Collins Bros. Chophouse
Christopher Collins/Submitted

Chef and fourth-generation restaurateur Christopher Collins and his staff of 40-plus are serving lunch, dinner and takeout daily at Collins Bros. Chophouse.

Located at 8220 N. Hayden Road near Via De Ventura Road inside The Village at Hayden in Scottsdale, the restaurant is inspired by American chophouse-style venues and the newest addition to Common Ground Culinary, which Collins founded in 2011.

Collins Bros. Chophouse replaces the company’s Twisted Grove.

“Every restaurant we open, we try to really think about what that specific neighborhood needs,” Collins explains. “As we have evolved as a company and the neighborhood around us has evolved, we started to feel like we needed a change, tailoring chophouse to what the area is looking for.

“We are a collection of neighborhood restaurants that focuses on delivering the highest-quality food and outstanding service where everyone feels like part of the family. We don’t have any investors or outside business partners, but I do have an amazing team that helps me run the restaurants and continue to make our company better.”

Common Ground restaurants in Phoenix and Scottsdale are Grassroots Kitchen & Tap, Wally’s American Gastropub, Sweet Provisions ice cream parlor, The Collins Small Batch Kitchen, The Macintosh, Neighborly Public House and Collins Bros. Chophouse.

The group also offers in-restaurant private dining and events as well as a full-service catering company, Arcadia Catering Co.

Collins Bros. Chophouse is retaining many menu favorites from Twisted Grove, following patrons’ requests. 

“We’re pairing some of our favorite menu items with a deep list of à la carte meats, rotisserie items, seafood, house specialty entrées, sharable appetizers and sides,” he says.

The lunch menu features protein-forward dishes such as the SBK Caesar with add-ons such as rotisserie chicken, charred shrimp or marinated filet and the steak and fries — which includes New York strip, house-made steak sauce, Maldon Sea Salt and cracked black pepper. 

For dinner, choose from starters such as the charred Brussels sprouts and French onion gratiné with overnight veal broth, Noble toast, imported Gruyère and, from the Seafood Station offerings, bang bang ahi tuna poke with shrimp, avocado, scallions, Persian cucumber, Fresno pepper and sesame seeds and the broiled oysters Rockefeller, creamy spinach, chopped bacon and a dash of hot sauce.

This also is the first Common Ground concept to offer the “Butcher’s Shop,” a curated list with an assortment of reasonably priced high-quality meats that can be ordered à la carte. 

Chef calls the interior décor “the most polished of all of the Common Ground concepts” with dark wood table black leather wrapped booths, black leather tufted bar stool, red brick walls, black and white star tile, black wood paneling, and dark navy and green plaid wallpaper.

Collins Bros. Chophouse has a private dining option called the Parlor Room for a private lunch, dinner or work event. 

The Parlor Room is smart enabled, outfitted with HDTVs and Apple TV, and includes an adjacent private patio and a brick fireplace. The space can host 30 for a mix-and-mingle event or 24 for a seated dinner.

The chophouse schedule’s happy hour from 3 to 6 p.m. featuring craft cocktails, wines by the glass, and bites to share such as short rib and goat cheese potato croquette (lightly breaded in Noble toast, San Marzano tomato sauce and fresh basil) and sweet heat chicken wings (crushed peanuts and scallions) and the “Two Buck Shuck” deal ($2 each). 

Dinner service begins daily at 4 p.m.

Collins was born in Reno and grew up in Arcadia, so he considers himself a local. 

His degree in hospitality management is from Boston University. 

Following this, he worked for Hillstone Restaurant Group, where he learned both front- and back-of-the-house skills that have helped him as a chef and entrepreneur. 

“I have also been lucky enough to have worked in the kitchens of local chef stars, Beau MacMillan (Elements) and Lee Hillson (Royal Palms),” he says. “And, of course, I wouldn’t be here without my dad, Wally Collins, who ran restaurants all his life and still cooks for all our family gatherings.

“Some of my first memories are eating bread and gourmet cheeses in the kitchen with my dad late at night while he told me about his day. I started helping in his restaurants when I was 5, and there’s honestly nothing else I ever considered doing. I love it.”

He wants his Collins Bros. Chophouse to be approachable by many age groups.

“We hope to be a place that families can come. We have awesome kids meals, couples can come on date nights or to celebrate special occasions, groups of friends can meet up for an awesome dinner, and people can feel comfortable and proud hosting business lunches and dinners.

“When most people think about steak or chophouses, they think about very expensive places that you only go for special occasions, and they tend to only think about steaks. 

“But we wanted to create an upscale but approachable chophouse, where the rotisserie chicken and salmon are just as important and high quality as all the steaks on the menu. We will be taking all the food and service standards people have come to expect from all of our other restaurants but also delivering a chophouse vibe.”