Who's Coming and Going on Downtown Mesa's Main Street This Fall?

In mid-July, the owners of Rebel Wine Lounge put out $5 beer and wine to empty their shelves before closing at Macdonald and Main. Outcast Doughnuts, a sister business, had already closed on July 19. About two weeks after Rebel's last day, farther east on Main, the City of Mesa cut the ribbon on a 76-room hotel at 233 E. Main St. An Italian restaurant, a gelato bar and a hidden cocktail lounge were already serving customers on its ground floor.

These are two halves of one story. The businesses arriving on Main Street this fall all come with a source of customers built in, whether that's hotel guests, a concert lineup, a kitchen that's already equipped, or a lease the city is underwriting. The ones that left were counting on downtown to deliver customers on its own. If you eat and drink downtown, that tells you which new places to try now and what to keep an eye on next year.

The crowd that didn't come

Rebel had been at Macdonald and Main for more than two years when it closed. It made Phoenix New Times' Top 100 Bars list as a classy, modern place for an afternoon glass and a flatbread. Its owners didn't blame the product. Co-owner Christina Goldsmith told Phoenix New Times that business had been inconsistent and that the crowds expected from new downtown apartments never arrived.

"We didn't expect to see anything happen overnight," Goldsmith said in that interview. "But we're two years into this particular location now, Outcast is three years in, and we have seen zero progress."

The same ownership group still runs Level 1 Arcade Bar and Alchemy 48, the speakeasy in the arcade's basement, both of which remain open in downtown Mesa. Rebel, Outcast, Level 1 and its hidden bar are all planning locations at The Gilmore, a Gilbert development near Val Vista Drive and Germann Road, with Rebel expected in early 2027. Phantom Fox Beer Co., another downtown neighbor, is adding a second location there too. These are expansions alongside Mesa, and only two concepts actually left the corridor.

The openings that followed help explain why.

The east end arrived with its own guests

The building at 233 E. Main St. waited a long time. Crust Simply Italian and its hidden bar were announced for the site in 2023. The original developer filed for bankruptcy in 2024, a new developer took over, and the project switched from apartments to a hotel. The City of Mesa announced The 233 Suites on August 6, 2026, with Soltrust and Hospitality Capital Partners co-managing the project. Mayor Mark Freeman said the hotel helps meet visitor demand, and Councilmember Jenn Duff said it brings "new energy and hospitality to downtown Mesa," according to the city's announcement.

Three concepts from Crust Concepts fill the ground floor:

• Crust Simply Italian: East Coast-style pizza and pasta in a 7,300-square-foot dining room with floor-to-ceiling windows facing a Main Street patio. This is the chain's fifth Valley location, following Scottsdale, Chandler, Gilbert and Peoria. Its grand opening was August 27.
• Bombolino: coffee, gelato, pastries and stuffed doughnuts. The gelato comes from Glendale's Villa Dolce, and the pastries come from Mesa's Buttered Up Bakery and are finished on site. The Bomba is a doughnut filled with gelato.
• The Nightingale: a bird-themed speakeasy you enter through Bombolino, with a velvet booth, a private patio, and cocktails like the Dead Canary, a dark rum espresso martini.

The hotel is the reason Bombolino exists at all. Owner Michael Merendino told Phoenix New Times that a third concept wasn't part of the original plan until the hotel asked about coffee. Asked why the location made sense, he pointed to the shared building and to how close it is to Benedictine and Arizona State universities. "We feel like we're nestled in a really good spot," he said.

Rebel was waiting for apartment residents who never became regulars. The 233 opened with 76 rooms of potential breakfast, dinner and nightcap customers upstairs.

A brewery added a stage

At the west end, 12 W. Main St. took a different route to a built-in audience. The space formerly known as 12 West Brewing on Main reopened October 2 as Stage 12 West, according to the Mesa Independent. It combines live music, laser displays and a full menu with dishes like grilled salmon, pulled pork sandwiches and a bruschetta trio. Jolie's Secret, a speakeasy downstairs, held its grand opening on October 9.

A brewery depends on people walking in. A music venue gives people a date and a reason to drive downtown on a particular night. Stage 12 West is now the second downtown address this fall with a speakeasy hidden inside, after The Nightingale.

The Outcast kitchen got a new tenant fast

The former Outcast Doughnuts space near Main Street and Macdonald didn't sit empty for long. On September 30, KTAR reported that Randizzle's, a Valley food truck known for gourmet burgers and tacos, had signed a lease there for its first restaurant. The brand said it could open as soon as October if inspections went as planned.

The brand's own explanation fits the pattern. "The Mesa opportunity came together unexpectedly because we found an existing restaurant space that was already almost completely equipped and could get us open much faster," Randizzle's wrote in the Instagram post KTAR quoted. A food truck already has a following, and moving into an equipped kitchen gets it serving sooner. Check the brand's social accounts before you go, since the opening depended on inspections.

The city is paying for the next round

At 111 W. Main St., inside a former A.J.'s grocery, the city and Local First Arizona are building the same kind of head start into a whole building. ABC15 reported in July that the $6 million Main Street Market will give seven first-time restaurateurs two-year leases in a food hall projected to open in early 2027. The project is funded with Mesa's remaining COVID relief dollars. City officials described it as a new anchor for a downtown dining scene that already has around 50 restaurants. No tenants have been named.

The Mesa Tribune reported the plan's details:

Urban Transformation manager Jeff McVay told the Tribune the long-term goal is "growing businesses that we can then attract to stay and start their permanent locations here in Mesa." Local First CEO Kimber Lanning described the coaching in practical terms. "If you ever walk into a small restaurant and you see that they have a 17-page menu, I can guarantee you they're not making any money," she said.

Each lease runs two years. Main Street Market is meant to keep producing restaurants that eventually need permanent storefronts, and Main Street will have some open.

The calendar is the other half of the crowd

The new tenants bring some of their own customers. The city's event calendar brings the rest, and this fall it puts crowds at both ends of the corridor: Macdonald and Main to the west, near Stage 12 West and the former Outcast space, and Pioneer Park to the east, near The 233.

The most useful holiday detail is the transit. According to the Merry Main Street calendar, light-rail rides between the Country Club and Gilbert Road stations are free on Fridays and Saturdays from November 27 through December 26, 5 to 10 p.m. That covers the whole corridor, so a Feastival evening at Pioneer Park can end with a nightcap at The Nightingale down the street, or a show at Stage 12 West can follow dinner near Macdonald. Jack Frost's Food Truck Forest returns to Pioneer Park as part of Merry Main. The 2026 hours for the Merry Main ice rink and the food truck forest hadn't been posted yet, so check the site closer to opening night.

As Main Street Market's seven bays fill and more storefronts change hands, Hoyt Homes Group will keep following which businesses come to downtown Mesa and what they need to stay. If you own near the corridor and want to know how this fall's changes affect your home's value, Get Your Instant Home Valuation.