The Best Restaurants in Scottsdale, North to South

May 26
8 min read

Every week I get some version of the same question from buyers relocating to Scottsdale: "What are the good restaurants here?" The short answer is that Scottsdale has one of the best dining scenes in the American Southwest. The longer answer is that it depends entirely on which part of Scottsdale you are asking about.

Scottsdale runs nearly 30 miles from its northern edge near Pinnacle Peak down to Old Town and the Camelback Corridor. The neighborhoods are different. The price points are different. And the dining culture is different too. I have been living and working here for 13 years, and this is the list I would give a friend moving to town.

I have organized it the way locals actually think about Scottsdale: North to South. I also included a section at the end for everything opening in 2026 and 2027, because the pipeline right now is genuinely exciting.

--- PART ONE

Pinnacle Peak, DC Ranch, Grayhawk, and Beyond

The 85255 and 85266 zip codes — home to guard-gated communities, golf courses, and a dining scene that is quieter but genuinely excellent. These are the restaurants North Scottsdale residents return to again and again.

Mastro's Steakhouse Scottsdale Institution

8852 E Pinnacle Peak Rd · Scottsdale 85255

Mastro's is the anchor of North Scottsdale fine dining, and it has been for over 25 years. USDA Prime steaks cooked in a 1,500-degree broiler, served sizzling on plates heated to 450 degrees. A two-foot dry-ice seafood tower. Live music every night of the week. This is the restaurant you bring out-of-town clients to when you want to show them what North Scottsdale feels like.

Tucked next to Pinnacle Peak Country Club and the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, the location alone tells you something about the neighborhood. If you are new to Scottsdale, this is the first reservation you should make.

Order: The bone-in filet, the shrimp sizzling in garlic butter, and a tableside dry-ice cocktail if you want the full Mastro's experience. Reservations are essential, especially on weekends. Smart casual dress code.

LAMP Pizzeria Local Favorite

8900 E Pinnacle Peak Rd, Suite C1 · Scottsdale 85255

Two doors down from Mastro's, and almost nobody outside North Scottsdale knows it exists. LAMP is a family-owned wood-fired pizzeria run by Matt and Lindsay Pilato — the name is literally an acronym of their initials. Matt trained in Neapolitan pizza-making at the Scuola Italiana Pizzaioli in San Francisco. The result is a rotating lineup of artisan pies with house-stretched mozzarella, San Marzano tomatoes, and toppings sourced locally from DeFalco's Italian Deli.

They recently added a Nonna-style pie, baked first in the wood oven then finished in a deck oven for a crispier result. If you get takeout, this is the one to order. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays.

Order: The Kavorka white pizza, the Nonna for takeout, the Union salad with white beans and pine nuts. Gets packed early — arrive when they open or book ahead.

Chef Sheila Bryson / Soul Hospitality Group Scottsdale Story

Multiple locations in North Scottsdale

Sheila Bryson is one of the best restaurant stories in Scottsdale. A single mother with no formal culinary training, she started cooking burritos on a portable griddle in the back of a friend's bakery. Fifteen years later, she owns Soul Hospitality Group and operates multiple distinct concepts throughout North Scottsdale. This is what homegrown hospitality looks like.

Soul Cafe is her original comfort food concept, now at Centennial Marketplace near FLW and 100th Street. American classics with Southern and Southwest influence. Vic and Ola's at DC Ranch is upscale Italian with house-made pastas, named after her Sicilian grandparents. Pescada is her Mediterranean seafood concept in far North Scottsdale, with whole fish, oysters, and shared plates. Her newest concept, Little Snitch, is a kitschy coffee shop and cocktail garden at the Citadel Plaza.

Which one to try first: Vic and Ola's for a proper dinner, Soul Cafe for a weekend brunch that feels genuinely local, Little Snitch for a casual afternoon stop.

Isabella's Kitchen at Grayhawk Best Patio in North Scottsdale

8623 E Thompson Peak Pkwy · Scottsdale 85255

If someone asks you where to take out-of-town guests for a quintessential Scottsdale evening, this is the answer. Isabella's Kitchen sits at Grayhawk Golf Club, overlooking the Talon course and the McDowell Mountains. Large garage-style doors roll open to merge the indoor dining room with a wraparound patio, and when the sun is setting over the mountains with a wine in your hand, it is difficult to find a better spot in the city.

The food is Italian-American bistro, which means pizzas, pastas, handcrafted plates, and a good happy hour. Fireside picnic tables on the patio, comfortable sofas, and a casual, neighborhood vibe. This is the place you come back to with every set of visiting family.

Best time to go: Weekday happy hour for the patio and mountain views. Grilled fish tacos and the charcuterie board are consistently strong. Reservations recommended for groups.

"Scottsdale's dining scene does not announce itself the way New York or Los Angeles does. It earns its reputation quietly, through restaurants like these, built by real people in real neighborhoods."

--- PART TWO

Where the National Names Are Landing

The area roughly bounded by Camelback Road, Fashion Square, Old Town, and the Scottsdale Waterfront has become the target for every major national hospitality group looking to enter Arizona. The openings in 2025 and 2026 alone have been remarkable.

Sexy Roman at W Scottsdale Opened June 2025

7277 E Camelback Rd · Old Town Scottsdale

Sexy Roman took over the former Sushi Roku space in the W Hotel and turned it into one of the most talked-about restaurants in the country. Created by California-based Alliance Hospitality Group and led by James Beard Award-nominated Chef Jason Franey, the concept is upscale Italian with a supper club soul. White tablecloths, table lamps with a button you press to order a martini, dark curtains, bespoke servers, and a tableside cocktail cart.

Phoenix Magazine called it a revelation. It is dramatic and deliberate, and it earns both descriptions. This is the restaurant you reserve for a night you want to remember — not a casual weeknight dinner.

Order: Wagyu beef carpaccio, the lumache alla vodka pasta, and the chicken Parmesan, which at $67 is audacious but reportedly worth it. The gelato to finish.

CATCH Scottsdale Opened Sept 2025

7014 E Camelback Rd, Suite 612 · Scottsdale Fashion Square

CATCH arrived at Scottsdale Fashion Square in September 2025 as the brand's seventh location and its first in Arizona, following New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Aspen, Miami Beach, and Dallas. The 12,000-square-foot space was designed by the Rockwell Group with a desert-modern interpretation of the brand's coastal identity. This is one of Phoenix New Times' Best New Restaurants of 2025.

The menu is globally inspired seafood, sushi, and steak. The Japanese sushi program is sourced directly from Tokyo's Toyosu Market. The tableside Japanese Wagyu Hot Rock experience is exactly as theatrical as it sounds. On Friday and Saturday nights, The Emerald Lounge opens as an intimate late-night destination with off-menu A5 Wagyu specials.

Order: The Catch Roll, Truffle Sashimi with chili ponzu, the Cantonese Lobster, and if you are going on a weekend, book the Emerald Lounge experience.

Din Tai Fung Opened April 2026

7014 E Camelback Rd, Suite 1170 · Scottsdale Fashion Square

The most anticipated restaurant opening in Arizona in years. Din Tai Fung opened its first Arizona location at Scottsdale Fashion Square in April 2026 after more than two years of anticipation. The Taiwanese brand, founded in 1958 and Michelin-starred multiple times at its original location, is known globally for its Xiao Long Bao — broth-filled soup dumplings made with extreme precision in a kitchen you can watch through glass.

The Scottsdale outpost is 10,000 square feet, seats 340, and features a signature dumpling expo kitchen designed by the Rockwell Group with a curved facade and a dramatic central tree installation. A second Arizona location in Chandler is planned for 2027.

Order: The Xiao Long Bao (non-negotiable), Truffle and Kurobuta Pork dumplings, Shrimp and Kurobuta Pork Pot Stickers, and the black pepper beef tenderloin. Reservations are still competitive — book ahead.

Maple and Ash Best Steakhouse Scene

7135 E Camelback Rd · Scottsdale Waterfront

Maple and Ash is what happens when a two-Michelin-star chef, Danny Grant, applies his training to the format of an American steakhouse. The result is 250 seats, a wood-fired grill, hand-crafted pastas, towering seafood presentations, and an atmosphere that earns the word "scene" without becoming a nightclub.

The wine list has been recognized as one of the most outstanding in the world by Wine Spectator. Tower Hour, their daily happy hour from 4 to 6 p.m., features $3 oysters and a $40 fire-roasted seafood tower. There is also a secret off-menu Maple Burger available during Tower Hour in limited quantities — a legitimately excellent $22 burger with cheddar, pickles, and dijonnaise.

Order: The 45-day dry-aged Tomahawk for a group, the Pillows of Love ricotta agnolotti with truffle, and the lobster frites during Tower Hour. Come for the Eisenhower 40oz porterhouse if you want to do it properly.

Mastro's City Hall Old Town Anchor

Scottsdale Fashion Square area · Old Town

The Mastro's brand has two faces in Scottsdale. The Pinnacle Peak location in North Scottsdale is where the locals go on anniversaries and landmark evenings. Mastro's City Hall is the central Scottsdale anchor, positioned near Fashion Square and accessible to hotel guests, visitors, and the Old Town resident base.

Same Prime steaks, same seafood towers, same live music every night. City Hall has a slightly more accessible, downtown energy compared to its North Scottsdale counterpart. Either one represents the same standard of excellence. If you are staying in Old Town, this is your Mastro's.

Note: Not to be confused with Prime Steak Concepts, the local Mastro family operation currently rebuilding the Chart House site in McCormick Ranch. That is a different — and equally exciting — story. See below.

--- PART THREE

What Is Opening in 2026 and 2027

Scottsdale's dining pipeline is one of the most active in the country right now. Here is what is confirmed and coming — with a real estate lens on why it matters where these restaurants are landing.

2026

Summer

Highly Anticipated

BOA Steakhouse at Scottsdale Waterfront

The celebrity-magnet steakhouse from Innovative Dining Group — known for locations in West Hollywood, Santa Monica, Las Vegas, and Austin — opens its sixth location at Southbridge along the Scottsdale Waterfront. The 210-seat space will be on the waterfront itself. The menu features a first-of-its-kind Arizona partnership with the Four Sixes Ranch from the television series Yellowstone, a 40-day dry-aged New York strip, A5 Japanese Wagyu from multiple Japanese prefectures, and a "Boujee" twice-baked potato served with caviar. The seed-oil-free kitchen is also a first for the brand. Address: 7134 E Stetson Drive, Scottsdale.

2026

May 5

Just Opened

Starfish Scottsdale — McCormick Ranch

Starfish Hospitality Group, the California-based coastal Asian concept, made its first move outside California with a 5,200-square-foot restaurant in McCormick Ranch, opening May 5, 2026. The space includes indoor dining and a Southeast Asia-inspired patio with tropical design elements. The menu spans Thailand, Korea, Vietnam, China, and Japan with hand-folded dumplings, scratch-made Thai curries, and cocktails like the Wild Lychee Martini. This is one of several major dining projects converging on McCormick Ranch simultaneously.

2026

Late 2026

Neighborhood Maker

Lakefront at Scottsdale — McCormick Ranch

Four waterfront dining spaces planned directly on the lake at McCormick Ranch, ranging from 5,400 to 10,400 square feet, with large patios bringing diners to the water's edge. Part of a broader mixed-use redevelopment that also includes boutique retail, wellness studios, med spa uses, and jewelry. Groundbreaking is June 2026. The lifestyle amenity wave coming to McCormick Ranch in the second half of 2026 has not been priced into surrounding real estate yet — which is exactly the kind of detail that matters if you are buying in this corridor right now.

2027

June

Best Local Story

Prime Steak Concepts — Former Chart House Site, Camelback Lake

James Beard Award-nominated brothers Michael and Jeffrey Mastro — who grew up in McCormick Ranch — acquired the former Chart House property on Camelback Lake and are rebuilding it from scratch as a 12,000 to 14,000 square foot lakefront steakhouse. Target opening is June 2027. Jeffrey Mastro said: "My brother Mike and I grew up just a few blocks away in McCormick Ranch. This is the perfect place for us to do something very special." Combined with Lakefront at Scottsdale and Starfish, this creates a genuine dining district forming around Camelback Lake. Three major projects, converging in the same corridor, within 18 months of each other. That is not a coincidence.

2027

TBD

East Valley

Din Tai Fung — Chandler Fashion Center

Following the success of the Scottsdale Fashion Square debut, Din Tai Fung has confirmed a second Arizona location at Chandler Fashion Center targeting 2027. For Scottsdale buyers choosing between the central and east valleys, the anchoring of a Michelin-connected global brand in the east valley corridor is worth noting as a lifestyle and quality-of-life signal.