Tempe's Parade Route Now Runs Past a Year of New Openings
November 5, 2026
November 5, 2026
At 6 p.m. on Saturday, November 28, the Fantasy of Lights floats leave Third Street and Mill Avenue and head south. They turn west on Seventh Street, pass through CenterPoint Plaza, go north on Maple Avenue and finish on Fifth Street between Maple and Ash. The loop takes about four blocks of Mill and a few side streets. It also covers most of the places that opened downtown in 2026.
Last winter, standing on that curb put you in front of a different set of businesses. Since January, Downtown Tempe's own tracker has added a burger shop, a brewery and pizza pub, a taco counter, a pizzeria on the Maple leg of the route, two independent shops and a sports merchandise store at the Seventh Street turn. In August, Phoenix New Times put it this way: "today's Mill Avenue is not your parents' Mill Avenue." The paper pointed to higher-end dining, lounges and restaurants built to be destinations. The parade route is the easiest way to see that for yourself.
The event runs from 4 to 8 p.m. CenterPoint Plaza opens at 4 with DJ Nasdak, and the Arizona Theatre Company emcees before and after the parade. From 4 to 5:30 p.m., the Marcos de Niza Chamber Singers carol through the streets. Snack and drink vendors line Mill, and there's a station where kids can write letters to Santa.
When the parade ends, the 36-foot holiday tree is lit at CenterPoint Plaza, followed by free photos with Santa. Downtown Tempe says all parade viewing is first come, first served. That leaves a two-hour gap between arriving early for a curb spot and step-off. In 2026, the businesses lining the route offer more ways to fill those two hours than they used to.
| Stretch of the route | Opened in 2026 | Also on this stretch |
|---|---|---|
| North of the start, Mill and Rio Salado | Roman God of Fire, Mea Culpa | |
| Mill near Fifth | Culinary Gangster, Phantom Fox Beer Co. + Goat & Ram | Trophy Tempe |
| Mill near Sixth | OG Taco + CASA Cantina, Lizard Head Trading Co., Retail Therapy | Carmen |
| Seventh and Mill turn | Rally House | |
| Maple leg, Sixth and Maple | Ciao Pizza |
The parade begins at Third Street, but the year's biggest opening is a short walk north, at the northeast corner of Mill Avenue and Rio Salado Parkway. Roman God of Fire opened this summer. It's the first ground-up build from Pretty Decent Concepts, and James Beard Award-winning chef Scott Conant developed the menu around regional dishes of ancient Rome: handmade pasta, wood-fired Roman pizza and steaks seasoned with fennel and Aleppo spice. Phoenix New Times reported that co-founder Teddy Myers, an ASU alum, built the concept around a Roman soldier's story of vice and virtue. The restaurant plays virtue. Vice belongs to Mea Culpa, the speakeasy next door, where the paper said guests pass through a "confessional moment" on the way in. Mea Culpa was open by early September, when PHOENIX magazine interviewed its beverage director, Zach O'Haire.
Book a table here and the end of the meal will likely line up with step-off, and you'll be a few minutes' walk from the start of the route.
Two of the year's openings sit almost side by side near Fifth. Culinary Gangster opened its third location at 501 S. Mill Ave., below Varsity Tavern on the southeast corner of Mill and Fifth, in late summer. The burger shop started as a Chicago food truck, and its sister locations are in Scottsdale and downtown Phoenix. It serves multi-tiered burgers, all-day breakfast and fries topped with bacon, cheddar and sriracha.
A few doors south, Phantom Fox Beer Co. and Goat & Ram opened October 8 at 525 S. Mill Ave., in the former Illegal Pete's space. This is the second location for the downtown Mesa brewery and pizza pairing. Its 20 taps include pours from Cider Corps, its Mesa neighbor, and the menu adds cocktails, wings and loaded fries. The outdoor seating has screens. Out of everything on the route, its patio is the closest match to what a parade crowd wants in a two-hour wait. Trophy Tempe is listed for the same corner of Fifth and Mill.
The block near Sixth is where holiday errands fit into parade night. Lizard Head Trading Co. opened March 13 at 516 S. Mill Ave. It's a secondhand clothing store that runs on buy, sell and trade, with an in-house seamstress who upcycles pieces. Next door at 522 S. Mill Ave., Retail Therapy opened January 13 and carries handmade gifts, art, books and accessories from local artists, authors and makers.
On the same corner, OG Taco opened May 1 inside the newly expanded CASA, at 15 E. Sixth St., serving street-style tacos. Across Mill, at 640 S. Mill Ave. on the southwest corner of Sixth, is Carmen. It's the Mexican coast-inspired concept from veteran restaurateur and ASU alum Julian Wright, with tiki huts, bamboo, open-air dining and a long list of agave spirits. Downtown Tempe's profile describes service for lunch, happy hour and late night.
The parade turns west at Seventh and Mill, where Rally House opened in September. After passing through CenterPoint Plaza, the floats head north on Maple. That puts Ciao Pizza at 115 W. Sixth St., open since June, right on the parade's back half. It makes fresh pizzas and sandwiches. The parade ends on Fifth between Maple and Ash, so a slice at Ciao is one of the shortest walks from the final float to dinner. The Sandwich Spot opened in September at College and Sixth, and Russo's NY Pizza also opened downtown that month.
Some of downtown's most anticipated names sit just off the parade path, in buildings with long Tempe histories.
Novel Ice Cream lists its downtown Tempe shop at 21 E. Fifth St. It's moving into the bungalow that housed House of Tricks, which served diners for 34 years before closing in 2022. Phoenix New Times reported that the house was moved about a fifth of a mile from its original spot to save it from new development. The paper also described the shop's walk-up window and its Dough Melt: a warm glazed doughnut filled with ice cream.
A block east of where the parade turns, at 34 E. Seventh St., Glai Baan owners Cat Bunnag and Dan Robinson have taken over the Moeur House and Hatton Hall for a new restaurant and cocktail bar. WhatNow reported that the house was built in 1893 for Dr. Benjamin B. Moeur, who was Tempe's only full-time physician at the time and later served two terms as Arizona's governor. It became office space in 1993. Hatton Hall is named for former Tempe City Council member Patricia A. Hatton.
At the northeast corner of Mill and University, Level 1 Arcade Bar is taking over the 5,000-square-foot space where Pita Jungle ran for nearly ten years. It will bring vintage arcade games, pinball, 20 draft beers and a full kitchen. Nearby, C.A.S.A. creator Scott Price is converting the former Zuma Grill and Mill Cue Club spaces near Sixth into an Irish sports bar. It will keep Mill Cue Club's pool tables, a nod to a pool hall that was on Mill for 25 years.
The year also had its goodbyes. PHOENIX magazine reported that Café Lalibela, the Ethiopian restaurant that served Tempe for 30 years, closed in September. Low Key Piano Bar and Palo Verde Lounge were on the magazine's August list of Tempe closures.
The Fall Tempe Festival of the Arts fills Mill Avenue December 4 through 6. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. About 350 fine artists and crafters take part, per the festival's artist page. The booths go up on the same blocks as Retail Therapy and Lizard Head, so one Saturday covers a lot of holiday shopping.
On December 12, the Fantasy of Lights Boat Parade runs from 4 to 9 p.m. at Tempe Beach Park. Roman God of Fire and Mea Culpa are again the closest of the year's openings, at Mill and Rio Salado.
Here's how the season lines up:
Full parade details, including the route map, are on Downtown Tempe's event page.
When a street adds this many new businesses in one year, nearby homes often get looked at in a new way too. If you own near downtown Tempe and want to know how this year's Mill Avenue changes affect your property, and which updates would matter most before a sale, Frank Realty Group would be glad to walk through it with you. Request a Free Home Valuation & Renovation Plan.
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