Highlights
- Vecina, a James Beard Award semifinalist for Best New Restaurant in 2020, is opening at 8300 N. Hayden Road, Suite D-101, in McCormick Ranch.
- The Scottsdale location takes over the former Z'Tejas space and is more than double the size of the original Arcadia restaurant.
- Owners James and Raenee Fox plan to expand the menu to include lunch, brunch, and happy hour alongside dinner service.
- Opening is targeted for August 2026, with a lakeside patio and multiple private dining rooms among the new features.
Vecina, the Latin American restaurant that earned a James Beard Award semifinalist nod for Best New Restaurant in 2020, is opening a second location in Scottsdale's McCormick Ranch this August, taking over the former Z'Tejas space at 8300 N. Hayden Road, Suite D-101.
Owners James and Raenee Fox opened the original Vecina in Arcadia in 2019. The Scottsdale location will be more than double the size of that original, with a kitchen three to four times larger, according to USA Today's exclusive preview. The expanded footprint allows for menu additions including new tacos, crudo, and potentially oysters, alongside the Latin American staples that built the restaurant's following, among them Peruvian-style hamachi crudo, carnitas empanadas, and a 16-ounce carne asada ribeye cooked over mesquite.
The new room will include multiple private dining rooms, a mezzanine, and a lakeside patio. Service will expand beyond dinner to cover lunch, brunch, and happy hour, day parts the Arcadia location does not offer.
Vecina was named Best New Restaurant by Phoenix New Times in 2020 and remains on the publication's Top 50 Restaurants list. The James Beard semifinalist recognition that year placed it among the most-watched kitchens in the Southwest.
The Scottsdale opening is targeted for August 2026.
Where to find them
- Vecina · vecina.wheree.com
- Best New Restaurant · phoenixwanderer.com
Sources
Every factual claim in this article traces to one of the sources below. See how we work for the editorial process.
- Phoenix New Times retrieved 21/07/2026 21:19
- usatoday.com retrieved 21/07/2026 21:19
- Vecina (official site) retrieved 21/07/2026 21:19
- Best New Restaurant (official site) retrieved 21/07/2026 21:19
Authored by The Scottsdale Signal. Drafted by AI from primary-source material under our beat-specific editorial guides; reviewed by humans before publish under our five-gate process. Sources retrieved at 21/07/2026 21:19. Every claim traces to a source.
