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
SK Oil Sales
Sun Devil Hoods
Taqueria Factory
The Hart Experience
The Restaurant Brokers
Tott’s Asian Diner
Venezia’s Pizza
We Sell Restaurants (Doreen Gorman)
We Sell Restaurants (Mike Smith)
🌮 Acclaimed taqueria Tacos Chiwas is closing its 5-year-old Chandler location today, owners Armando Hernandez and Nadia Holguin announced on social media. The couple decided not to renew their lease near the northwest corner of Alma School and Warner and instead will
🔪 Congrats to Valley chef Derek Christensen, who won $10,000 on the popular Food Network show ‘‘Chopped’’ this week. The former Bacanora and Huarachis chef faced off against chefs from Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Colorado Springs in an episode titled ‘‘Southwestern
🍔 McDonald’s has launched its much-anticipated $5 meal deal designed to lure inflation-hit customers back to the world’s largest fast-food chain. The limited-time meal includes a McChicken or a McDouble along with a four-piece McNuggets, small fries, and a drink. The price
🍳 Over Easy continues its rapid expansion. Just two weeks after opening its 13th Valley location in Queen Creek, the Scottsdale-based brunch concept has launched its 14th in Peoria. It’s located on the northwest corner of Happy Valley and Lake Pleasant Parkway.
🥪 Baggin’s, a popular Tucson-based chain of gourmet sandwich shops, has made its Valley debut near the northwest corner of Scottsdale and Thunderbird in north Scottsdale. The menu feature 20 signature sandwiches, 28 grilled sandwiches, 11 bread bowl salads, five
🌺 Hawaiian Bros Island Grill, a fast-growing chain of fast-casual restaurants that’s actually based in Kansas City, Mo., has opened its fourth Valley location on the northwest corner of Bell and Third Street in north Phoenix. The menu specializes in Island-style
Craft 64 and Pomo are the best pizzerias in Arizona, according to 50 Top Pizza. But the big news out of the well-respected organization’s latest Top 50 Pizzerias in the U.S. is who didn’t make it. Phoenix’s iconic Pizzeria Bianco,
🍷 Wine Spectator has released its annual Restaurant Awards honoring 3,700-plus establishments worldwide for excellence in their wine programs. The awards, which began in 1981, have three levels. Four restaurants – two in California and two in Europe – received
🍝 Italian-American fast-casual chain Fazoli’s has opened its second Arizona stand-alone location (not counting a mini store at Sky Harbor Airport) in Glendale. It takes over the former Boston Market building on the southeast corner of Peoria and 59th Avenue. Fazoli’s first
🔪 Former Bacanora chef Derek Christensen (shown on right) will compete Tuesday on the popular Food Network show ‘‘Chopped.’’ The episode, titled ‘‘Southwestern Strength,’’ will air at 8 p.m. on most TV providers. According to the network: ‘‘Four Southwestern competitors
🍸 Another day, another longtime Valley food and drink establishment is closing. This time it’s Merc Bar, the cocktail lounge that’s been pouring drinks at the Esplanade in Phoenix since 1996. This Saturday night will be the upscale bar’s swan
🐓 The Farmhouse, a fixture in Gilbert since 1989, is the latest longtime Valley restaurant to announce its impending closure. Its last day will be Sunday. Owners Sylvia Hilligardt and daughter Milli launched The Farmhouse in a stand-alone building — an
🇵🇭 Tambayan, which began as a Filipino food ghost kitchen in 2019 and then became a food truck in 2023, has opened a bricks-and-mortar restaurant on the northwest corner of Camelback and 15th Avenue in Phoenix. It takes over the 5,000-square-foot
🥡 Gilbert restaurant Dragon Wok, which has been closed since a despondent man crashed his vehicle into the restaurant and fatally shot himself May 14, began construction repairs over the weekend and hopes to reopen in three weeks. The Chinese eatery’s GoFundMe
🍞 Against the Grain, a gluten-free bakery, grocery, and cafe, has opened near the northwest corner of Main and MacDonald in downtown Mesa. It takes over the space formerly home to Smitholator Cookie Shop (across the street from Proof Bread). The
🍣 Xami Sushi has opened on the southeast corner of Broadway and 27th Street in south Phoenix. In addition to sashimi, basic rolls, and specialty rolls, the menu also offers fried rolls, baked rolls, cucumber-wrapped rolls, seafood tapas, and a few Japanese
🍺🍔 Scottsdale-based Cold Beers & Cheeseburgers has opened its 17th location at the Village at Prasada on the southeast corner of Waddell and the Loop 303 in Surprise. The menu features 19 speciality burgers, plus sliders, wings, sandwiches, hot dogs, and mac
🍣 Sakana Sushi & Grill, which is closing its longtime Ahwatukee restaurant at the end of this month, also will shut down its final location in central Scottsdale on Saturday, June 29, MXSW has confirmed. Sakana, which was founded in 1994
🌮 Señor Taco Express, a quick-service version of Mexican concept Señor Taco, has launched its third Valley location in the former Jack in the Box building near the southeast corner of Central and Osborn in midtown Phoenix. The menu focuses on tacos,
Award-winning Superstition Meadery is closing its downtown Phoenix location at the end of business Sunday, owners Jeff and Jen Herbert announced on social media. ‘‘Basically, from ingredients to labor to rent, everything is much more expensive and this rate of
