By Jess Harter
By Jess Harter
By Jess Harter
Please support the businesses that support MXSW:
Back East Bagels
Bar/Restaurant Insurance
Brooklyn V’s Pizza
Craft 64
Creative Strategies
Cuisine & Wine Bistro
Floridino’s Pizza & Pasta
La Ristra New Mexican
Laurshan Construction
Sal’s Gilbert Pizza
Serrano’s Restaurants
Sun Devil Hoods
Taqueria Factory
The Hart Experience
The Restaurant Brokers
Tott’s Asian Diner
Venezia’s Pizza
We Sell Restaurants
From global heavyweights finally landing in metro Phoenix to buzzy new concepts from some of the Valley’s top restaurateurs, 2026 is shaping up to be a major year for the Valley dining scene. Here are 10 upcoming openings I’m looking
🧁 Sprinkles Cupcakes – the boutique bakery that helped launch the modern cupcake craze in the mid-2000s – has closed its Scottsdale location as part of a nationwide shutdown. Candace Nelson, who founded Sprinkles in Beverly Hills, Calif., in 2005
🔥 Now open on the southwest corner of University and Roosevelt in Tempe and operating Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays for lunch and dinner, Wild BBQ blends traditional Texas barbecue technique with a few unexpected global influences. The Middle Eastern owners
Starting next week, you’ll see some changes to the MXSW newsletter. One of the biggest: It may no longer be published every weekday. I know that may be a little disappointing to some – many of you have told me
🍜 Pei Wei Asian Kitchen is kicking off the new year with a food giveaway: The first 25 guests at four Phoenix-area locations who download the new Pei Wei App and show proof in-store on Saturday, Jan, 3, will receive
40 Love: After years of “coming soon” signs and anticipation, the celebrity-backed, tennis-themed lounge finally opened in Old Town Scottsdale. Durant’s Steakhouse: The iconic 75-year-old Phoenix restaurant, now owned by the Mastro family, reopned in Midtown Phoenix after a 10-month
🌮 Gordo’s Tacos, a popular Mexican eatery in Ahwatukee, has closed after two years near the northwest corner of Chandler and 44th Street. Posted signage indicates the strip center’s landlord has repossessed the property for non-payment of rent. The restaurant had
Sorry! While most of MouthBySouthwest.com is free to read, MXSW Insider articles are for paid subscribers only. Learn how to become an MXSW Insider. Username Password Remember Me Forgot Password
What a difference a year makes. Last year’s version of this annual roundup began: “To be honest, 2024 wasn’t a banner year for new restaurants in the Valley.” In contrast, 2025 delivered one of the strongest waves of new restaurant
🎉 New Year’s Eve in the Valley is packed with blowout dinners, rooftop parties, luxe cocktail experiences, and themed celebrations – and many of them sell out long before the ball drops. If you’re plotting where to toast 2026, now’s
🍨 Tipsy Scoop, a New York City-based ‘‘barlour’’ concept combining handcrafted ice cream with craft cocktails, has made its Arizona debut at the Kenect Coworking space near the northeast corner of Central and Van Buren in downtown Phoenix. The menu features
☕️ Aristocrat Coffee Roasters, which sources unique coffee beans from around the world, has opened on the southeast corner of Washington and Chicago in downtown Chandler. It takes over the space formerly home to Civic Market in the same courtyard as QuartHaus. While under
Sorry! While most of MouthBySouthwest.com is free to read, MXSW Insider articles are for paid subscribers only. Learn how to become an MXSW Insider.
🍝 Italian-American fast-casual chain Fazoli’s has opened its fourth Valley location on the southwest corner of Litchfield and Waddell in Surprise. Fazoli’s menu offers pasta dishes, pizza, subs, chicken wings, breadsticks, salads, and desserts. The chain has a deal with Tempe-based Kind
Sorry! While most of MouthBySouthwest.com is free to read, MXSW Insider articles are for paid subscribers only. Learn how to become an MXSW Insider.
🧆 Noor, an upscale Mediterranean concept, has opened in northeast Phoenix, bringing Levantine comfort classics and polished casual vibes to the northeast corner of Tatum and Shea. Mezze lovers will find both cold and hot options on the menu. The former
🚫 Last week’s sudden and unexplained closures of three popular Sakura Sushi locations in the East Valley raised plenty of questions. Now, federal court documents provide disturbing answers. The owner of Sakura Sushi and two managers have been arrested on federal charges
🦀 The Angry Crab Shack is bringing a taste of New Orleans to the East Valley with its inaugural Mardi Gras Festival, taking over Downtown Chandler’s Dr. A.J. Chandler Park on Saturday, Feb. 7. The all-day celebration will feature live
🍳 Sophia’s Brunch Counter – a new concept from Valley restaurateur Dave Chamberlin and his brother Aaron Chamberlin (the renowned chef behind the late St. Francis and Phoenix Public Market) – has opened on the northeast corner of Thomas and
Reality TV icon and restaurateur Lisa Vanderpump has brought her signature brand of ‘‘extra’’ to the desert with the opening of Wolf by Vanderpump at the Caesars Republic Scottsdale. The globally inspired restaurant takes over the seventh-story, 6,500-square-foot space formerly home to Seven,
