YUMBAR offers fresh eats and a space for community in heart of Melrose in Phoenix
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — In the heart of Melrose, you’ll find a small local restaurant focused on providing a space for community.
YUMBAR, which is LGBTQ owned, is among seven other businesses in The Royale, an open plaza designed to host events that bring people together, such as movie nights, drag brunches, or Phoenix Mercury watch parties.
“This is a venue for everybody. This is about inclusivity, not exclusivity, and we want a place that’s safe. We want a place that’s fun and a place that feels like you can create community,” Mark Howard, co-owner of The Royale, shared with Arizona’s Family.
The Royale and YUMBAR have been open for four months, but local business owners Mark Howard and Rocco Menaguale took ten years to fine-tune their vision.
Howard is behind other popular neighborhood hangouts like FEZ Restaurant and Bar and Bliss ReBAR.
He says Menaguale was the brain behind the architecture and design of The Royale: “[Menaguale] wants to make sure that when we went to go recreate this, that it fit the mood of the neighborhood, it fit the history of the neighborhood, and it created a vibe that people would make them happy. It would make them feel like, gosh, I can sense the kind of history here. But I also love the newness and the and the freshness of it.”
The space that is now The Royale, on 7th and Glenrosa Avenues, was once occupied by auto shops.
Today, it’s a fresh, vibrant plaza modeled after the past: a mixture of the 1960s, Las Vegas, Palm Springs and Miami Beach.
YUMBAR is the only restaurant and bar in the plaza. It serves fresh, affordable dishes, offering a little bit of everything, from burgers to sandwiches, grain bowls, tacos and salads. Howard says it’s “Metropolitan, Cosmopolitan, casual fare that’s accessible.”
Since the restaurant and bar have only been open for four months, Howard says they’re still modifying and expanding the menu to ensure it meets customers’ needs.
YUMBAR is also a great spot for a cocktail. It serves colorful drinks with as much character as the mermaid-like backsplash under the bar’s top.
Howard says that while YUMBAR and the other small businesses at The Royale have unique offerings, they’re truly in it together.
They support each other and will soon offer the Royale market, where other small, local businesses can gather and be part of the community as well.
YUMBAR
Location: 635 W Glenrosa Ave, Ste 101, Phoenix, AZ
Hours:
- Monday - Thursday from 4 p.m. - 9 p.m.
- Friday from 4 p.m. - 11 p.m.
- Saturday from 10 a.m. - 11 p.m.
- Sunday from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
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