Category: COVID-19

Valley restaurateur Paul Keeler – whose Keeler Hospitality Group operates Liberty Station and Market Street Kitchen in Scottsdale and Keeler’s Neighborhood Steakhouse in Carefree – died Saturday due to complications of covid-19. He was 73.

All Arizona bars can resume ‘‘normal operations’’ under a new executive order signed by Gov. Doug Ducey today. The order lifts all previous covid-19 restrictions on businesses. The order also rescinds a previous order allowing local governments to issue mask

Gov. Doug Ducey has announced a loosening of Arizona’s covid-19 restrictions to allow restaurants and bars to immediately return to 100% occupancy. The catch? They still must maintain at least 6 feet between tables for social distancing, require customers to

After closing for nearly a year due to the covid-19 pandemic, El Sol Mexican Cafe & Bakery near the southwest corner of Arizona and Ray in Chandler reopens its dining room today. Limited seating – with a maximum of four

Is Flix Brewhouse in downtown Chandler closed for good? It depends who you ask. After closing in March 2020 due to the covid-19 pandemic, the brewpub-cinema concept reopened in August, as did rival Alamo Drafthouse Cinema and most traditional movie

Bella Gusto Urban Pizzeria in Chandler is mourning the loss of Juan Paz, a four-year employee who passed away Monday from covid-19. ‘‘He was a humble soul who did everything with immense pride and crazy work ethic,’’ pizzeria co-owner John

Gov. Doug Ducey announced another $1 million has been added to the state’s Safest Outside Restaurant Assistance Program, which gives locally owned restaurants and bars with fewer than 50 employees up to $10,000 to expand outdoor seating temporarily during the covid-19 pandemic.

A group of Tucson restaurants and bars has won a preliminary injunction overturning a 10 p.m. curfew enacted by Pima County on Dec. 15 to slow the spread of covid-19. A Superior Court judge ruled the curfew violated a Gov.

Arizona Cocktail Weekend, set to celebrate its 10-year anniversary next month, has been canceled for 2021 by the covid-19 pandemic. Instead, organizers are planning a smaller, one-day event Sept. 25, the details of which are still being worked out. Next

Al Fresco Off Main, a special outdoor dining area set up on MacDonald just north of Main in downtown Mesa, will debut today. The half-block area will provide a sanitized, socially distanced ‘‘extended patio’’ for those ordering food from any

One of the Valley restaurant scene’s longest covid-19 closures finally will end when Ghost Ranch Southwest Modern Cuisine reopens Monday, Jan. 11, in south Tempe. The acclaimed 2-year-old restaurant, which offers taco platters, green chile stew, and a variety of

Trattoria D’Amico, a family-run Italian restaurant in Ahwatukee, is permanently closing its dining room Christmas Eve after 31 years in business. What’s next? After retooling its menu, the restaurant plans to reopen in mid-January as a delivery/takeout concept, according to

Tempe beer and wine store BottleShop 48 temporarily closed Friday after learning a customer tested positive for covid-19. Unfortunately, a number of the shop’s staff subsequently tested positive over the weekend as well, which will prompt the 4-year-old business to

Three Valley bars that were closed in August for violating Arizona’s covid-19 guidelines have been cleared to reopen. Bottled Blonde and Casa Amigos in Old Town Scottsdale and Glow Shots & Cocktails in downtown Tempe agreed to pay $3,000 fines. They

ASU president Michael Crow has asked state officials to investigate four downtown Tempe restaurants for allegedly violating covid-19 regulations. In a letter sent to ADHS director Dr. Cara Christ and Department of Liquor Licenses and Control director John Cocca, Crow

Rick’s Pub & Grub, a small bar that serves food in west Chandler, was ordered to close Monday after social media photos over the weekend showed crowds of patrons not observing the state’s covid-19 regulations. According to the Arizona Department

Glow Shots & Cocktails in downtown Tempe is the latest Valley bar to be shut down for not complying with the state’s covid-19 guidelines. The Arizona Department of Health Services closed the bar Sunday for “jeopardizing the health, safety and

Two nightclubs in Old Town Scottsdale – Bottled Blonde (pictured) and Casa Amigos – had their liquor licenses suspended today for violating the state’s covid-19 guidelines. Both clubs has just reopened Thursday. They reportedly were shut down at 11 p.m.

The Arizona Department of Health Services announced that Maricopa County is expected to improve into the ‘‘moderate’’ phase of covid-19 community spread when the latest metrics are updated Thursday. That would allow some bars with Series 6 and 7 liquor

It looks like it’ll be a long time before some of the Valley’s bars and nightclubs – which were closed for the second time July 29 – will be able to reopen. On Monday, the Arizona Department of Health Services