For months I’ve been asking Sam Fox‘s people about rumors his Culinary Dropout concept is coming to downtown Gilbert, but always was told, ‘‘We have nothing to announce.’’
Well, today they finally have something to announce: Culinary Dropout at The Yard will open across Gilbert Road from the downtown Heritage Marketplace in the fall of 2018.
The site is adjacent to the so-called Powerline Trail, along the canal that runs east-west just north of the Marketplace.
A 25,000-square-foot, two-story building will have a dining room, patio, and two game ‘‘yards’’ (one for adults, one for kids) on ground level, and a 150-person event space called The Coop upstairs.
Fox already has five Culinary Dropout locations, with a sixth opening in Tucson next year. The Gilbert location will be the largest, and the only one with a kid-focused yard.
“We are still working on details, but The Yard at Gilbert Heritage District will definitely be designed with the whole family in mind,†Fox says.
Another of Fox’s concepts, Zinburger, was among the first restaurants to open at the Heritage Marketplace in October 2014.