🍴The Thursday Bite

This week, Scottsdale dining season feels like it's officially shifted into high gear.

A major chapter in Arizona dining is coming to an end.

Sam Fox, founder of Fox Restaurant Concepts, is stepping away from the company he built into one of the Valley’s biggest restaurant groups, behind names like Olive & Ivy, Culinary Dropout, Flower Child, North Italia and Society Swan.

The Cheesecake Factory acquired Fox Restaurant Concepts in 2019, and Fox is now shifting his focus to luxury hospitality through Author & Edit Hospitality and projects like The Global Ambassador.

Fox Restaurant Concepts will continue operating.

For Scottsdale diners, though, it definitely feels like the end of an era.

Lunch just got more interesting at Roka Akor Scottsdale.

The restaurant has introduced new:

available:

Saturday + Sunday

Each lunch includes a choice of starter and entrée along with:

🥗 Mixed green salad
🍲 Miso soup
🍚 Rice

The menu draws on Roka Akor’s signature robata-grilled dishes, along with sashimi and other Japanese favorites.

Roka Akor’s Scottsdale location now officially lists weekend lunch from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

📍 7299 N. Scottsdale Road

Scottsdale has apparently kept Lisa Vanderpump busy.

WOLF by Vanderpump Scottsdale will celebrate its first anniversary with Lisa Vanderpump herself on:

The anniversary party runs:

6-10 p.m.

and includes:

🍸 Signature cocktails
🍴 Passed appetizers
🧀 Goat cheese balls and other Vanderpump favorites
🎶 Live music by Tempo
✨ Entertainment throughout the evening

Tickets are $149 per person, including tax and fees, and include two drink tickets, appetizers throughout the evening, and entertainment.

📍 Caesars Republic Scottsdale - 4747 N. Goldwater Blvd.

This is not this weekend, but tickets are already on sale.

The Brewbox Coffee Company says it will officially celebrate the grand opening of its Scottsdale location on:

📍 14850 N. 87th St., Suite 110

The local coffee company announced the date directly on its social channels.

Brewbox now has a date on the calendar.

KAUBOI at The REMI is now accepting holiday private-event bookings.

The Japanese steakhouse has several spaces available, including:

🥃 Whiskey Lounge
🌸 Sakura Terrace
🍽️ Tsuki Room

The private Tsuki Room can accommodate up to 16 guests, while Sakura Terrace can handle much larger receptions and seated events.

The restaurant can build custom menus around sushi, steak, and robata-grilled dishes.

📍 The REMI Scottsdale

On Wednesday, November 11, Doughbird says it will donate:

to the Wounded Warrior Project.

The Veterans Day fundraiser applies to purchases that day and supports veterans and their families.

A pretty simple idea:

Eat pizza and chicken.

Help a good cause.

Thirsty Lion is also marking Veterans Day.

On Wednesday, November 11

Veterans can receive one complimentary entrée from a special menu with proof of military service.

Choices announced for the promotion include:

🍔 Cheeseburger
🌶️ Spicy Fried Chicken Sandwich
🥩 French Dip
🐟 Fish & Chips
🍗 Tuscan Romano Chicken
🥗 Southwest Smoked Chicken Salad

The offer is for Veterans Day only.

The wait is over.

Drake’s Hollywood officially opens in Old Town Scottsdale:

at:

📍 3828 N. Scottsdale Road

The approximately 8,000-square-foot restaurant is Drake’s Hollywood's largest location yet, bringing its mix of Italian-American dishes, steakhouse favorites, martinis, and Old Hollywood glamour to Scottsdale.

The restaurant has already been hosting preview events ahead of Friday’s public opening.

We took a much deeper look inside this week.

👉 Read the Full “First Look” Article On Drake’s Hollywood:
https://www.forkingscottsdale.com/p/drakes-hollywood-scottsdale-first-look

This one has started making the rounds again, so here is the important part:

But not next month.

Frost Gelato has signed on for The Lakefront at Scottsdale, the major McCormick Ranch redevelopment at:

📍 7501 E. McCormick Parkway

The $70 million project will be built around the lake and include restaurant patios, retail, offices, outdoor gathering areas, and a planned marina.

Other announced food tenants include:

☕ La La Land Kind Cafe
🍝 V Modern Italian
🍣 SUSHISAMBA
🍨 Frost Gelato

Current development reporting points toward the first Lakefront restaurants opening around fall 2027, with one report targeting approximately November 1, 2027.

So yes:

Frost Gelato on the water is coming.

Just not quite yet.

Chef Matt Carter and Brian Raab’s new McCormick Ranch concept DASH remains one of our most-watched November openings.

📍 9619 N. Hayden Road

DASH will combine:

☕ Coffee
🥐 Pastries
🥪 Sandwiches
🍕 Roman-style pizza
🔥 Charcoal chicken
🍦 Soft serve
🛍️ A neighborhood market

Experience Scottsdale continues to list the opening for late 2026, while current restaurant-opening trackers are still pointing toward November.

Still no day we trust enough to publish yet.

BOA Steakhouse remains on our radar for the Scottsdale Waterfront.

Experience Scottsdale continues to list the restaurant as coming to Scottsdale, but we still do not have a reliable public opening date.

Until we do:

We did not find a new Scottsdale restaurant closure this week that we could verify strongly enough to publish.

And after some of the closure-heavy weeks we have had this year?

We are perfectly happy writing that sentence.

Old Hollywood is about to officially arrive in Old Town.

Drake’s Hollywood opens Friday with:

🥩 Prime steaks
🍝 Italian-American comfort food
🍸 Its famous ultra-cold martinis
🍓 A towering 24-layer strawberry cake
🎶 Sunday live music
🔐 A private members-only club hidden inside

And Scottsdale is getting the largest Drake’s location in the country.

The bigger question?

Can Drake’s become one of those places where you walk in for dinner at 7 and suddenly realize it is almost 11?

👉 Read the Full “First Look” Article On Drake’s Hollywood:
https://www.forkingscottsdale.com/p/drakes-hollywood-scottsdale-first-look

This week we traded the giant dining rooms for something smaller.

Our matchup:

🌸 Little Snitch brings the whimsical garden atmosphere, bakery counter, coffee window, and North Scottsdale brunch vibe.

🎲 Beginner’s Luck brings Bernie Kantak’s chef-driven brunch, specialty coffee, hidden Old Town courtyard, and a pretty serious lunch menu.

We compared:

☕ Coffee
🥐 Bakery
🍳 Brunch
🥪 Lunch
🍸 Cocktails
🌿 Patios
✨ Atmosphere
💰 Value

And one gets the fork.

👉 Read the Full “Fork in the Road” Article:
https://www.forkingscottsdale.com/p/little-snitch-vs-beginners-luck-scottsdale

This week we found:

🦪 $2 oysters + $6 cava at Pescada

🍹 $2.99 margaritas at SOL

🌮 $3 tacos at Cien Agaves

🦪 $2.50 oysters at Buck & Rider

🦪 $2.75 oysters at PINYON

🍸 $5 lunch cocktails at Uchi

🥑 Guac + a bottle of wine for $20 at The Mission

🍷 40% off bottles at Tavern Grille

🔥 $5 beer + $10 cocktails at Pistoleros

Plus more.

👉 See all 12 Full Deals by Clicking the Link:
https://www.forkingscottsdale.com/p/scottsdale-dining-deals

Two more offers hit after we finished this week’s main Dining Deals article:

Thirsty Lion is offering veterans a complimentary entrée on Nov. 11 with proof of military service.

And Doughbird says it will donate 20% of Veterans Day sales to the Wounded Warrior Project.

Kierland Commons hosts its fall Fine Art & Wine Festival this weekend.

The event mixes fine art with wine tasting throughout the outdoor shopping district.

📍 Kierland Commons

If your ideal Saturday involves walking around with a glass of wine and looking at art?

There you go.

Jamie’s Bottle Shop in Old Town kicks off the weekend with a guided tasting focused on Alsace, France.

6 p.m.

📍 7033 E. Main Street

Tickets are about $75.

And yes, Saturday morning still starts with one of the easiest Scottsdale food events to recommend:

Local growers.

Prepared foods.

Baked goods.

Specialty products.

And enough samples to ruin whatever breakfast plans you had.

📍 Old Town Scottsdale

🎬 Drake’s Hollywood opens

🇮🇹 Scottsdale Italian Festival

🇺🇸 Veterans Day restaurant specials

☕ The Brewbox Coffee Company announces Scottsdale grand opening

☕ DASH still tracking toward opening

🐺 WOLF by Vanderpump one-year anniversary with Lisa Vanderpump

🍨 Frost Gelato and other Lakefront restaurants expected at McCormick Ranch

And we are still watching:

🥩 BOA Steakhouse
🍷 Turquoise Wine Bar
🍝 Stone & Vine
☕ DASH
🌊 The Lakefront at Scottsdale

for their next moves.

Thanks for reading The Thursday Bite.

See you around Scottsdale.

— Mychael & Connie Parker
Forking Scottsdale

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