According to Phoenix New Times, Jacob Finley didn't have to look far for his new restaurant. The owner of Karsen's Grill took the building next door, a small house near Marshall Way and Indian School Road that dates to 1922 and spent years as Frank & Lupe's Old Mexico, and turned it into Ponderosa House this past May. No valet. No celebrity backer. Just a cantina up front and a renovated dining room in back, built by someone who already had a business on that same stretch of Old Town.
A few minutes' walk away, a different kind of opening is happening on the same timeline. Above All Else took the second floor of the space that used to be STK, and its CEO told Phoenix New Times the design brief was one word: "Instagrammable." Down the block, Drake's Hollywood is moving into the old Buca di Beppo with red leather booths, Art Deco chandeliers, and an entrance that's valet-only. Both are landing this year, on the same blocks, aimed at a different customer than the one walking into Ponderosa House.
If you already live near Old Town, you've probably clocked that a lot is opening at once. What's easy to miss is that it isn't one trend. It's two, running in parallel within a few minutes' walk of each other, Sixth Avenue, Stetson Drive, Scottsdale Road, and the Marshall Way corridor all have one of each right now, and knowing which is which is the difference between finding a place you'll actually go back to and finding a place you visited once, in month one, with everyone else who saw the same opening announcement.
High-profile openings
This is the category getting the press releases and the celebrity names attached. 40 LOVE is already open, a restaurant and lounge from co-founders Sean Mulholland and Avery Johnson Jr., developed in partnership with Niall Horan and DeAndre Hopkins. BOA Steakhouse was announced for a first-half-2026 opening at Scottsdale Waterfront, a homecoming for Innovative Dining Group after fifteen years running Sushi Roku at W Scottsdale, with Executive Chef Brendan Collins building a menu around a partnership with Four Sixes Ranch, the Texas operation many people now recognize from Yellowstone, anchored by an 18-ounce dry-aged ribeye. Check current status before making a reservation around it, restaurant timelines like this one tend to slip.
Drake's Hollywood is taking over the former Buca di Beppo at 3828 N. Scottsdale Road, an 8,000-square-foot room that will be the brand's fourth U.S. location after Dallas, Houston, and West Hollywood, with a valet-only entrance that tells you exactly what kind of night it's designed for. DEPWAH, a French-Vietnamese concept with a rooftop lounge built around Vietnamese coffee and matcha, is expected to join the same stretch later this year.
These openings bring a range of formats to Old Town, including national brands, names and partnerships in their marketing, and features such as valet service, rooftop settings, and second-story entrances.
Openings with neighborhood ties
The other category has a different set of neighborhood ties. Ari & Lloyd is a dual concept near Stetson Drive and Sixth Avenue, in a building that used to be Stephen Roach's own cabinetry showroom. Roach and his partner, Katie Schnurr, targeted a late-July opening for an upscale casual bistro (The Ari) alongside a cocktail-focused lounge (The Lloyd), with chef Devan Cunningham, co-founder of CC's on Central, shaping the menu. They named the whole thing after their dogs. That's not a marketing detail. It tells you who this room is actually for.
Ponderosa House is the clearest example, a neighborhood spot where locals can become regulars. And per Old Town Scottsdale's own event feed, Wayward opened earlier this summer, serving globally inspired flavors crafted right in the district, another entrant in the same lower-key register.
Its owner already had a stake in this exact block before the restaurant existed.
What this actually changes about a Thursday night
Here's the useful part for anyone who already lives near Old Town: both categories are opening close enough together to compare different dining formats without choosing a different neighborhood. To sort a new opening before you book, note whether it features valet service, a celebrity name in the press release, or a photo-focused design; those details can indicate an occasion-oriented format. An owner who already ran something in the neighborhood or converted their own building is another sign of a local connection.
| Opening | What it's built for | The tell |
|---|---|---|
| Above All Else (7134 E. Stetson Dr.) | The occasion night | Design brief centers on rooftop views and a photo-ready room |
| Drake's Hollywood (3828 N. Scottsdale Rd.) | The special occasion | Valet-only entrance, 8,000 square feet, national chain |
| BOA Steakhouse (Scottsdale Waterfront) | The big dinner | Celebrity-adjacent ranch partnership, 210 seats |
| Ponderosa House (near Marshall Way & Indian School Rd.) | The regular Tuesday | Owner already ran Karsen's Grill next door |
| Ari & Lloyd (7107 E. Sixth Ave.) | The neighborhood hangout | Built in the owners' own former building, named after their dogs |
The table offers a quick comparison of the opening styles. Use the descriptions to decide which setting fits your plans, and check availability before visiting on opening weekend.
The rest of your week is still built around the same few blocks
None of this is only about restaurants. The Scottsdale ArtWalk still runs every Thursday from 7 to 9 p.m. along Main Street and Marshall Way, free, and worth treating as the anchor of a Thursday plan since it lines up almost perfectly with the new dining cluster. Arizona Chef's Week just wrapped on August 9 after opening July 31, and it gave a good preview of who's actually cooking in this district right now, including Erika Gonzalez of Pinyon Coastal Mediterranean and Gio Osso of Virtu Honest Craft and Pizzeria Virtu, both worth remembering the next time you're picking a dinner spot rather than a rooftop.
The Wine Collective of Scottsdale has a sommelier-led blind tasting on the calendar, six wines, three from Arizona and three from elsewhere, poured with no labels so you have to guess, along with a $30 tasting scheduled for Friday, August 21 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. And if you want a lower-key way to start a Thursday before ArtWalk, the city runs free sunset yoga at Scottsdale Civic Center starting at 6 p.m.
String those together and you get a rhythm that didn't quite exist a year ago: yoga at six, ArtWalk at seven, and dinner at one of the new openings, with the choice of setting depending on the evening.
The part worth remembering
Old Town isn't just adding restaurants. It's adding two different bets on what this district is for, at the same time, on the same blocks. A valet line or a celebrity name can point to an occasion-oriented setting; an owner with a stake in the block can point to a neighborhood connection.
If you're already living the Old Town rhythm and just want to know what's worth your Thursday, that distinction can help you choose a setting that fits your plans. And if this stretch of Scottsdale ever has you thinking about what it would take to actually live inside walking distance of it, our Scottsdale neighborhood guide breaks down what different pockets of the city actually offer, and our earlier look at condo and townhome living near Old Town covers what that kind of proximity actually costs. Either way, Tag Team AZ is around when you're ready to talk specifics.
