Category: Restaurant Scouting

Dave’s Hot Chicken, a Los Angeles-based fast-casual chain specializing in Nashville-style hot chicken, is taking over the former Burger King on the southeast corner of Stapley and Baseline in Gilbert. The 5-year-old concept, which began as a Hollywood parking lot

A Japanese izakaya bistro called Pyro is the first restaurant to commit to The Grove, a new $300 million mixed-use development on the northwest corner of 44th Street and Camelback in east Phoenix. Pyro – from the same group behind

Sid’s Garage, an Idaho-based concept that MXSW first reported in February was coming to Desert Ridge Marketplace, has announced its first Arizona location will open May 15. The menu features 10 specialty burgers, including a $24.50 three-patty Godzilla Burger, and eight

Artichoke Basille’s Pizza, a New York City-based pizza chain with one of the ‘‘10 NYC Slices You Have To Try Before You Die’’ according to Buzzfeed, is expanding its Valley footprint with a third location coming to Desert Ridge Marketplace

A new Japanese restaurant, tentatively called J-Town, is coming to the old Barney’s Boathouse building near the southeast corner of Drinkwater and Sixth Avenue in Old Town Scottsdale this summer. The owner is Eddie Chow, who also owns Nanaya Japanese

Instrumental Hospitality Group – which opened its first restaurant, Belly, in Phoenix in 2020 – is preparing to launch a second concept, Sin Muerte, next to Matt’s Big Breakfast on the southeast corner of First Street and Garfield in downtown

Gogi, a casual Korean-Japanese eatery that opened in Chandler in 2014, is launching a second location next to the AMC theaters on the southwest corner of I-10 and Ray in Ahwatukee. Gogi owner Euijong Chung’s sister, Jin Chung, and niece,

Ghett Yo Wings, a sibling concept to Ghett Yo Taco in Chandler and recently reopened Ghett Yo Pizza & Sliders in Ahwatukee, is coming to Christown Spectrum mall on the southwest corner of 15th Avenue and Bethany Home in Phoenix.

The Paleta Bar, a New Mexico-based chain of Mexican dessert shops with three East Valley locations, soon will open its first West Valley store on the southwest corner of the 101 and Union Hills in Glendale. Its menu offers customized

Chicago-based fast-casual chain Portillo’s has confirmed it will open its much-anticipated Gilbert location – first reported by MXSW last December – by the end of this year. Featuring a retro automotive garage theme, indoor seating for 180, and a patio,

Chicago-based Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria announced its seventh Valley location will open Monday, April 25, in the former T-Mobile space near the northeast corner of Alma School and Queen Creek in south Chandler. Like Lou Malnati’s other East Valley locations in

Sandfish Sushi and Whiskey – a 4-year-old restaurant in Palm Spring, Calif., headed by owner-chef Engin Onural, a former World Sushi Cup qualifier – is opening a second location on the southwest corner of Seventh and Glenrosa avenues in Phoenix’s

Cork Crush, a neighborhood wine and beer bar, is coming to the southeast corner of Ellsworth and Ray in southeast Mesa. The 1,600-square-foot venue plans to feature mostly domestic wines, including those from lesser-known wine-producing states like Texas and Michigan.

Two Hands Seoul Fresh Corn Dogs, a chain of Korean street food eateries that made its Arizona debut in west Mesa in 2020 and added an Avondale location last year, is preparing to open a third location near the food

Taiwanese boba chain Xing Fu Tang will make its Arizona debut this summer at Mesa Riverview on the northeast corner of Dobson Road and Rio Salado Parkway in northwest Mesa. The company has been called ‘‘the Hermes of bubble tea’’

Taqueria Factory, a family-owned Mexican restaurant specializing in quesabirrias and micheladas, is coming to the southeast corner of Arizona and Ray in Chandler. Pastor meat will be cooked on a trompo (rotating vertical spit), and diners will be able to

Fire Tiger Dessert Cafe, an international chain with locations in Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines, will make its U.S. debut in the former Pho Winglee strip-mall space just south of H Mart near the southeast corner of Main

Federal American Grill, an informal steak and seafood restaurant with four locations in the Houston area, is expanding to Arizona. It’s taking over the former Denny’s space on the southwest corner of Scottsdale and the 101 in northeast Phoenix and

Three Thirty Three, a new Asian-inspired concept, has leased the last available restaurant space at The Watermark, the $150 million mixed-use development along Scottsdale Road on the north side of Tempe Town Lake. The 11,300-square-foot restaurant from Washington-based WGE Capital