🚫 Well-regarded gastropub The Craftsman Cocktails & Kitchen has abruptly closed its last remaining Valley location after three years on the northeast corner of Rural and Warner in south Tempe.
No notice has been posted, but the restaurant’s website and social media accounts have been deleted and its phone disconnected.
Two Brothers Brewing co-founder Jason Ebel launched The Craftsman in October 2020 in the former Tavern Americana space in north Scottsdale with Christopher Nicosia, an Arizona Culinary Hall of Fame inductee, heading the kitchen.
An ambitious menu featured Portobello mushroom ‘‘fries,’’ crispy chickpea cake sandwiches, Chashu pork ramen, and The Craftsman’s signature Volcano Pork, a bone-in shank braised in Hatch green chile jus and served with jalapeno slaw.
Despite opening in the midst of the covid pandemic, the concept prospered. A Tempe location took over the former Cotton & Copper space in December 2022 and a third opened in Litchfield Park in October 2023.
But that proved to be the peak of the concept’s success.
The Scottsdale original closed and was replaced in 2024 by Pinard Wine Bar, a concept from Ebel’s wife, Letty. The Litchfield Park restaurant was shuttered last year.
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