"It wants Tuesday." PhoenixBites used that line to describe DASH, chef Matt Carter's all-day café and market coming to Mountain View Plaza in November. The line also fits the restaurant that opened down Hayden Road in September.
Vecina, the Arcadia restaurant that earned a James Beard semifinalist nod within a year of opening, picked McCormick Ranch for its second location. DASH comes from a chef who has lived in McCormick Ranch for 17 years. Both teams describe Hayden Road as a neighborhood they want to join. Scottsdale has plenty of destination openings, and these two were designed around the ordinary week.
The Former Z'Tejas Space Kept a Frozen Drink
Vecina opened on Sept. 18 at 8300 N. Hayden Road, Suite D-101. That's Mercado on Hayden, at Hayden and Royal Palm Roads, according to the McCormick Ranch Property Owners' Association. It moved into the former Z'Tejas space. Phoenix New Times reported that the chain closed all of its Arizona locations in June 2025, and that Vecina's Scottsdale menu includes a frozen cocktail as a nod to the old restaurant.
Chef James Fox told New Times, "It kind of feels like Arcadia. I think we'll fit in with our neighborhood vibe." The new building is nearly triple the size of the Indian School Road original. The extra space went to a lakeside patio, a glass wine room, and an oversized community table that seats 10 to 14. A mural by artist Tato Caraveo carries the look of the Arcadia room over to Hayden Road.
Fox described two ways to use the room: "You can have a date night at Vecina, sit on the patio, it's very chill. Or can you have a 10- to 14-top at our community table and really go all out." A neighborhood restaurant needs both modes. Most nights are the patio kind, and a few each year call for the big table.
Forking Scottsdale's first look describes cooking built around mesquite fire, with Japanese karaage and yuzu kosho sitting next to tacos and salsa. The current Vecina menu lists California sea bass ceviche, gambas al ajillo, Saltspring mussels, and a hiramasa collar served in limited quantities. The Faroe Island salmon tacos with yuzu kosho aioli, a staple at the original, are on the Scottsdale menu too.
For now, the restaurant serves evenings only. OpenTable lists daily hours of 4 to 9 p.m., and Vecina's happy hour runs daily from 4 to 6 p.m. At opening, New Times reported that Fox plans to add lunch in the coming months, with brunch also part of the expanded plan, and more raw bites, including oysters.
DASH Is Designed for the Customer Who Leaves
Vecina added more seats, while DASH has very few. DASH will be at 9619 N. Hayden Road, Suite 101, in Mountain View Plaza at Hayden and Mountain View Roads. It will have 12 seats inside and 40 on the patio. Online ordering and dedicated curbside pickup are part of the core design.
Phoenix New Times reported that Carter and Brian Raab, his partner at Broken Plate Hospitality, built the menu with pastry chef Lisa Graf, who comes from Fat Ox. Here's how the day runs:
- Morning: croissants and pastries, breakfast bowls and sandwiches, fresh-squeezed orange juice, matcha, and pour-overs with house syrups made from seasonal ingredients like fig leaves or dates.
- Lunch: deli-style chopped sandwiches, including a BLT with Nueske's bacon, salt-cured tomato, and Duke's mayo mixed with bacon scraps and tomato powder. Roman-style pizza, a folded chicken Caesar flatbread, salads, and rice bowls round it out.
- Dinner: Portuguese-style charcoal chicken, spatchcocked on a custom grill, with charcoal-roasted potatoes.
- Anytime: soft serve made with a dried Hokkaido milk base, plus a vegan version made from fava beans, and house sodas, including a mushroom-infused cola.
The market may matter most on a weeknight. It will stock prepared food from Carter and Raab's other restaurants, including Zinc Bistro's mac and cheese, Fat Ox's polenta, and The Mission's chips and guacamole. The bar will start with beer and wine and add batched cocktails later.
Raab summed up the concept in a press release quoted by New Times: "I can do tequila shots with you at The Mission and pour Negronis at Fat Ox, but Dash is the ultimate neighborhood hang to grab a morning coffee, catch up over lunch or share a bottle of wine at sunset and then take one home with you." New Times also reported that the partners picture it as a place people bring their kids, and those kids come back to as adults.
The opening date is still open. Forking Scottsdale's Oct. 15 roundup said the team was still aiming for November, and the DASH website says only "Coming Fall 2026."
How the Two Split a Week
On paper, the two restaurants barely overlap. Vecina starts at 4 p.m., and most of DASH's menu happens before then. Together they cover a full day on Hayden Road for the first time.
| Part of the day | Vecina, Mercado on Hayden | DASH, Mountain View Plaza |
|---|---|---|
| Morning coffee and pastry | Not served | Pour-overs, matcha, Lisa Graf's croissants |
| Lunch | Planned for the coming months | Chopped sandwiches, Roman-style pizza, rice bowls |
| 4 to 6 p.m. | Daily happy hour | Patio seating, beer and wine |
| Dinner | Daily until 9 p.m., lakeside patio | Charcoal chicken, to go or in a 12-seat room |
| Larger groups | Community table for 10 to 14 | 40-seat patio |
| Where you eat | Dining room, lakeside patio, glass wine room | Market shelves, online ordering, curbside pickup |
Starfish Scottsdale opened in May at 8390 E. Via de Ventura, on the northwest corner of Hayden and Via de Ventura, as Metro Phoenix reported. Vecina and DASH stand out because they fill different hours of the same day.
Holiday Lights Brings Both Onto the Same Evening Calendar
The next busy stretch for the neighborhood is McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park. Its official page lists Holiday Lights 2026 from Nov. 27 through Dec. 30, 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. The Paradise & Pacific Railroad runs through the light display each night.
- Admission: $15 for ages 3 and up, free for children 2 and under. Train and carousel rides are included, and every rider needs a wristband.
- Tickets: on sale since Oct. 27 at 8 a.m. through ActiveNet. Creating an account ahead of time speeds up checkout.
- Dark nights: no Holiday Lights on Dec. 24 or Dec. 25.
- Members: the park lists a $5 member discount.
The park's page has a 2026 heading, but its event-details section still prints "November 27 – December 30, 2025." Confirm dates on the Railroad Park's Holiday Lights page before you buy.
Vecina's happy hour ends at 6 p.m., not long after the lights come on at 5:30. Its dining room stays open until 9, half an hour before the park closes. If DASH opens on schedule in November, charcoal chicken to go becomes the other option for a Holiday Lights night.
Before the lights, there's Spook-Track-Ula. The park lists it nightly through Oct. 31 from 6 to 9:30 p.m., with timed entry and a $15 wristband that covers rides and event activities, so Halloween weekend is the last chance to go.
If you'd like to talk through what the area's new mix of restaurants means for your own plans, The Torie Ellens Team is happy to share what we're seeing up and down Hayden Road. Schedule Your Concierge Consultation.
