Why So Many Chains Opened Their First Arizona Restaurant in Gilbert This Year

Draw a line from Power Road down to Val Vista and Melrose, then over to Warner and up SanTan Village Parkway. Between May and July of this year, four restaurant brands that had never operated in Arizona opened their first location in the state somewhere along that line. Each of them could have picked Scottsdale, Tempe or central Phoenix. All four chose Gilbert.

A fifth company, J. Alexander's, is getting ready to open on SanTan Village Parkway in November. The pattern says something about how dining in Gilbert is changing. The newest names in town are increasingly ones nobody in Arizona has eaten at yet, and they are landing on the commercial corridors. Downtown Gilbert keeps adding new places too, but those come from restaurateurs who already built their following elsewhere in the Valley.

Four Arizona debuts in one season

Here is the 2026 run, in the order the restaurants opened.

Each opening was reported as the brand's first in Arizona. QSR magazine covered the Mo' Bettahs debut on Power Road. KTAR called Perry's Gilbert steakhouse the Texas chain's "first Arizona location." PHOENIX magazine's July roundup said the same about Chicko Chicken on Warner, and it listed Bojangles as new to Arizona. Arizona's Family covered Bojangles' grand opening at Val Vista and Melrose on July 20, which came after its opening date was pushed back.

Look at where they are. None of the four is in the Heritage District. Every one sits on an arterial road or a regional shopping corridor, the kind of location built around drive-up traffic and big parking lots. None of the brands has said publicly why it picked Gilbert specifically. The founders' statements sound happy about the choice without explaining it. Chris Perry told KTAR, "We are so excited to bring our first Perry's Steakhouse in Arizona to Gilbert." In QSR's coverage, Mo' Bettahs co-founder Kalani Mack described the expansion as sharing Hawaiian food and traditions with "a community that already values a great plate lunch."

SanTan Village Parkway gets the big sit-down rooms

The fast-casual debuts are spread across south and central Gilbert. The large, full-service restaurants are clustering in one place, along SanTan Village Parkway.

Perry's is the biggest example so far. KTAR reported the restaurant at 11,000 square feet with capacity for 350 guests, inside the new Northside at SanTan Village development next to the existing shopping center. It opens at 4 p.m. most days and at 10:30 a.m. on Fridays, and the bar stays open until 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

J. Alexander's comes next, at 2192 SanTan Village Parkway. On Oct. 14, FSR magazine reported that the wood-fired American restaurant would open "this November." Unlike the four restaurants in the table, this is not a first for Arizona. It will be the brand's second location in the state, after it opened in Chandler in 2025. In the announcement, G.J. Hart, CEO of parent company SPB Hospitality, called Gilbert a way "to build on the momentum of our Chandler restaurant." The restaurant plans to hire 90 to 100 people and set a hiring event for Oct. 28 at SpringHill Suites Phoenix Gilbert on SanTan Village Parkway. It will also have a private dining room. No exact opening day has been announced.

Not everything on the corridor is growing. PHOENIX magazine reported in its September closings roundup that Brio Italian Grille at SanTan Village "has called it quits after eight years." So within one year, the strip lost an eight-year-old Italian chain and picked up one large steakhouse from out of state, with a second full-service chain on the way.

Northside is the reason the corridor can absorb all this. When the Gilbert Independent reported on the project in August 2025, the master plan covered about 20 acres of restaurants and shops, a 134-key hotel and future mixed-use buildings. The first announced tenants besides Perry's were The Workshop Pilates, The NOW Massage, The Milkshake Factory and Face Foundrie. That list was a plan from 2025, so check what's actually open before you make the drive.

Turnover on the corridors happens one storefront at a time

The newcomers away from SanTan Village tend to move into spaces someone else just left. Chicko Chicken took over the former Midnight Taco space on Warner. Bottles and Boards, a wine bar at 1525 N. Gilbert Road, Suite C108, moved into the former Wine Down Lounge, and PHOENIX magazine listed it among July's openings.

The same July roundup in PHOENIX magazine noted that The Whining Pig's Gilbert location had closed after 10 years. Add Brio's eight years at SanTan Village and 2026 is the year two Gilbert spots with long runs closed, while four brands new to Arizona opened within about 10 weeks of each other.

"It's a tough time for local restaurants and they need our support more than ever."

PHOENIX magazine opened its September roundup with that line. The same issue counted at least 11 Valley restaurants and bars that closed in September and 18 that opened across Greater Phoenix that month. Those numbers cover the whole Valley. The mix in Gilbert this year matches them: a steady stream of new tables, with the newest names more and more coming from out of state.

Downtown Gilbert grows from Valley-grown operators

The Heritage District's openings this year follow a different pattern. The new places come from people who already run restaurants in the Valley.

Rosewood opened at 366 N. Gilbert Road on Aug. 21. It's the newest concept from Charles Barber, the restaurateur behind Aftermath, Born & Bred and Hayden House Café. Phoenix New Times described it as a romantic, moody room built for long dinners. Hidden inside is Bad Honey, a cookie concept. The menu runs from lobster linguine with roasted corn to a 32-ounce bone-in ribeye with mole.

Away from downtown, local operators are growing the same way. In September, The Crowned Egg, which PHOENIX magazine calls a local brunch café, opened its second Gilbert location at 1520 W. Guadalupe Road. It serves benedicts, skillets, crepes and burgers.

Taken together, the year has a clear shape. When a brand from outside Arizona wants to test the state, it has been picking a Gilbert corridor with easy parking and regional traffic. Restaurateurs who already know the Valley keep opening in the walkable core, or adding a second location in a town where their first one already works.

What's next on the calendar

Here's what to watch from now through the holidays:

• J. Alexander's, 2192 SanTan Village Parkway. It's set to open in November with no announced date yet, seven days a week, with steaks, salads, sandwiches and a private dining room.
• Northside at SanTan Village. The 2025 plan included a hotel and more mixed-use buildings, so the corridor's tenant list has room to keep changing.
• Perry's on a weekend. The 11,000-square-foot room has capacity for 350 guests, and the bar stays open until 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
• Rosewood and Bad Honey downtown. The August opening pairs a dinner-and-cocktails room with Bad Honey's freshly baked cookies under one roof.

National brands opening their first Arizona locations along SanTan Village Parkway and Gilbert's arterial roads change how nearby blocks feel day to day, and they can show up in the way buyers judge an address. If you own a home in Gilbert and want to know how this new dining activity factors into your home's value, The Real Estate Experts of Phoenix can walk you through it neighborhood by neighborhood. Get Your Instant Home Valuation.