New on Montclair's Table: The Restaurants, Cafes and Sweet Spots That Opened in 2026

520 Bloomfield Avenue had Tous Les Jours this summer and has Lenwich signs now. 40 Church Street used to be the Oasis retail space and now serves gelato from a company that started in Sicily. Downtown Montclair spent 2026 changing tenants. Most of the new kitchens built around one chef, the places you'd plan a night around, opened somewhere else: the South End, Valley Road, Bellevue Avenue and the train station.

Below is where the year's openings landed, which closings you might still be missing, and what's coming next.

Downtown changed tenants more than it grew

Most of the Bloomfield Avenue and Church Street news this year came down to an address getting a new name. Here is how the year's changes in the center of town line up:

The gelato shop is the newest name on that list. Montclair Local reported that Oggi Gelato chose 40 Church St. for its first New Jersey location. The chain started in Sicily and has since opened in cities across Italy, Greece and beyond. It opened in early October, and the menu includes tiramisu gelato and biscotti.

Hotbirds at 369 Bloomfield is the easiest one to miss. The Nashville hot chicken spot opened as Rooster's in January 2023, and this summer it changed its name and look. The restaurant told Montclair Local that nothing else changed.

Bloomfield Avenue did get two new restaurants this year. Ju-Ichi Japanese Restaurant at 512 Bloomfield Ave. serves sushi, sashimi, rolls, ramen and udon, and it belongs to a family-owned restaurant group. Hummus Republic at 412 Bloomfield Ave. serves customizable bowls, wraps and pitas, plus hummus and street-style fries. Both were open by early June, according to Montclair Local's roundup.

The chef-led openings went outside the center

Pig & Butter, Orange Road

The biggest opening of the year went to the South End. Chef and owner Sherry Grimes opened Pig & Butter at 401 Orange Road on Friday, Aug. 7. Mayor Dr. Renee Baskerville attended the ribbon-cutting, a three-day soft opening followed, and regular service started Wednesday, Aug. 12.

Grimes has cooked in Montclair before. She was executive chef at Anderson's 1949 on Glenridge Avenue. "It feels good to be back home," she told Montclair Local. In the same interview she said Pig & Butter is her first time doing dinner service.

Pig & Butter takes up two spaces side by side:

• The restaurant serves dinner, weekend brunch, cocktails and wine. Montclair Local's preview listed Korean beef tartare, a buttered croque with truffle, shrimp toast, Jamaican jerk roasted fish, Asian-inspired fried chicken served in a bucket, Spanish tuna flatbread, and chard borani chip and dip.
• Brunch includes Korean short ribs and grits, honey truffle pancakes, and an "Ode to Bar Mut" French toast.
• The all-day coffeehouse next door serves specialty coffee drinks along with breakfast and lunch sandwiches.
• The wine list comes from Unionville Vineyards, and some cocktails are made with the winery's wines.

Before opening, the restaurant planned dinner Wednesday through Sunday and brunch Friday through Sunday. Check the Pig & Butter website for current hours before you go. The restaurant is still hosting events: it held a $50 Unionville Vineyards wine tasting in mid-October.

Clementina, Valley Road

Clementina opened in early June at 627 Valley Road in Uptown. Chef and co-founder Michele Rocchi built the modern Italian menu around the cooking of Le Marche, the region of Italy he comes from. Montclair Local's first look has photos of the room and the food.

Farmhouse Fried Chicken, Bellevue Avenue

Owners Dan Campeas and Dayanna Ordonez held the ribbon-cutting for Farmhouse Fried Chicken at 223 Bellevue Ave. on Aug. 14, Montclair Local reported. The menu includes a hot-honey fried chicken sandwich. With Hotbirds on Bloomfield and the bucket of fried chicken at Pig & Butter, fried chicken turned up in three different parts of town this year.

Jungle Juice, Upper Montclair Plaza

Jungle Juice opened at 51 Upper Montclair Plaza by early June. It is the family-owned juice bar's fifth New Jersey location and serves fresh-pressed juices, smoothies and açai bowls.

Lackawanna Station is now a food stop

Montclair's newest food cluster is at Lackawanna Station. Bagel Supreme was open inside the station by July, according to Montclair Local. It is the family-owned brand's 13th New Jersey location, and it has a build-your-own cream cheese bar. The Montclair Girl reported that the shop is open seven days a week.

More places have been announced for the station and plaza. Yellow Rose Bakery + Cafe announced a second location at the station that will serve vegan and kosher breakfast sandwiches, baked goods, seasonal drinks and rotating gluten-free items. The Montclair Girl reported in June that Yellow Rose was aiming for July. No opening has been announced since then. At Lackawanna Plaza, Industry Tavern has leased the former Pineapple Express space, according to Montclair Local's August roundup. It has not announced an opening date.

The places Montclair lost this year

Montclair Local covered each of these closings as it happened, in its June, July and August reporting, along with its July story on two closings tied to one owner's retirement and its October food news:

• Uncle Momo, 702 Bloomfield Ave., served French, Lebanese and Mediterranean food for more than a decade. It planned to close at the end of June.
• Walnut Street Kitchen, 98 Walnut St., closed at the end of July. Before it closed, chef Bev Lacsina hosted Bunso, a Filipino-American pop-up, in the space for its last weeks.
• Mikki & Al's Noshery and Plum Bakery both closed in July when owner Natalie Lee retired. Mikki & Al's was a Jewish-style deli with soups, sandwiches and house-made baked goods. Plum Bakery at 179 Glenridge Ave. made gluten-free breads, pastries and desserts.
• Tous Les Jours at 520 Bloomfield Ave. and Aozora at 407 Bloomfield Ave. both closed in late summer.
• Chip City at 2 Church St. closed Friday, Oct. 2, when the chain shut down all of its locations.

Plum Bakery's closing matters most if you eat gluten-free, since it specialized in that. Yellow Rose has announced rotating gluten-free items for its station location, but until that location opens, nothing in town clearly fills the gap.

Still to come

Montclair has three restaurant openings to look forward to. One has a target date.

Basta Alla Pasta at 5 South Willow St. is aiming for late winter or early spring 2027. It comes from chef Joseph Gramaglia, who is the chef and operating partner at Saly G's Restaurant + Tavern in Warren. House-made pasta will be the only main course on Basta's menu. Montclair Local reported in September that the team hoped to start construction in October.

Lenwich has signs up at 520 Bloomfield Ave. but hasn't announced an opening date. Mexicali Rose, which is planning a comeback at 428 Bloomfield Ave., also hasn't announced a date, according to The Montclair Girl.

Basta will join a crowded Italian lineup. Montclair Local lists Italiana by Zod, Campofiore and Clementina as recent arrivals, and Gramaglia told the outlet, "I offer something different."

Keeping up with openings and closings like these is one of my favorite parts of being a lifelong Montclair resident. If you're new in town and want my list of places to try first, or you're trying to figure out which part of town fits the way you like to eat out, I'm happy to talk it through over coffee at one of the new spots. Reach out to Jillian Nolan and let's connect.