If you asked someone which part of Avondale gets the new restaurants, most residents would point toward The BLVD. It's the district the city's own economic development materials describe as the walkable mixed-use core, with restaurants, retail, and the newer apartment buildings that have gone up around it.
The 2026 openings described here are elsewhere.
Over the past five months, three unrelated national chains have opened or announced openings in Avondale, and all three landed in the same stretch of the city: the mile of blocks where Indian School Road and McDowell Road run roughly parallel near 99th Avenue, close to the Phoenix line. None of these locations is at The BLVD.
What's opened and opening along the corridor
Here's what's landed in that mile-wide band over the last five months, in the order it happened:
- Cooper's Hawk Winery & Restaurants opened March 16, 2026 at 10525 W McDowell Rd. It's the brand's fifth Arizona location, and it came in big: a 245-seat indoor dining room, a covered patio that holds another 48 guests, a private dining space, and the Napa-style tasting room and retail market the chain is known for pairing with its menu.
- Bojangles is set to open near 99th Avenue and Indian School Road, in the Phoenix/Avondale area, as the second of two Arizona locations confirmed for late summer 2026. The first, in Gilbert, already opened in July. Both trace back to a 2024 agreement that will eventually bring 20 Bojangles locations to the state, with Avondale next in line.
- Luna Grill opens August 20, 2026 at 9750 Indian School Road, less than a mile from the Cooper's Hawk address. It's the chain's first West Valley restaurant and its third in Arizona, following locations in Mesa and Gilbert. As Whatnow reported, the company's CEO, Rich Pinnella, said the goal is to make "fresh, wholesome Mediterranean food more accessible to communities across the Valley."
Three separate companies, three separate locations, one small pocket of the city.
The BLVD and the nearby corridor
The BLVD is described in the city's economic development materials as a walkable mixed-use core. It's positioned next to newer multi-family housing, built for foot traffic, marketed as the entertainment anchor.
Cooper's Hawk, Bojangles, and Luna Grill are located or planned along McDowell Road and Indian School Road, both of which are straightforward arterial roads a short hop from Interstate 10, not pedestrian-oriented retail streets.
For a resident, that's useful information independent of any dining preference. These openings add dining options outside The BLVD.
The corridor in context
Look at the three addresses together and the pattern gets clearer. Cooper's Hawk at 10525 W McDowell Rd and Luna Grill at 9750 Indian School Road sit close enough that you could reasonably visit both without getting back on the freeway. Bojangles, set to land near 99th Avenue and Indian School Road, fills in the same pocket. All three sit close enough to the Phoenix line that they're within easy reach of drivers coming from both cities, not just Avondale proper.
Indian School Road and McDowell Road are established, high-traffic routes that people from Phoenix, Avondale, and beyond already drive regularly. That's a different setting from The BLVD's walkable district, though the addresses alone don't tell us why the companies chose them.
Luna Grill's statewide expansion provides a separate point of context. Mesa and Gilbert came first. Avondale is explicitly the brand's first West Valley location, arriving after the East Valley suburbs got the concept years earlier.
What this means if you already live nearby
If you live in Avondale and have been driving toward Chandler or Gilbert on nights you want something beyond the usual rotation, that reasoning is starting to lose its footing. Cooper's Hawk has been open since mid-March, and it's a full-service restaurant with a wine club built around it, not a quick-service add-on. Luna Grill opens August 20 with a menu built around flame-grilled proteins and made-from-scratch sauces, which is a genuinely different category from what's currently sitting along that same stretch. Bojangles rounds it out on the quicker end, landing in the same 99th Avenue and Indian School Road pocket later this summer.
None of this requires a trip to The BLVD, and none of it requires crossing into Phoenix or driving toward the East Valley for something that isn't fast food. The mile of road between 97th and 107th avenues, split between McDowell and Indian School, has seen three national brands open or announce locations in the same five-month window.
This corridor is another place to look for Avondale's new dining options. Worth knowing the next time you're deciding where to try something new.
If you're thinking about your next move in Avondale or anywhere else in the West Valley, the Rider Elite Team knows this market block by block. Start your move with Rider Elite by requesting a home valuation or contacting us today.
