Food & Beverage
20 25
Chef John Howard, Owner and General Manager Amanda Atler (center) and Front of House Supervisor Ashton Fiedorczyk (right) pose during a lunch meeting at Mandy’s Wine Bar on Aug. 13. Above: Server Jessica Kipa pours a glass of wine.
“I was standing there looking out over all the people who were happy and excited to be there. They were with families and friends. It was this snapshot in time and I remember thinking, ‘OK, we’re here. We’re doing this right,’” she recalled. This marked the public debut of Mandy’s Wine Bar, tucked away in a cluster of business suites and community services along Smith-Enke Road. In the year since its grand opening, the wine bar not only brought a more sophisticated vibe to Maricopa — a city most people only know for being at least a 30-minute drive from Phoenix and home to plenty of fast- food options — but it also quickly became a local hidden gem. Dreaming of a different life Being a restaurateur wasn’t always Atler’s plan. She spent nearly two decades in corporate sales and marketing at Boeing, but she always dreamed of something different. Travel is what ultimately changed her path.
“I traveled quite a bit for work and would always try to take the opportunity to take a couple extra personal travel days,” Atler said. “I started my wine education journey that way. It came from years of working with people all over the world and experiencing the food and wine in these beautiful regions.” In 2019, Atler read The Big Five for Life, a best-selling personal development book by John Strelecky that explores finding purpose and meaning by focusing on five life goals. What would make her life fulfilling after years in the corporate world? She thought back on her travels, the food, the wine and the entrepreneurs in her family. That’s when it clicked. “I started thinking, what would I want my life to be like? How do I want to contribute to the community? How do I give back and mentor young people and share the knowledge from those who’ve mentored me and helped me along my career path,” Atler said. “My work
Merlot and behold Mandy pours her heart into dream wine bar
BY MONICA D. SPENCER
“There were so many
striking open a bottle of sparkling wine with a saber — one moment stands out. At some point, Atler was holding a tray of complimentary prosecco samples near the entrance when she got momentarily cornered. That’s when she saw it.
IF THERE’S ANY MOMENT Amanda Atler will cherish for the rest of her life, it’s likely the opening day of her dream wine bar. She barely slept the night before, and that September afternoon — between the ribbon cutting, the crowd standing in the sun, and
people,” she recalled. “There were so many people, it was amazing.” In that moment, she not only saw how a once-distant dream of welcoming the community into her space had come to life but also felt the pure joy that came with it.
InMaricopa.com | September 2025
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