Century Grand / Platform 18 Is a Cocktail Fantasyland
Century Grand: Platform 18 + Grey Hen RX + Undertow
There was a time when a bar was a bar. You’d sit down, order something, and either sit down or play pool with a warped cue. Century Grand isn’t that kind of bar. Here, you make a 90-minute reservation to experience cocktail Disneyland, complete with Disney-quality lighting and sound, screens embedded in windows and portholes to make you feel like you’re on a ride of sorts, and a team that dials the bit up to an 11. Some people might call it a gimmick—just nod and be happy you don’t have to fight with them for reservations. Ever since 50 Best listed Platform 18 as one of the best bars in N. America, they’re not easy to come by.
Camelback East - 3626 E Indian School Rd
Awards + Accolades
50 Best
2024: North America’s Best Bars - #36
2023: North America’s Best Bars - #48
Spirited Awards
2024: Best U.S. Bar Team - Top 4
2024: U.S. Bartender of the Year | Nicole Giampino - Top 10
2023: Best U.S. Cocktail Bar - Winner
2023: Best U.S. Bar Team - Regional Top 10
2022: Best U.S. Cocktail Bar – Regional Top 10
2020: Best New US Cocktail Bar - Top 4
AZ Central
2024: 25 Best Bars
Eater
2024: 14 Vital Phoenix Bars to Visit
Foodist Awards
2023: Most Creative Handcrafted Cocktail (tie)
2023: Outstanding Bar/Nightlife Experience - Finalist
Phoenix Magazine
2024: Best Cocktail Escape
Phoenix New Times
2024: Top 100 Bars
2023: Best Cocktail Experience
2023: Top 100 Bars
2021: Best Place to Take a Drink Geek | Platform 18
2020: Best Bartenders | Jason Asher and Rich Furnari
Reviews
Just a note on the reviews. When Century Grand first opened, it had a really ambitious food program attached, so the reviews largely cover that as well. The food is gone now—I believe in a post-Covid cut—so just ignore the bits about tasty dim sum carts.
For me, it’s the whole ball of wax that makes this place so fun – from the bustling train station ambiance in the main restaurant, called Century Grand, to the reservations-only, cocktails-only replica Pullman railcar called Platform 18, located just beyond the main dining room and filled with the sights and sounds of a racing locomotive, including hi-def TV screen “windows” showing a pine wilderness zipping by. Social media has made endless allusions to Disneyland for adults, and the analogy is not far off. It’s a brilliant put-on.
- Nikki Buchanan, Phoenix Magazine
It begins with drinks. The many cocktails at Rich Furnari and Jason Asher’s deeply ambitious bar-meets-restaurant are thoughtful and expertly balanced, among the best in the city. You’d expect this having drank at the duo’s Counter Intuitive (now closed), Pobrecito (ditto), or UnderTow (right next door). During my meals at Century Grand, I tried five cocktails. The weirder you go, the better they get, and none were below an easy nine out of 10.
- Chris Malloy, Phoenix New Times
We’re also here, as it turns out, to consume cocktails so potent that after consuming a single drink called The Man Behind the Curtain, my friend Dan announces that he is bombed. From a fellow unfazed by a pitcher of martinis, this is an assertion more unusual than a room full of people pretending they’re passengers on a Prohibition-era train club car.
- Robrt L. Pela, Phoenix New Times
What to Get
54th Street Club
This shaken cocktail is a play on a spicy margarita, using popcorn-infused reposado tequila, Cointreau, lime juice, pandan and the peppery Japanese spice blend togarashi. Leaning into the train's latest leg of the journey, the drink is served in a paper to-go cup that is synonymous with New York. Served next to it is a small burlap bag of togarashi-dusted popcorn, adding an extra kick and something to share with your drinking buddies, if you're willing.
- Tirion Boan and Sara Crocker, Phoenix New Times
Blame the Dutch
One of the team’s favorite creations is the Blame the Dutch, which features a coconut oil-washed gin, makrut lime, chile oil, lemongrass and ginger. Jason Asher explains the beverage is inspired by tom kha gai, a sour yet fragrant Thai soup. Similar to the dish, this drink features a dash of chile oil that floats on the top of the surface.
- Cassie Brucci, Phoenix New Times
The Gripe’s Egg - Grey Hen RX
Consider The Gripe’s Egg, a fantastically festive concoction that brings both eggnog and banana bread to mind. It’s a take on the flip cocktail, which combines a spirit with sugar and a whole egg, all shaken together with ice. Butterscotch, burnt sugar and molasses notes of ghee-infused Plantation O.F.T.D. rum mingle with nutty, yeasty Oloroso Sherry and tropical banana liqueur to conjure cozy sensations of fireplace chats and Christmas cheer.
- Nikki Buchanan, Phoenix Magazine
Honest Day’s Wage
Based on the classic flip – a mixed drink created by 17th-century sailors, in which a mixture of beer, rum and sugar was brought to froth by a hot iron and sipped to ward off high seas chills – the nog-like cocktail combines spicy Lustau East India sherry with house-made carrot cake syrup and a generous pour of bourbon.
- Greg Outhier, Phoenix Magazine
Miss Illinois - Plaform 18
Mixology master Jason Asher invented this light, garden-in-a-glass riff on the gimlet when he was a sprout working at Sanctuary’s Jade Bar in 2010. The drink earned him the Most Inspired Bartender award at a Las Vegas competition sponsored by Bombay Sapphire Gin and GQmagazine that year, essentially jump-starting his career. Of course, mixology has evolved markedly since then, as has Asher’s award-winning cocktail, featured on the latest menu of his Platform 18 railcar cocktail lounge.
- Nikki Buchanan, Phoenix Magazine
