text: I had been wanting to try Culinary Dropout for a good while last night the opportunity finally struck and I was not let down Kristen and I went with our three favorite couples to celebrate an engagement we decided to arrive at six thirty because they do not take reservations I will never understand why restaurants choose to not accept them Once seventy five percent of your party is there you get a little buzzer and your name on the list n We found our friends sitting at the outside bar and joined them for some drinks The bar is pretty awesome there were several bartenders so you never needed more than a little eye contact for quick service and they have a ton of beers and specialty cocktails on the menu from fruity and sweet to harsh and alocoholy The seats were fairly plentiful and comfy and there are also lounge seats all around the bar area for the outside dining I thought the layout and design was attractive and used the limited space wisely I would love to come back for an outside lunch The bartenders and waiters were friendly and attentive all good looking of course Scottsdale and all of our drinks from beers to martinis to fruity stuff were delicious and not too overpriced I mean they were overpriced but not quite Scottsdale overpriced So far so good We paid the tab and headed inside n The atmosphere inside is awesome I hope to someday open a restaurant so when I enter a new business I eat it up I devour the place I pick apart the ambiance the lighting the noise level the architecture and design everything and I really like Culinary Dropout The tables are huge slabs of hard rough wood very rustic and western it is dimly lit with modern not too loud music playing there is a surprising amount of room and lots of space for big partys they have a stage for live music awesome Culinary Dropout really surprised me n I will spare critiquing each meal and just stick with Kristen and Is but just to be fair two in our group had the beer battered fish and chips one had the pub burger one had the fried chicken and two had the shaved prime rib dip and none complained n Our group shared both the house potato chips which were very tasty and fried just right and the onion dip was flavorful not some run of the mill dip and the soft pretzel and provolone fondue which was fantastic A pretzel is kind of a pretzel they were good soft and all but the provolone sauce simply exploded man it was good creamy and tasty you should definitely try it I ordered the fried chicken which was delectable it had a great but not overdone crunch it was sweet and you could actually taste the spices not just the taste of the fryer you also get a lot of it three big juicy tender pieces It came with a side of mashed potatoes and gravy which was good enough nothing special but only had two bites in it and two very small but scrumptious biscuits with honey Dear Kristen had the shaved prime rib dip which was fine a little disappointing I guess just not much meat the meat to bread ratio was severely lacking and it came with fries which were very good If you are really in the mood for a prime rib sandwich head to Houstons n I will be back here for sure I paid for Kristen and I plus the newly engaged couple and including drinks and all food it only came to ninety eight dollars that is a bargain for this atmosphere and the overall quality of the food and staff It also only took us about an hour to get seated eight people on a Friday night in Scottsdale with no reservations How can you beat that Culinary Dropout is simply awesome