Kona Grill, the upscale casual restaurant based in Denver, is getting ready to open a new location in Desert Ridge at 21001 N Tatum Blvd #4.
The company’s newest location will move into the former home of Romano’s Macaroni Grill space in the Desert Ridge Marketplace, according to the Phoenix Business Journal. While the company hopes to open this location in the first quarter of 2023, a representative for the north Phoenix outdoor shopping mall tells What Now Phoenix that there is no set opening date, but it is expected to open sometime this year. Kona Grill, now owned by One Group Hospitality, can be found in Gilbert and Scottsdale’s Fashion Square Mall.
The new 6,000-square-foot location will sit between Keg Steakhouse and Thirsty Lion on the western side of the mall. Customers can expect a new prototype that includes metal and wood textures. What will be similar is the company’s happy hour and brunch options. Kona Grill was based in Phoenix before it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and sold in October 2019. Now, after closing half of its locations, including several in the Phoenix area, the company is expanding again.
Phoenix is the last of three new locations for the company, which is also working on opening corporate-owned sites in Riverton, Utah, and Columbus, Ohio. As for Desert Ridge Marketplace, the shopping center has even more eateries coming this year. Spitz Mediterranean will open in Spring, followed by Fat Tuesday in Summer, and a new concept called Jinjia is coming soon. The shopping center also opened a new Dirty Dough Cookies at the beginning of this month. With these new eateries coming in, Desert Ridge Marketplace is currently 98% leased.
“What’s really exciting is that it is going to have a really nice modern design,” Katie Hauptman, director of marketing for Desert Ridge Marketplace, tells Phoenix Business Journal. “It really does elevate the previous space that it is taking over. It will feature an outdoor dining area, which the previous locations did not have. That will really bring some exciting energy to that area.”
