Restaurant Roll Call for 2009

Bittersweet seems to be the best way to sum up the Valley restaurant scene for 2009 — sweet that more than 100 restaurants opened in the midst of a very rough recession, but bitter that more than twice as many places shut their doors.

Some of the bright spots? Read on for an rundown of who’s new in town as of 2009, from Acua to Zipp’s:

Restaurant openings:
18 Degrees
25 Degrees
5th & Wine
Acua
Alchemy (reopened)
Avalon
Bambino Bistro
Banzai Cowboy
Barrio Cantina
BiCE Bistro
Blu Burger Grille (Chandler)
Bluewater Grill
Boa Bistro
Bol Italia
Bryan’s Black Mountain BBQ
Calistro Bistro
Chestnut Lane Café
Corner Bakery
Cornish Pasty Co. (Mesa)
Crudo Café
Crush’d Wine Bar
D’licious Dishes
Daily Dose
Dave’s Electric Brewpub
Doc’s Place Music & Supper Club
Dos Diablos
Five Guys
FnB
Fogo de Chao
Frank & Albert’s
Fred’s
Gallo Blanco Café
Heirloom
Hillside Spot
Hippies Cove
Hope Kee
Hot Rod Grill
Howl at the Moon
Hula’s Modern Tiki
Hurry 4 Curry
Il Poggio
J&G Steakhouse
Julio Cesar Chavez Campeones
Karey’s Kitchen
Kiley’s Grill
La Casita
Ling & Louie’s
Local Breeze
Lo-Lo’s Chicken & Waffles (Scottsdale)
Loughlin’s Bistro
Luci’s Healthy Marketplace
Marcella’s Italian Kitchen
Mellow Mushroom Pizza
Metro Brasserie & Bar
Mid City Kitchen
Modern Steak
Moira Sushi
Murphy’s Law
Nine 05
Oakville Grocery
Open Book Café
Open Gallery Bar & Grill
Over Easy (Scottsdale)
PastaBar
Petite Maison
Pita Jungle (Fashion Square)
Pony Express Café
Posh
Postino Central
Prado
Revo Burrito
Rustic Café
Saito’s Japanese Steakhouse
Sandbar Mexican Grill
Sapna
Scramble
Shakespeare’s
Shula’s Steakhouse
Siracha Lounge
Sleepy Dog Saloon & Brewery
Smashburger
St. Francis
Takeda Thai
Thai E-San
Thai Spices
The Kitchen Market Café & Wine Bar
The Living Room
The Lodge
The Parlor
The Turf
Toast
Tommy V’s
Tuck Shop
Tutto
Two Hippies Beach House
Two Hippies Breakfast Joint
Two Hippies Pizzeria
Zipps Sports Grill (Indian School)

Next: Restaurant closings

Restaurant closings

From Abbey Gardens (we never knew ya, Abbey), to the seemingly popular CenPho eatery Zest, there’s a lengthy list of restaurants that closed in 2009:

3 Tomatoes and a Mozzarella

Abbey Gardens

Acapulco

Adela’s

Adrelli’s Tacos

Albuquerque Tortilla

Alibertos

All Starz (all locations)

Amelio’s Pizza

Amore Miro Bistro

Anacapa Grill

Ana’s

Apple Café

Arizona Native Fry Bread

Asedoro el Paisa

Asian Fusion

Asian Garden

Asiana Kitchen

Au Buchon’s Café

Ausler’s

Autumn Moon

Baby Cakes Café

Baci Restaurant

Bahia de Gumas

Baja Fresh (Bell Rd.)

Baja Mexican Grill

Ballpark Pizza and Subs

Barcelona

Benedetto

Beyond Juice

Big City BBQ

Big Daddy’s Grill

Bihorreahna

Bistro Bernard

Bistro di Napoli

Blue Iguana

Blue Wasabi

Bonefish Grill

Bombay Spice (16th St.)

Cactus Jack’s Pizza

Café Corral

Café Don Pepe

Café LaBella

Café Rumba

Calabria Italian Grocer

Canal

Carrabba’s Italian Grill

Catia’s Kitchen

Chill

Cicios

Coffee Plantation on Mill

Coyoacan Steak House

Crepes and Bakes

Curry House

Da Chicago

Daphne’s Greek Café

Day Day Buffet

Deno’s Pizza

Desert Cove Restaurant

Desert View Deli and Breakfast

Dickie’s Dogs

Diego Ray’s Deli

Digestif

Dippin Dots

Dirty Drummer (Beck)

Dish

Dolly’s Burgers

Don Guido’s

Don Marco

Drip Coffee

Eatza Pizza (Bell, Litchfield)

Egg Roll Lumpia Factory

El Chorro Lodge

Fate

Fine’s Cellar

Fish Market

Fox Sports Grill (Westgate)

Furio

Fusion Restaurant & Lounge

Gainey Sandwich Shop

Galactic Subs

Grill El Quetzal

Grilled Expedition

Hammerhead’s

Hap’s Pit BBQ

In the Raw

Irie Jamaican

Jake’s Pizza

Jamaican Ice

Jamba Juice (Rural)

JB’s (Indian School)

Jeepney Bistro

Jefferson St. Bar

Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville

JJ’s Corner Grill

Joan’s Café Kitchen

Johnnie’s Dee’s

Johnny’s Dogs

Jordan’s on Central

Jugo Juice

Juice It Up

Kasha’s Bakery

Kathy Sue’s

Kona (Deer Valley)

K-Rico’s

Kabab Palace

La Cabana Cantina

La Esquina Mexican Food

La Locanda

La Loma Mexican

La Madeleine

La Roca Peruvian Grill

La Salsita

La Taza de Oro Bistro

Lagerfield’s

Le Peep

Light Rail Café

Lil’ Mama’s Soul Food Restaurant

Lisa G

Long Wong’s

Lyte Lounge

Mack Daddy’s

Madi G’s Neighborhood Grill

Magic Bowl Chinese

Mandala Tea Room

Manna Café

Maui

Mediterranean House

Mickey’s Hangover

Mike Thai

Mirage Restaurant

Mosaic

Naples Ristorante

Native New Yorker (Grand)

New China Buffet

News Café

Ninetta’s Passion Bistro

Oh Formaggio

On the Border

Pacific Bay Co.

Palateria Payaso

Palatte

Pho Bang

Pie in the Sky

Pink Pony

Pink Taco

Plaza Grill

Pure Sushi South

Quilted Bear

Red Tomato

Regions Bistro (Tempe & Scottsdale, recently reopened)

Richardson’s

Rio Sabor Brazil

Roy’s

Saguaro Blossom

Saigon Express

San Felipe’s Cantina (Pima)

Sautee

Scottsdale Kebab

Sea Saw

Seoul Garden Korean BBQ

Serrano’s

Seven Sisters Sweet Shop

Sinbad Restaurant

Sol y Sombra

Soma Café

Streets of New York (19th Ave)

Susan’s Diner

Sushi Mishima

Sweet O Wine Bar

Sweet Pea Bakery

T.C. Luigi’s (4 locations)

Taco del Mar (3 locations)

Tapino

Tastings Wine Bar

Tayler’s

Tea Dreams

Ten Sushi

The Cracked Crab

The FoodBar

The Girls Sweets and Sandwich

The Red Kilt Grill & Pub

Tortas El Guero (Thomas)

Trente Cinq

Twisted Vine

Two Fish Markets

Two Step Saloon

T’z Market Place

Uno’s Chicago Grill

Villa Pizza

Village Inn (Baseline)

Vine Tavern

Vintage Market

Wagon Wheel

Wall St. Asian

Weather and Coffee

Wicked Bakery

Yolanda’s Chuckwagon

Yorman’s Bistro

Yoshi’s (Warner)

Yoya’s Mexican Food

Zest

Next: restaurants gone within the year, restaurants that moved, and restaurants that did it all.

Restaurants that opened and closed in 2009
Some restaurants opened in 2009 and also closed their doors before year’s end:
98 South
Autostrada
Bantu Bistro
Boca 7
Citrus Cafe
Corona Cantina
Pizza Fusion
Poco
Second Line Creole

Regions Bistro in Scottsdale in Tempe and Scottsdale have the distinction of opening, closing, and reopening in the past year.

And a handful of places moved into new digs:
Bertha’s Cafe, now at 3134 E. Indian School Rd.
DownUnder Wines & Bistro, now at 1422 E. Warner Rd., Gilbert
Tandoori Times (Scottsdale), now at 8140 N. Hayden Rd., Scottsdale
Yupha’s Thai Kitchen, 1805 E. Elliot Rd., Tempe