How GSQ Is Filling In, From Morning Coffee This Fall to a Hotel in 2028

The city's goal for GSQ is a dining and shopping district that pulls people from across the Southwest Valley. Look at what actually opened around Goodyear Civic Square this year, though, and it reads more like a weekday errand list. There's a coffee bar, a breakfast spot, a sushi conveyor and a grocery store. The places with regional pull, including Fogo de Chão, Nordstrom Rack, Sephora, Postino and a 135-room hotel, are scheduled for 2027 and after.

That order matters if you live a few minutes from McDowell Road and 150th Drive. For one more holiday season, GSQ is built mainly around the people who live near it.

The 2026 openings were the daily stops

On Oct. 12, the City of Goodyear listed GSQ's recent openings as Black Rock Coffee Bar, Firebirds Wood Fired Grill, First Watch, Kura Revolving Sushi Bar and Trader Joe's. Most of those cover coffee, breakfast, a quick lunch or groceries.

The dates show how steady the pace has been:

• First Watch officially opened Jan. 26, 2026, according to the city's announcement.
• Kura Revolving Sushi Bar was already listed as open in an April 2 city update.
• Firebirds Wood Fired Grill, at 14848 W. McDowell Road, held its ribbon cutting Sept. 24, after the ceremony was moved from Sept. 8, YourValley reported.
• Black Rock Coffee Bar and Trader Joe's were both named among the recent openings in the Oct. 12 release.

They joined a group of established restaurants. The city's GSQ page lists BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse, Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen, The Stillery, Copper & Sage, Spitz Mediterranean Street Food, Bacchus Wine Bar, Shake Shack, Over Easy, High Tide Seafood Bar & Grill, Dave's Hot Chicken and The Yard Milkshake Bar as open, along with Harkins Estrella Falls, F45 Training and Banner Health. The directory still shows Black Rock as "coming," but the city's newer October release says it has opened.

None of this happened quickly. City leaders have talked about a downtown since 1984. Civic Square opened in August 2022 with City Hall, the library, a 2-acre park, two parking garages and the GEN1 office building. Globe Corp., the family-owned company developing GSQ, has owned the 150 acres since the 1970s, when the land was a scallion farm.

The park is the reason the restaurants work

Restaurants with patios do best when people have a reason to stay in the area. Here, that reason is the 2-acre Civic Square Park and the City Hall plaza next to it. The city's calendar from late October through mid-December keeps that space busy:

The Veterans Day Tribute page lists the Nov. 7 evening as free. The city's main calendar calls the same evening the "Veterans Day Festival." The calendar listings for the art talk, the library reception and the holiday nights don't give a price.

Holidays on the Square changes its theme each week. According to the city's special events page, Yule Y'all brings country-style entertainment and a Western feel on Dec. 4. Jingle Jam on Dec. 11 is a sing-along and dance-along night of holiday music. The times don't match across city pages. The calendar entries say 5 to 9 p.m., and the special events page says 5 to 8 p.m. If you're planning dinner around either night, check the city calendar that week.

That pattern of an event on the square and dinner a short walk away works best when the walk is short and the crowd is mostly local. Right now, both are true.

What's due before the New Year, and why those dates keep moving

Three businesses are aiming for late 2026. Their timelines show how often GSQ openings shift.

Magdaleña, a Latin American restaurant at 1900 N. Civic Square, has the longest history of delays. In April, the city expected it to open in late May. By Sept. 15, Phoenix New Times had it on its list of fall openings. Photo captions in a YourValley story describe it as expected by the end of 2026, which makes that the safest estimate.

V's Barbershop was scheduled to open in October on GSQ's north side, YourValley reported.

Flower Child, a health-focused restaurant, was named in the West Valley View as one of the restaurants coming soon. The Oct. 12 city release still lists it as under construction, with no date.

All three fit what's already open. A dinner spot, a barbershop and a quick, health-focused lunch are places you'd go on an ordinary weekday.

2027 and 2028 bring the regional draw

The next round is different. Joseph Stewart, Goodyear's senior business development manager, explained the purpose of GSQ's east-side growth to the West Valley View:

"We want this to not only serve the residents of Goodyear, but we also want this for people who come from outside of the area to come in, experience the city, eat at our restaurants, stay at our hotels, shop at our shopping centers and go see a movie at Harkins."

The businesses announced for later fit that goal. The West Valley View grouped them like this:

• Restaurants: CAVA, Miel de Agave, Postino, Fogo de Chão, California Fish Grill, Paris Baguette, Handel's Ice Cream, Spinato's Pizzeria, Qdoba and Berry Divine Açaí Bowls
• Retail: J.Crew Factory Outlet, Lovesac and Nordstrom Rack
• Beauty: Sephora and Zara Nail Bar
• Fitness: Reformed Pilates
• Veterinary: Petfolk

YourValley reported that Sephora, J.Crew Factory, Lovesac, Postino and Miel de Agave, which the outlet called a Mexican fusion restaurant, are expected in 2027. In the Oct. 12 release, the city described CAVA, California Fish Grill, Fogo de Chão, Nordstrom Rack and Spinato's as announced and under construction.

The AC Hotel by Marriott comes last. It broke ground Oct. 12 and is expected to open in early 2028. Plans call for 135 rooms overlooking Civic Square Park, plus a lounge, bar, business center, outdoor pool and more than 1,200 square feet of meeting space. Once it opens, the park in the middle of GSQ will have hotel guests looking out on it as well as local families.

Some of what's coming still fits a weekday visit, like a pilates studio, a vet clinic, an açaí counter and an ice cream shop. The list is changing, though. Fogo de Chão, Nordstrom Rack, Sephora and a hotel with meeting space are the kinds of places people drive in for.

Planning around the build-out

For the rest of 2026, the pieces near the park are ready to use. Black Rock and First Watch cover the morning, Trader Joe's covers groceries, Firebirds and the longer-running patios cover dinner, and the city has events planned on the square through Dec. 11.

Construction at GSQ won't stop for a while. The AC Hotel site, the restaurant pads and the retail buildings will all be active work zones through 2027 and into 2028. Leave a few extra minutes for parking on event nights.

Two other citywide events this fall are close by, though not at GSQ. The Fall Festival is at Goodyear Ballpark on Oct. 24 from 5 to 9 p.m. Chalk Art in the Park, with live music from a DJ and food trucks, is at Goodyear Recreation Campus on Nov. 14 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

When Fogo de Chão and the AC Hotel arrive, GSQ will be busier, and some of the people on the patios will have come from well outside Goodyear. Until then, Yule Y'all on Dec. 4 and Jingle Jam on Dec. 11 are the next two big nights on the square, and you can walk to dinner afterward.

If you're wondering how a downtown that's still being built could shape life in the Goodyear neighborhoods around McDowell and 150th Drive, Elizabeth Chionchio follows every GSQ announcement and is glad to talk it through. Get a Free Local Market Consultation, and we'll go over what's coming to GSQ by street and by year.