🍴The Thursday Bite

Good Morning, Scottsdale!

October is here, and this week feels like the unofficial start of restaurant season.

Quiriego has quietly opened its doors. Chef Matt Carter finally revealed what is taking over the former Fired Pie space in McCormick Ranch. ALMA Southwest Steakhouse opens in a month, on Nov. 2nd, at the former Preston’s Steakhouse. French Crêperie has set its Old Town grand opening. And several other Scottsdale restaurants are getting close enough to need to be on your radar.

Unfortunately, we also have a closing.

Saint Urban served its final public dinner in McCormick Ranch over the weekend.

Then we’re taking you inside il Bracco Scottsdale for this week’s First Look, and for Fork in the Road we’re making a rare trip outside Scottsdale city limits because the patios at El Chorro and LON’s at The Hermosa are simply too good to ignore.

Let’s get into it.

After months of watching this one, Quiriego Cocina Rústica has officially opened its doors for a soft opening at:

📍 17007 N. Scottsdale Road

This is the Sonora-based restaurant's first U.S. location, taking over the former Carrabba's Italian Grill space at Scottsdale Road and Frank Lloyd Wright.

But we’re not going to pretend we can tell you what the experience is like from a press release.

We’re going Saturday.

We’ll be checking out the food, room, cocktails, and service ourselves, and Quiriego is already lined up for next week’s First Look.

Stay tuned.

Tail Gunner is still targeting a 2026 opening in the Scottsdale Airpark, and a few new details make this one worth watching.

The WWII aviation-inspired concept combines a cigar lounge, whiskey bar, and coffee house under one roof.

And now the coffee program has its own identity.

Tail Gunner teamed up with Kentucky-based Fante’s Coffee House to create three custom blends:

The names fit the concept’s vintage aviation theme, but there’s another detail that may matter even more to people who normally avoid cigar lounges:

Tail Gunner says its ventilation and air-filtration system was specifically designed to create a cigar-lounge experience without that heavy smoke smell clinging to your hair and clothes.

Add in rare whiskey, premium cigars, cocktails, and a full coffee program, and this is starting to sound like one of the more unusual hospitality openings coming to the Scottsdale Airpark.

Opening target: 2026

Remember that mystery restaurant called The Dash that showed up in Scottsdale liquor-license paperwork last week?

Mystery solved.

Chef Matt Carter and longtime business partner Brian Raab, the team behind The Mission, Fat Ox, and Zinc Bistro, are opening DASH this November at:

📍 9619 N. Hayden Road

That’s the former Fired Pie space near Hayden and Mountain View.

And this one sounds very different from Carter’s other restaurants.

DASH is being designed as a small, casual, all-day neighborhood restaurant and market. Expect coffee and pastries in the morning, sandwiches and Roman-style pizza during the day, Portuguese-style charcoal chicken, wine, batched cocktails, and even soft serve. Current plans call for just about 12 indoor seats plus a roughly 40-seat patio. PhoenixBites

This is Matt Carter’s first completely new restaurant concept in roughly a decade.

And unlike his bigger destination restaurants, DASH sounds like the kind of place built specifically for the neighborhood.

Opening target: November.

As previously reported, there's more happening at The Citadel at 8700 E. Pinnacle Peak Road than just another restaurant opening.

ALMA is being reimagined as a Southwest-inspired steakhouse at a new location, while Little Scoops will bring an old-fashioned ice cream parlor next door, connected through Little Snitch. Modeled as a classic, old-fashioned ice cream parlor, it is strategically designed to stay open later into the evening. This makes it a perfect late-night dessert option for guests visiting surrounding dining spots along the Pinnacle Peak corridor

The connection? Both are part of Chef Sheila Bryson's Soul Hospitality Group, which also includes Little Snitch.

The two concepts will actually be connected, creating a small cluster of Bryson's restaurants at The Citadel. Little Scoops is expected to open around the same time as the reimagined ALMA Scottsdale, set to open November 2nd, marking the latest addition to Bryson’s lineup, which also includes Soul Café, Vic & Ola’s, Little Snitch, and Pescada. 

📍 8700 E. Pinnacle Peak Road

November 2

480-284-6736

Reservations are already live: Reserve ALMA on OpenTable

We now have the official invitation.

French Crêperie Scottsdale will celebrate its grand opening:

📅 Saturday, October 24
⏰ 10 a.m.

📍 4225 N. Marshall Way, Suite 2

That’s the former Arizona Stronghold tasting-room space in Old Town.

Expect sweet and savory crêpes, French café favorites, and a concept that wants to bring a little bit of France to Scottsdale.

This one has gone from Coming Soon to:

Put it on the calendar.

A Forking Scottsdale reader first put this on our radar, and we’re still following it.

Stone & Vine Urban Italian is coming to:

📍 17001 N. Scottsdale Road

That puts it right next door to Quiriego.

The restaurant comes from the same ownership group behind Sophia’s Kitchen and is targeting Q4 2026.

The goal is a casual Italian dining experience that feels:

comfortable, familiar, and elevated.

Stone & Vine Urban Italian is returning to Scottsdale.

Thanks again to Forking Scottsdale reader Barbara Z. for sending this one our way.

Construction continues at Turquoise Wine Bar at:

📍 10405 E. McDowell Mountain Ranch Road, Suite 100

Owner/operator Ariel Sheely previously told Forking Scottsdale they are targeting a late October or early November opening.

The concept will combine a neighborhood wine bar, tasting room, bottle shop, and bistro with wines by the glass, flights, bottles, shareable dishes, live music, and events. Scottsdale Restaurant News & Dining

We’re getting close.

Another concept getting closer is General Admission, headed for the former RnR Gastropub space at:

📍 3737 N. Scottsdale Road

The concept is being positioned as a modern sports lounge and kitchen, combining chef-driven food, cocktails, and immersive sports viewing.

Their Scottsdale page is now live and lists the location as Opening Soon.

We’ll keep watching for an opening date.

This is one of the more intriguing Old Town concepts we’re watching.

Above All Else is coming to:

📍 7134 E. Stetson Drive, Suite B300

The restaurant describes itself as a modern American fine-dining concept, and its current preview menu includes Beef Tomahawk, Pasta alla Fresca, Sockeye Salmon, Braised Lamb Shank, and Hamachi Crudo, along with a serious cocktail program.

Its website says the team is putting the final touches on the project and still lists an Opening 2026 target. Above All Else

No exact date yet.

But this one is getting interesting.

This one happened quickly.

Saint Urban, the neighborhood wine bar and brasserie from chef/restaurateur Christopher Collins, closed after service on September 27.

According to Mouth By Southwest, diners there on the final night of Arizona Restaurant Week said they learned of the closure around the same time as the restaurant staff.

But the space isn’t disappearing.

Beginning September 28, it became the Saint Urban Private Dining Room, operated by Collins Catering Collective and available for private events, holiday parties and special occasions.

The company says dates are already being booked through the remainder of 2026 and into 2027. MOUTH BY SOUTHWEST

Saint Urban opened in November 2024 in the former Rockefeller space at Hayden and Via de Ventura.

Less than two years later, its run as a public restaurant is over.

This week’s First Look takes us to il Bracco Scottsdale.

And three things stuck with us:

The pasta. The service. And dessert.

Their pasta is made in-house, and Connie summed it up better than I could when she took a bite and said:

“This takes me back to Sorrento.”

Then there was the service.

il Bracco isn’t fine dining, but I would put the service we experienced up against plenty of fine-dining restaurants in Scottsdale. Everyone watches every table. Plates disappear. Checks get picked up. Nobody seems to think, “That isn’t my section.”

And then our server, Blake, changed dessert.

I ordered the cheesecake.

He brought the Italian Sundae too and told me to take a scoop of each together.

Cheesecake + vanilla ice cream + olive oil + pistachios + sea salt.

Trust me.

And yes, free valet is right out front.

A quick note before we get into this one:

Yes, we know neither restaurant is technically in Scottsdale.

Both are in Paradise Valley.

But when two patios this good sit just minutes away, we’re making an exception.

Consider this a short detour beyond the city limits for two desert dining experiences Scottsdale readers should absolutely know about.

This week:

Both are historic.

Both are unmistakably Arizona.

Both have beautiful patios.

But they deliver two very different nights.

El Chorro brings Camelback Mountain views, sticky buns, cocktails, and generations of Valley history.

LON’s brings adobe walls, fireplaces, mature trees, a more chef-driven menu, and one of the most intimate desert patios around.

Our quickest way to decide?

Restaurant Week is over, but the deals definitely aren’t.

This week we found a bunch of Scottsdale specials that are actually worth knowing about, including:

The full list includes more, including daily happy hours, weekend specials, and a few deals that feel almost too cheap for Scottsdale.

The Old Town Scottsdale Farmers Market kicks off its new season this Saturday.

📅 Saturday, October 3
⏰ 8 a.m.-1 p.m.
📍 City Hall parking lot, 3939 N. Drinkwater Blvd.

The market brings together local growers, food producers and small businesses, making it an easy Saturday morning stop for produce, baked goods, specialty foods and locally made products.

If you’ve missed wandering the market with a coffee in hand, it’s officially back.

Jamie’s Bottle Shop is hosting a guided South American wine tasting Friday evening.

Advanced Sommelier Katherine will take guests through wines from several South American growing regions, with a charcuterie plate included.

📅 Friday, October 2
⏰ 6-7:30 p.m.
💰 $75
📍 7033 E. Main Street, Suite 102

The fall concert series continues Saturday evening at The Quad at Scottsdale Quarter.

📅 Saturday, October 3
⏰ 5-7 p.m.
📍 15191 N. Scottsdale Road

Grab dinner somewhere around the Quarter before or after and make an evening of it. Scottsdale Quarter

Scottsdale Fashion Week begins Sunday with Core & Couture at Scottsdale Quarter, combining a morning workout with a private shopping experience.

📅 Sunday, October 4

If you’re already heading to the Quarter for brunch, this gives you something else to build the morning around. Experience Scottsdale

And that’s the first Thursday Bite of October.

Quiriego is finally serving guests.

DASH officially has a name, chef, and November target.

ALMA has a Nov. 2 reopening date in the former Preston’s.

French Crêperie has a grand-opening party on the calendar.

And we’ve already got our Saturday dinner assignment.

October restaurant season is officially here.

See something we missed?

A Coming Soon sign?

Construction behind papered windows?

A liquor-license notice?

A restaurant quietly closing?

Send it to us.

Some of our best leads come from Forking Scottsdale readers.

Until next Thursday...

Mychael & Connie Parker
Forking Scottsdale

📸 Follow us on Instagram for beautiful food photos, restaurant reels, and behind-the-scenes content > @ForkingScottsdale

📘 And don't forget to follow us on Facebook for even more > Scottsdale restaurant updates!