Whenever I get back from a week of vacation, it takes a day or so to catch up on what news I missed. Given the current state of the economy, that means figuring out which East Valley restaurants closed while I was gone. Last week, unfortunately, there were several:

• Bonefish Grill, the upscale-casual seafood restaurant at Superstition Springs in east Mesa, closed its doors after approximately two years. Officials at Outback Steakhouse, which owns the Bonefish brand, blamed “the changing dynamics within the commercial environment surrounding the restaurant.”

In corporate-speak, I guess that means people were going elsewhere — including an often-busy Buffalo Wild Wings nearby. Bonefish still has about 150 locations nationwide, but none in Arizona.

• Dragonfly Vietnamese Kitchen, which opened in September 2007 on Mill Avenue in downtown Tempe, also has closed. Some good news: Dragonfly’s original location in Mesa remains open.

• Zza’s Pizza, which opened last summer in south Chandler, has closed because of “circumstances not entirely in our control,” according to the restaurant’s web site. Zza’s recently launched a second location in downtown Chandler, and it is still open.

• Finally, Sabuddy Israeli Restaurant, which enjoyed a decade-long run in Tempe before moving to north Scottsdale a couple of years ago, announced it is closing this week. Its final day will be Wednesday.

Posted in: Chandler • Mesa • Scottsdale • Tempe |

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