Downtown Lafayette's biggest storefront changes of 2026 were handoffs. A 27-year-old wine shop was bought by a family that already shopped there. A 30-year-old jeweler went to the apprentice who trained under its founder. A barbecue counter opened in a former barbecue spot. And the building that sat empty longest on the boulevard is being rebuilt by a volunteer trust that bought it for the town.
The only real closure was Round Table Pizza, and a new restaurant is already being built in its space. That pattern matters if you walk this stretch every week. The places changing hands are mostly staying in the same trade under new owners who chose to keep them going.
Who took over on the boulevard this year
| Address | What was there | What's there now | New hands |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3401 Mt. Diablo Blvd. | Wine Thieves, opened in 1999 by Jim Meyers and Bennett Burke | Wine Thieves | Daniel and Gennie Gorback of Orinda |
| 3645 A Mt. Diablo Blvd. | Ware Designs Jewelers, run by goldsmith Stephen Ware | Ware Designs Jewelers | Melissa, his longtime apprentice |
| 3422 Mt. Diablo Blvd. | Horn Barbecue | Mt. Diablo BBQ | RSBBQ Inc., a family company from Gilroy |
| 3637 Mt. Diablo Blvd. | Round Table Pizza | Joy Bao, under construction | Not yet named |
| Park Theater, next to Lafayette Plaza | Single-screen cinema, dark since 2005 | Two-auditorium venue, under construction | The Park Theater Trust |
Two of the five went to people who already knew the business from the inside or from the customer side. The other three are rebuilds of spaces that went quiet. The theater is the slowest and most expensive of them.
The wine shop its regulars bought
Meyers opened Wine Thieves in 1999 with his longtime friend and business partner Bennett Burke. When he got ready to retire after 27 years, Daniel and Gennie Gorback bought the business. They had been regular customers long before they thought about owning it. The Lafayette Chamber of Commerce marked the change with a ribbon cutting on July 9. In an August profile in Bay Area Telegraph, Gennie Gorback described family Sunday afternoons on the back patio playing Uno with their daughters over a couple of wines. Daniel plans to keep practicing law full time while the couple runs the shop with its existing staff.
The long-serving staff stayed on, and so did small habits like offering to carry a customer's wine to the car. Gorback put most bottles at "around $20-$25." The weekly Saturday flight still runs from noon to 6 p.m., with four wines linked by a grape, region or theme. The new owners have added Saturday Patio Pours and Tunes with live music and kept Thirsty Thursday going with local musicians, food and wine flights. The patio can also be booked for private groups of 15 to 30.
The jeweler who trained his own successor
Farther along the boulevard, Ware Designs Jewelers made the same kind of handoff through an apprenticeship. Its Chamber listing explains it in one line:
"Ware Designs has proudly served Lafayette for 30 years. Mater Goldsmith Stephen Ware has recently retired and passed the buisness on to his long-time apprentice Melissa."
The shop held a grand-reopening ribbon cutting on August 19. It still does repairs, custom jewelry, appraisals and watch batteries, Tuesday through Saturday from 10 to 5. For anyone with a ring to resize or a watch that has stopped, the person at the bench learned the trade at this counter.
Restaurant spaces that stayed restaurants
The two restaurant turnovers are less personal, but they fit the same pattern. Neither space sat empty for long, and neither stopped being a restaurant.
At 3422 Mt. Diablo Blvd., the former Horn Barbecue space is still a barbecue spot. The East Bay Times reported on July 24 that Mt. Diablo BBQ was in soft opening there, with a grand opening planned for August 2. Its operator is RSBBQ Inc., a family-run company from Gilroy. The menu runs from breakfast tacos and biscuit sandwiches to oak-smoked brisket, pulled pork and ribs, along with grilled tri-tip, plus beer and wine. The restaurant lists daily hours of 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. or until it sells out. As of today, October 5, it is taking Thanksgiving turkey preorders, and its smoked turkey returns October 19.
The one true ending this year was at 3637 Mt. Diablo Blvd., near Diablo Foods. Round Table Pizza had been there since at least the 1990s, according to residents who spoke with Bay Area Telegraph. A notice on its doors confirmed on March 24 that the location had closed for good and sent customers to the Round Table at 361 Rheem Boulevard in Moraga. The replacement was in the works well before that notice. Contra Costa Health's plan-review records show plans for Joy Bao, a Chinese dumpling restaurant, submitted on October 16, 2025 and approved on December 8, 2025. A temporary Joy Bao banner went up by late September. Construction still looked well underway, and no opening date, menu or owner has been announced.
The theater the town bought back
The Park Theater is the biggest handoff downtown and the slowest. It opened on August 21, 1941, and its first feature was Hold That Ghost. It closed in 2005, largely because of the regional multiplexes, and stayed dark until 2021. That December, the all-volunteer Park Theater Trust closed a $3 million purchase of the theater and the fourplex next door on behalf of the community.
The plan keeps the old building and changes what happens inside it. The single screen becomes two auditoriums with a community room, a rooftop terrace and bar, and a commercial kitchen. CinemaSF will run it, with first-run independent films, Hollywood classics, live music and community events. The building was designed by William B. David, who built more than 25 Streamlined Moderne cinemas in California and Oregon. Its marquee neon, made with 1941 tubing from Murano, Italy, is in storage with Jim Rizzo of NeonWorks in Berkeley until it can be restored. The Trust has also had the original carpet pattern reproduced and is restoring the Art Deco sconces and teardrop ceiling lights.
Getting here has taken longer than first planned. Here is how the reopening target has moved:
- December 2021: reopen in 2023, according to the purchase announcement
- Fall 2024: reopen in 2025
- April 2025: a late 2026 reopening, presented to the City Council
- March 2026: renovations done by early 2027, with $12 million raised toward a $15 million goal
Early 2027 is the most recent estimate, so treat it as a target and not a date to book around. The work you can see from Park Plaza has changed, though. In September the Trust said that after extensive HAZMAT abatement, and while working around shoring that protects the historic marquee and Park sign, reconstruction was finally starting, with steel beams and a new roof next. Its October 4 update shows foundation work and cranes setting the steel frame.
The fundraising follows the same idea of residents taking over a downtown business. Through the Name a Seat, Build a Theater campaign, a $5,500 donation names one of 204 custom seats, first come, first served. As of mid-September, local businesses and residents had claimed more than 50 of them, or about a quarter of the house.
Where to see the handoffs this fall
Over the next few weeks, the town calendar runs through the same blocks:
- Saturday, Oct. 10, 9 to 11 a.m.: an open house for the 50th anniversary of the Lafayette-Moraga Regional Trail at the Lafayette Community Center in the Jennifer Russell Building, 500 St. Mary's Rd. It previews new history panels headed for the trail's 7.65 miles, and the presentation starts at 10.
- Sunday, Oct. 18: the Chamber's Lafayette Res Run for Education. The 5K starts at 8 a.m., the 10K at 8:15 and the two-mile run/walk at 8:45.
- Saturday, Oct. 24, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.: Witch Way to Mocktails, with free signature mocktail samples at participating downtown shops.
- Friday, Oct. 30, 4 to 6 p.m.: Trick or Treat Street along Mt. Diablo Boulevard from Lafayette Plaza to Dewing Avenue, plus Lafayette Circle and La Fiesta Square.
- Friday, Dec. 4, 4 to 6 p.m.: It's a Wonderful Life in Lafayette, a free celebration with Santa, train rides, a tree lighting, music and crafts.
The Trick or Treat route starts at Lafayette Plaza, right next to the Park Theater construction site. On Lafayette Circle, the City Council has approved a Robert Minervini mural for 286 Lafayette Circle.
When a downtown business changes hands, the people who benefit are usually the ones who know what made it worth keeping. If you're thinking about the next owners of your own Lafayette home and what they should inherit, Emiliana Flemate Baker can walk you through what local buyers are paying for right now. Request your free Instant Valuation & Custom Marketing Plan.
