Arizona Wilderness Miracle Mile — Restaurant in Phoenix

TLDR: Great beer and food. If we didn’t live in Peoria then we would come more frequently.

We have been to the Arizona Wilderness Brewpub in Gilbert. This place was similar, but there were a few small, subtle differences. For instance, their fries are crinkle cut slices whereas in Gilbert, their fries are more like straws. When we arrived, they weren’t very busy at all, but their parking lot was more than half full; however, I saw that there was a parking lot across the street that might also be usable. The restaurant was clean and had plenty of tables, plus a long bar. We came in the middle of the afternoon so it wasn’t very loud.

Ordering is done via QR code at each table, or you can order at the bar. We had some questions and the bartender was very helpful. Their service was spectacular the entire meal. At the time of this review they already had their Oktoberfest menu out. I tried their Wilderfest beer and found it to be really good and very drinkable. I’m usually a 1 pint drinker at meals, but I ordered a second. They had numerous beers on tap, plus they had many of their beer selections in cans, chilled and ready for takeout. My wife is a wine drinker and they only had three wine choices. They were all quality local selections, but she didn’t particularly enjoy the one red blend. Let’s face it, it’s a brew pub, and it’s all about the beer. They did however have several cocktails on their board that looked like they might be good,one of which used a local Del Bac whiskey.

We had to have the region pretzel, with beer cheese, and beer mustard. It’s always a good choice. For our meal, we both chose a burger. She had the Proper Smash and I had a Hatched Burger. My wife was asked if she wanted one or two patties and if we did it again, she would get two. The patties are very thin and “smashed“. My hatch burger came with two patties. Otherwise, both burgers were very good, done perfectly, and served on a Noble Portuguese bun. As previously mentioned the fries are crinkle cut sliced and were done with just a slight bit of crispiness on the outside.

When ordering via QR, you can start a tab. You just need to enter your card information. The nice thing about this is that there’s no rush. You can order what you want when you want it. We had a great meal at our pace, and...

This is a very polished single room experience. No patio, no side rooms, just one big room. Counter service only. The AC works well. People tend to rave about the food at Wilderness but I find it just ok. It's not bad, certainly, but far from mind blowing. First thing I had was the "Fingers and Fries." I think it was $16 for about eight ounces of chicken and six ounces of breading. They were fried dark brown, like coffee, which made the breading a touch bitter, like coffee. The fries (actually ridge cut chips, take that England) were fine, but you have to eat them at the luke warm they're served at or they get cold and greasy and pliable. The breading of the chicken sorta granulates when eaten, sandy like. Oddly enough when I mentioned to the bartender that my guest was from Nebraska we were then treated to some kind of redneck slash Texan slash hillbilly performance. Not exactly offensive but..awkward. Weird. I don't think the quality of the products here justify the prices. That chicken dish was $4 in ingredients. Pay your people well, sure, but that would be $96 an hour, roughly. Probably worth checking out if you're local or you abhor the Instagramy vibe of the Roosevelt location. It's not a bad experience, you can just find better. There's a lot to the "we're new!" but any business that has two other massively, massively successful should probably hit the ground impressing left and right. I'll go back, don't get me wrong, I just...

Recovery from a breakup comes in many forms. For some, it’s going on seven dates in five days with men who all “work in finance” but suspiciously don’t have LinkedIn profiles. For others, smarter, more emotionally evolved people like me, it’s grabbing a beer and a burger with your bestie. You know, the one your mom definitely wished you’d dated instead of Beau. (She wasn’t subtle about it.)

Wilderness Brewing’s new Miracle Mile location is right in the heart of Coronado and dangerously close to my therapist’s office. Coincidence? I think not.

The atmosphere is perfect for processing heartbreak, dishing out unsolicited dating advice, and deciding over fries that you are, in fact, way too hot to cry over someone who ghosted after saying “I love you.” The food is delicious. The beers are cold, creative, and strong enough to convince you that texting your ex would be a bad idea, but also that you could absolutely do better. And the staff? Sexy. Like, “do you guys come with the beer flight?” sexy.

Wilderness Miracle Mile gets a solid 10 in my book for curing heartbreak, boosting serotonin, and reminding me that the best dates don’t always have to be romantic.

I’ll absolutely be back to try the Coronado Nightcap, the Smoked Gold, and the seasonal Wildermarg. Probably with my bestie. Possibly with my mom.

10 out of 10. Would emotionally...