By Jess Harter
By Jess Harter
By Jess Harter
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🥩 The Scottsdale Quarter dining scene is about to get a shake-up. Etta – the Italian restaurant that’s been operating at the high-profile corner space since 2022 – served its final guests Saturday. In its place comes The Guest House,
🍕 Mesa has a new destination for slice lovers with the opening of York Pizza, a neighborhood pizzeria that leans hard into classic New York-style comfort. The shop, on the southwest corner of Baseline and Pennington (halfway between Dobson and
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One of the West Valley’s most-anticipated new restaurants has been 86ed. Tavern Park – a two-story venue with a sports bar, climate-controlled indoor park, rooftop lounge, and nightclub all under one roof – planned to replace the closed Modern Round
Clive Collective has ambitious plans to open five new Valley restaurants and bars in 2026. The hospitality group will be doing it without celebrity chef Beau MacMillian. The former ‘‘Iron Chef America’’ winner and two-time James Beard Award semifinalist known
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🇮🇳 ITLU, a vegetarian South Indian restaurant, has opened in the space formerly home to Vietnamese restaurant La Sen on the northeast corner of Dobson and Germann in south Chandler. ITLU is the space’s fifth occupant since 2013. It began as
Lee Cohn, co-founder and leader of the Valley’s legendary hospitality group Big 4 Restaurants, passed away Friday morning at the age of 78. He had been battling pancreatic cancer since 2024. ‘‘He was my best friend, mentor, father, and favorite
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.
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
