For “food food,” there are some great choices. Let’s start with the best. I’m astounded that this Western-y little town holds a restaurant as great as Farm Provisions, where the food is amazing, the service gracious, friendly, and helpful, the setting refined and low-key. It’s as good a meal as I’ve had in I don’t know when, and I can’t recommend it highly enough. Familiar dishes are given a twist, like deviled eggs, which are coated in panko and topped with a bacon/caramelized onion jam, all sitting atop swirls of sriracha crème fraiche. The seabass is a particular specialty, as is the pork tenderloin, but pretty much every dish here is not only gorgeous to look at but gorgeous to eat. Am I raving here? Farm Provisions deserves the rave. I won’t let you go to Prescott without checking it out. End of story.
Well, not quite the end, because there’s also El Gato Azul, a wonderful tapas spot just off Whiskey Row. It’s a lovely place, with a small and bustling front room and a large patio, and their specialty is a global tapas selection. The BBQ scallops frita are coated in breadcrumbs and served alluringly in a martini glass with their homemade strawberry barbecue sauce. Chile Wontons span cultures gracefully, the wontons stuffed with cream cheese and green chiles. Choose beet and blue cheese tacos, fried avocado with red pepper aioli, or many other delectable dishes.
For breakfast or early lunch The Local is a cheery place on the edge of town: bright, with azure and lime green walls, local art, and large letters on the wall proclaiming “EAT”—so I do! I also love The Raven, a super-nice spot with great food, coffee, and alcoholic potables. There’s a revolving display of local art on the walls and live music in the evenings. Their espresso is organic, their wine list is impressive, their service is friendly, and their food is great. Is it a coffeehouse? A tavern? A restaurant? Let’s call it “all of the above.” The County Seat is another winner, a clean-lined, modern spot above the Spice Traveler shop, where I get the sweet chili bowl I’ve been craving all day. It’s casual and appealing, with a nice counterculture feel here that’s just the low-key kind of place where I love to spend time.
Time for Refreshments in Prescott
Photo: Visit Prescott
Heading downstairs, what can I do but stop in Spice Traveler, a huge store with an astounding array of spices and more. Of course, there are spices galore, spanning the globe from Garam Masala to Hawaiian sea salt to jerk seasoning. There are also shelves lined with jars of local honey, a variety of jams, sauces, and more. Need some tamarind paste? Craving pickled quail eggs? In the mood for prickly pear salsa? You’ve come to the right place.
Then it’s on to explore the real draw of Whiskey Row: the saloons. As I walk down the street, there seems to be live music drifting (well, more like blaring) from just about every drinkery, creating a cacophony of sound and a plethora of choices. Matt’s Longhorn Saloon is a friendly and welcoming place in a 1901-vintage building, with live music, a huge oak dance floor, and memories galore captured in photos (it’s been around since the 1960s). At the back of the Whiskey Row buildings, entered through an alleyway, is the aptly-named Back Alley Wine Bar, with its L-shaped corrugated metal bar, large seating area, live music, and a great selection of wines, including an “Arizona wine flight” (my suggestion). My favorite is Jersey Lilly Saloon, named after Lillie Langtree and with the only balcony overlooking Courthouse Square. I head up the stairs to an old-timey wooden saloon, live music playing and good spirits everywhere. I ask the friendly bartender for a house specialty, and she makes me (I kid you not) a PB&J Martini that’s actually kind of incredible. I take it out to the balcony and look past stone columns to the courthouse. I feel like I could stay forever on this cozy balcony with my sweet/weird/delicious drink in hand and the sounds of the band wafting out. Western hospitality at its best, and that what it’s all about, right?
One final word about Prescott: it’s a pretty conservative place. As Arizona turns more blue politically, Prescott and surroundings remain a bastion of red. Yet, that doesn’t seem to be a problem for its LGBTQ residents (or visitors), as is confirmed for me by a conversation with Zach Leonard and Joe Ficcaci, a married couple who have been living for a decade in Prescott. In fact, they were the first same-sex couple to be married in the city’s famous courthouse. They recall the wedding with a chuckle, from their certificate with the words “husband” and “wife” whited out, to the judge asking if he “did everything ok.” While the conservative nature of the town is undeniable, they agree with my speculation that it’s an Arizonan, Barry Goldwaterish, live-and-let-live conservatism. Says Joe, “we’ve never once had a problem or felt unwelcome anywhere.” For them, it’s all about the personal connections: “You meet the individuals,” remarks Zach, “and everyone is so nice. Maybe,” he comments with a smile, “it doesn’t fit my biases.” He continues: “So many people have come to us and said `how are you boys doing?’ The more you’re involved with the community, the more you’re rewarded with meeting people. There’s a real connectedness, wherever you’re from, whoever you are.”
This welcoming attitude is immediately apparent when you arrive. While there’s an undeniable kitsch to some of the saloon-y stuff, there’s also real history behind it. It’s certainly a town where a tourist won’t lack for things to do, whether it’s shopping for high art and tacky souvenirs, stopping in a museum, enjoying the many eating and drinking opportunities, exploring some of the nearby nature, or, preferably, all of the above. It’s undeniably, proudly touristic, as it has been since the first saloons opened in the nineteenth century to cater to a very different kind of visitor. There’s something kind of great about a town like that.
