The Palisades' First Holiday Season Back Starts Before Some of Its Storefronts Do
November 12, 2026
November 12, 2026
Loomey's Toys first opened on Via de la Paz in March 2022. After the fire, owner Amanda Rastegar kept the business going by opening a Laguna Beach store, while she looked for a way back to the town where it started. The return comes this Saturday, November 14. Loomey's holds its grand opening in a smaller space at 15275 West Sunset Boulevard in Palisades Village, with a ribbon cutting at 10:30 a.m. and doors open at 11. The first 50 customers who spend $75 or more get a Loomey's tote bag filled with goodies.
A toy store opening three weeks before the tree lighting shows how this season works. The Village reopened on August 15. Caruso reported the center 99% leased, with most prefire tenants coming back. On reopening day, the Palisadian-Post counted about 70% of shops and restaurants actually open, and roughly a third of tenants were new. That gap between leased and open is closing one storefront at a time, in a sequence that runs through the holidays and into spring 2027. The holiday events are set to fixed dates. The storefronts are on their own schedules.
Restaurants led the return. The Los Angeles Times reported that the reopening-day lineup brought back Porta Via, Angelini Ristorante & Bar and Blue Ribbon Sushi. New on the lane was Alphabet Bar & Grill, run by chef Timothy Hollingsworth and h.wood Group and open daily for lunch and dinner.
Some of the returning places came back changed:
The newest table came two months later. Spacca Tutto opened on Palisades Village Lane on October 15. It is a modern Italian steakhouse from Nancy Silverton, built with Mozza Restaurant Group, Caruso Restaurant Group and New School Hospitality. The Daily News described the 108-seat room as a neighborhood restaurant rather than a special-occasion one. Lunch runs daily from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and dinner from 5 to 9 p.m. The menu has Australian Wagyu, Nancy's Burger, martinis and negronis. Lunch hours that late and a burger on the menu fit that neighborhood-restaurant description, and so does a lane that now has dinner at several price points in one block.
The non-food storefronts have been filling in too. Elyse Walker's flagship is back at 1000 Swarthmore Avenue and towne by elysewalker at 15257 Palisades Village Lane. Both are open until 7 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. City National Bank reopened its branch at 15273 Sunset Boulevard on October 5, with a 24-hour ATM. For residents, a bank branch and a coffee bar open by 8 a.m. matter as much as any new restaurant. They are what make the Village part of a daily routine again.
The holiday season isn't limited to Caruso's property. Michelle Murphy's Pali Trading Post opened July 1 at 15248 West Sunset Boulevard, across Sunset from the Village. It sells home goods, Palisades gifts and apparel. Up in Highlands Plaza, Amy Russo's Palisades General Store held its grand opening September 19 at 542½ Palisades Drive. It stocks home goods, clothing, jewelry, kitchenware and specialty foods, and it's open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Two doors along in Highlands Plaza, Café Vida's co-owners Luis Castaneda, Marcelo Marolla and Francisco Cornejo planned an early-November reopening at 548 Palisades Drive. They'll start with breakfast and lunch and add dinner and longer hours later. With a general store and a cafe both in the Highlands, gift shopping no longer requires a drive down to Sunset.
Then there's Via de la Paz. Palisades Towne Hall, an open-air community center and beer garden at 861 Via de la Paz, held a launch party on September 25. It has been licensed for private events only. Founder Brian Garrett went before the Los Angeles City Planning Commission on November 10 to seek operating permits. Garrett explained the request to the Palisadian-Post this way:
"Because our permit request is unique—non-profit seeking a one-year temporary conditional use permit—the committee wants to know and can be influenced to support the project if they know the broader community wants it."
Within hours of going live on October 31, his petition had more than 200 signatures.
Store openings move. The Village's own calendar is fixed, and it starts before the snow does. Caruso's 2026 holiday announcement calls this the Village's first holiday season since reopening.
The farmers market and the snowfall overlap for most of December. On a Wednesday, the last hour of the market ends just before the 6 p.m. snow.
One more opening is set for the holiday window. Paramount Pictures and Rick Caruso have partnered to reopen the Bay Theater, which first opened in 2018 and has been closed since the fire. They are aiming for before the end of the year. The plan calls for first-run films, classics, curated events, luxury seating, upgraded sound and projection, and in-theater dining run by The Lot. Since the fire, the Palisades has had no theater of its own, and the Bay would make a December night in the Village more than dinner and a walk.
Some names on the 99%-leased list are set for 2027.
| Business | Expected return | What it adds |
|---|---|---|
| Erewhon | January 2027 | Grocery anchor on Sunset |
| Staud | January 2027 | Returning Village retailer |
| Mother | February 2027 | Returning Village retailer |
| Carla Cafe | April 2027 | Walk-up window beside Alfred Coffee |
Erewhon's return follows extensive cleaning and renovation after water damage and spoiled inventory. Carla Cafe, from owners Avi Ahdoot and Jessica Horell, will take a 562-square-foot space with a walk-up window. Together they set the timeline for the rest of the return. This holiday season runs on restaurants, a toy store, a bank branch and two Highlands shops. The Village's grocery store and its second coffee window open after the decorations come down.
At the August reopening, about seven in ten tenants were open. By the time Carla Cafe opens its window in April, the lease list and the open storefronts on Palisades Village Lane should finally line up.
Stephen Apelian keeps a close eye on how commercial streets like Swarthmore, Sunset and Palisades Drive come back, because a neighborhood's daily routines shape how a home there lives. If you'd like to talk through what the Village's return means for a Palisades property you own or are thinking about, Stephen Apelian is glad to compare notes. Let's Connect.
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