content: When I first moved to Phoenix, I was walking around the Esplanade and saw this place.  I had lived in NYC for years and had lived on Mercer street where there was a \""Merc Bar\"" so thought I would go in and see if there was any connection.  Sure enough, this place is the 2nd location of the NYC Merc Bar.  Since I live across the street I come here fairly regularly.  I'm usually a wine or beer drinker and my only critique would be the limited selection of draft beers and very small wine list.  To their credit, their three beer tap usually has both Stella and Guinness, two of my favorites.  Nonetheless, I still have not found a wine there that I really love.  Not many people realize that they do make some excellent cheese plates if you need to snack on something.  And the bar always has both goldfish and pretzels.  If you are on a date, the really great thing is that you can grab a cozy table in the back and talk if you don't want to deal with the bar scene.