That old mantra about real estate -- location, location, location! -- is not lost on Luis Mata.
The chef-owner of Plaza Grill, the fantastic Mexican restaurant in North Phoenix that I reviewed a few months back, blames an out-of-the-way location for the mid-December demise of his year-old eatery. It was situated on Cave Creek Road, between Greenway and Thunderbird.
Prior to opening his own restaurant, Mata was the longtime manager at chef Moises Treves' Such is Life, on 24th Street. He explains that the central location of that restaurant benefitted from the well-heeled guests of the nearby Phoenician and Ritz-Carlton, as well as the downtown business crowd.