"Trust the chef," reads the website for Sushi BBY Omakase. There is no menu at the reservation-only counter that opened this summer at 1832 East 2nd Street, near Park Avenue, in a space that used to be a juice bar. Dinner is a 12- or 17-course run built around the day's catch. Seatings last 90 minutes, and the restaurant is BYOB. When township officials cut the ribbon on Tuesday, Aug. 18, the chefs told TAPinto Scotch Plains-Fanwood they already had reservations booked into October.
A destination tasting counter on East 2nd Street would have been hard to picture a few years ago. It makes more sense now. This year the block got a finished mixed-use building, new neighbors, upgraded streetscape and two of the township's biggest street events. Most downtown redevelopment conversations in Scotch Plains are about the plan that hasn't been built yet. East 2nd Street is the part that has been built.
The Building That Finished First
On April 8, 2026, Scotch Plains officials cut the ribbon on Scotch Plains Crossing at 1776 E. Second Street. Elite Properties built the three-story project on three vacant properties. It has 40 one- and two-bedroom rental apartments, six of them designated affordable, plus 2,140 square feet of commercial space, heated indoor parking and streetscape improvements along the frontage. Amenities include a fitness center, a game room, a courtyard sun deck with a firepit area and a pet wash station.
The building came out of a separate redevelopment plan the Township Council adopted in 2022 specifically to jump-start East Second Street. Nearby on Front Street, a second residential project is also done. It is a three-story building with 42 units, and the township took applications for its affordable rental units at 1815 Front Street in January 2026.
Taken together, that is more than 80 new homes in the downtown core. Both buildings opened within the past year.
The Plan Still on Paper
The larger effort is the one most people mean when they say "downtown redevelopment." It covers township-owned properties and runs on a much longer timeline. The council adopted that plan in 2021. In 2022 the township ran a public Request for Qualifications that drew proposals from 11 potential redevelopers, and it selected Woodmont Properties in 2023.
Then the rules changed. In July 2023 the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection adopted new Flood Hazard Area and stormwater rules that apply to all proposed land development in the state. Since then, township and Woodmont engineers have been reworking the design to meet them. The project received NJDEP Line Verification Approval in 2024. Both parties are still working with NJDEP on the required Individual Permit approvals. On May 18, 2026, the township and Woodmont presented conceptual renderings at a public information session. The township described that meeting as a chance to ask questions and give feedback "as the Township and Woodmont continue to refine the project." The renderings, the meeting recording and the full PowerPoint are on the township's Downtown Redevelopment page.
No construction date has been announced, and the project is still described as proposed. So for now, the new foot traffic in downtown Scotch Plains is gathering around the projects that are actually finished.
The Restaurant That Followed
The three partners behind Sushi BBY Omakase are Carmen Gumina, Po Chen and Xida Zhao. They met while working as omakase chefs in northern New Jersey. Their counter sits a short walk from Scotch Plains Crossing, toward the Park Avenue end of the block. The township's own announcement lists the restaurant at 1832 E. Second Street, so it is a neighbor of the new building, not a tenant.
The format is built for planning ahead:
- Booking: reservation only, and the chefs reported bookings already reaching into October at the August opening
- Length: 90-minute seatings
- Menu: none; 12 or 17 courses chosen by the chef
- Drinks: BYOB
The township has not publicly named the tenants of the 2,140 square feet of commercial space at Scotch Plains Crossing. That space is the next thing to watch on the block.
The Township Moved Its Street Events Here Too
The block now has new housing, new streetscape and a new restaurant. This fall the township also chose East 2nd Street for its two largest street-closure events. The Scotch Plains Day and Car Show was scheduled on East 2nd Street for Sunday, Oct. 4, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Show cars rolled in at 10 a.m. through an entrance at 401–423 Flanders Ave., and the day included food, vendors, music and family activities.
Trunk or Treat comes back to the same street on Saturday, Oct. 24.
Trunk or Treat runs 3 to 5 p.m. on East 2nd Street, with Oct. 25 as the rain date. Anyone decorating a car needs to register the vehicle by Oct. 16.
The township's other fall events stay at the Alan M. Augustine Village Green at 430 Park Ave. The Family Movie Night on Oct. 2 had pumpkin painting at 6 p.m. and The Addams Family at 7:15 p.m. The Rose Checchio Walk to Wipe Out Breast Cancer started there on Oct. 3, with check-in at 8:30 a.m. and net proceeds going to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. On a normal fall weekend, that puts East 2nd Street and the Village Green one short walk apart, with downtown's activity split between them.
What's Left on the Fall Calendar
Scotch Plains Day is the start of the busiest stretch of the season, not the end of it. Here is what's still scheduled downtown and across the township through mid-November.
| Date | Event | Location | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saturdays through mid-November | Scotch Plains Farmers Market | 430 Park Ave. | 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. |
| Sat., Oct. 17 and Sun., Oct. 18 | Four Centuries in a Weekend | Frazee House, Osborn Cannonball House Museum, Shady Rest Country Club | Free, noon to 5 p.m. |
| Sat., Oct. 24 | Trunk or Treat | East 2nd Street | 3 to 5 p.m.; rain date Oct. 25 |
| Thu., Oct. 29 | Diwali celebration | Village Green, 430 Park Ave. | 5:30 to 8 p.m.; rain date Nov. 5 |
The farmers market's 2026 season added a long list of new vendors. They include 201 Sauce Company, Amara's Caribbean BBQ, MariGateaux, Top Shelf Nuts, Bite Me, Lara's Mediterranean, O'Sensational Sweets and TriBoro Vegan. The market called off its Sept. 26 date because of expected heavy rain and returned Oct. 3. On wet Saturday mornings between now and mid-November, it's worth checking for a cancellation notice first.
Union County's Four Centuries in a Weekend brings history programming to three Scotch Plains sites. At the Frazee House, Sunday's program includes a "March to Yorktown" with Washington and Rochambeau reenactors and the New Jersey Fife & Drums Corps.
The township's Diwali celebration on the Village Green will have dance, music, activities and henna. Food and tea will be for sale from Himalayas Tea House & Spice Cafe.
Openings Off the Block
Not every new arrival landed on East 2nd Street. On Aug. 18, the same day as the omakase ribbon cutting, officials also opened Meet Again Café at 1985 US-22, in the building that once housed Dunkin'. Co-owners Tony Chen and Catherine Zhuo pair Italian-style coffee with Japanese light bites. The menu includes onigiri, sandwiches on fresh-baked bread and a Purple Rice Roll made with red cabbage, purple rice, lettuce, sweet radish and pork.
"We want to bring two cultures together – East meets West," Chen told TAPinto.
In September, Embellish Beauty & Brow Collective opened at 2374 Mountain Ave. under owners Lauren Cruz and Angie Carreras, offering haircuts and eyelash services. The township's announcement described the salon as expanding downtown's commercial offerings.
The café sits on a highway. The omakase counter on East 2nd Street takes reservations only, for 90-minute seatings booked weeks ahead. That second kind of business only works on a block where people come on purpose, and as of this fall East 2nd Street is that kind of block. The next sign of progress will be when the commercial space at Scotch Plains Crossing gets its first tenants.
For design-minded homeowners keeping track of how blocks like East 2nd Street are changing near their own homes, Shannon Xavier follows every ribbon cutting and redevelopment hearing in Scotch Plains closely. Schedule Your Concierge Consultation to talk through what the new downtown means for your street.
