Walk east on Camelback from 40th Street on a Tuesday night in July, and the sidewalk sounds different than it did a year ago. There is a new taco shop where Gadzooks used to be. A cocktail lounge is halfway through a build-out at the old Market by Jennifer's. A pizzeria is finalizing its liquor license three blocks north. And a small-plates spot on Thomas has quietly become the reservation your friends keep texting about.
Here is the pattern that only shows up once you list them in one place: every single one of these openings is run by someone who was already working within a two-mile radius of Camelback Mountain. Arcadia is not being discovered this year. It is being reshuffled from the inside.
Four openings, one corridor
| Restaurant | Address | Operator | Status as of July 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Poolboy Taco | 4031 E. Camelback Rd. | Aaron Pool (Gadzooks) | Open since May 18 |
| Neutral Ground Lounge | 4602 E. Thomas Rd. | Chef Kevin Ehret | Open |
| Hornbill | 3603 E. Indian School Rd. | Jennifer Russo & Jason Asher | Opening this summer |
| Arcadia Pizza Company | 3122 E. Indian School Rd. | Joe Stubbe | Targeting early September |
Each of these deserves its own look, because the concepts have almost nothing in common except the zip code and the fact that the people behind them have been cooking or pouring drinks a few blocks away for years.
Poolboy Taco: the cornbread taco is not a gimmick
The former Gadzooks space at 4031 E. Camelback reopened on May 18 as Poolboy Taco. It was over a Sunday game of beer pong that Aaron Pool, proprietor of Gadzooks Enchiladas & Soup, invented the Poolboy Taco. The unusual taco is now the namesake of Pool's new restaurant, opening May 18 at the former Gadzooks location in Arcadia. The taco, which proved a hit at the Aspen Food & Wine Classic, features, of all things, sweet-and-spicy cornbread.
Pool describes the cornbread as closer to custard than bread, giving the taco a tamale-like sweetness. The taco is built on a 50/50 corn and flour tortilla made with homemade masa and topped with tomatillo chicken, jalapeño ranch, honey-vinaigrette slaw and cotija cheese.
The room is worth the walk in on its own. The restaurant's physical space, with "pastel neons, terrazzo flooring, brass accents and sculptural banquettes," is aesthetically inspired by the midcentury photography of Slim Aarons, who captured the leisurely lifestyle of the ultra-wealthy of his time. Pool has said he wanted the fast-casual format to feel more like an early McDonald's than a modern one. If you have been to Gadzooks for a green chile bowl at lunch, this is the same operator asking a different question.
Neutral Ground Lounge: the reservation your friends keep mentioning
At 4602 E. Thomas Rd., Kevin Ehret opened Neutral Ground Lounge earlier this year. It is the smallest room of the four openings and the one built on the most personal geography.
"My whole life is like a two-mile radius. I literally grew up here, and now my son goes to school down the street. We live close by, so to find a restaurant space in this neighborhood and location that I grew up in and live in now is pretty wild," Ehret told Phoenix New Times when the restaurant opened in February.
The kitchen resume behind that quote matters. After finishing school in 2006, Ehret cut his teeth in kitchens in Phoenix, including Canal, an early concept from chef Justin Beckett in Scottsdale, and J&G Steakhouse under chef Jacques Qualin. Ehret moved back home to Phoenix from Asheville, where he worked under chef Gio Osso at Virtu Honest Craft and later at the now-shuttered Josephine on Roosevelt Row.
The concept: Neutral Ground Lounge spins records, serves a seasonal menu of small plates and invites community connection. Charred Brussels sprouts, pâté, wine, cocktails. If you have been meaning to try it, weeknights are still the easier reservation.
Hornbill: the transformation that was fifteen years in the making
The former Market by Jennifer's at 3603 E. Indian School has been under construction all year. What is going into it is Hornbill, and it is arguably the most anticipated Arcadia opening of 2026.
Phoenix cocktail visionary Jason Asher will launch a new cocktail lounge with longtime restaurateur Jennifer Russo this summer. The duo plan to open the Southeast Asian-inspired Hornbill in the former home of The Market by Jennifer's in Arcadia. This food-forward lounge will feature shareable "small plates, very seasonally driven and from all parts of Asia," Russo says, such as chile crab, noodles, hamachi and tartares. Alongside those, Asher will craft drinks that are "on trend with global cocktail trends, things you would see in Mexico City, Asia, around the world," he said.
Two things to know if you drove past the construction fencing and wondered what happened to your neighborhood cafe. First, Russo did not leave. She ran The Market for eleven years before ending daily service in September 2025 and rebuilding the same address into a different concept. Second, Asher is not new to Phoenix drink design either. Her collaborator is cocktail pro Jason Asher, founder of Juniper & Jigger Hospitality Co. and the force behind Platform 18, UnderTow, and Grey Hen Rx.
The room itself is being designed by Wesley James, who built the bars at Century Grand and Tropic Thunder downtown. The duo will partner with architect James, the designer behind Tropic Thunder. He'll transform the space into a "cocktail sanctuary," evoking the lush tropics and the arched whimsy of a bird cage.
Arcadia Pizza Company: Chicago and Detroit come to Indian School
Three blocks west of Hornbill, at 3122 E. Indian School, a very different opening is on deck. Arcadia Pizza Company is preparing to open at 3122 E. Indian School Road in Phoenix, according to a recent liquor license filing. Owner Joe Stubbe told What Now Phoenix that the team is targeting a late summer or early September debut for the neighborhood pizzeria. The concept will focus on Midwest-inspired pizza styles, including Chicago-inspired tavern-style pies and Detroit-inspired square pizzas. Arcadia Pizza Company is building the menu around slow-fermented dough, thoughtful sourcing, and traditional pizza-making methods.
Stubbe grew up in Wisconsin and his wife is from Michigan, which explains the menu geography. What is worth noting for anyone who lives close enough to walk: the goal is to create a family-friendly neighborhood gathering place where friends and family can come together and experience a sense of nostalgia. This is not a destination pizzeria positioned for out-of-town press. It is the kind of place designed to become someone's regular Thursday.
The pattern nobody is naming
Here is what makes this year different in Arcadia. Look again at who is behind each project.
Aaron Pool operated Gadzooks in the exact same building. Kevin Ehret grew up in the neighborhood and lives inside a two-mile radius of his own front door at Neutral Ground. Jennifer Russo ran the previous concept at the Hornbill address for over a decade. Even Joe Stubbe, the newest name on this list, chose Arcadia because he already lives nearby and wanted a room he could walk to.
Compare that to the pattern of the last few years, when Arcadia openings often meant a Scottsdale operator crossing 44th Street for a bigger patio or a national chain testing the Camelback corridor. This summer's cohort is more insular, more owner-operated, and more likely to still be here in five years for that reason alone.
There is a Bernie Kantak parallel worth mentioning. His matcha and sushi counter Minnow opened at 4501 N. 32nd St. in July 2025 and made Phoenix New Times' list of the 12 biggest restaurant openings of 2025. Kantak had already been running Citizen Public House and The Gladly for years. He did not arrive. He shifted.
What this means if you live here
If your Saturday routine already runs through O.H.S.O. for a beer, The Vig at 4041 E. Camelback for a patio lunch, or Postino at 3939 E. Campbell for wine at five, you now have four new stops within a ten-minute drive that were built by people you may already know by name. Poolboy for a quick lunch after a Camelback hike. Neutral Ground for a Wednesday night with two other couples. Arcadia Pizza Company for a Friday takeout order once it opens in September. Hornbill for the drink your out-of-town friend will not stop talking about after they visit.
The dining ecosystem in 85018 has always leaned toward operator-owned and independent. This year is that trend concentrated into a single summer. If you have ever wondered why Arcadia restaurants tend to stay open for a decade while flashier concepts in other zip codes churn every two years, look at who signs the leases.
The Bray Team perspective
Arcadia is one of the neighborhoods where the food scene is not a lifestyle amenity bolted onto the real estate. It is part of what makes the addresses on 32nd, Indian School, and Camelback trade the way they do. When we walk a listing with a seller or a buyer, we talk about what is opening on the block, not just what closed on it. If you want to be first in the door at Hornbill or Arcadia Pizza Company this fall, we will see you there. And if you are curious what your Arcadia home is worth in the current market, The Bray Team can put a number to it. Request your home valuation.
