The city of Phoenix has lost another longer-standing restaurant. The Strand Urban Italian, which was located in the heart of downtown Phoenix, will close its doors for the Christmas holiday for good. Its last day of business is Thursday, December 23, and it will serve customers for this final day from 11 AM until 8 PM.
As has been the case for restaurants throughout The Valley, COVID hit the Italian restaurant hard. While owners have done everything in their power to remain open and to make it through to 2022, management announced their corporate landlords were not willing to work with the restaurant as the family-owned business attempted to make all ends meet.
Due to the lack of flexibility, the restaurant will shut down after a decade of serving customers. Located at 2 East Jefferson Street, the restaurant specialized in not only traditional Italian meals, which were expertly made by Italian-born chefs Andre and Adriano, but the restaurant also produced a number of other, modern takes on Italian dishes, including their caramelized pear and fig salad, as well as the Quinoa E Verde.
Recently named one of the best bars in Downtown Phoenix by AZ Central, patrons interested in an Italian dinner or fun date night out will need to look elsewhere. Management has not yet made any announcements about plans to relocate or open in another location around town. However, the restaurant’s forced closure was quick and unexpected. It did not inform customers of its impending closure until five days prior to its final day, so there has been very little time to consider what the next step for The Strand Urban Italian might be. With many long-time customers voicing their concern over the forced closure, it may be possible for the restaurant to open up in the coming future.
The best way to stay informed on any updates regarding the restaurant and plans of moving to another vacancy in the city is to follow The Strand Urban Italian on Facebook.
The restaurant was part of the CityScape mix-use development. With over 20 restaurants within the development, The Strand was unable to come to any kind of an agreement with management to work with them on their lease. With the closure (as well as the current closure of Five Guys), locals will be down a few food options, although the West Coast Trapper’s Sushi Co did just open in the CityScape facility, and Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii will be opening soon.
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