The Cowboy Restaurant and Brewery

6/21/2005 12:10:24 AM, tuesday, june 21, 2005
A very nice, clean brewpub. The food was good but extremely expensive. Not that good that I’d want to go back for more. Also, their sampler is $9.50 for 8 beers. However, they only had 4 available and wouldn’t give us a break and charge us for only half a sampler. We ended up having two of each of the available beers. It makes no sense that if the sampler is for 8 beers, why don’t they don’t have at least have 8 beers available. EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTING!!! Not sure this was even worth the trip from Mesa. Especially since it is extremely hard to find in some god forsaken mall area.

6/18/2005 2:17:49 PM, saturday, june 18, 2005
Went here when it first opened as the "Unlikely Cowboy" and was super impressed. The brewer even came out and drank one with me. Can’t wait ’til I can go back.

6/17/2005 10:26:58 PM, friday, june 17, 2005
The name of the brewery has been changed to Zona Brewing Company. The bar area and restaurant are quite upscale and quite nice looking. The bar has a small brewhouse tucked into the back behind glass.

The beers here are quite flawless and really well made. I am really impressed with the beer lineup, each of the beers have been stylistic paragons, packed with as much balanced flavor as the style allows. The key here for their beers is balance. The balance between the various components of the beers is just perfectly crafted. I ate and drank in the bar area and the food menu is quite upscale and quite tasty. I went for what I thought would be a light dinner of three appetizers. A Desert Apple salad, an order of the Tabasco shrimp, and some fish tacos. The food was flawlessly done, artistic in its presentation, and very tasty.

The service here was friendly and prompt, regularly it seems that they have 6 beers on tap, they only had 5 when I visited though, oh well I will just have to come by another time.

5/6/2005 5:01:14 AM, friday, may 06, 2005 [ Updated tuesday, july 19, 2005 ]
Update, they are now closed.. :(

1/25/2005 6:12:26 PM, tuesday, january 25, 2005
This place is now known as the Zona Brewing Company, but still maintains the same great beer and food. My one complaint is a lack of selection when it comes to beers.

10/13/2004 4:13:30 PM, wednesday, october 13, 2004 [ Updated wednesday, november 29, 2006 ]
UPDATE: This has been closed for about a year. Too bad... Located in the middle of nowhere unfortunately, which definitely limits your consumption. I usually hit this place in the late afternoon before the dinner crowd comes in. The beers are consistently good, with the Dunkelweizen a truly great beer. Food prices are little extreme, but this is upscale Scottsdale.