Westfield's Restaurant Row Is Walk-In Only This Fall, a Preview of the Street the City Is Building

Park Street between Poplar and Mill is short enough to walk end to end in a couple of minutes. This fall, walking is the only way in. Cars have been off the block since early September. Three restaurants are still serving behind the construction fencing, and the most direct route to dinner now starts in a parking garage a few blocks away.

That walk is worth getting used to. Once the brick pavers are down, the city plans to close Park Street to cars on Thursday through Sunday evenings so people can eat and gather in the street itself. The walk-in block you see this fall is a rough draft of that plan.

Who is still serving on the block

When the City of Westfield broke ground on the Park Street Improvement Project on May 8, Current in Westfield listed Nyla's, The Italian House and Chiba as restaurants on the street. It also noted that Broad Ripple Seafood Market had just moved into the former Greek's Pizzeria space. Chiba announced on Sept. 29 that it was closing after about 10 years, which leaves three restaurants on the block this fall.

Broad Ripple Seafood Market is the newest of the three. Owner Todd Reisenbigler told Current that the Westfield location is four times the size of his original Broad Ripple shop and that everything is made from scratch. At the June opening, he talked up the street's foot traffic. "There's so much foot traffic, there's so many people that want to be here and they want to eat in this local area," he said.

This fall, foot traffic carries even more weight on this block, because it is the only kind of traffic there is.

Getting there without a curb to pull up to

Valet service on Park Street stopped when construction began, to keep cars out of the work zone. The city's project announcement lists three public parking options:

1. The Union garage. The first three hours are free, which covers a dinner with room to spare.
2. The temporary lot at the west end of Park Street. It is the closest to the block, so expect it to fill first on busy nights.
3. On-street spaces on Mill, Jersey and Union streets. These spread you around downtown, and Mill puts you right at the east end of the block.

If you're starting with coffee, Rivet Coffee is a few blocks away at 337 Jersey St. It closed for renovations Oct. 19 through 24, and that closure has now ended. Fox59 reported that the café sits across from construction on The Grand on Main and still usually has a steady line. Cafe manager Marcel Grande told the station, "Thankfully, the community has just been phenomenal. We've maintained being busy."

Why the block closed when the plan said it would stay open

The city's original plan did not call for a full closure. In February, the city said Park Street would stay partially open, with at least one lane and access to businesses kept open throughout the project. Chris McConnell, Westfield's director of Parks and Recreation, told Fox59 in early October, "Although the road has been a mess since May, it technically has only been closed for the last four weeks." The station reported that diners could reach The Italian House and Nyla's only on foot.

The businesses near the work have had different experiences. In the city's February announcement, Chiba owner Keith Dusko called the project "short-term pain for long-term gain." When the restaurant closed, a spokesperson told Current that the long construction had taken a toll, including on access for customers who use a walker or wheelchair. McConnell told Fox59, "It's always unfortunate when you lose a small business," and added, "We have to move forward with these projects."

Something Splendid, a boutique wine bar next to the project, told a story closer to Chiba's than to Rivet's. "When people don't come and visit any businesses around here, we're ultimately affected as well," co-owner Erynn Neal told Fox59. Rivet stays busy across from one construction site, and the wine bar next to Park Street feels the drop. The difference comes down to whether people keep walking over.

The closed street is a rough draft of the finished one

The design explains why it makes sense to keep walking over. The City of Westfield lists these upgrades for Park Street:

• One-way traffic reversed to run east to west, to cut down on left turns downtown
• Flush curbs that make walking easier and make it simpler to set up for events
• Brick pavers, new trees and landscaping
• Parklets with extra seating
• New decorative catenary lights strung over the street

Flush curbs and parklets are what you build when the street is meant to be walked as much as driven. Mayor Scott Willis described the goal at the May groundbreaking, as Current reported:

"The vision is we'll have is to shut the roads down on the weekends and the evening hours where people come into the streets. You have tables set up, you can eat, you can see live bands. It will be a really cool place for people to hang out."

At a July 16 town hall, Willis was more specific. According to Current's August report, the plan calls for the brick street to close to cars on Thursday through Sunday evenings, with public outdoor seating, live music and more restaurants expected.

So this fall's routine looks a lot like the future one. You park on Jersey, Union or Mill or in The Union garage, walk in, and eat on a street with no cars on it. What's missing right now is the finished part: pavers, string lights and tables where the fencing stands. The parking plan the city set up for construction already works the way a car-free evening street would.

Other projects will reach the same blocks later. Plans include a future plaza connecting Park Street to the Midland Trace Trail and a parking garage at Park and Poplar streets. A restaurant is planned for the northwest corner of Park and Mill, and housing by developer Old Town has been approved for the gravel lot on the west side near Poplar. Willis has also described brick pavers and pedestrian amenities planned for nearby Jersey Street.

What the calendar looks like from here

There are two dates to keep in mind. Fox59 reported on Oct. 1 that Park Street is set to finish construction by Dec. 1. The city's February announcement puts completion of the whole two-phase project in late spring 2027. Willis has said landscaping will likely continue through spring 2027. The most likely reading is that the street opens first and the finishing work follows, so expect some crews on the block into next year.

Two dates sit on either side of the street's target finish:

• Saturday, Oct. 31. Citywide trick-or-treat hours are 5 to 8 p.m. If you're eating downtown before or after, an early table on Park Street fits around that window.
• Saturday, Dec. 5. Westfield in Lights runs from 3 to 6 p.m. at Grand Junction Plaza. If the Dec. 1 target holds, it will be the first big downtown night after Park Street's construction finishes. The tree lighting is listed for 6 p.m. As of mid-October, season dates for the Ice Ribbon at Grand Junction Plaza had not been released.

Until the fencing comes down, dinner on Park Street works like this: park at The Union, walk over, and pick from Nyla's, The Italian House or Broad Ripple Seafood Market.

The planned garage at Park and Poplar, the Old Town housing near Poplar and the Midland Trace connection will each change how these blocks feel to live near. If you're weighing a move in or around downtown Westfield, or wondering how projects like Park Street and The Grand on Main affect your own street, Scott Harmeyer is happy to talk it through. Book a consultation and we'll look at what's planned near the homes you're considering.