🚫 The Handlebar Diner, a restaurant housed in a vintage red-and-white Valentine diner at the master-planned Eastmark community in southeast Mesa, has closed.
‘‘As of 8am this morning July 12, 2024, Eastmark/DMB/Brookfield/Proving Grounds has chosen to close the diner effective immediately which was quite the surprise to Chasie and Kevin,’’ the restaurant posted on social media.
‘‘We have enjoyed serving you and employing your kids. There are 30 kids without jobs that live in the neighborhood now so please keep them in mind.’’
Chasie Womack and partner Kevin MacMillen had taken over the operation of the restaurant in March 2023.
Controversial debut
The Handlebar Diner had a controversial debut in 2017. Critics charged Eastmark simply was ripping off Michael Babcock’s popular Welcome Diner, also housed in a Valentine diner at that time, in downtown Phoenix.
Babcock claimed Eastmark even approached him to run the Mesa restaurant, but he turned down the offer.
Eastmark turned to Left Coast Burrito Company food truck owner/chef Adam Allison, who launched The Handlebar Diner on Ray Road, halfway between Ellsworth and Signal Butte roads.
Allison operated it until Womack and MacMillen took over last year.
Popular neighborhood hangout
Although the pre-fabricated Valentine diner has only 12 seats inside, the diner’s huge patio with lights and shades quickly became a popular neighborhood gathering spot.
Under Allison, the menu offered elevated comfort food fare with regional or global twists, such as macaroni and cheese with chimichurri and a Nashville hot chicken burrito.
In 2018, Allison competed on the Food Network’s ‘‘Chopped,’’ and his winning dishes were featured at the diner.
Eastmark’s explanation
Over the weekend, Eastmark posted its own statement on the community’s website.
‘‘In our continued effort to provide you with an exceptional community experience, we have decided to temproarily close the Diner effective Friday, July 12th.,’’ it explained.
‘‘As the owner of The Handlebar Diner, we want to ensure that our vision of providing the community a chef-run farm-to-table eatery is fun and memorable for all who visit Eastmark.’’
What’s next?
According to Eastmark:
‘‘We will keep you updated of progress and will share more details and informastion as it becomes available.’’
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