Scott's Generations, the New York-style Jewish deli that has fed uptown Phoenix latkes, pastrami and matzo ball soup for more than 37 years, will serve its last diners on Oct. 25. The family-run restaurant is closing its doors later this month, bringing an end to a nearly four-decade run built by the Snyder family.
Gene and Scott Snyder founded the eatery shortly after moving to the Phoenix Valley from New York, according to Phoenix New Times. The restaurant takes its name from the generations of Snyders who have run it, including Scott's son, Ross. The father and son opened Scott's Generations in June 1989, per azfamily.com, with the family having arrived in the Valley the year before with the goal of bringing a taste of New York to the desert.
“This restaurant has been part of our family for nearly four decades,” Scott Snyder said, per the same outlet's report. The deli currently sits at 742 E. Glendale Avenue, Suite 142, near Glendale Avenue and Seventh Street — a location it has called home since a 2017 move about 1.5 miles from its original spot near Seventh Street and Missouri Avenue, a relocation documented at the time by azcentral.com amid a wave of new restaurants, including celebrity chef Scott Conant's Mora Italian, moving into that stretch of central Phoenix.
A Menu Built on Tradition
Over the decades, Scott's Generations built its reputation on deli sandwiches, matzo ball soup, smoked fish, knishes, kugel and rugelach, alongside latkes, bagels and lox, pastrami Reubens, cheesecake, potato salad, cured meats and Hanukkah sufganiyot. Azfamily.com has described the kitchen as serving the Valley authentic New York, kosher-style deli cuisine, a distinction that helped the restaurant earn Phoenix New Times' 2026 Best of Phoenix award for Best Jewish Deli just before the closure announcement.
The honor made the timing especially bittersweet for longtime fans. On Instagram, a commenter named Cindy said the deli will truly be missed and called it a Phoenix treasure, a sentiment the Snyder family has echoed in thanking customers for their decades of support.
Family Reflects as Final Weeks Begin
The Snyder family said the relationships, stories and memories created at the restaurant will always remain part of their family, and they've encouraged customers to stop by during the restaurant's remaining weeks before the Oct. 25 close. The closure adds Scott's Generations to a list of long-running Phoenix institutions saying goodbye this year, following Cafe Lalibela, which closed after 30 years in business; that restaurant's owners cited a slowdown in business that hadn't fully bounced back since the pandemic, according to Phoenix New Times' broader roundup of shuttered Valley restaurants.
For now, the deli counter at Glendale Avenue and Seventh Street remains open, with just a few weeks left for regulars to order one more pastrami sandwich or bowl of matzo ball soup before Scott's Generations closes its books on 37 years of family history.
