Last Phoenix Sizzler location closes after decades in the Valley

In the Phoenix metro area, diners are no longer “goin’ Sizzler.” The Valley's last location of the steakhouse-and-salad-bar chain has closed in Maryvale after at least 40 years in business.

Sizzler, located in Phoenix’s Maryvale Terrace shopping center at the northeast corner of Indian School Road and 51st Avenue, has been fenced off. The restaurant's Google business listing is marked as permanently closed, and a sign on the shuttered restaurant's door echoes that statement.

“After 29 years this Sizzler is closed permanently,” reads the sign, which indicates the number of years the restaurant was operated by its most recent owners. “The McDaniel family, Paul, Yvonne and all of our amazing employees THANK YOU for your years of patronage.”

When reached by phone, the Maryvale Sizzler owner Wayne McDaniel declined to comment about the closure. However, he confirmed that he took over the restaurant in 1996 and estimated it had been open since about 1985.

Del and Helen Johnson founded the original Sizzler in Culver City, California, in 1958, offering steaks for 99 cents. The restaurant became known for its all-you-can-eat salad bar, baskets of Texas toast with griddled cheese and affordable grilled ribeyes, New York strips and tri-tip. At its peak, Sizzler grew to include 270 restaurants, largely run by franchisees, and inspired the proliferation of steakhouse chains across the United States. Sizzlers were first opened in Arizona in the 1960s, per state business filings.

In the past several years, there have been signs that the 67-year-old restaurant brand was facing challenges. Sizzler USA filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2020. At the time, the restaurant group said the filing was a “direct result” of the pandemic's impacts and not receiving relief from landlords on rent costs.

Today, 74 Sizzlers remain in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, predominantly in California. The last remaining Arizona location of the steakhouse chain resides in Flagstaff, 141 miles north of the former Maryvale restaurant.

Tributes from fans of the restaurant have begun to be posted on social media since the closure.

Malo Fimbrez recalled going to the “iconic restaurant" in a post on Facebook. In responses to the post, users shared they had tried to visit recently and instead were surprised to find the restaurant blocked off and closed.

“R.I.P. Sizzler,” Lowell Larson wrote in another post. Others responded to Larson, encouraging a “road trip to Flagstaff,” and shared they felt “devastated” by the news.

A request for comment from Sizzler USA has not yet been received, and the future of the building remains unclear.