At 1343 Lincoln Avenue, a cornerstone still reads I.O.O.F. 1887. The brick Odd Fellows building above it belongs to Theorem Vineyards, and so does the fenced, empty lot next door at 1339 Lincoln. The two parcels were meant to become TR Bar, a casual restaurant. Across the street, the 1888 building at 1364 Lincoln was meant to become Ilora, a tasting-menu restaurant. According to Calistoga Currents, Theorem is working through a city process to merge the Odd Fellows building and the lot into one parcel, and the restaurant plans themselves are paused.
A few blocks away on Washington Street, the newest room in town poured its first flights on October 1.
That pattern runs through downtown Calistoga this fall. The new places are small, run by their owners, and needed little more than a storefront and a license. The large historic buildings and the hotel sites along Lincoln are waiting on owners, lenders and construction schedules. For anyone deciding where to go after work this week, all of the new options come from the small-room side.
Twelve weeks from license to first pour
Bubbles Calistoga opened at 1120 Washington St. on October 1, according to a Wine Business announcement. Its founder is Gregg Lamer, who has spent more than 30 years in wine hospitality, including roles at Roederer Estate and Scharffenberger.
The timeline shows how little a small concept needs. Calistoga Currents reported that Bubbles' application for a Type 41 on-sale beer and wine eating-place license went pending on July 9. That license covers beer and wine but not spirits, and it requires a working kitchen. The doors opened about twelve weeks later. There was no parcel merger and no new construction, just a room on Washington Street with a kitchen behind it.
The lounge pours about 20 sparkling wines by the glass in three themed flights. It also sells roughly 60 bottles to take home and serves small plates like tinned fish, caviar, olives, cheese, cured meats and chocolate. Lamer's plan is to rotate the flights quarterly around domestic, Champagne and global themes. That means the list you taste this fall should change by winter.
A parking lot that kept growing
The Escape is the clearest example of a small place growing step by step. Robert Jones opened Robert's Tropical Table in June 2024 as an outdoor bar in the former parking lot of the Mount View Hotel at 1457 Lincoln Ave. On October 14, he opened The Escape indoors, a bar and restaurant that seats up to 68 people. The Calistoga Chamber of Commerce held the ribbon cutting the next afternoon.
Jones, who was born in Jamaica, described the place this way to Calistoga Currents:
"We are true to what we say we are about."
The plan is jazz inside and reggae on the patio, with a growing list of Caribbean-inspired small plates such as jerk chicken, pork-belly sliders, garlic fries, poke, oysters and gumbo. The patio bar stays open when the weather allows and gets covered when it doesn't. The Moonshine Theater, the outdoor movie series Jones sponsors with the hotel, is still showing films at sunset on Fridays and Saturdays this month. Its season ends October 31, and the movies are not moving indoors. That leaves two weekends of outdoor screenings after this post goes up.
The two that came before have settled in
Calistoga's other recent openings followed the same model within the past year, and both are now in regular service.
Eight North opened in November 2025 at 1374 Lincoln Ave., in the former Brannan's Grill space, which had been empty for nearly a decade. The mother-daughter team of Betsy and Sarah Lawer of Lawer Estates owns it. Much of the wine list comes from their Calistoga and Knights Valley vineyards, along with a rotating group of local wineries that don't have their own storefronts. Executive chef Abby Burk cooks over a wood-fired grill, and Neil Robinson is general manager.
Five Senses, at 1227 Lincoln Ave., is the modern Japanese restaurant from owner and head sushi chef Spencer Conaty. It's built around a 25-foot sushi bar, and Conaty has said he priced the menu with residents in mind. Over the summer, the early happy-hour window became a favorite with locals. The restaurant's website now lists a 4 p.m. opening, so check the current happy-hour time before you go.
All four of these places are closed on Tuesday, and two are also closed on Wednesday. Here are the days and hours each business currently posts:
| Place | Address | Open | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bubbles Calistoga | 1120 Washington St. | Mon, Thu–Sun | Noon–7 p.m. |
| Eight North | 1374 Lincoln Ave. | Mon, Thu–Sun | 11 a.m.–9 p.m. |
| Five Senses | 1227 Lincoln Ave., Suite C | Wed–Sun | 4–8:30 p.m. |
| Robert's Tropical Table and The Escape | 1457 Lincoln Ave. | Mon, Wed–Sun | 3–10 p.m. Mon and Wed–Fri, 1–10 p.m. Sat–Sun |
None of the four is open on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Five Senses and The Escape are your choices.
The Depot is the case in between
The Calistoga Depot at 1458 Lincoln Ave. sits between the two groups. Its 1868 station building is one of California's oldest surviving railroad depots. Boisset Collection owns it, and it reopened in April 2024 after an extensive renovation. The building was restored at institutional scale, but the restored railcars are filling one small tenant at a time.
Earth & Sky Chocolates, run by Robbie Schmidt, is open Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday and Monday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. According to a Calistoga Currents profile, Sarmentine bakery opened at the Depot on July 8 with morning-through-afternoon hours that were expected to change after its first weeks, so check its current schedule before you go. The Depot's own visitor page lists several train-car concepts, including the Parlor Car, Casa Obsidiana and First Millionaire's Saloon, plus a wine collective of six local wineries. In late July, Calistoga Currents found several of the railcars empty or open only some of the time. The cars that are open have chocolate and bread. The rest are still waiting for tenants.
Where the big addresses stand
The larger Lincoln Avenue properties are moving on very different timelines.
- Ilora and TR Bar. Theorem's two restaurants were still paused as of the latest local reporting, while the parcel merger moves through planning. Calistoga's planning and building director did not say when the city expects to hear more from the owners.
- The Veranda, 1510 Lincoln Ave. The city's project page still lists it as active construction. The plans include guest buildings, bungalows, a pool and café, a reception building, a hacienda, a lawn and gardens.
- Calistoga Motor Lodge and Spa, 1880 Lincoln Ave. As Calistoga Currents reported, its lender, a Rialto Capital debt fund, took ownership of the hotel at a trustee's sale on September 4. As of September 29, the city counted 89 rooms plus a manager's unit, all with final inspections and occupancy approved. The city had not heard from the new owner as of the October 3 report.
The fitness side of downtown is also in motion. Calistoga Fit, owned by Donavan and Jacqi Almond, left its longtime home at Calistoga Spa Hot Springs on July 31. The next day it opened a temporary training center at 2025 Grant St., in the former fairgrounds golf pro shop. Its premium membership now includes access to the mineral pools at Dr. Wilkinson's Backyard Resort & Mineral Springs, 1507 Lincoln Ave. The owners plan to open a permanent gym in the former Bank of America building on Lincoln Avenue in early 2027. When it opens, that will be one more large downtown building put back into daily use by a small local business.
Dates on the downtown calendar
The next few weekends bring residents to the same blocks where these new places opened.
- Saturday, October 24, 2–4 p.m. The free Trunk or Treat at the Calistoga Fairgrounds is a short walk from Calistoga Fit's temporary Grant Street location.
- Saturday, October 31, 6 p.m. The Halloween Parade starts at Pioneer Park and heads down Lincoln Avenue. The Village lists a free family event before the parade, from 4 to 6 p.m. The same night is the Moonshine Theater's last screening of the season.
- Saturday, December 5, 7–8 p.m. The Lighted Tractor Parade brings lighted and decorated tractors, utility vehicles and floats to town. The Village is hosting a Santa visit and a parade viewing party that day.
On Halloween night, the parade along Lincoln Avenue will pass the 1200 through 1400 blocks, where Five Senses, Eight North, the Depot and the Mount View Hotel all sit. It will also pass the Odd Fellows cornerstone at 1343, where the TR Bar plans are still on hold.
I enjoy following how Calistoga's main street changes, from new flights on Washington Street to the next tenant at the Depot. If you own a home up-valley and want to talk about how downtown's direction affects your plans, I'm glad to share what I'm seeing. Get in Touch With Avi at Avi Strugo.