Carly’s Bistro, the heart of Roosevelt Row in Phoenix, says farewell: ‘My heart is full’

Corrections & Clarifications: A previous version of this article incorrectly described the tribute to Nowhere Man and A Whiskey Girl.

Roosevelt Row in downtown Phoenix is a creative haven filled with local artists, unique galleries and impressive street art bolstered by restaurants, breweries and a tightknit community.

That's why when a place like Carly's Bistro announces it is closing its doors for good, it feels like a piece of the family will be gone. For nearly 20 years, Carla and John Logan have dedicated their lives to running a restaurant that supported the artistic community that helped build Roosevelt Row into what it is now.

While it's going to be a sad day on May 3 when Carly's turns out the lights for the last time, the Logans have promised the building is going into great hands and that the community won't be missing the two of them for very long.

Carly's Bistro: A 'much wanted vibe for downtown'

It's always hard to hear that your favorite eatery is closing. However, husband-and-wife team John and Carla Logan, who own Carly's Bistro, feel at peace with their decision.

"Everything has really kind of come full circle for us," said Carla. "After 20 years in the industry, we just feel like we're ready to move on to something else."

The duo opened a restaurant in the unlikeliest of places in 2005. Roosevelt Row wasn't always the premier arts district in Phoenix.

"When my husband and I started this business 20 years ago, many artists were living in workspaces in the community, and this was the first neighborhood in Phoenix that had been blighted that the residents really pushed for live-work space and petitioned the city for that to be possible," Carla said.

According to Leah Fuller, a longtime customer and friend of the Logans, the couple had a grand vision for downtown and worked hard to help bring the neighborhood to vibrancy. Fuller recalls painting those brightly colored walls and made curtains for Carly's, at the corner of Second and Roosevelt streets.

"Carla and John were innovators. They had a love for delicious, handcrafted food, wine and Trappist monk Belgium ale and it was a place to come and converse with like-minded people," said Fuller. "I remember the very First Friday they were open and how crowded and busy they were. It was a much needed and wanted vibe for downtown."

How Roosevelt Row evolved into a vibrant community

While many Phoenicians saw broken down buildings and felt unsafe walking the streets of Roosevelt Row 20 or 30 years ago, local artists saw potential.

Instead of turning a blind eye and hoping someone else would come and save the area, artists banded together and began creating art studios. When the first First Friday art walk took place in 1994, the district still had a long way to go.

According to Marshall Shore, AZ's Hip Historian, Roosevelt Row really began to grow when the LGBTQIA+ and artist communities made it not only their home but their workspace too.

"It was really the hub of First Fridays, and you had lots of artists, and the great thing was that you would have houses where suddenly they would put all the furniture in the entire house in one room and turn the house into a gallery for that one weekend," said Shore. "There was a lot of creativity going on."

Roosevelt Row takes off: 'Suddenly, it started happening'

Shore says artists and the community were encouraged to pool their funds together to purchase real estate on Roosevelt Row in the early 2000s "because there will come a day where you can't afford it."

"And then suddenly, it started happening," said Shore. "You had (Barack) Obama's, when he was running for president, his office for the Arizona campaign right on Roosevelt. Cindy Dach and her husband Greg, who had Eye Lounge, and then they at one point had a historic house that they had redone and that is still there. So that kind of became a hub of the community as well. It was very much a small community."

All of this was before First Friday caused the entire block to be shut down due to overwhelming crowds.

When Carly's Bistro opened in 2005, artists had already made their living and working spaces along Roosevelt Row.

"When I met my husband, he was living at the Thought Crime artist collective on Central and I was living in Garfield and we really wanted to contribute to the community," said Carla.

Following in her chef father's footsteps, Carla decided to use her food and beverage background to open what was missing on Roosevelt Row: a place to eat, drink and collaborate.

'Carla and John had such a vision' for Roosevelt Row

The previous owners of the building, Tom and Laurie Carmody, were huge supporters of the arts and were interested in taking chances on entrepreneurs who had a vision for the community.

They took a chance on the Logans.

"Carla and John had such a vision for the downtown area and bringing the arts and music to life on Roosevelt," said Fuller. "I remember being surrounded by vacant lots at the beginning, but the vision they had brought so much change to the community and downtown area. It's amazing to see the difference in what it looks like now to how they started."

The Logans saw a need in a neighborhood with a lot of potential.

"Most of the people that were on the ground floor in this neighborhood at that time had a vision for a more urban, dense, walkable community that supported urban living and supported the arts and what was happening here," said Carla. "Many of those people were part of and are still part of the Roosevelt Row Community Development Corporation, so that was a real key to elevating community."

According to Carla, the Roosevelt Row Community Development Corporation worked with city officials to make the area more pedestrian friendly, make it easier for businesses to open and operate and encourage greater use public transit, biking and walking.

The addition of the Valley Metro light rail in 2008 was a "game changer," according to Carla. They also saw a lot more foot traffic once Arizona State University moved downtown in 2006 and students went in search of places to go close to their dorms and classes.

"There was such a great community of people and there was tremendous support for creative spaces and at the time (in the restaurant's early days) this neighborhood was not considered to be the best neighborhood, but people were coming anyway. They wanted to be participating and feeling that connectivity and supporting the vision for downtown," Carla said.

How Carly's made it through a recession and a pandemic

According to Carla Logan, the key to Carly's success was simply being stubborn.

"I've never been one who's been great with hearing 'no' but also you have to be really willing to work very hard."

Carla and John have spent the last 20 years covering shifts when employees are out sick, making emergency runs for supplies, doing all of the upkeep, cleaning, marketing and planning while trying to have their own lives.

They survived the real estate recession during 2008 and the COVID-19 pandemic, and now they've decided to go out on their own terms.

"I'm in a space in my life where my kids are getting older and I don't want to miss out on things happening for them, and we'd like to travel and do some other things," said Carla. "It just feels like it's time."

Don't fret though, the Logans won't be straying too far from their home away from home on Roosevelt Row.

What's next for Carly's Bistro owners

This isn't goodbye for the Logans, it's simply "see ya later."

Carla and John plan to do a lot of traveling, and they have fun plans for the building next door to Carly's.

"John and I are going to be opening a gallery and arts incubator, a sound incubator in this building — in between this space and the tattoo parlor — and it's going to be called MySpace and it's going be music and art."

John is a musician by trade and will run the venue while Carla feeds her other passion: local art.

What's next for the Carly's Bistro space

As for the future of the restaurant space Carly's is about to vacate, it's staying in local hands.

Mike Cheathem, operating partner of Scapegoat Beer & Wine in Old Town Scottsdale, has partnered with longtime hospitality professional Michael Bodow and Jordan Hudgens, founder of customizable restaurant management platform DashTrack, to open a new restaurant and bar in the Carly's space.

"They also feel passionately about continuing a concept that's going to have a love for customer service, and it's going to be more of an old-school neighborhood restaurant bar with high emphasis on customer service and participating in a neighborhood," Logan said.

How to say farewell to Carly's Bistro

Fun events are planned for Carly's final week of operation, including a tribute to Nowhere Man and A Whiskey Girl and performances from longtime friends of Carly's starting at 8 p.m. Saturday, April 27.

Fittingly, Carly's Bistro will close its doors for the last time on Friday, May 3, after participating in their final First Friday.

"It's been a tremendous gift to have the opportunity to participate in that over the years because we've connected with so many people, and a lot of people were introduced to this place because of that event," said Logan. "I feel like my heart is full and to me it's a celebration."

Meredith G. White is the entertainment reporter for The Arizona Republic | azcentral.com. You can find her on Facebook as Meredith G. White, on Instagram and X, formerly Twitter: @meredithgwhite, and email her at meredith.white@arizonarepublic.com.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Beloved Phoenix restaurant says farewell after 20 years downtown