The first big event at The Gilmore was a grocery store opening. On August 6, 2026, the Campo Verde High School Marching Band played, the Arizona Cardinals Cheerleaders showed up, and local high school dance teams performed for the opening of a roughly 64,000-square-foot Safeway on the northwest corner of Val Vista Drive and Germann Road.
The order matters. The Gilmore is a 35-acre mixed-use project from Thompson Thrift, located just off Loop 202. It is opening in a clear sequence: everyday needs first, a dessert stop next, and the wine bar, brewery, arcade bar and steakhouse-style lounge on timelines that reach into 2027. For anyone who lives nearby, that means this corner is a daytime and early-evening stop this fall. The late-night plans can wait until next year.
Groceries came first
Safeway anchors the project, and its store page lists the address as 3960 S Val Vista Dr. Shopping Center Business described The Gilmore in August as a $225 million project. Plans call for 300 apartments, a hotel, and about 200,000 square feet of shops, restaurants and public gathering space.
The same report said retail spaces were expected to begin opening in late 2026, with the full rollout continuing into early 2027. So today the grocery store has a finished center being built around it, with storefronts still filling in.
Opening a grocery store first makes the project useful from day one. A Safeway gets people into the parking lot weekly, long before a restaurant has its liquor license. The second tenant to open builds on that habit.
Then came the ice cream
Handel's Ice Cream opened its South Gilbert shop at 3984 S. Val Vista Drive, Suite 104, its storefront at The Gilmore. The grand opening was Thursday, September 17, 2026. According to the shop's grand-opening announcement, it is open every day from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. and serves 48 rotating flavors. It also offers catering and delivery.
The shop is locally owned. Terry and Jennifer Keenen run it with Operating Partner Vanessa Dodds. The South Gilbert shop joins their Handel's locations at Queen Creek Marketplace, Medina Station and Red Mountain Ranch. The same announcement says the team regularly works with local schools, sports teams, clubs and nonprofits on fundraisers and sponsorships. Opening weekend included "Celebrity Scooping" events with local schools. If your PTO or team is planning a spring fundraiser, this shop is close by.
With a 10 p.m. close, it works this fall for a scoop of ice cream after dinner somewhere else.
The corridor filled in around it
The intersection was getting busier before most of The Gilmore's storefronts were ready. Along Val Vista, Gilbert Road and Germann Road, several restaurants opened this summer and fall. That suggests the area around Germann was already becoming a regular stop.
| Spot | Address | Opened | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bojangles | 3765 S. Val Vista Drive | July 20, 2026 | Southern-style chicken, biscuits and tea; the brand's first Arizona restaurant |
| First Watch | 3971 S. Gilbert Road | Sept. 7, 2026 | Daytime breakfast, brunch and lunch |
| Chipotle Mexican Grill | 4733 E. Germann Road | Announced for Sept. 4, 2026; now listed as open | Fast-casual Mexican with a digital-order drive-thru pickup lane |
| Handel's Ice Cream | 3984 S. Val Vista Drive, Suite 104 | Sept. 17, 2026 | Ice cream, 48 rotating flavors |
Bojangles at 3765 S. Val Vista is the first Arizona restaurant for the Southern chain. The First Watch at Gilbert and Germann is large. The Gilbert Independent reports a 5,300-square-foot dining room with more than 170 seats and an interior bar. The menu runs from omelets and lemon ricotta pancakes to Million Dollar Bacon, and it is served all day. The Gilbert Independent reported that the Chipotle on Germann was scheduled to open Sept. 4, and the restaurant now lists itself as open on its location page. Its drive-thru lane is for digital orders, so place your order in the app before you pull in.
Every opening on that list serves breakfast, lunch, a quick dinner or dessert. The full-service evening spots in the area are still on the way.
Evenings at The Gilmore are a 2027 story
The tenants that would make The Gilmore a night out have all announced dates in 2027 or later. In order of current expected timing:
- Rebel Wine Lounge, early 2027. The wine bar left downtown Mesa and plans to reopen at The Gilmore. According to Phoenix New Times, the owners plan brunch, lunch, dinner, coffee drinks and a private-event room. PHOENIX magazine reported the same early-2027 timing.
- Phantom Fox Beer Co. with Goat and Ram, early 2027. Phoenix New Times reported in August that the Gilbert brewery and pizzeria pairing is set to open at The Gilmore in early 2027.
- Level 1 Arcade Bar, 2027. Mouth by Southwest reports another location is scheduled for The Gilmore in 2027. It will have arcade games, pinball, food, beer and cocktails.
- 1933 Lounge by St. Elmo, fall 2027. This is the newest announcement and the latest expected opening.
The 1933 Lounge is worth a closer look. Huse Culinary, the group behind Indianapolis' St. Elmo Steak House, founded in 1902, signed a lease for about 8,000 square feet. It will be the first 1933 Lounge outside Indiana. The concept is a 21-and-over, speakeasy-style lounge named for the year Prohibition ended. The menu includes the St. Elmo Shrimp Cocktail, sushi, aged steaks and signature cocktails.
According to the Business Wire announcement from September 28, Thompson Thrift expects to hand over the space in October 2026 and the lounge plans to open in fall 2027. That leaves roughly a year to build out a restaurant of this size. In the same release, Ashlee Boyd, managing partner of Thompson Thrift Commercial, said the goal for The Gilmore has been "the kind of destination that introduces new experiences to Gilbert and the broader East Valley."
All of these timelines come from owners and the developer, so treat them as targets.
Signed, with no opening date yet
The tenants below have been named for The Gilmore but have not announced opening days. The project-wide guidance is still that retail begins opening in late 2026.
- Better Buzz Coffee. Its Gilbert cafe page lists 2333 S. Val Vista Drive, so a Gilmore shop would put another one farther south on the same road.
- Nook Kitchen. What Now Phoenix reported that this will be a second location for the modern American restaurant rooted in Italian cooking, with handmade pasta and Neapolitan-style pizza.
- Over Easy
- Jersey Mike's
- EDO Japan
- Outcast Doughnuts
- Sweathouz
- Honey Go Nails
- Woof Gang Bakery & Grooming
The mix leans toward weekday routines: coffee, sandwiches, nails and dog grooming. With Safeway and the restaurants already open nearby, that adds up to a plan built around regular local trips more than one big visit.
Designed for one parking spot and several stops
The layout fits that plan. The Town of Gilbert's announcement describes a Main Street-style entrance, covered pedestrian walkways, murals by local artists, and landscaped outdoor gathering spaces. Thompson Thrift's own description of the Safeway opening calls out pedestrian-friendly walkways connecting the grocery, restaurant and retail space.
For people who live nearby, that design starts to pay off as each storefront opens. Today, a trip to The Gilmore means groceries and a Handel's cone. Once the coffee and sandwich tenants open, one parking spot can cover a morning of errands. If the 2027 timelines hold, the walkways that now lead to Safeway will also lead to a wine lounge, a brewery and pizzeria, an arcade bar, and a 21-and-over lounge serving St. Elmo's shrimp cocktail.
Meanwhile, Bojangles on Val Vista, First Watch on Gilbert Road and Chipotle on Germann Road are already open for weekday meals.
We keep a close eye on the openings around Val Vista and Germann. At Jody Poling, we're happy to talk through how the new places along this corridor fit into everyday life on your side of town, whether you're settled in nearby or just curious. Contact Us anytime, and we'll pass along new openings as we hear about them.
