Two shopping centers face each other across Pima Road where it meets Pinnacle Peak Road. La Mirada holds the northeast corner. The Citadel holds the northwest. For much of the past year, each one had a well-known restaurant space with the lights off. This fall both rooms have new tenants, and neither needed a new building to get them.
On the La Mirada side, Il Segreto opened August 12 in the former Arrivederci Pinnacle Peak space. On The Citadel side, ALMA Southwest Steakhouse was scheduled to reopen November 2 in the old Preston's Steakhouse space. The steakhouse is the one that explains the corner, because it closed a downtown location to come here.
Two empty rooms on opposite corners
Preston's had more than 10 years at The Citadel. When it closed, it pointed to the condition of the building and the repairs the space needed, Patch reported. PHOENIX magazine listed it as closed in its May 2025 roundup. That left a full-size steakhouse sitting empty in a 28,301-square-foot center that otherwise leans toward boutiques, salons, and health and beauty services.
Arrivederci's former room across the road was in a different position. La Mirada already carries a long run of restaurants, including The Belmont, Lamp Pizza, Raven Gastro Pub, Jade Palace, New York Bagels & Bialys and a Starbucks. An Italian dining room there fills a hole in a center people already visit for food. Over at The Citadel, a restaurant in the Preston's space is close to a single destination of its own.
Each corner got a new tenant whose plan matches the center it's in. Il Segreto is a polished, compact dining room tucked in among other restaurants. ALMA turns one building into several rooms, so The Citadel gets an evening's worth of options at one address.
Why a downtown steakhouse picked this corner
ALMA used to be an Old Town Scottsdale restaurant. That location closed earlier in 2026. Founder and CEO Sheila Bryson told What Now Phoenix that the move puts ALMA closer to the other concepts in her Soul Hospitality Group: Soul Café, Vic & Ola's, Pescada and Little Snitch.
Little Snitch is the important one on that list. It's The Citadel's signature tenant, and the new ALMA sits right next door to it. Once ALMA opens, one operator will run two neighboring restaurants in the same center, which puts two kitchens with the same owner within a few steps of each other.
Bryson told What Now Phoenix that several parts of the new building are ideas she has wanted to bring back for years:
"Barbwire was a boutique that I had years ago, and I've really wanted to bring that back. Copper Club was an event center that we briefly opened right before COVID, and we really didn't have much of a chance to do events up there."
The date already moved once. Patch reported in July that ALMA was aiming for October 1 and that Bryson said construction could push it into early November. ALMA's OpenTable page later set November 2. Opening dates for this project have moved before, so check the listing to confirm ALMA is open before you book a big group.
What the old Preston's building holds now
The plan turns one dining room into four spaces under one roof. According to Patch and What Now Phoenix, they are:
- The steakhouse. A Southwest-inspired menu built around wood-fired cooking, with flavors from Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Northern Mexico.
- Copper Club. A rooftop lounge with live music and desert views.
- A tequila and mezcal bar. Tastings paired with tacos and small bites created by the chef.
- Barbwire Western Couture. Bryson's Western boutique is back, selling clothing, jewelry, boots and hats inside the same building.
You can order from the full ALMA menu in any of those spaces, so a table on the roof gets the same menu as a table in the steakhouse. Forking Scottsdale counts three bars in total, two of them lounges, and describes an open layout meant for everything from date nights to business dinners and private events. "We're building more than a restaurant," Bryson said in the announcement Patch covered.
OpenTable lists hours of 3 to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 3 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, with happy hour from 3 to 6 p.m. every day. Reservations are on OpenTable, and the restaurant's number is 480-284-6736.
Across Pima, Il Segreto runs shorter hours
Il Segreto is the opposite of the ALMA building in format. It has two rooms: a small dining room and a bar and lounge. It's open Tuesday through Saturday from 4 to 9 p.m., with aperitivo from 4 to 6. OpenTable files it under fine dining and lists seating on the patio, in the lounge and in the main room.
PHOENIX magazine describes white tablecloths, a short menu of seasonal Italian standards including antipasti and pastas, entrées and desserts, an aperitivo menu and a "lovely patio." The owner is Jameson Neuhoff of Segreto Restaurant Group LLC. Forking Scottsdale points to his design background as the reason the room looks the way it does.
The two corners keep very different schedules. ALMA's listed hours start at 3 every day and run as late as 11. Il Segreto opens at 4, closes at 9 and is dark Sunday and Monday. Put together, the corner covers early happy hour, a full dinner and a late rooftop drink on most nights.
| Il Segreto | ALMA Southwest Steakhouse | Baan Thai Bistro | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Address | 8900 E. Pinnacle Peak Rd., Suite D1, La Mirada | 8700 E. Pinnacle Peak Rd., Suite 115, The Citadel | 7605 E. Pinnacle Peak Rd., Suite 2 |
| Opened | August 12, 2026 | Scheduled for November 2, 2026 | Grand opening September 12, 2026 |
| Previous tenant | Arrivederci Pinnacle Peak | Preston's Steakhouse | Not reported |
| Days open | Tuesday to Saturday | Daily | Daily |
| Hours | 4 to 9 p.m., aperitivo 4 to 6 | 3 to 10 p.m., until 11 Friday and Saturday | Lunch and dinner, with a midafternoon break on weekdays |
Lunch is a few minutes west, at Miller Road
Neither restaurant at Pima serves lunch. The newest midday option on this part of Pinnacle Peak Road is farther west. Baan Thai Bistro held its grand opening September 12 at 7605 E. Pinnacle Peak Rd., Phoenix New Times reported. The paper noted that its menu goes beyond the usual curries and noodles. Mouth by Southwest places it at the southeast corner of Miller and Pinnacle Peak, in the center it calls Sunset at Pinnacle Peak.
PHOENIX magazine's September list includes panang curry, Thai barbecue chicken, tom yum fried rice, pad Thai, and a crispy whole pompano with tamarind and ginger sauce. Mouth by Southwest reported hours of 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 4 to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, and noon to 9 p.m. Sunday. Those hours come from that article. The restaurant's own site is the place to check before you drive over.
Matching a restaurant to the night of the week
On Sunday or Monday, Il Segreto is closed, so dinner along this stretch means Baan Thai or ALMA. ALMA's daily 3 to 6 happy hour covers the hours before Il Segreto opens. For an aperitivo-and-pasta evening, Il Segreto's 4 to 6 window falls in the same early part of the day. On Friday or Saturday, ALMA's listed hours run until 11, two hours after Il Segreto's kitchen closes.
At Chad & Cara Dankberg, we keep track of what opens and moves along Pinnacle Peak Road because North Scottsdale clients ask about it every week. If you own a home near this corner and want to know how changes like these figure into what buyers are looking for, we'd be glad to walk you through it. Request a Selling Consultation.
