Alchemy 48 — Restaurant in Mesa

We have been here several times and really like the place. The décor and atmosphere is awesome. I love that a place like this now exists in downtown Mesa. After the first visit I would have given it 5 stars, I had the Old fashion and my wife had the Glad rags, both were excellent drinks served by a nice bartender that walked us through the menu.

We took my son for his birthday on our second visit. This time it took a really long time to get our drinks, really long and they weren't very crowded (you guys are losing money if you can't get 2 drinks in the 90 minutes). we ordered the glad rags again and it didn't taste as good as last time. We ordered 2 peacocks (which were good and fun, who doesn't love a feather on their drink) and while the glasses looked clean the stems of the glasses were sticky which was a bit off-putting. The up and up was good.

I'm sure someone probably enjoyed the jazz Karaoke singer but nobody around us did. I made a comment perhaps to loudly and the table across from us commented back that they were going to pound their drinks and get out of there. The table next to them seconded that feeling and this was before she broke into a Jazz version of "No Diggity". I love live music but this is what you see in the dinning hall of my mother's nursing home. This was a hair away from a SNL skit. She was a good singer, but when you have a city full of great musicians you should look further than someone with their own karaoke machine. Please walk over to Milanoes and ask them for some recommendations or post something on their bulletin board.

That being said, we will be back on a non "Jazz with Jackie"...

Alchemy 48 certainly tries to be a great craft cocktail experience but fails to realize their grand goals.

I tried multiple offerings from their large menu of 30+ cocktails (10 were "Signature" cocktails and the rest were classic cocktails with varying levels of spin out on them) and all felt like creations from someone who sort of understands craft cocktials but really fails to understand how to balance a drink's flavours correctly. The presentation/garnish on the drinks was usually great but good presentation/garnish doesn't make up for poor tasting drinks. For example, after ordering a disappointing "Signature" cocktail from their menu I decided to try one of their riffs on a classic cocktail, the Sazerac. Unfortunately Alchemy 48 interpretation of a "rinse" of absinthe is apparently enough to cause the entire cocktail to taste entirely of anise rather than a subtle note Anise.

The best part of Alchemy 48 is the visual Atmosphere of the location. Sporting a gorgeous black and gold aesthetic, Alchemy 48 is feast for the eyes however it's loud poppy music that you have to talk over to have conversations with friends is a mallus to the overall experience.

All in all if you want a good craft cocktail experience in downtown Mesa you should skip on Alchemy 48 for now and spend your money at one of the other locations in the area like Espiritu.

Edit: I also forgot to mention that when I arrived, before I told the doorman that I had a reservation I was told that it would be a 2hr wait. However once inside the bar it was half empty, not sure what was...

My and my lady friend went in on a Sunday just to have a chill night. We talked to the bartender that was working that night and he informed us that they have live music on the weekends. The atmosphere was great, the music was great, the service was great. We figured, "live music!?" We love this place! We made reservations for the following Friday so we could see this live jazz band. Anticipating a great and relaxing night we were instead met with complete disappointment. First off they ignored our reservations and placed us in the back of the bar near the steps to the arcade. Secondly they failed to mention that the band had canceled. That was one of the main reasons we were there... We decided to stay and have a drink since we reside on the Westside of Phoenix and that drive was long. We moved ourselves to the bar and proceeded to order our drinks. My friend had a glass of wine and I myself ordered an old fashioned. While sitting at the bar I noticed the bartender who I believe is named Luke grabbed a square ice cube from a zip lock bag in the small freezer with his bare hands... Me and my friend looked at each other in discust and as we contemplated leaving we noticed him take those same actions a second time... I'm a Vet so I've had to go through so things while I was in but this was unacceptable. Palming icecubes behind the bar is diabolical! We paid our tab and left telling each other we would never visit this...