Barrio Brewing makes some of Arizona’s best craft beers. Starting Monday, a dozen of them will be available on tap every day in southeast Mesa.
That’s when the 26-year-old Tucson brewery opens its long-awaited taproom at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. Doors open at 10 a.m.
Contrary to popular belief, the taproom is not located in the airport’s passenger terminal. Instead, it’s just a couple of buildings to the north (5803 S. Sossaman, Building 45, map), right off the runway.
The taproom takes over a 1,200-square-foot space formerly occupied by the Flight Deck Cafe, as well as an adjoining space.
Parking is free, and there are no security checkpoints to deal with.
The space
At 3,500 square feet, the taproom is a 198-seat space with a concrete-and-corrugated-metal bar that seats 19, high- and low-top tables, a sidewalk patio, and eight TVs. Oh, yeah – and 12 taps, all pouring Barrio beers.
A series of large windows on the east wall look out onto the runway, where patrons can watch military and commercial aircraft take off and land. A mix of beer signs and aviation items will decorate the walls.
A 19-foot shuffleboard game is due to be installed in May, and there are three bean bag toss games for the public greenbelt area (with gazebo, pictured below) beyond the front patio.
There’s also a full kitchen serving breakfast (eventually), lunch, and dinner. It’s the exact same menu (and prices) as the Tucson brew pub.
The history
Brewer Dennis Arnold and his wife, Tauna, launched Gentle Ben’s Brewing next to the University of Arizona in 1981. In 2006, they took over a warehouse near downtown Tucson and came up with the name Barrio.
Barrio’s core beers include its flagship Barrio Blonde, Citrazona IPA, Nolan’s Porter (a Great American Beer Festival gold medal winner) and Barrio Rojo (a GABF bronze medalist).
For the Mesa location, Arnold partnered with Kind Hospitality, which recently opened the OHSO Brewery location at Phoenix Sky Harbor. Kind also operates the Mesa passenger terminal’s three eateries, among others.
“It’s amazing what Dennis has done with Barrio,’’ says Kind CEO Nava Singam. ‘‘He took an out-of-the-way location in an area with no traffic and built it into a ‘destination’ in Tucson.’’
The details
Arnold will be checking in on the Mesa taproom at least once a week ‘‘to make sure everything meets his high standards,’’ Singam says.
The taproom still is discussing whether to offer beer sampler flights, Singam says, but growler fills definitely will be available.
The tap room will have a two-week soft opening with daily hours of 10 a.m.-9 p.m. After that, it’ll be open from 6:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 6:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday.
Happy hour will run from 3-6 p.m. Monday-Friday. Deals will include $5 drafts and half-price appetizers.
