AZ Vibe – The Ultimate Phoenix Entertainment Resource

Where Phoenix goes to find out what's really going on!

Archive for January, 2009

Starting this week and on every 2nd Saturday through May, the Westgate City Center will be hosting the ‘Westgate Farmers Market’ located at Fountain Park.

Fresh fruit, vegetables, fish, herbs, and other great local fresh goods will be on display and available for purchase!

If you have kids, don’t worry they have a train ride for them!

For more information please refer to the Westgate City Center’s website:

http://www.westgateaz.com/market.php

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=110117270783108833567.0004556aa2b0020fe77a7&ll=33.536119,-112.256756&spn=0.006332,0.013754&z=16

Popularity: 5% [?]

That’s right folks!  The long awaited Black Carl CD Release is here!  Tonight at the Martini Ranch in Old Town Scottsdale, Black Carl will be having their CD Release Party!  $10 will get you into the show AND a copy of their new CD.  The show starts at 9 PM and according to their Facebook event they will go on around Midnight.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&ll=33.502451,-111.924055&spn=0.007515,0.015492&z=16&msid=110117270783108833567.00045ff9b399d380b04aa

Popularity: 8% [?]

We continue our look at the going on at a Phoenix Coyotes game by examining some of the ways to occupy your time before a Coyotes game.  In this segment, we explore the Westgate City Center.

Westgate City Center

The Westgate City Center is a sprawling complex nestled right at the entrance to the Jobing.com arena. Located at Loop 101 and Glendale Avenue, the Westgate City Center is considered one of North America’s best sports and entertainment complexes as this facility prides itself on being a practically an all inclusive entertainment complex. Since it’s opening in 2006, the Westgate City Center is becoming one of the premier attractions in the greater Phoenix area.  The Westgate City Center offers its visitors a wide array of activities including a variety of restaurants, retail stores, movies, and even many options to spend the night.

The Westgate City Center

The Westgate City Center

Below are some of the examples of some of the stores that are on the grounds of the Westgate City Center:

Stores

- Tahitian Noni

- McFarlane Stores

Food

The majority of the foods available to eat at the Westgate City Center are, for the most part, unique to Arizona. With a few exceptions, you won’t find your normal chain restaurants but a wide array of places to eat that you can’t find anywhere else in the State of Arizona. Here’s a list of some of these places to eat that you won’t find tons of other locations in the Greater Phoenix Area:

-Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville

- Motu’s Tahitian Noni Island Grill

- Saddle Ranch Chop House

- Moe’s Southwest Grill

- Bar Louie

- Shane’s Rib Shack

- Which Which?

- Fox Sports Grill

- Kabuki

- The Shout! House

View of the Saddle Ranch Chop House

View of the Saddle Ranch Chop House

Hotels

There are two hotels on the Westgate City Center complex that offers visitors an option to stay overnight at the Westgate City Center. Eventually, the Westgate City Center will contain five hotels that will have 1,100 total rooms.

Renaissance Glendale Hotel & Spa – A Four Star 320 room hotel that offers upscale accommodations

Hampton Inn & Suites – a 149 room hotel located in close proximity to the Jobing.com arena.

Movies

Within the Westgate City Center complex is the AMC Westgate 20 movie theater which is the Arizona’s largest movie theater. This state of the art theater is within a very brief walking distance of the entire Westgate City Center complex and Jobing.com arena.

So, as you can see there’s something for everyone at the Westgate City Center. When it comes to attending Coyotes games in the middle of the week, you can easily fill your time up if you decide to come early to the game. But, as the classic salesman’s pitch goes, that’s not all! Once game time nears, the Phoenix Coyotes have many activities setup outside for kids of all ages.

Coyotes Pre-Game – Outside

Once game time rolls around, the Coyotes (and depending on the day of the week, the Westgate City Center) have a bunch of activities outside the Jobing.com arena for fans to check out. Each game is different but they seem to have (from the 6 or so Coyotes games I have been to) the same inflatable games that fans of all ages can check out.

Coyotes inflatable games for fans of all ages to check out

Coyotes inflatable games for fans of all ages to check out

On weekend day games, the Westgate City Center has entertainment setup outside the main entrance to the arena. The weekend that I was there a Dance team was setup and doing some great routines.

A Dance Team entertains the audience outside the Jobing.com Arena

A Dance Team entertains the audience outside the Jobing.com Arena

Every once in a while, there is a couple of vendors out front that have some great giveaways and raffles like this one below:

One of the Give away tables outside of Jobing.com arena

One of the Giveaway tables outside of Jobing.com arena

On Monday we will publish the final part of this feature about what goes on inside of Jobing.com arena at a Coyotes game.

Popularity: 10% [?]

With the current state of the economy, finding something to do with your free time isn’t as easy or as cheap as it used to be.  People want to know that they are going to get the best bang for their buck before they go out.  This is one of reasons why this site was created.  So from time to time we’re going to cover places to go, and things to do around town that you may have heard of but know nothing about.

The first three part feature in this series revolves around going to a Phoenix Coyotes game at the Jobing.com Arena in Glendale.  This feature will also include the many activities that go on at the Westgate City Center Complex before, during and after a Coyotes game.

When it comes to going to Coyotes games at the Jobing.com arena in Glendale, people around the Phoenix area want to know that if they come from Mesa or Gilbert (no matter what day of the week) will they get the best bang for their buck?

The answer is yes!  Fans can indeed get the most out of their money when it comes to going to a Coyotes game and when they visit the Westgate City Center before a Coyotes game.

Buying a ticket to a Coyotes game does not only involve just the 60 minutes (three twenty minute periods with intermissions in between) that make up the hockey game.  There is so much more that goes on at a Coyotes game then just hockey, that your investment for gas, food and tickets goes a lot farther than you probably realize.  In addition, the Westgate City Center provides the residents of the greater Phoenix area a bonified entertainment destination for all.

One of the characteristics that makes an NHL Arena great is not just the team that plays under its roof but the things to do around the arena before and after the game.  I personally have been to just about every single NHL arena on the West Coast (the exception being the Staples Center in Los Angeles) and have extensively explored the areas around a 5 mile radius of said NHL Arenas.  There simply isn’t that much for fans to do before or after a game that is within close proximity (less than a mile to five miles) of their respective arenas.

The Jobing.com arena and the grounds of the Westgate City Center is a completely different story.

The Westgate City Center an all inclusive, state of the art, entertainment destination for residents of Phoenix to come and enjoy.   Hockey fans can come to the Westgate City Center in advance of a Coyotes game and find a plethora of activities that can fill up any of the extra time they may have before a game.  The great thing about this is that Coyotes fans don’t have to worry about wandering too far from the Jobing.com arena because the arena is right on the grounds of the Westgate City Center.

Now when I say the arena is ‘right on the grounds of the Westgate City Center’, I mean that it’s less than 30 feet from the closest Westgate City Center restaurant to the main entrance of the Jobing.com Arena.

Look for your self….

 Westgate City Center from the second level of the Jobing.com arena

Westgate City Center from the second level of the Jobing.com arena

The Westgate City Center stands out amongst the other mega malls in the Greater Phoenix area (like Desert Ridge, Tempe Market Place, Mesa Riverview, etc) in that they offer its customers the most unique shopping and entertainment experience in the area.  In the case of many of the Westgate City Center tenants, there are some destinations that are unique to Arizona.

Very few if any NHL, let alone any other professional sports teams, can make the claim that they can provide pre and post game entertainment for their fans literally right outside the door of their arenas.  I’ve been to many different professional sport arenas/complexes all across North American and Europe and I have to say what the Phoenix Coyotes have in the Jobing.com Arena and the Westgate City Center is unlike any other sporting/entertainment complex I have ever seen.  Can you honestly think of another arena in North America that has an all-inclusive complex not only for sporting events but for entertainment as well?

What the Jobing.com arena and the Westgate City Center can offer a resident of Phoenix is an all inclusive entertainment destination for residents of Phoenix of all ages.

What does that mean to you, the consumer?

This means that when you come to a Coyotes game, you can come many hours in advance of the start of the Coyotes game, park your car for free and find many things to do to occupy your time until said game starts.  Even if you don’t go to a Coyotes game, the Westgate City Center is quickly becoming a popular destination for residents all across the valley.

Click here for Part 2 of this Feature about the Westgate City Center and the Coyotes.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Follow AZVibe on Twitter

Follow AZ Vibe on Facebook

Follow AZVibe Sports on Twitter