After 18 years of serving the community as a trusted dive bar, Shady’s Fine Ales and Cocktails has been purchased and will be turned in to Say Less, located at 2701 E. Indian School Rd.
While the news may sadden local patrons, customers can still expect the same casual, welcoming neighborhood bar when Say Less opens in early September 2023, according to AZ Central. Barter and Shake purchased the dive bar at the corner of 27th Street and Indian School Road in July. While the new concept won’t offer any food except for food truck options outside, Say Less will feature cheap beer for about $5 and cocktails up to $12.
Barter and Shake are behind the award-winning cocktail bars at Century Grand, such as UnderTow. Discussions of the acquisition began last year when Shady’s original owner, Brad Henrich, expressed interest in selling the business. Now, with Say Less, the group will redevelop the space into a new concept that leans heavily towards industry workers. Even the new name is a nod to the food industry. The design of Say Less, however, will honor the building’s history, which sits in a post-World War II neighborhood called North Haven Homes.
“Our main goal is to fix her up, get her refurbished, put a few new stools and a funky new bar and create the environment at the same spot that hopefully ushers in a new generation of local neighborhood industry kiddos that want to come in and have a cold beer and a memory,” Barter and Shake Executive Vice President Mat Snapp tells AZ Central. “We want it to be a place where industry folks can go at the end of their shift, whether at Tarbell’s or Christopher’s, and get a nice old fashioned or last word or Hemingway daiquiri at 1 o’clock in the morning,”
Shady’s was a total disaster in its later years. Everybody in the neighborhood absolutely hated the place. Bartenders were uniformly complete and utter @ssholes to everyone except their best friends. Good riddance to that dumpster fire. Hopefully the new ownership will make it a fun place again.