It feels like every bar in Phoenix has gotten with the pop up craze lately. And I’m not talking about Christmas pop ups for the holiday season, where bars are just redecorated with a seasonal menu (à la Bitter & Twisted’s Sippin Santa or Miracle at Floor 13).

This is more than guest bartenders, food trucks parked outside, or rotating menus. I’ve noticed a surge of places— especially those without a serious food menu— start hosting one night or one weekend only pop up restaurants. Sauvage wine bar, now in the old Luana’s location, seems to have a new guest menu every weekend.

The frenzy isn’t relegated to dinner or weekends, with brunch/coffee and midweek pop ups. With all this variety, and with connections to beloved restaurants like Glai Baan and Lom Wong, how do some fall so short? Why are small portions and large waits the norm?

After the third in a row underwhelming experience, I finally promised my husband that we’d skip out on pop ups for a while and stick to places we know have great service (and portions sufficient enough to keep us from the Taco Bell drive through on the way home).

I see two fatal flaws in the system: sub par service and unreliable food. These issues stem from valuing novelty over quality— not understanding how many people might show up and order, how long that will take and how much space it will take, and what type of prep is necessary to deal with the unknowns. I don’t blame bar staff for not immediately understanding how to become restaurant staff for a night, or pop ups running on thin margins for running out of food or experiencing crazy wait times. I’m just opting out of dealing with that moving forward. Quality over novelty.

Meanwhile, restaurants and bars that have opened in the same time frame as this year’s pop up craze are serving up the high quality I would expect. I could only say good things about Dahlia’s tapas and cocktails and the cool, casual bar Sunny’s Lounge.

If you’re dying to try some pop ups and looking for an experience that won’t disappoint, my recommendation is to check the weekly rotating pop up at Gracie’s Tax Bar every Thursday. Even if the food lets you down, drinking away the sorrows will be cheap.