details. However, co-founder Teddy Myers promises both establishments will be unlike most of Mill Avenue’s mainstay spots.
“We’re not opening a college bar,” he says.
The restaurant will be a new American concept that focuses on wood-fired cooking, taking inspiration from live-fire grills commonly used throughout South America.
"Live-fire cooking is very typical in Argentinian-style cuisine, but the grills usually have the wheel that pulls them up and down, and we're not doing that," he explains. "We're building a live fire pit in the middle of the dining room."
As for the bar, Myers describes it as a "listening lounge-meets-high-energy cocktail lounge" with "1970s golden-hour themes."
The concept will feature a menu by Pretty Decent Concepts’ newly-appointed beverage director, Jax Donahue and some seriously high-end touches. Myers mentions that the elements of the bar were imported from a Norway-based design agency, whose clients include Eleven Madison Park and Double Chicken Please in New York City.
“We’re bringing in quality equipment into a bar in Tempe to make a statement,” Myers says.
The two new concepts mark the company’s first expansion outside of Phoenix. Myers mentions the team looked "everywhere" for potential building sites but ultimately landed on Tempe, noting the city's investment in establishments catering to its growing number of young professionals and business travelers.
As a devoted Arizona State University alum, Myers is excited to help build the future of a city he’s been deeply entrenched in for decades.
“My family's had season tickets to ASU football for over 60 years, and I really want to see and be part of Tempe thriving,” he says.
