October 15, 2026
On a single block of Quimby Street, a French bistro opened in September. An ice cream shop and a restaurant called Vina are listed as coming soon. Town Hall is working toward a construction bid that would rebuild the street curb to curb by next summer. Downtown Westfield has never planned its dining and its street at the same time quite like this. This fall, both are happening on the stretch between Central Avenue and Elm Street.
The temporary Open Quimby setup most residents now know, with one-way traffic, café tables in the roadway and car-free Tuesday nights in summer, is in its final year. The businesses arriving now are opening on a street whose permanent shape exists only in a consultant's renderings.
Le Bistrot Westfield, a French restaurant at 103 Quimby Street, celebrated its opening in September 2026, according to TAPinto Westfield. Two more Quimby addresses showed up in TAPinto's October 6 roundup of downtown changes, both listed as coming soon.
| Address | Business | Status as of October 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| 103 Quimby St. | Le Bistrot Westfield | Opened September 2026 |
| 109 Quimby St. | The Scoop N Scootery | Listed as opening soon, no date announced |
| 114 Quimby St. | Vina | Listed as opening soon, no date announced |
Neither business has published an opening date, so the "coming soon" signs are as specific as anyone can be right now. The three addresses sit within a few doors of one another. By next summer, a short walk on Quimby could cover a French dinner, a stop at Vina and dessert, all on a street built for people on foot.
The town has said plainly that the current layout is ending. At the Town Council's April 21, 2026 meeting, Open Quimby was described as being in the final year of its temporary configuration. That configuration kept one-way traffic, expanded outdoor dining and retail space, and closed the street to cars completely on Tuesday nights in July and August for Sweet Sounds.
The permanent version has been in the works for more than a year. Here is the sequence, drawn from town records and local coverage:
In his opening remarks at the August 11 meeting, Mayor Jeremy Berman said the goal is "to finalize these plans and go out to bid for construction by year-end, with the project anticipated to be complete before the start of summer 2027." He also said the concepts would be posted on the town website and shared in stakeholder meetings with local businesses and tenants. The work is guided by a Quimby Street Steering Committee that includes the mayor, Councilmembers Saunders and Venkataraman, Planning Board Chair Mike Ash, Downtown Westfield Corporation Executive Director Dan Taugher and municipal staff.
No council vote approving a final design or construction contract has been reported yet. The August session was a plan update. The dates above are targets, and the year-end bid is the next one to watch.
Patch's August 12 report on the presentation described a one-way, curbless Quimby Street from Central Avenue to Elm Street, built so it can switch easily between ordinary traffic and event use. A curbless street has no step between sidewalk and roadway. Café seating, a festival booth or a parked car can all use the same flat surface, depending on the day.
Parking is the tradeoff most residents will feel. According to Patch, the design cuts parking on Quimby itself from 26 spaces to 16. The consultant's wider count adds possible spaces on Central Avenue and at nearby intersections, which brings the total to about 55 spaces against 46 today. Quimby's own curb would lose ten spaces, and the surrounding blocks would make them up, plus about nine more. Drivers who are used to pulling up in front of a Quimby storefront would more likely park a block away on Central.
That is why the timing of this fall's openings matters. Le Bistrot opened during the street's last temporary season, and Vina and The Scoop N Scootery are set to follow. All three will see the same block go from temporary tables in the roadway, through construction, to a flat, flexible plaza within about a year.
Quimby is the most concentrated example, but the wider downtown has been adding food and services all year. The Town of Westfield's new-business listings show Cookies N' Cream at 109 E. Broad St. arriving in June. Framebridge at 220 E. Broad St. and Thai Society at 321 South Ave. West followed in July.
The food openings since summer have spread along South Avenue and North Avenue:
Retail and services are changing too. Modern & Classic Rugs came back to 11 E. Broad St. and held a ribbon cutting September 28. Glowbar opened a facial studio at 118 Elm St. in August. Bonded Lash Bar followed at 57 Elm St. with an October 5 ribbon cutting. TAPinto's October roundup also adds Gamify U at 219 E. Broad St. as a new arrival. It lists Perch & Parlor at 102 E. Broad St., Straight Up Indian at 9 Elm St. and 4Ever Young at 231 E. Broad St. as planned.
Some businesses have left. The same roundup reported that Rush Bowls closed its Broad Street location in September. Francis Henri, a baby boutique that opened in 2022, closed the week before October 6 and plans to continue in Montclair while it looks for another space.
The biggest pending change downtown is at the other end of Elm Street from the new lash and facial studios. In July, Stop & Shop told TAPinto Westfield it would close its store at 219 Elm Street "after a routine evaluation of our store operations." The company said it intended to stay open "through the early fall of 2026" and would offer all associates transfers to other locations. We have not seen a confirmed last day in local coverage. Anyone who still shops there should check with the store directly.
What comes next is less clear than the Quimby plan. Patch reported that Mayor Berman described the site as privately owned and sold in the first quarter of 2026, outside the town's control. He expected the owners to reposition and re-tenant it commercially, but no tenant or plan was announced.
The parcel does carry a newer zoning label. In March 2026, the council adopted an Elm Street Affordable Housing district covering 195, 203, 219 and 233 Elm Street. It allows mixed commercial and multifamily development of up to four habitable floors or 55 feet, at no more than 25 units per acre, with a 20 percent affordable set-aside. The zoning sets what could be built there. It is not an approved project, and no application for the site has been reported.
The contrast with Quimby is plain. Quimby has a named designer, a steering committee, renderings and a completion target. The supermarket site a few blocks away has a zoning district and a private owner whose plans have not been announced.
Before any construction fence goes up, Quimby has one more big fall weekend in its current form. The town's AddamsFest 2026 lineup puts Charlie's Ale Garden at the Westfield Armory on Saturday, October 17, and Addams Family Fun Day on Quimby Street on Sunday, October 18. Le Bistrot is now open at 103 Quimby for the Sunday crowd.
At Hudson Gold Team, we follow how projects like the Quimby plaza change everyday life on a block, from where people can park to which storefronts fill first. If you would like to talk through how this change or another Union County downtown project could affect a home you own or are considering, contact us.
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