MercBar, the sleek lounge that first opened near Biltmore Fashion Park in The Esplanade in 1996, will close after last call on Saturday.
“28 years, 10,000 nights, hundreds of thousands of Cosmos, Sophia Lorens and Goldfish later, we’re saying goodbye,” owner Rick Phillips wrote in a post on Instagram alluding to the classic cocktails and complimentary crackers that have been offered to guests over the bar’s nearly three decades.
Modeled after the original MercBar, which Phillips and restaurateur John McDonald opened in 1993 in New York’s SoHo neighborhood, the Phoenix location offered, at the time, a rare elevated cocktail experience, attracting well-heeled and discerning drinkers.
“None of this would have happened without John McDonald and his vision and dream to open a bar in SoHo NYC, and the good fortune we all had to participate and contribute to building an iconic brand that has also launched the careers of many of today’s stars and bars,” Phillips wrote in the Instagram post. “I am thankful to have been there from the start and to have seen it to its beautiful conclusion.”
In 2019, the bar underwent a remodel and introduced a food menu. But few had the chance to enjoy those upgrades and additions before the pandemic hit. Phillips closed MercBar for more than a year, reopening in April 2021.
Three years later, Phillips is closing MercBar for good.
“So come say your goodbyes over the next week, and support the incredible team that has carried the name and brand both dutifully and passionately,” he wrote.
Rick Phillips slices salmon at pop-up deli Little Pickle in 2023. In the closing announcement for MercBar, Phillips indicates he's not done serving Phoenix.
Dominic Armato
“There are soon to be announced new plans in the works for the space as well as much more we are bringing to the Esplanade this fall,” Phillips teases in the post.
The bar owner teamed up with restaurateur Aaron May on the buzzy pop-up deli Little Pickle, bringing it to the same area at the end of 2022. But Little Pickle opened for a good time, not a long time. After wowing diners with its pastrami and bagel and lox, the deli closed in April 2023 as part of The Esplanade’s renovation. Since then, the deli has been hosting limited food drops that sell out quickly, and teasing a return following the summer.
“Thank you all for the incredible ride. I am so grateful and touched," Phillips wrote. "Stay tuned for the next chapter, it’s going to be a blast!”
MercBar
Closes June 292525 E. Camelback Road, #120
