Since August, downtown Tempe has had two kinds of fall news. The first kind has already happened. A few counter-service spots and shops opened on Mill Avenue and College Avenue, and the city put firm dates on a full season of events. The second kind is the restaurant openings people talked about most this summer: Julian Wright's Carmen, a new concept from the Glai Baan owners, and Novel Ice Cream in the old House of Tricks bungalow. As of early October, all three are still listed as "coming soon."
For anyone who lives within a short drive of Mill and University, the practical point is simple. This fall, what downtown offers is mostly on the calendar, with the new restaurants still to come. And the most useful new item on that calendar is a Sunday morning farmers market outside City Hall.
Sunday mornings get an anchor on Fifth Street
The Tempe City Hall Farmers Market opens Sunday, Oct. 11, at 31 E. Fifth St. It will run most Sundays, 8 a.m. to noon from October through April. In summer it moves earlier, 7 to 11 a.m. from May through September. The city says it will feature small-business vendors selling produce, baked goods, ready-to-eat food and handmade items.
The organizers have a track record. Jon Przybyl of Proof Bread and Meg Kabotie Adakai, who founded the Flagstaff Mountain Town Market, are running it with the City of Tempe. Przybyl explained why he chose the site in the city's announcement:
"Tempe is centrally located, has the infrastructure to support a farmers market, enjoys free Sunday parking on all the streets, and has a diverse population primed for this kind of event."
There's one thing to keep in mind about opening day. In mid-September, Axios reported that the city was still recruiting vendors for produce, ready-to-eat food, pet treats and lifestyle products, plus artists and musicians. No vendor list has been published yet. The market's Instagram, @TCHFarmersMarket, is where the city says it will post vendor and event updates.
The market matters for downtown because Sunday morning has been its quietest regular time slot. The existing monthly draw, 2nd Sundays on Mill, is a free, dog-friendly market with Arizona-made goods, music and street performers, and it returns Nov. 8. Once the City Hall market starts, there's a reason to come downtown every Sunday, not once a month, and the two markets overlap on Nov. 8.
What has already opened
The places that opened on time this fall are quick, casual and easy to try on a weeknight.
- Urban Hip-E Fresh Kitchen, 950 S. Mill Ave. at 10th Street, opened Aug. 10. Arizona natives Stanya and James Gorraiz run it through G6 Culinary Concepts. The menu covers salads, gyros, bowls, flatbreads and soups.
- Culinary Gangster, 501 S. Mill Ave., is the family-owned restaurant's third location, serving burgers, salads, wraps, sandwiches and fries. PHOENIX magazine listed it in its roundup of September openings.
- The Sandwich Spot and Russo's New York Pizza sit side by side at 521 S. College Ave., near Sixth Street. Downtown Tempe's business tracker lists both as September 2026 openings.
- Rally House opened its second Tempe store at 740 S. Mill Ave., Suite 100, across from ASU, selling sports apparel and local merchandise.
South of downtown, KUIU opened its first Arizona store at Tempe Marketplace near Carhartt and Red Robin, with a grand opening on Sept. 25. Tommy Hilfiger is also headed to the Marketplace, but the center's own homepage now says winter.
These openings have something in common. A takeout counter or a retail store can go from lease to open fast, and these did.
The one restaurant with a firm date this week
Phantom Fox Beer Co. and Goat and Ram are taking over 525 S. Mill Ave., the former Illegal Pete's. Phoenix New Times reported an Oct. 8 opening. Phantom Fox was founded by Eric Cady and Trent Smith, and Goat and Ram is run by Dan and Morgan Medlen. New Times' Sept. 15 fall preview still had Oct. 8 as the target, with 20 beers on tap, including a seasonal OktoberFox Märzen.
That date leads straight into downtown's busiest weekend of the month. Four Peaks Oktoberfest runs Oct. 9 through 11 at Tempe Beach Park, with beer gardens, live music, carnival rides and Bavarian food. Its last day, Sunday the 11th, is also the City Hall market's first morning. Between Thursday the 8th and Sunday the 11th, downtown gets a new brewery and pizzeria, a three-day festival on the lake and a new weekly market.
The openings that are still "coming soon"
Every project in this group had a fall target in late-summer coverage. None has a dated confirmation that it opened.
Carmen, Julian Wright's restaurant inspired by coastal Mexico, is at 640 S. Mill Ave. near Sixth Street. In late August, after earlier delays, New Times projected a "late September-early October" opening. Downtown Tempe's listing still says "Coming Soon."
The Glai Baan owners' new restaurant. Cat Bunnag and Dan Robinson plan a separate, still-unnamed concept at 34 E. Seventh St., in the historic Gov. Benjamin B. Moeur House and Hatton Hall. New Times' Sept. 15 preview still said it would open in October. The Downtown Tempe listing describes it as a 2026 debut and still says "Coming Soon."
Novel Ice Cream is going into the House of Tricks bungalow, which has been moved from its original Seventh Street area to a new spot on Fifth Street next to City Hall. New Times projected an October opening, with rotating flavors and the shop's signature Dough Melt, a doughnut-and-ice-cream combination. Novel's own locations page still says "Coming Soon" for Downtown Tempe. Published listings give different street numbers, so the safest description for now is "the bungalow on Fifth Street by City Hall." Once it opens, it will be steps from the Sunday market.
Mea Culpa, a cocktail lounge next to Roman God of Fire on Rio Salado Parkway, was announced for Sept. 25. New Times' September preview kept that date but spelled the name "Mia Culpa" and gave a different address. No dated report has confirmed that it opened.
Further out:
- Level 1 Arcade Bar, 4 E. University Drive, is a 5,000-square-foot arcade bar with a kitchen. Downtown Tempe estimates November.
- Slab City Bar & Grill, 26 E. University Drive, from operator Scott Price, has no date yet.
- Trophy Tempe, at Fifth and Mill, is listed for fall 2026 with no concept or date published.
These are larger builds. Some involve historic structures, a relocated bungalow or full bars and kitchens, and Downtown Tempe's own tracker notes that opening dates can move. Across the Valley, PHOENIX magazine counted 18 restaurant openings and at least 11 closings in September and called it a tough time for local restaurants. A missed fall target here is ordinary for the industry right now and says little about how a place will do once it opens.
Mill Avenue is being rebuilt at the same time
All of this is happening during the first renovation of its kind on Mill Avenue in about 40 years. The city's Downtown Refresh project runs from University Drive to Rio Salado Parkway. It adds new electrical and irrigation systems, wider brick sidewalks with artistic treatments, new paving, ADA updates and more than 120 new trees, while keeping 26 existing ficus trees. The city says businesses on Mill stay open during construction and that the schedule works around downtown events. In mid-September, overnight crews added permanent striping, including green bike lanes, from Fifth Street to Rio Salado. The city's project email list is the best way to track current lane and sidewalk restrictions before a weekend visit.
The rest of the dated calendar
With the market as the weekly anchor, here's what else has a fixed date:
- Nov. 1: Tempe Tardeada at the Tempe Community Center Complex. It's free, with music, dance, food and family activities from noon to 8 p.m.
- Nov. 8: 2nd Sundays on Mill returns, on the same morning as a City Hall market Sunday.
- Nov. 11: The Veterans Day Parade steps off at 10 a.m. from ASU Gammage and runs up Mill Avenue to Tempe Beach Park.
South of downtown, Kiwanis Park's north play area has reopened after a renovation that added accessible surfacing, new equipment, shade, a ramada, public art, trees and a restroom and concession building at 5233 S. Ash Ave. October Movies in the Park continues there with Hoppers on Oct. 9 and The Goonies on Oct. 16. On Oct. 23, a Family BOO Bash comes before a screening of Toy Story 5.
So for October, the events and the casual spots are the sure things, and Phantom Fox and Goat and Ram are the one new sit-down option with a date. Carmen, the Moeur House concept and Novel are still unconfirmed until their own channels announce an opening day.
Keeping track of a downtown block by block is part of how The Mohr Group works across the Valley, from Mill Avenue to Cave Creek. If you'd like to know how the Fifth Street changes or the Mill Avenue streetscape work might affect a home near downtown Tempe, we're happy to talk it through. Contact Us.
