Five new places to eat have opened in downtown Westfield since July. Four of them are on South Avenue West or Quimby Street. Meanwhile two food businesses left Broad and Elm, and the spaces now opening there offer facials, lash extensions, custom framing and rugs. For anyone who uses downtown as their dinner plan, the restaurant map now centers on different blocks than it did in spring. A few minutes east, Garwood and Cranford have each added their own small cluster of openings.
Broad and Elm are filling with services
The clearest example is one storefront. Fresh Bui, a juice, smoothie and Malaysian-food shop at 57 Elm St., was among the closures TAPinto Westfield listed in August. In early October, Bonded Lash Bar opened its newest location at that same address.
A few doors away, Glowbar opened at 118 Elm St. with 30-minute custom facials. On East Broad Street, Gamify U opened at 219 E. Broad St. and Framebridge, a custom framing shop, opened next door at 220. Modern & Classic Rugs moved back to town after years in Summit and now occupies 11 E. Broad St. Food went the other way. TAPinto's October 6 roundup reported that Rush Bowls, which opened on Broad Street in 2024, quietly closed in September. Francis Henri, the baby boutique, closed the same week the roundup ran.
None of this means Broad Street has gone quiet. It does mean that if you walk Broad and Elm looking for something new to eat, you'll mostly pass new shops and studios.
South Avenue West and Quimby Street got the new kitchens
The new food is two to four blocks away. Here is every Westfield restaurant opening since July, grouped by street:
| Address | Business | Opened | What's on the table |
|---|---|---|---|
| 220 South Ave. West | PopUp Bagels | Grand opening July 10 | Hot whole bagels with rotating schmears, no sandwiches |
| 321 South Ave. West | Thai Society Supper Club | Grand opening celebrated week of Aug. 11 | Drunken noodles, masaman avocado chicken curry, duck salad |
| 407 South Ave. West | Kome Omakase | Grand opening Sept. 30 | Chef-selected omakase at the counter, 13 or 17 courses |
| 103 Quimby St. | Le Bistrot | September | Escargots, Basque-style chicken, pork tenderloin, chocolate mousse |
| 272 North Ave. East | Bagel Cafe NJ | By early October | Breakfast, lunch, smoothies, coffee |
Three of those five share one street, all within 200 address numbers. PopUp Bagels was billed as the brand's first New Jersey location, and TAPinto reported that it sells whole bagels with schmear on the side rather than made-to-order sandwiches. Thai Society didn't need a new building. It moved into 321 South Ave. West, the former Splash of Thai space.
Kome Omakase is the most unusual addition. TAPinto's opening coverage explains that diners sit at the counter and leave the menu to the chef. The restaurant is run by brothers Eric and Daniel Lin, each of whom brings about 20 years of restaurant experience from Ohio and Tennessee. The menu centers on seasonal seafood and aged fish, served as a 13- or 17-course seating. That makes it a planned evening, not a walk-in.
Quimby Street is where the cluster keeps growing. Le Bistrot opened at 103 in September. Two more food businesses have announced spaces on the same block: Vina at 114 and The Scoop N Scootery at 109. More on those below.
Garwood is adding restaurants on its stretch of South Avenue
Drive east out of Westfield and Garwood has its own South Avenue openings. Butter & Jam held a soft opening on August 12 at 414 South Ave., inside the Vermella apartment complex. NJ.com reported that it is the brand's second location after 30 Cook Plaza in Madison, and that the Garwood menu includes house-made butters and jams, gourmet toasts and a full cocktail bar.
The same owners planned a second restaurant next door. Burger Bistro, at 412 South Ave., was announced in mid-August with a soft opening scheduled for that weekend. Both restaurants planned official grand openings in September, and both will have full bars. Union County Life described the pairing as a brunch room and a burger room sharing one address cluster, so each covers different hours of the day. Call ahead or check Burger Bistro's own channels before you plan a night around it.
Garwood is following Westfield's pattern on a smaller scale. A short run of South Avenue now holds a new brunch spot and, next door, a planned burger room, both from the same owners and both with full bars.
Cranford built its cluster around North Union Avenue
Cranford's openings are a few blocks from each other, centered on North Union Avenue. Fluffy Fluffy Cafe opened at 100 North Union Ave., according to The UC Scoop. Union County Life reported a grand-opening weekend July 10 through 12, with Japanese soufflé pancakes as the main draw and a menu that also includes eggs Benedict, breakfast sandwiches, savory croffles, Basque cheesecake, coffee and sodas.
Around the corner, Cranford Square Pizza began a soft launch in September at 101 Miln St. Union County Life reported that it makes Sicilian-style square pies on fermented dough with a crisp, lacy frico crust.
Tony Boy's Sandwich House, known for oversized Italian-American subs, is next in line at 102C North Union Ave. That puts it two doors from Fluffy Fluffy. As of its September press page, the company still listed Cranford as "coming soon" and had not announced an opening date.
Two larger openings sit a short drive from these clusters. NJ.com reported that Sinners Steakhouse, the Point Pleasant restaurant, was set to open its second location in Kenilworth in late September, starting with the same menu, including tomahawk and cowboy steaks, scallop-and-mushroom risotto and lobster gnocchi. In Clark, Union County Life reported that Paragon closed August 24 for renovation and reopened September 10 at 77 Central Ave. as Paragon American + Italian Gastropub, pairing gastropub fare with Italian and Italian-American dishes.
What's still coming, and the one Broad Street exception
The announced openings follow the same map, with one exception.
- Vina, 114 Quimby St., Westfield. Vietnamese street food from the owners of Kirshenbaum Baking Co. The restaurant's own website still lists it as coming soon, with no date.
- The Scoop N Scootery, 109 Quimby St., Westfield. A new location of the shop that delivers customizable ice cream sundaes, listed as opening soon.
- Tony Boy's Sandwich House, 102C North Union Ave., Cranford. No date announced.
- Perch & Parlor, 102 E. Broad St., Westfield. Specialty coffee, brunch and dinner with counter service.
Perch & Parlor is the exception. It is the one new food business heading to Broad Street. In a September 8 Patch report, the owner was aiming to open around the holidays in mid-November. It was still listed as coming soon in early October. If it opens on that timeline, Broad Street gets a new place to eat just as holiday shopping starts.
Once the Quimby Street openings arrive, the block between Le Bistrot and the South Avenue West restaurants will hold four new food businesses that opened or were announced in a single season. In Westfield that block, not Broad Street, is now where most of the new restaurants are.
We follow which downtown blocks are gaining restaurants and which are filling with services, block by block. If you own in Westfield, Garwood or Cranford and want to know how your street compares today, BQUEST Realty will put together a clear, local read on your home's value. Request your free home valuation.
