Old Town has plenty of places to drink in a group; few of them let you do it under trees with a dog at your feet and a ping pong table in play. Brat Haus is a European-style beer garden with 28 taps and a kitchen that actually makes its own sausages, which on this stretch of Scottsdale Road counts as a minor miracle.
Order for the table: a round of brats to trade bites, pretzels in the middle, poutine once the group has earned it. The check stays refreshingly un-Old-Town.
When to go: weekday happy hour, when the good picnic tables and the ping pong are winnable. In summer, evenings only; March brings the spring training jersey tide.