If you’re heading Downtown for First Friday, you’ll find some juicy new attractions this week. And by juicy, I mean melt-in-your-mouth burger sliders and pot roast with gravy, just to name a few of the dishes at Bliss, a brand-new eatery.
But first, for any newbies who don’t know about First Friday, I’ll keep it short and sweet: First Friday is the country’s largest, self-guided art walk. This event takes place every month in Downtown Phoenix from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., and the pleasures range from live music, food and performance artists to more than 100 art galleries.
Just as a heads-up, the street closure is still on hiatus for Roosevelt, but Roosevelt Row restaurants are always open for business, so be sure to check out Bliss and its companion bar ReBar, which just opened at Roosevelt and Fourth Streets.
American Comfort Food, Updated
Bliss is co-owned by Mark Howard, who also owns Fez, one of the most popular restaurants in central Phoenix (oh, Fez, if only you delivered those sweet potato fries). The menu for Bliss features a new angle on American comfort foods, from pot roast and pork chops to mac and cheese with chicken and bacon. After 10 p.m., Bliss offers $5 nibbles including mini beef tacos and burger sliders.
Target Free First Fridays
Thanks to Target, the Children’s Museum of Phoenix is open and free of charge during First Friday. A tribute to imagination, this interactive museum has one kid-friendly exhibit after another, from the Noodle Forest to the Texture Café, where kids use fabrics to create entire meals. The astonishing 3-story Climber, made from odd and found materials, provides kids with a one-of-a-kind experience.
Adult’s Night Out
This adults-only event returns this Friday to the Arizona Science Center with a free lecture from an actual CSI-type scientist. Kim Kobojek, forensic scientist, will give you the skinny on Hollywood vs. reality when it comes to crime labs. The lecture starts at 7 p.m., but for the regular admission fee, you can stick around and see an IMAX film or a Dorrance Planetarium presentation at 8:15 p.m. (the topic is “Black Holes”).
The 
grotto at 5 p.m. and will feature live music, audience entertainment with magicians and caracaturists, plus yummy appetizers from many of Arizona Center’s great restaurants like 
The 
from 7:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. Admission to the Monster Mash is free and DJ LaRue will be on hand to provide the soundtrack. There will also be a costume contest with prizes and a movie (we suggest something by Sam Raimi).
After wooing a record-750-plus crawlers to our Spring Fling Pub Crawl in May we broke another record this fall by signing 19 (!!) pubs, clubs, lounges, restaurants and bars to participate, including brand new CityScape hot spot 
The party will press on until bar close (if you’re good), at which point everyone is invited back to 
The Urban Wine Walk is a FREE** event that encourages adventurous participants*** to try new or familiar restaurants located along the METRO light rail in Downtown Phoenix, Camelback Corridor and Tempe. Each restaurant will offer three wine samples and a snack all at special pricing reserved exclusively for Urban Wine Walkers.
To take part in the Urban Wine Walk, simply 
Lucky Strike Lanes
Jimmy John’s
This got the 
Calaveras
Friday, August 27th, 2010I love Day of the Dead art, the calaveras (skulls) associated with the primarily Mexican holiday, Dia de los Muertos. Some people (usually non-Mexicans) find it creepy, depressing, or just strange but, like the holiday, that is not the intention. The holiday occurs on Nov. 2, in conjunction with the Catholic observances of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day (Nov. 1 and 2). It is a day to remember friends and family who have died but it is a time of celebration, where partying is common.
Because of Phoenix’s large Mexican-American population, celebrations of this holiday are common and, more and more, so are displays of the art, year-round. The above mural is in the Downtown arts district at 1105 Grand Avenue. It is by Lalo Cota, a Phoenix artist born in Mexico.
Several blocks away, on Roosevelt Row, is this new mural, on the side of Carly’s Bistro at 128 E. Roosevelt Street. Lalo painted this one with his collaborators, Pablo Luna and Thomas Marcus (aka Breeze).
These are such fun murals. About two blocks down the street, in the alley between eye lounge (419 E. Roosevelt Street) and Modified Arts (407 East Roosevelt Street), there are more Lalo Cota murals.
The sun was shining so brightly during this late afternoon that there is a glow on the mural but maybe that is appropriate.
There is another Lalo Cota mural around the corner at Conspire (901 N. 5th Street) but it was extremely hot that afternoon so I decided to leave it for another day…and another post. Check these murals out next time you’re in the area and get a little of that Day of the Dead feeling.
Tags: downtown, downtown phoenix, Grand Avenue, Lalo Cota, Murals, phoenix, phoenix art, Roosevelt Row
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