The Scottsdale Waterfront: A Bachelorette Neighborhood Guide

The Waterfront Is Old Town Scottsdale's Quieter Sibling

If your group has already read up on Scottsdale, chances are every list pointed you toward Old Town and its bar-crawl blocks. The Waterfront sits just a few minutes south, along the canal at Camelback Road, and it moves at a different pace. Think canal-side patios and daytime dining rather than a bachelorette pub crawl.

That makes it the right neighborhood for the parts of your trip that are not about drinking, the welcome dinner, the last brunch before flights home, or the afternoon your group just wants to sit somewhere pretty and not think about an itinerary.

Dinner and Drinks Along the Canal

The anchor of the Waterfront is Olive and Ivy, a sprawling Mediterranean restaurant and marketplace with a patio that spans roughly 4,000 square feet, complete with water features and fire pits. Ask for a table along the canal.

"We were seated along the canal and the outdoor patio seating is outstanding!" Tripadvisor review

Reviewers do warn that the patio can run hot on summer afternoons, so if your group is visiting between May and September, book an evening table instead of lunch.

A few steps away, Culinary Dropout is the louder, more playful option, with cornhole, ping pong, and a menu built around honey-drizzled fried chicken and 36-hour pork ribs.

"Great vibe and great service." Yelp review

It runs on the pricier side for what is technically comfort food, so treat it as a group dinner rather than a casual lunch stop.

Fashion Square Is Two Minutes Away, Not a Separate Trip

Scottsdale Fashion Square sits close enough to the Waterfront that your group can walk between the two in under two minutes, which makes it easy to treat them as one continuous stretch of the afternoon. Inside the mall, Nobu Scottsdale occupies the luxury wing for a higher-end dinner if the group wants to dress up one night.

Catch Scottsdale recently opened a 12,000 square foot space inside Fashion Square with a globally inspired seafood and sushi menu and enough energy to work as a pre-dinner scene on its own. Moxies rounds out the mall's dining with a lively patio, misters for the heat, and half-priced wine bottles on Wednesdays if your trip happens to land midweek.

The Saturday Night Order

Start with a canal-side table at Olive and Ivy around 6pm, before the evening crowd fills in. Let the meal run long, the patio is the whole point of eating here.

Walk the two minutes to Fashion Square afterward. If the group wants a scene, Catch Scottsdale works as a second stop for a drink and people-watching. If the group is ready to wind down, Culinary Dropout's patio games give everyone something to do besides stand around with a cocktail.

Save Old Town's bar-crawl blocks for the night your group actually wants to go out. The Waterfront is built for the nights in between.