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
