"It kind of feels like Arcadia," chef James Fox told Phoenix New Times when describing McCormick Ranch, where he and Raenee Fox opened the second Vecina on September 18. "I think we'll fit in with our neighborhood vibe."
The comparison works on Hayden Road too. Between Via de Ventura and Mountain View, the corridor has been turning over since midsummer. Two evening-focused rooms stepped back from public service. The operators moving in are building for more of the day. One has a bigger room with lunch on the way. Another is a tiny counter where coffee, pizza, charcoal chicken and soft serve share one menu. Taken together, the changes are moving this stretch of Hayden toward the all-day neighborhood restaurant that Arcadia's corridors are known for.
The Evening Rooms That Stepped Back This Year
The first change came in July. Campo Italian Bistro & Bar served its last dinner on Friday, July 31, after just over five years at the northwest corner of Hayden Road and Via de Ventura, Phoenix New Times reported. Campo opened in June 2021 under James Beard Award-winning chef Alex Stratta. It's part of Genuine Concepts, the group behind The Vig, The Womack and The Little Woody. In the announcement New Times quoted, the team called building Campo "for this neighborhood" "a true labor of love."
The second change came at the end of September. Saint Urban, chef Christopher Collins's wine bar and brasserie, closed to the public after service on September 27. It had opened in November 2024. Mouth By Southwest reported that starting September 28, the space became the Saint Urban Private Dining Room, which Collins Catering Collective books for private events. In a statement quoted by Phoenix New Times, the restaurant group said dates "are already booking through the end of 2026 and into 2027." Saint Urban sits in a Hayden Road shopping center where Collins's company, Common Ground Culinary, also runs three of its other restaurants, so the space stays part of the group's local footprint.
So the room still exists. Neighbors can still eat there, but now it's for a holiday party or a booked celebration, not a Tuesday glass of wine.
Vecina Arrived Bigger, With Daytime Plans
Vecina took over the former Z'Tejas at 8300 N. Hayden Road. Z'Tejas had closed all of its Arizona locations in June 2025. In Arcadia, Vecina is a small, intimate room on 56th Street that opened in 2019. It was a James Beard Award semifinalist for Best New Restaurant in 2020 and still makes New Times' list of the Valley's top 50 restaurants.
The McCormick Ranch location is nearly three times the size of the original. It has a lakeside patio, more space for large parties and private dining, a glass wine room, and an oversized community table that Fox says can seat a 10- or 14-top. A floral mural by artist Tato Caraveo connects the room to the Arcadia original, where Caraveo painted a wall in similar sunset reds, pinks and yellows.
The size tells you where the restaurant is headed. As of New Times' September 18 report, Vecina was serving dinner only, and Fox planned to add lunch "in the coming months." The extra space also gave him room for a menu that includes brunch alongside happy hour and dinner. The wood-fired grill and raw bar get more space, with oysters among the new raw bites. Longtime regulars of the previous tenant will find a frozen cocktail on the menu that nods to Z'Tejas.
Forking Scottsdale's first look lists the dishes that came over from Arcadia: karaage with aji amarillo, Faroe Island salmon tacos, ceviche, and the mesquite-grilled carne asada ribeye. Mesquite still fuels the grill, as it does on 56th Street.
DASH Is the Smallest Room on the Corridor, on Purpose
Farther north on Hayden, near Mountain View, the former Fired Pie at 9619 N. Hayden Road is being rebuilt as DASH. The team is chef Matt Carter and longtime business partner Brian Raab, who are behind The Mission, Fat Ox and Zinc Bistro, along with pastry chef Lisa Graf. PhoenixBites first reported the address as Suite 101 and a November opening.
Forking Scottsdale calls it Carter's first completely new restaurant concept in roughly a decade. It's also the opposite of a destination dining room. The plans call for about 12 indoor seats and a patio of roughly 40, so most of the seating is outside. The menu is laid out by time of day:
- Morning: coffee and pastries
- Midday: sandwiches and Roman-style pizza
- Evening: Portuguese-style charcoal chicken, wine and batched cocktails
- Anytime: prepared foods from the market side, plus soft serve
As of Forking Scottsdale's October 15 update, the team was "moving toward a November opening" with no specific day announced. Expect it sometime next month, not on a set date.
Vecina took a bigger room so it can serve lunch and brunch. DASH took a smaller room so it can serve breakfast through dinner. Both are adding hours of the day to Hayden Road.
How the Corridor Changed, in Order
Here's the sequence on this stretch of Hayden Road and nearby, by the date each change took effect or is targeted to:
- July 2026: Bombay House opens its second location at 8140 N. Hayden Road, according to PHOENIX magazine's July openings roundup.
- July 31, 2026: Campo Italian Bistro & Bar serves its final dinner at Hayden and Via de Ventura.
- September 18, 2026: Vecina opens at 8300 N. Hayden Road, starting with dinner service.
- September 24, 2026: Ground breaks on the Lakefront at Scottsdale at Scottsdale Road and McCormick Parkway.
- September 28, 2026: Saint Urban becomes the Saint Urban Private Dining Room.
- November 2026, expected: DASH opens at 9619 N. Hayden Road.
- November 1, 2027, developer's target: The first Lakefront restaurants open.
PHOENIX magazine's September roundup included Vecina's opening and Saint Urban's switch to private dining among the month's changes.
The Lakefront Takes the Same Idea Over to Scottsdale Road
The last two items on that list are the slowest, and they could matter most. The 100,000-square-foot building near Scottsdale Road and McCormick Parkway has anchored McCormick Ranch since 1978. It's being redeveloped into offices, shops and restaurants under the name the Lakefront at Scottsdale, ABC15 reported from the September groundbreaking. The ceremony ended with partial demolition of the 1970s interior.
Walt Brown Jr., CEO of Diversified Partners, told ABC15 the building had "kind of been this crown jewel that no one had access to because it was a corporate office." Three restaurants were announced at the groundbreaking: La La Land Kind Cafe, V Modern Italian and Sushisamba. The developer hopes to open the first of them by November 1, 2027.
A resident who lives across the street told ABC15 what she was looking forward to:
"It's going to be so exciting to just walk across the street and have coffee, restaurants and then look at the view to Camelback Mountain."
Coffee comes first on her list, and coffee is also how DASH plans to start its day on Hayden, roughly a year ahead of the Lakefront's target. The Lakefront design isn't final yet. The developer told ABC15 he is working with residents and the homeowners' association on it, so the tenant list and dates count as targets for now.
For the next few weeks, the easiest way to see the change is on Hayden Road. Vecina's lakeside patio is open for dinner at Hayden and Via de Ventura, and DASH's patio at Hayden and Mountain View is expected to open sometime in November.
Clayton Wolfe follows changes like these on Hayden Road because a new café down the street changes daily life for the homes around it. If you'd like to talk about what McCormick Ranch's next year of openings could mean for your own address, Clayton Wolfe welcomes the conversation. Request a Private Consultation.
