The Arizona Negroni Trail

Negroni Week 2026: September 21–27

I have a few tells when I really love a cocktail. I spot it on the menu before I notice almost anything else. I remember where I had the really good ones. And if someone puts an interesting riff in front of me, there is very little chance I am ordering something else.

The Negroni checks all three boxes. There is something about that first bitter, citrusy, botanical sip that gets me every time. I love that it feels sophisticated without feeling fussy, and that its entire foundation comes down to three beautifully simple ingredients: gin, Campari and sweet vermouth, traditionally in equal parts.

Then you hand that blueprint to a creative bartender and things get really interesting. Gin becomes mezcal or rye. Campari gets infused with coffee or cinnamon. Cactus, strawberry, mango and tropical fruit start finding their way into the glass. A restaurant in Tempe turns three versions into the colors of the Italian flag, and one Phoenix bar somehow makes the Negroni feel like it grew up right here in the Sonoran Desert.

Negroni Week 2026: September 21–27

For Negroni Week, September 21 through 27, one of my favorite cocktails deserves a little extra love. Imbibe Magazine launched Negroni Week in 2013 as a celebration of the cocktail and a way to raise money for charitable causes. Today, thousands of venues participate around the world, and the initiative has raised more than $5 million. In 2026, participating bars are supporting Slow Food.

Use the official Negroni Week venue finder to confirm which bars are registered for this year's celebration. The trail below is broader by design: it is a map of Arizona Negronis and Negroni-adjacent pours I think are worth knowing, whether or not every stop is participating in the official week.

A Little Negroni History

The story most often told begins in Florence in 1919, when Count Camillo Negroni asked bartender Fosco Scarselli to strengthen his usual Americano by replacing the soda water with gin. The orange garnish distinguished the new drink, and a cocktail icon was born.

The classic formula is beautifully simple: equal parts gin, Campari and sweet vermouth, stirred over ice and finished with orange. That 1:1:1 structure is part of what makes the Negroni such a perfect bartender canvas. Keep the bitter-sweet balance intact and suddenly there is room for mezcal, coffee, strawberry, desert botanicals, clarified fruit and all kinds of Arizona personality.

This is not a ranking, and the word “trail” should absolutely not be interpreted as a challenge to finish everything in one heroic evening. Think of this as your map for finding the Negroni that matches your mood. Smoky? We have one. Fruity? Several. Coffee?

Obviously. Want to taste three without committing to three full cocktails? I have very good news.

Start in Phoenix

Arizona Negroni Week

BARCOA | Phoenix

BARCOA is already one of my favorite places to settle in and learn something new about agave, so naturally its Negroni does not stay neatly inside the traditional gin-and-Campari lines.

Head downstairs to the basement bar for the Negroni Blanco, made with mezcal, Bitter Bianco, blanc vermouth, apricot eau-de-vie and mango. It trades that familiar ruby red for something pale and golden, brings smoke into the picture with mezcal, then slips in enough apricot and mango to soften the edges without turning the whole thing sweet.

It still speaks Negroni. It has just picked up a little agave accent along the way.

ORDER THIS: Negroni Blanco

Pretty Penny | Phoenix

Pretty Penny may have created my favorite solution to the very serious problem of wanting more than one cocktail on the menu.

Its delicate pours can be ordered as tiny serves, and tucked into the lineup are very different Negroni directions. The Tropical White Negroni brings pineapple, pandan, coconut oil, fino sherry, vermouth and gin. The Passionfruit combines clarified passion fruit, sweet vermouth, Campari and gin. Then there is the Berry, with strawberry-jacked Campari, raspberry, vermouth and gin.

Turn the table into your own little Negroni flight. Start pale and tropical, move into bright passion fruit and finish with berry and Campari. It is playful, clever and an excellent way to convince someone who thinks they do not like Negronis that perhaps they simply have not met the right one yet.

ORDER THIS: Your own little Negroni flight

First & Last | Phoenix

First & Last gets a slight bending of the rules because Beam Me Up is technically more Negroni-adjacent than Negroni, but rules were made for the occasional delicious exception.

Fords gin meets Cynar, blanc vermouth, rosemary and orange. Cynar brings earthy bitterness, blanc vermouth keeps things lighter, and rosemary and orange add that herbaceous citrus lift that makes the whole drink feel familiar without being a copy of the classic.

If you want to stay firmly inside the lines, First & Last also keeps a classic Negroni in the rotation. Either way, this is an easy neighborhood stop to fold into a downtown Phoenix cocktail night.

ORDER THIS: Beam Me Up

Bar 1912 | Phoenix

If we are calling this the Arizona Negroni Trail, Bar 1912 may be the drink that makes the name feel especially earned.

Bar 1912 builds its cocktail program around Arizona and the Southwest, drawing inspiration from the land, history and regional foodways while working with foraged, farmed and found ingredients. Even the classics get that sense of place.

Its Negroni combines Roku gin, house cactus vermouth, Campari and pomegranate blossom bitters. The cactus vermouth alone had me. I love that this one does not dismantle the cocktail simply for the sake of making it different. Gin and Campari remain exactly where we expect to find them, while the house vermouth and pomegranate blossom quietly pull the drink into the desert.

It is still Italy in the glass, but Arizona is peeking around the edges.

ORDER THIS: Negroni

Then Head to Scottsdale

Sexy Roman | Scottsdale

Of course Sexy Roman has a Negroni that flirts. The menu keeps things beautifully simple with gin, strawberry and amaro, taking the cocktail somewhere fruitier without stripping away the bitterness that brought us here in the first place.

Strawberry softens some of the sharper edges while the amaro keeps enough herbal intrigue in the glass to stop it from becoming just another fruity cocktail. And really, look around. This is not the room for a shy drink.

Grab a seat at that gorgeous bar, order the Negroni and accept that whatever plan you had involving “just one quick cocktail” may have been a little optimistic.

ORDER THIS: Strawberry Negroni

La Zozzona | Scottsdale

La Zozzona does not simply put a Negroni on the cocktail menu. It gives the drink its own Negroni Corner, which is the kind of commitment to the cause I appreciate.

You can go Bianco with gin, Carpano Bianco, bergamot and Bitter Bianco. There is a Green Negroni with basil-infused gin, elderflower and Green Chartreuse, and a Tiki Negroni built around dark rum, Montenegro, orgeat and pineapple.

But the Oaxacan Negroni is the one immediately calling my name. Del Maguey Vida mezcal meets coffee-infused Campari, coffee bitters and sweet vermouth for something smoky, dark and just a little brooding.

If you happen to be with friends, I see absolutely nothing wrong with ordering your way around the Negroni Corner and conducting some highly scientific research.

ORDER THIS: Oaxacan Negroni

The Italiano | Scottsdale

The Italiano gives the classic a warm, aromatic little twist with Tanqueray, cinnamon Campari, rosemary and Mediterranean vermouth.

Cinnamon and rosemary give it just enough fall personality without wandering anywhere near pumpkin-spice territory. The cinnamon brings warmth, rosemary adds a savory herbal lift, and underneath it all you still have that bitter botanical backbone that makes a Negroni a Negroni.

It also feels particularly right for that magical Arizona moment when the temperature finally starts suggesting that patio season may, at some point, return. We celebrate the small victories around here.

ORDER THIS: Negroni

The Tempe Tricolore

Roman God of Fire | Tempe

Roman God of Fire earns its place on the trail with one of my favorite creative details of the bunch. Instead of one house Negroni, there are three: Rosso, Bianco and Verde, creating a cocktail nod to the red, white and green of the Italian flag.

The Rosso stays closest to familiar territory with New Western gin, aperitivo rosso, vermouth dolce and sea salt. The Bianco brightens things up with London dry gin, aperitivo bianco, vermouth bianco and black lemon. Then the Verde takes the cocktail somewhere fresher and more herbaceous with Old Tom gin, aperitivo verde, vermouth secco, cucumber and elixir vegetal.

Red. White. Green. Three completely different expressions of the same idea. And because I apparently cannot be trusted when presented with a theme this good, I am not choosing just one.

ORDER THIS: Rosso, Bianco and Verde

Take the Trail South

Vivace | Tucson

A proper Arizona trail needs to get us out of the Valley, so we are heading south to the Tucson Foothills and longtime Northern Italian favorite Vivace.

The Bruto Negroni combines Malfy Gin, St. George Bruto Americano and Punt e Mes, finished with orange. It keeps us close enough to the structure of the classic while swapping in Bruto Americano for a distinctly different style of bitterness.

After some of the more experimental pours on this trail, there is something nice about coming back to a Negroni that does not need a dozen ingredients to make its point. Come for the Foothills setting, settle in for dinner and let the Negroni be the beginning of the evening rather than the entire reason for the visit.

ORDER THIS: Bruto Negroni

Then Drive North

Teatro Italian Food & Wine | Flagstaff

Then we head north, where Teatro has given us Negroni variations that lean darker and more warming than the traditional drink.

The Nero version from the Issue 7 trail swaps the gin for Rittenhouse rye, joining Averna and Braulio amari with orange bitters. It is darker, spicier and exactly the kind of direction that makes sense as you leave Phoenix, watch the temperature drop and eventually settle into a Flagstaff evening.

Arizona does give us sweater weather. Sometimes we simply have to drive to find it.

ORDER THIS: Ask about the current Nero or Negroni variation

The Zero-Proof Detour

Fat Ox | Scottsdale

I already gave this one a little love during Dry July, but it absolutely deserves a place here too.

One thing I realized while not drinking was that I didn’t necessarily miss the alcohol. What I missed was the ritual of a good cocktail. I wanted bitterness. I wanted complexity. I wanted something that made sense with dinner. And yes, I wanted the good glass.

That’s where the St. Agrestis Phony Negroni got me.

You can find it at Fat Ox in Scottsdale, where it gives the zero-proof side of the menu something that feels every bit as intentional as the cocktails around it. Whether you’re taking a break, driving, skipping alcohol for the night or simply curious, this is not the consolation prize. This is in the glass because it's good.

And if one Phony Negroni turns you into a convert, you don’t have to wait until your next dinner at Fat Ox. You can order St. Agrestis directly and have it delivered to your door, which makes keeping a few tucked into the fridge dangerously easy.

The rabbit hole gets even more fun because the family now includes White, Mezcal and Espresso Phony Negronis too. Grab a few, pull out the good rocks glasses and create your own zero-proof Negroni flight at home.

ORDER THIS: St. Agrestis Phony Negroni at Fat Ox

BRING IT HOME: Order directly from St. Agrestis

Choosing Your Route

If you want to make an evening of the Phoenix stops, start downtown with BARCOA, Pretty Penny and First & Last. Move from smoky mezcal and mango to a tiny tropical-and-fruit Negroni flight, then finish with Cynar, rosemary and orange. Bar 1912 makes an excellent separate Phoenix detour when you want the version that feels most rooted in Arizona.

Scottsdale can easily become its own night with Sexy Roman, La Zozzona, The Italiano and the zero-proof Fat Ox detour. Tempe gets the full Italian-flag treatment at Roman God of Fire, while Vivace and Teatro are reasons to turn the trail into a Tucson or Flagstaff weekend.

The point is not to collect every glass. Pick a direction, order something interesting and let the bartender show you where the Negroni can go next.

Not in Arizona? You’re Still Invited.

Arizona may not be one of the featured “popular locations” on the official Negroni Week finder, but when has that ever stopped us? We found more than enough creative Negronis to build a trail of our own.

And if you’re reading from somewhere else, the official Negroni Week finder lets you search participating bars and restaurants by postal code, city, state, or country. Los Angeles is even one of its featured popular locations (looking at you, LA friends).

Think of this Arizona trail as inspiration to build one wherever you are. And if you find something great, send it my way. I’m always willing to add another cocktail stop to the list.

Bonus Stop: Follow the Trail to Florence

And because I love a Negroni far too much to stop at the Arizona border, there is one more pin worth putting on the map. If your travels take you to Florence, Italy, make time for Giacosa 1815.

The Negroni story began in Florence in 1919, in the space then occupied by Caffè Casoni, when Count Camillo Negroni asked bartender Fosco Scarselli to add gin to his usual Americano. Giacosa moved into the historic Casoni space in 1927 and became closely tied to that legacy.

Today, Giacosa sits just steps from the original location, carrying the story forward through the classic Negroni Giacosa alongside modern interpretations including the Negroni Oldfashioned, Negroni Nitro and Cosmo Negroni.

So yes, go see the Duomo. Wander the museums. Eat the pasta. Shop the leather. Florence gives you a thousand very good reasons to fall in love with it. But somewhere in there, sit down at Giacosa and order a Negroni.

A Note Before You Go

Cocktail menus have a habit of changing just when we fall in love with something, so check current offerings before making a special trip. Not every stop on this editorial trail is necessarily an official 2026 Negroni Week participant. Use the official Negroni Week venue finder to confirm participation, and use each restaurant or bar link above to check the current menu.

And as always, enjoy the trail responsibly. The goal is to discover your favorite Negroni, not to discover all ten in one night.

This story expands the Negroni Map from EatLoveTravelPlay Issue 7: September / October 2026. Read the full issue for coffee stops, pasta worth ordering, Champagne, fragrance, Old Town Scottsdale and plenty more reasons to get back outside.