Open Quimby began in 2020 as a pandemic-era effort to support downtown businesses and outdoor dining, as Patch reported at the time. In its current form, one side of Quimby Street closes to traffic from May through October, held off by heavy concrete blocks so the lane can carry restaurant tables, parklets and weekend crowds. In the words of TAPinto Westfield, "These blocks are not easily movable."
The 2026 season was the last for that temporary setup. While the town was planning a permanent replacement this year, the storefronts behind the blocks changed too. Two longtime retailers left, two restaurants opened, and a dessert shop has been announced. The block is turning into a dining street before construction starts.
The Block in 2026
Three storefronts changed during the summer and early fall, and two more are waiting on their next tenant.
| Address | What changed in 2026 | Status in late October |
|---|---|---|
| 103 Quimby St. | Le Bistrot, a casual French restaurant, opened in September | Open |
| 104 Quimby St. | Learning Express closed at the end of July after about 20 years | No new tenant announced |
| Next door to 104 | N&C Jewelers, run since 2014 by Nabig Sakr and Carmen Cascao, closed when its owners retired | No new tenant announced |
| 109 Quimby St. | The Scoop N Scootery, a shop serving customizable ice cream sundaes, announced | Coming soon |
| 114 Quimby St. | Vina, a Vietnamese street-food restaurant, took over the former Westfield Taqueria space | Open |
Learning Express posted that it was "searching for a new location in the local area," TAPinto reported in August. In the same farewell post, the store thanked customers for "all the memories and relationships built over the last 20 years." That same report covered the start of the change from retail to restaurants. The paper had come off Le Bistrot's windows, and Vina was getting ready across the street. The article summed it up with one line: "That's just Quimby Street."
Le Bistrot is owned by Redha Bettahar and Dominique Sartori. Bettahar told TAPinto that the goal is to bring "the warmth, charm and culinary traditions of a true French bistro to the Westfield community." Patch reported that the restaurant scheduled its ribbon cutting for Thursday, Sept. 24, at 3 p.m. Vina comes from the owners of Kirshenbaum Baking Co. According to the July announcement covered by TAPinto, the menu draws on Chef Uyen's heritage. The menu includes banh mi, Mom's Eggrolls, chicken liver pâté, caramelized pork and Vietnamese cold brew.
None of the new owners has said publicly that the planned plaza influenced their choice of Quimby. These tenants arrived just as the town committed to rebuilding the street for outdoor dining and events.
The Street Being Designed Around Them
In his remarks recorded in the April 21, 2026 Town Council minutes, Mayor Jeremy Berman said that "this will be the last year of the temporary Open Quimby configuration." He described the next step as a "permanent pedestrian plaza." In August 2025, the town hired Arterial to produce the engineering and design plans. The work is guided by a Quimby Street Steering Committee that includes the mayor, Councilmembers Saunders and Venkataraman, Planning Board Chair Mike Ash and Downtown Westfield Corporation Executive Director Dan Taugher.
Arterial partner James Ribaudo presented the design to the council in August, TAPinto reported. It answers the problem the concrete blocks created. The plan calls for a flush, curbless, one-way street that the town can open and close in different layouts for events. TAPinto's examples included "a farmers market, a winter market, a watch party or a concert." The main features:
- Removable bollards sit in sleeves set into the ground and can be pulled out and moved to other sleeves.
- Semi-automated bollards have a latch on top that lets crews push them down into the ground and raise them again.
- Raised intersections and new crosswalks are planned, including an extra crosswalk at each intersection with Central Avenue and Elm Street.
- Outdoor dining space is part of the design, balanced against public gathering space and curbside room for drop-offs, pickups and deliveries.
Town Administrator Jim Gildea described how a normal event day would work: "you literally can have an event for three or four hours, and then half hour after it's cleaned up, the street's open again." For the block's restaurants, that could mean a street set up for outdoor dining and events whenever the town chooses, rather than only during a season framed by concrete blocks. Ribaudo also said the materials were chosen to look timeless. "They're classic materials; they're real materials. It's not faux materials; they're not fake," he said.
The Parking Count Goes Down on Quimby and Up Around It
Parking draws the most questions about any downtown street project, and the August presentation included specific numbers. Quimby Street itself would go from 26 spaces to 16, because the angled spaces become parallel spaces to make the street easier to reconfigure.
The surrounding area would gain spaces. Ribaudo said straightening the intersections into T intersections frees up room. The town is also talking with Union County about taking over maintenance of Central Avenue, a county road, between Broad Street and Municipal Lot 7. That change would allow about 15 more parallel spaces along that stretch, plus extra spaces on Elm Street and on Central at the intersections. "So, roughly, that brings the total to about 55 spaces," he said. "In the existing condition, it's 46 spaces."
In practice, the spaces right in front of Le Bistrot and Vina would be fewer, and more spaces would be a short walk away around the corner. The Central Avenue spaces depend on the county agreement, which was still under discussion at the time of the presentation.
The Rest of Downtown Is Moving in the Same Direction, With Exceptions
Quimby is the most concentrated example, but the same kind of turnover has been happening on nearby blocks. In its October 6 roundup, TAPinto listed Kome Omakase, a Japanese restaurant at 407 South Ave. West, along with Bagel Cafe NJ at 272 North Ave. East, the Glowbar facial studio at 118 Elm St., and Bonded Lash Bar at 57 Elm St., the former Fresh Bui space. Kome is owned by brothers Eric and Daniel Lin and held its grand opening Sept. 30. Perch & Parlor is coming to 102 E. Broad St., the former Hummus Republic space, with a specialty coffee bar plus brunch and dinner. Owner Sinead O'Brien told Patch she hoped to open around the holidays in mid-November.
Two retail closings came in the same weeks. Francis Henri, a baby boutique, left Broad Street after outgrowing its space when its lease ended. It still has its Montclair shop and is looking for a new location. Rush Bowls closed its Broad Street shop in September.
New retail opened on Broad Street too. Framebridge opened a custom-framing shop at 220 E. Broad St. Modern & Classic Rugs, which had moved to Summit years ago, came back to 11 E. Broad St. It held a ribbon cutting on Sept. 28. SOLE Shoes, Anna Mastroianni's Italian shoe shop at 201 E. Broad St., celebrated 25 years downtown on Aug. 1. Broad Street still has a mix of shops and restaurants. Quimby is where the change toward dining is happening fastest, and it is the one street being rebuilt for outdoor tables.
Between Now and Summer 2027
In April, Mayor Berman laid out the steps in order. Here is where each one stands:
- Final concept. Arterial presented updated concepts and renderings to the council on Aug. 11, 2026.
- Stakeholder meetings. The mayor's August 14 update said the presentation "will also be shared in stakeholder meetings with local businesses and tenants."
- Public presentation and community input. This follows the stakeholder meetings in the April sequence.
- Construction bid. The goal is to go out to bid by the end of 2026.
- Completion. The project is "slated to be complete before the start of summer 2027."
When Patch reported on the presentation in August, no cost figure had been released. Cost estimates were to come as the design moved forward, and the council was expected to take up funding, bid specifications and contract awards next year. If the schedule holds, construction would run through the winter and spring months that Open Quimby has traditionally left alone. Open Quimby has closed one side of the street from May through October.
Before then, two holiday events are on the calendar. On Nov. 22, Westfield United by Light holds its fifth year, lining streets and walkways with thousands of candlelit bags to raise awareness and funds for the 18 Westfield United Fund partner agencies, according to The Westfield Leader. On Saturday, Dec. 5, the Rake & Hoe Garden Club of Westfield brings back Deck the Halls, a holiday home tour of three private homes decorated by club members. Co-chair Kris Luka told The Westfield Leader that the tour "takes place only once every four years." The next time the club runs it, Quimby Street should have its bollards in place.
At Shannon Xavier, we follow how a street's design shapes daily life on it, from a curbless block built for dinner tables to the businesses that sign leases there before construction begins. If you'd like to talk through what downtown Westfield's changes mean for your corner of town, Schedule Your Concierge Consultation.
