Good morning, Eastmark. Monsoon season is here, and the city is asking everyone to build a small emergency kit, keep a storm plan handy, and check on older neighbors before the first big dust storm rolls through.
- 🍜 A new pho spot is coming to South Ellsworth. Tastea Pho Banh Mi Café cleared its restaurant license this month.
- ⚽ The World Cup hits the Gateway Library big screen. Five matches between Wednesday and next Monday.
- 🛒 The Eastmark Farmers Market is back Saturday. 8 AM to noon at the Great Park lot.
- 🏫 Queen Creek Unified meets Tuesday. Study session at 4:30 PM, regular session at 6 PM.
- 🏠 Mesa rent slipped over the past year. The typical place runs about $1,561 a month.
- 📋 Still Tracking. Sprouts, Apple, Liv at Eastmark, and Brakes Plus.
- ⚾ Around the Valley. The D-backs are home tonight, plus a show at Crescent Ballroom.
Another restaurant for the Ellsworth strip
Another sit-down restaurant is headed for South Ellsworth: Tastea Pho Banh Mi Café, a Vietnamese spot serving pho and banh mi for lunch and dinner, went before the Mesa City Council for its restaurant license on June 8.
Key facts:
- What: Tastea Pho Banh Mi Café, lunch and dinner, Vietnamese.
- Where: 3442 S. Ellsworth Rd, Suite 101-102.
- Permit: a new Series 12 restaurant license (the permit a sit-down restaurant needs to open). No prior license at the address.
- Behind it: Pho Banh Mi Café Corporation, with Nicholas Truong Nguyen as agent. Mesa District 6.
This is the same stretch of South Ellsworth where Zeitouna filed for its restaurant license last month, a block north at 3515 S. Ellsworth. After 13 years as mostly rooftops and parks, the Ellsworth corridor is finally filling in with places to eat, and it is happening just ahead of the Sprouts-anchored EastMarket center opening up the road.
What to watch: no opening date has been announced yet. The license is the first step, and the build-out follows.
The week ahead
Wednesday, June 17
⚽ World Cup viewing, England vs. Croatia, on the big screen at Gateway Library. 1 PM.
🎮 The gaming truck parks in front of The 'Mark, 11 AM to 2 PM. First come, first served, no RSVP.
🏊 The pool at The 'Mark is closed 7 to 11 AM for power washing. Open the rest of the day.
Thursday, June 18
⚽ World Cup viewing, Canada vs. Qatar, Gateway Library. 3 PM.
🤝 Growth + Connection, the first of a new neighbor gathering in the Clubroom at The 'Mark. 6 PM.
Friday, June 19
🎬 America 250 movie night, The Princess Bride (rated PG), Gateway Library. 2 PM.
Saturday, June 20
🛒 Eastmark Farmers Market, in the Great Park lot just south of the library. 8 AM to noon.
⚽ World Cup viewing, Netherlands vs. Sweden, Gateway Library. 10 AM.
Monday, June 22
⚽ World Cup viewing, France vs. Iraq, Gateway Library. 2 PM.
Around Eastmark
🏠 Typical rent in Mesa is about $1,561 a month, down 1% over the past year.
🎶 Heads up for June 26: a poolside DJ spinning 90s and early-2000s hits at the pool at The 'Mark, starting 5 PM.
🇺🇸 Looking to July 4, Mesa's Celebration of Freedom runs at the Mesa Convention Center, with patriotic programs inside and a fireworks show outside.
From the schools
🏫 The Queen Creek Unified governing board, the district Eastmark schools belong to, meets Tuesday, June 16. Study session at 4:30 PM, regular session at 6 PM. Details.
Still tracking
Quick check-in on stuff we've covered in past editions:
- 🛒 Sprouts at EastMarket (Ray and Ellsworth). Construction underway. Building wraps up around August, Sprouts opens Q4 2026.
- 🍎 Apple manufacturing on Signal Butte. Council votes on the Foreign Trade Zone agreement Monday, May 18.
- 🏢 Liv at Eastmark (NE corner Ellsworth and Ray). 208 apartments across 12 buildings, recently approved. Construction next.
- 🔧 Brakes Plus Mesa (Ellsworth and Elliot). Auto shop still working through council site plan tweaks.
Around the Valley
A couple of picks worth a drive into downtown Phoenix tonight.
⚾ Diamondbacks vs. Angels. Chase Field, 6:40 PM. An interleague Monday-nighter, and a chance to make a night of it downtown. Tickets.
🎵 Haute & Freddy. The Crescent Ballroom, 8 PM. One of the better small rooms in the Valley. Tickets.
