Restaurant closures have continued to reshape legacy dining brands across the country as operators face higher costs, shifting traffic patterns and changing customer habits. In Arizona, that trend now includes the end of a locally significant restaurant: Native Grill & Wings has closed its original Tempe outpost after 47 years in business. The June 15 shutdown ends service at the location that traced its roots to the first Native New Yorker opened by Floyd and Judy Anderson in 1979.
The original Tempe location has officially closed
Native Grill & Wings permanently closed its Tempe restaurant at 1301 E. Broadway Road on June 15, according to Mouth By Southwest, which reported that the south Tempe location had ended a nearly half-century run. The closure involved one restaurant, but it was the founding location in the company’s history, making it more significant than a standard unit shutdown. The site had operated for decades near Broadway Road and Dorsey Lane after the business first launched near McClintock Drive and Baseline Road in 1979.
The company’s own location directory still described Native as an Arizona-grown brand and, as of recent site listings, showed 15 Arizona locations. City of Tempe records identify 1301 E. Broadway Road as a historic restaurant property later associated with Native New Yorker and Native Grill & Wings, reinforcing the site’s long connection to the brand. That makes the closure the end of the last operating restaurant directly tied to the company’s starting chapter in Tempe.
NewsBreak, citing a farewell message from the Anderson family, reported that the founding family thanked customers, employees and friends after the restaurant served generations of Valley diners. Floyd Anderson died in 2009, and the family later sold most of the chain in 2014 while retaining ownership of two locations, according to the same report. No court filing, bankruptcy petition or public regulatory notice tied to the Tempe closure was identified in the reporting reviewed.
What the closure means in Tempe and across Arizona
For Tempe, the confirmed impact is straightforward: the Broadway Road restaurant is closed, and the city has lost a longtime neighborhood sports-bar destination that had operated through multiple eras of local growth. The address is the only Tempe location shown in Native Grill & Wings’ Arizona site map, so the closure appears to leave the brand without an active restaurant in Tempe based on the company’s public listings. The company has not released a broader public statement detailing staffing effects at the restaurant.
Across Arizona, Native Grill & Wings still has an operating footprint. The company directory lists 15 Arizona locations, and the chain continues to describe itself as a franchise rooted in the Phoenix area. NewsBreak reported that the Anderson family still had one remaining restaurant in Arizona after the Tempe closure, but the company has not released a comprehensive public breakdown distinguishing family-held stores from franchised locations.
What is not yet known is whether additional Arizona closures are planned or whether the Tempe property will be replaced by another restaurant. Separate reports in June and July noted other Native-related closures in the state, including Sierra Vista and Mesa references in local coverage, but the company has not issued a statewide closure list. On the facts currently confirmed, the June 15 event is the closure of the original Tempe restaurant, not a full exit from Arizona.
The closure fits broader pressures on longtime restaurant operators
No official reason for the Tempe closure was given in the public reports reviewed. Mouth By Southwest specifically said no reason was provided, and the family farewell cited by NewsBreak focused on gratitude rather than an explanation. That means any direct cause remains unconfirmed by the company or by the founding family in public statements tied to the closing.
The broader operating backdrop for restaurants, however, is well established. NewsBreak placed the closure in the context of long-running independent and regional restaurants facing a more difficult environment and changing consumer habits. Native’s own current brand materials show a smaller Arizona footprint than the 20 franchised locations the company promoted in a 2025 news release, suggesting contraction over the past year even though the company continues to operate in the state.
For customers, the practical takeaway is that the original Tempe restaurant is no longer serving, while other Arizona Native Grill & Wings locations remain listed by the company. Customers looking for the brand will need to use those remaining Arizona stores rather than the longtime Broadway location. As of late July 2026, the company’s public site continues to present Native Grill & Wings as an Arizona-founded chain with active restaurants elsewhere in the state.