Pho-Sco: Booze & caffeine

Sure, we have the promo-girl-infested dives of Old Town, but we’re also riding the new wave of mixologist-led bar concepts. One of the best is Tuck Shop, a stylish, micro-size dining hovel in central Phoenix that fabricates its own tonic and ginger ale mixers. In coffee shops, the self-roasting ethos is embraced by the java Jedis at Cartel Coffee Lab (pictured) and Lux Coffeebar—both of which exude far more worldliness and urbane mystique than anything you’ll find in dusty, collegiate Tucson.

Score: 7