If throwing axes at targets with your friends while drinking beer sounds like your kind of party, Urban Axes has officially reopened for your hatchet-throwing pleasure.
Urban Axes opened its downtown Phoenix location last August, offering people the opportunity to throw axes under the supervision of trained professionals. The bar reopened Friday, Sept. 4, after closing earlier this year due to the COVID-19 lockdown.
“We have a lot of room for social distancing down here, which is really beneficial to us right now,” Krista Paton, co-owner of Urban Axes, said. The bar sits in an 11,000-square-foot building on First Street and Buchanan, in the middle of the Warehouse District.
The business operates as a 21 and up facility (patrons must provide proper identification before entering) and offers a variety of beer, wine and cider from local breweries. Currently, groups of two to four people can get in for $25 per person under the bar’s running deal.
Abiding by COVID-19 restrictions, employees will perform temperature checks on anyone before entering and limit group sizes to a maximum of 10 people.
Every group has its own 1,000-square-foot “arena” for two and a half hours of throwing time.
Before entering these arenas, the facility recommends arriving 10 to 15 minutes early for new customers to get oriented on the proper throwing technique and safety rules in order to “maximize your throwing time,” according to the website.
Last weekend, the business opened for the first time since Gov. Doug Ducey’s executive order from June, which required bars, indoor gyms, movie theaters, and water parks to “pause operations” in order to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Over the last three months, however, Urban Axes has endured through the tumultuous waves of shutdowns since the original temporary closure in March, reopening in May and subsequent closure in June.
Like many bars that have closed due to the pandemic, Urban Axes has faced plenty of financial struggles. The closures have seriously impacted the momentum they procured following their original opening last summer.
But Paton said they’re still optimistic about the future and since they take “reservations in advance, it takes some time to get (their) momentum back.”
The bar can be a unique place to bring a date or a “quarantine crew,” and this downtown attraction offers a way and place to do something different and safe.
“We just focus on providing the best experience,” Paton said.
The bar currently operates with group booking times available 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, while walk-in times varying day-to-day.
Contact the reporter at psmithga@asu.edu.
