“It’s with a heavy heart that we have to say goodbye to our beloved location at Portland on the Park, and our last service has come and gone,” the restaurant wrote in an Instagram post on Friday.
The restaurant, located at 200 W. Portland St., closed after failing to come to new terms on a lease with its landlord, according to the post, which is tagged with its chef and owner Stephen Jones. The Larder + the Delta location inside the Footprint Center in Section 120 will remain open. The post encouraged followers to stay tuned — ”This page ain’t goin' nowhere," it quipped — and teased the possibility of pop-ups throughout the Valley and in Flagstaff.
“Although this is a goodbye this isn’t a goodbye forever, we are looking for a new space, a bigger space, raising new capital investment to bring back the larder + the delta back in a new neighborhood, delivering the South through food like we have always done,” the restaurant posted.
The restaurant has earned praise locally and beyond. It was a Phoenix New Times Best of Phoenix pick for several awards, including Best Southern Restaurant this year, Best Restaurant in 2021 and Best Southern Restaurant in 2019.
Jones has twice been a nominee for James Beard Awards in the last four years, receiving a nod for Best Chef in the Southwest region in 2020 and Outstanding Chef in 2022.
‘I want to say thank you’
Jones first introduced Phoenicians to the Larder + the Delta at the now-shuttered DeSoto Central Market in 2015. His cooking elevated local ingredients, riffed on traditional Southern cuisine and pushed diners beyond those expectations by infusing other cuisines.The post on Friday shared gratitude to patrons and the restaurant's staff.
“I want to say thank you to so many people who have supported us along this amazing journey in downtown Phoenix but first [and] foremost I’d like to say thank you to all the staff that has ever come through these doors, I love you all so much and you have meant so much to me and my family,” the restaurant wrote.
