On July 30, hundreds of people were lined up around Chandler Fashion Center. KJZZ reported one family arriving at 4 a.m. AZFamily reported that some had started lining up the evening before and camped overnight. They were there for a grocery store. The store sits on the second floor of the space Sears left in 2019, directly above a bowling alley.
That stack sums up what is happening in west Chandler this year. The mall's empty anchor spaces are not being refilled with department stores. They are filling with food, games and places to sit for a while. A second wave of independent and regional restaurants has opened along Ray Road and Chandler Boulevard within a few minutes' drive. For anyone who lives on the west side, the evening is moving to the Loop 101 end of town.
The Building Sears Left Behind
Axios Phoenix laid out the timeline in July. Sears and Nordstrom, two of the mall's anchors, closed in 2019 and 2020. Since then the spaces have been refilled one at a time, mostly with tenants a 2001 mall plan would not have included.
- Former Nordstrom, 2023. SCHEELS opened its first Arizona store there, and Axios credits it with reviving interest in the mall.
- Former Sears, lower level. Round1, the bowling and arcade operator, moved in "last year," according to Axios's July 2026 report.
- Former Sears, upper level, July 30, 2026. Seafood City opened its first Arizona location.
General manager Monica Greenman told Axios, "It's about taking the risk," pointing out that bowling alleys and grocery stores are not normal mall tenants. "But guests want this, so why not give it to them?"
The mall opened in 2001 on 320 acres of former farmland on Chandler Boulevard near Loop 101. It brought Arizona its first Apple Store and its second Nordstrom, and it turns 25 this year. Twenty-five years on, its newest tenants are the kind you visit after dinner or instead of cooking it.
What Is Upstairs
Seafood City began in National City, California, in 1989 and now has nearly 40 locations in the U.S. and Canada. Phoenix New Times describes the Chandler store as nearly 66,000 square feet, with a live seafood area of tanks holding lobsters, crabs and fish. Open tables of fish on ice are set up to resemble a Philippine wet market, or palengke. After you pick your seafood, staff will clean and gut it and, if you ask, fry it to eat on site.
That last service matters most to the food hall. It covers 10,947 square feet, seats more than 300 and has seven restaurant counters. Local coverage has named four of them:
- Grill City cooks chicken and pork skewers. Its mixed plate comes with rice, pancit, adobo and two kinds of skewers.
- Crispy Town serves whole lechon.
- Slurp Alley does hot pot, with individual burners that keep the broth bubbling at the table.
- Baker's Avenue rounds out the counters named so far.
The grocery side carries more than Filipino products. New Times lists imported snacks, drinks and ingredients from the Philippines, Japan, Korea, Thailand and Vietnam, along with American staples. It also notes aisles of instant noodles, clay pots and oversized frying pans, frozen lumpia, a whole freezer of longganisa sausage, and a fresh fruit counter that will cut tropical fruit and help with produce that's tricky to prepare.
The space is also open late on weekends. Visit Chandler lists recurring Friday and Saturday Street Food & Game Nights, with rotating DJs and musicians and a street-food menu from Grill City. The listed times have an obvious error, and the extended hours reported for opening week were temporary. Check current hours with the store before you plan a late visit.
The Social Hall Is Still Pending
The store also includes a rentable social hall, and it is the piece that would make this corner a nightlife spot as well as a dining one. On Aug. 19, Chandler's Planning and Zoning Commission approved a consent agenda that recommended the City Council grant Seafood City a use permit for a Series 6 bar liquor license and an entertainment use permit. According to the Daily Independent, the plans call for late-night karaoke, open-mic nights and small acoustic performances.
A commission recommendation is not a final approval. Until the Council vote is reported, treat karaoke and open-mic nights upstairs as planned rather than on the calendar.
The South End Is Next
Upstairs at Seafood City is the first part of a larger change. Greenman told Axios that construction would begin in August on a redesigned dining and entertainment district near Harkins Theatres on the mall's south end. The plan, as reported in July:
- A new restaurant row anchored by the Valley's second Din Tai Fung and its first Wagyu House, an all-you-can-eat Japanese steakhouse. Both are slated to open in 2027.
- The porte-cochère outside the food court will close to cars and become a covered gathering area with lawn games.
- The space between the food court and the theater will become a park with an expanded splash pad and room for music performances.
Greenman also said more dining announcements were coming soon. In May, ABC15 reported other tenants expected at the mall, including Johnny Rockets and Popeyes in the food court. Their opening status hasn't been confirmed since, so check before counting on them.
Put the pieces together and the mall's west and south sides become a single evening loop: bowling, a 300-seat food hall, a theater, a park with performance space and a restaurant row. None of it depends on a department store.
The Openings Around It
The pull extends beyond the mall. In PHOENIX magazine's monthly openings roundups from June through September 2026, a run of west Chandler openings sits within a short drive of the Loop 101 and Chandler Boulevard interchange, several of them on one stretch of West Ray Road. The months below are when each place appeared in a roundup, not confirmed opening days.
| Place | Address | Roundup month, 2026 | What it serves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bourbon Jim's | 5945 W. Ray Rd. | June | Neighborhood sports bar with 15 big screens, bourbon, beer, weekend live music and a small pub menu |
| Sazónova Taqueria | 5865 W. Ray Rd. | June | Tacos, ramen, quesadillas, burritos and enchiladas |
| Brooker's Founding Flavors | 2560 W. Chandler Blvd. | June | Utah ice cream chain with flavors named for American founders |
| Chicha SanChen | 3305 W. Chandler Blvd. | July | Tea shop from a global tea company |
| Curry Pizza House | 3950 W. Ray Rd. | July | Indian-style curry pizzas plus pizza, pasta and wings |
| Maza Mediterranean Cuisine | 3491 W. Frye Rd. | July | Family-owned halal Mediterranean near Chandler Fashion Center |
| Cien Agaves | 900 N. 54th St. | August | Old Town Scottsdale's Mexican restaurant, with tacos, fajitas and margaritas |
| Cozy Chinese Kitchen | 5055 W. Ray Rd. | September | Szechuan-style dumplings, clay pot dishes and stir-fried noodles |
Two entries stand out. Cien Agaves, which KTAR places near 54th Street and Ray Road, is an Old Town Scottsdale name expanding into the East Valley. Cozy Chinese Kitchen moved into the former Szechuan Garden space, so that Ray Road storefront has gone from one Szechuan kitchen to another. Of the 18 Greater Phoenix openings PHOENIX magazine counted for September, it placed Cozy Chinese Kitchen in "west Chandler."
Seen this way, the Ray Road openings are the neighborhood side of the same trend. The mall is pitching itself as an eating destination, and the strip centers a few blocks away are adding sports bars, taquerias and noodle kitchens on the same west side.
On the Mall Calendar This Month and Next
For a first visit to the food hall or a look at the construction on the south end, these dates are on the mall's event calendar:
- Oct. 8: college fashion show
- Oct. 15: KeiKei Collective grand-opening party
- Oct. 16 to 25: Care Card fundraiser
- Oct. 27: SCHEELS Boo Bash
- Nov. 1: SCHEELS fashion event
- Nov. 29: community blood drive
As of this writing, the mall's homepage still lists Seafood City as "coming soon." The store has been open since July 30.
At Gregory Hidder + TEAM, we track changes like the Chandler Fashion Center redevelopment from permit hearing to opening day, because they shape how the streets around them feel to live on. If you'd like a private look at how the south-end district and the Ray Road openings bear on a home in west Chandler, schedule a private consultation.
