Les Corieri

Since buying his first Metro Phoenix bar – a college dive called Clancy’s in Tempe – in 1985, Corieri and his wife, Diane, have opened at least two dozen nightlife and dining venues in the Valley and beyond, and they’re credited with essentially jumpstarting the re-brand of Old Town, from a cow town full of sleepy art galleries and tacky gift shops to the Valley’s own little sin city. The Corieris have diversified out of the nightlife minefield and ventured into more food-driven concepts outside the Old Town bubble, opening Stock & Stable and Casa Añejo on Seventh Street in Central Phoenix.