Roadrunner

A floating bar on the Arizona side. This is probably the main place my family eats out when we are out there (we usually access it by boat). They grill burgers, have eggs and bacon for breakfast, etc. The bar can get sort of rowdy and sometimes they have live music, sometimes they have “wet t-shirt contests” and other spectacles…my dad always says he liked to take me there as a young kid so I could learn how ridiculous drunk people are early.

Fox’s Floating Bar

Another floating bar on the river, which claims it is the Parker Strip’s oldest drinking establishment. The whole place is covered in one dollar bills stapled to the siding. It’s very similar to Roadrunner and usually has live music too.

Sundance Saloon

Also a bar on the river, though quite different in form from the others, as Sundance is a huge multi-level complex with people up on different tiers of balconies, stages, and bars. It was closed and visibly damaged by fire for most of my childhood, so I always saw it as this foreboding haunted place. There was a lot of lore around it, as it was apparently the best party spot on the river in the ‘70s and ‘80s. According to my dad, who hung out there often in his youth, the owner of a competing bar called Rock Palace supposedly lit Sundance on fire, but the bar survived. Then mysteriously Rock Palace burnt down and never was revived. My dad says “ “In the ‘80s Sundance would be wall to wall people at night and rage until 2 AM when they kicked you out. There would be a traffic jam out of that place.” The same owner who ran it at that time reopened it in 2014, and since then it has changed hands and become another river drinking spot.

Sundance RV Resort + Outlaw Saloon

Not to be confused with the original Sundance Saloon—this one is much newer and I think was opened in the early 2000s when Sundance Saloon was still shut down. This place is also on Parker Dam Road, between Rio + Windmill. You can swim here, and in normal times they also have a little water taxi that will take you for free across to the Pirate’s restaurant on the AZ side (Pirate’s has decent food, slightly overpriced, and it’s a little nicer than Roadrunner, with a pool/outdoor bar and a lot of pirate-themed paraphernalia). The taxi goes every hour all day I think until 6, but it’s not very reliable…regardless, that’s sort of beside the point unless you want to be on the water for a second, which I’ve enjoyed when I’m out there without a boat. The saloon actually has pretty good pizza, one of the main places my family will stop to get food out.

Blue Water Casino

This hotel/casino is at the southern end of this part of the river, and I think it’s a decent place to park, walk around by the water, have a drink or bite at the outdoor cantina, and/or go for a swim. The cantina is to the right of the docks in front of the casino. If you keep going right there’s a little beach I think would be nice to swim at. In non-covid-times, the casino is a sort of hub of activity as there is a pool with a waterslide and also a movie-theater.

Tierra Caliente

There is great Mexican food in Parker, if you’re passing through and want takeout this is where I would go.

Crossroads Cafe

Good greasy spoon diner in Parker, wonderful for breakfast.