Best Happy Hour in Scottsdale
Scottsdale, Arizona — updated August 22, 2026
Where to drink in Scottsdale in the late afternoon, from a wine bar with a posted 2pm happy hour to a distillery tasting room in Old Town.
Listings verified
Scottsdale's afternoon drinking splits between the Scottsdale Road corridor through Old Town and the strip centers well north of it, and the two behave differently: the Old Town rooms fill on foot, the north Scottsdale rooms fill by car at the end of the workday. Several of the best options here are small, independently run wine and spirits bars that do not open until early afternoon, so the happy hour window is a large share of their day. The list below leads with the places whose happy hour is actually posted and documented, then moves to the bars with the most settled ratings.
1. The Wine Collective of Scottsdale, Wine Store, Wine Tasting & Wine Bar
The only place on this list with a published happy hour schedule: Tuesday through Friday, 2pm to 5pm. Tuesdays also carry a burrata and bottle special at $30. It is closed Mondays, opens at 2pm Tuesday through Thursday, at noon on Friday, and runs Sunday from 11am to 7pm, which makes it one of the earlier afternoon starts in Old Town. Walk-ins are welcome, though groups of six or more are asked to call ahead. The rating is a 4.9, but from 172 reviews, so treat it as strong and consistent rather than proven at volume.
2. Grapes and Hops
A small craft brewery and bottle shop at Greenway and 48th that posts its happy hours by the day: $1 off beers and $5 house wines during the window, with Saturday night flights at $15 and bubbles by the glass listed at $10.95. Doors open at 4pm Monday through Thursday and 4:30pm on Saturday, and it is closed Sunday, so this is an evening plan only. Charcuterie is pre-packaged rather than made to order. The perfect 5.0 rating comes from just 45 reviews, which is promising but not yet settled.
3. Rift Wine Bar & Taphouse
Wine and draft beer under one roof at 431 N Scottsdale Road, at the southern end of the Old Town stretch, which makes it a reasonable first stop before walking north. It holds a 4.9 across 286 reviews, a stronger sample than most independent wine bars in the city manage. The brief does not include posted happy hour times or pricing here, so call ahead if the window matters to your plan. Included on the strength of the rating and the wine-plus-taps format, which covers a group that cannot agree.
4. Rancher Hat Bar
The most settled rating in this guide: 4.9 from 1,859 reviews, a figure that is hard to reach by accident. It sits on Scottsdale Road just north of Old Town proper, and the draw is drinking while a hat gets shaped and customized, which turns a one-hour stop into a two-hour one. Specific happy hour pricing is not documented in our research, so go for the format rather than a posted discount. Best suited to a group with a reason to celebrate, and worth checking availability before arriving with six people.
5. One Handsome Bastard Distillery
A working distillery with a cocktail bar on Indian School Road, east of the Old Town core, so the drinks are built on spirits made on site rather than bought in. It rates 4.9 from 198 reviews, a smaller sample than the big Scottsdale Road bars but a very consistent one. No happy hour times or prices are documented in our research. Go if the point of the afternoon is the spirits themselves; the Old Town wine bars above are the safer pick if you want a posted discount.
6. Prestons Scottsdale
Up at Pinnacle Peak Road in north Scottsdale, well away from the Old Town crowd, and the one entry here with both a high rating and real volume behind it: 4.7 from 1,583 reviews. That combination is proven rather than promising. It functions as a neighborhood bar for the far north end of the city, which means it fills with people who did not have to drive downtown. Happy hour specifics are not in our research, so confirm the window before making the drive from central Scottsdale.
7. Curries Indian Cuisine and Bar
A full bar attached to an Indian kitchen on Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard, rating 4.9 from 1,046 reviews, which is a lot of agreement for a restaurant this far northeast. It is on the list for drinkers who want substantial food rather than bar snacks: the Bang Bang Butter Chicken and the Chicken Tikka Masala Lababdar are the two most ordered dishes. Note the schedule before you go. It is closed Tuesdays, opens at 11:30am the rest of the week, and closes at 9pm Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday, with 10pm closes on Friday and Saturday.
What we left off
Eddie V's Prime Seafood on North Scottsdale Road has a posted lounge happy hour from 4pm to 6:30pm and a 4.7 rating from 1,487 reviews, but it is part of a national restaurant group with locations across the country, so it falls outside the scope of this guide. No closed businesses were removed.