Beyond chains and cheese: Restaurant madness and what it means for downtown

While the arts community was the first generation of pioneers to successfully lift downtown Phoenix out of its doldrums, the second wave of downtown resurgence came from the independent restaurants that gambled on the area. By 2005, places like Matt's Big Breakfast, Cibo and Fate proved that independent restaurants with quality food could really have success downtown.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and 2009 is really proving that as the number of restaurants opening their doors all around the aforementioned downtown pioneers is staggering. Already this year the Turf (formerly Turf Accountant), Pasta Bar, El Portal and Sapna's Cafe have opened. By the end of the month Moira will bring sushi back to downtown for the first time in years, and sometime soon Luke's of Chicago will start a branch on Seventh Street in a renovated historic building while a mediterranean restaurant is set to appear on Roosevelt Street just east of Third Avenue. Almost every one of those restaurants is within a half-mile radius of the original Matt's/Fate duo that got things rolling.

Amidst all this Pallette apparently closed-- which is shocking for anyone like me who was part of the sometimes-90 minute wait on the weekends for brunch-- but the rumor is that someone else wanted the location and that Pallette will resurface somewhere else in the area.

Assuming these businesses can survive the current economic conditions, they'll be poised to really help downtown surge when the housing market finally turns around. Downtown Phoenix probably already stood alone with Tempe's Mill Avenue and Old Town Scottsdale as options for those who live in the Phoenix area and prefer walkable urban environments. But aided in no small part by this restaurant boom, downtown has separated itself from the chains of Mill and the cheese of Scottsdale as probably the premiere locale for urbanists. While downtown Phoenix is of course only beginning to catch up with even its western competitors in places like Denver and Portland, it has clearly established some positive momentum.