I’m all in on this one: Phoenix should be fighting to keep places like MacAlpine’s alive. Not because it’s trendy. Because it’s the opposite of trendy, and that’s the point.
According to the story, the spot traces back to 1929, when Birch’s 7th Street Pharmacy opened right along what was then the edge of town on McDowell Road. Back then, that stretch was dirt, cows were across the street, and kids were playing baseball on open desert lots. That’s not just old. That’s Phoenix-before-Phoenix.
Now the place stands as MacAlpine’s Diner & Soda Fountain, and its menu is still anchored in nostalgic, scratch-made comfort food. Good. Keep that energy. In a city that keeps racing toward the next shiny thing, a joint like this gives us something better: memory you can actually sit down and order.
That’s why this matters. Historic places don’t survive on vibes alone. They survive when locals show up, eat there, and treat them like part of the city’s story — because they are.
— Fat Jimmy
