Park Street Westfield Restaurants: What's Open After Chiba

"In my opinion, it is short-term pain for long-term gain," Keith Dusko said in February. He was talking about the Park Street Improvement Project, three months before crews arrived. Dusko owns Chiba at 228 Park St. In the same city announcement he said, "I truly believe in the future of Westfield."

On Sept. 29, Dusko announced on Facebook that Chiba is closing for good after about ten years on Park Street. He did not give a reason in what Current has reported so far, and the paper said it had asked him for more comment. His post closed with a line that leaves room for what comes next: "While this is the end of Chiba on Park Street, it is not the end of the Chiba story."

Here is what that leaves on the block. Westfield is spending this year and next rebuilding Park Street for a restaurant row bigger than the one there today. This fall, the stretch between Poplar and Mill is down to three restaurants, the street is partly torn up, and the car-free evenings meant to define the new Park Street have not been confirmed as started.

Four in May, Three in October

Park Street's count went up before it went down. Broad Ripple Seafood Market moved into the old Greek's Pizza building at 231 Park St. It held a soft opening May 26, opened officially May 27 and cut its ribbon June 1. Current called it the fourth restaurant on Park Street between Poplar and Mill. Owner Todd Reisenbigler's Westfield location is four times the size of his original in Broad Ripple.

Chiba's closing brings the count back to three. Here is the row as it stands at the end of September 2026:

One small note on The Italian House: its own website gives both 211 and 219 Park Street in different spots. Hamilton County Tourism lists it at 219. If you're putting it into a map app, check the pin.

Chiba was part of what made the row. It opened in 2017, after Dusko moved to Westfield. Before that he managed a sushi restaurant in New York and owned the first Chiba in New Orleans. The menu featured tropical cocktails and fish flown in from Hawaii, Japan and Southern California. If you had an anniversary dinner on Park Street in the last decade, there's a fair chance it was there.

A Street Designed for More Restaurants Than It Has

The city's case for the project depends on the restaurant count going up. At the May 8 groundbreaking, Mayor Scott Willis put it this way:

"There's not a lot of risk here. You've got four or five restaurants that are really thriving. We want more, and we can get more, but that's where we have to step up as the city."

At his July 16 town hall, Willis said more restaurant options are expected on Park Street, but he did not name any. One is on the map without a name. Current has reported a restaurant planned for the northwest corner of Park and Mill streets.

The bigger addition sits at the west end of the street. Old Town Companies broke ground Aug. 19 on Park and Poplar, a $123 million project at Westfield Boulevard and Park Street, across from the Westfield Washington Public Library. The plans include 240 apartments, 56 brownstone-style townhomes, restaurants, storefronts, 60,000 square feet of office space, a public plaza and a link to the Midland Trace Trail. It also includes a 523-space parking garage. The city is paying for the garage, which is estimated at $22 million, with $11 million coming from tax increment financing. Developers expect it to be finished by 2028.

So the timing looks like this. The street work wraps up in late spring 2027, and the people and parking meant to support more restaurants arrive with Park and Poplar in 2028. Until then, the three open restaurants carry Restaurant Row on their own, in the middle of a construction zone.

What's Confirmed and What's Still a Plan

The city's February announcement, the groundbreaking coverage and the mayor's summer town hall describe one street. What you can confirm on the ground today is a smaller set of facts.

Confirmed:

• The project runs from Poplar to Mill, in two phases, with Indianapolis-based FA Wilhelm Construction leading the work.
• Heavy construction on the Park Street corridor started in May and is expected to last through the end of 2026.
• The city expects the whole project to be done in late spring 2027. Willis has said landscaping will likely continue through spring 2027.
• At least one lane stays open, you can still get to the businesses, and valet service has been discontinued.

Planned, not yet confirmed in any report:

• Reversing traffic so it runs east to west, adding flush curbs, brick pavers and parklets with extra seating.
• Closing the street to cars in the evenings, Thursday through Sunday, so it works as a pedestrian plaza. In July, Willis said, "That's going to be done this summer or this fall."
• Similar brick pavers and pedestrian features on nearby Jersey Street.

As of today, no city release or local news report we found says the evening closures have started or that the traffic direction has changed. Fall runs into December, so the mayor's timeline still has time. If you're planning a Friday dinner around live music on a car-free street, check the city's news page first.

Getting to Dinner While the Street Is Torn Up

Parking was the friction point early on. When Broad Ripple Seafood Market opened in June, Reisenbigler said parking was a challenge with the south side of Park Street under construction. He also said he expected it to be sorted out soon. He was clear about the demand: "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."

The city's most recent parking guidance for the project names three options:

1. The Union Garage, 110 Mill St. The city says the first three hours are free. The operator lists it as open 24/7 but says its full rate schedule is "coming soon." Three free hours easily covers a sit-down dinner, and Mill Street is the east end of the construction zone.
2. Street parking on Mill, Jersey and Union streets.
3. The temporary lot at the west end of Park Street. One caution here. Park and Poplar is going up on what Current described in May as a gravel parking lot on the west side of Park Street near Poplar. We haven't found any city notice since the Aug. 19 groundbreaking saying whether that west-end parking is still open. Treat it as a maybe, and plan to use the garage.

Two Blocks Over, the Walkable Version Already Exists

What Willis described for Park Street, a pedestrian space with tables, food and live music, already exists around Grand Junction Plaza. That makes the plaza the easy option for an October evening while Park Street is still a work zone.

The biggest addition to the plaza this year opened in the spring. Sun King's taproom at 133 S. Union St. had its ribbon cutting April 23 and its grand opening April 24. The same building houses the Stacked House food concept and Upper House Social upstairs.

The city's October calendar for the plaza at 225 S. Union St. includes:

• Fitness in the Park, 6–7 p.m., with 9 Round on Oct. 5, JETSET Pilates on Oct. 12 and line dancing on Oct. 19
• Daytime sessions, 10–11 a.m., with Owl Pellet Dissection on Oct. 20, Wiffle Ball in the Plaza on Oct. 21 and a Youth Speed and Agility Clinic on Oct. 22
• Trick or Treating in the Plaza, Friday, Oct. 23, from 4:30 to 8 p.m.

A Monday Pilates class at 6 p.m. ends with plenty of time for a 7:15 table at Nyla's, The Italian House or Broad Ripple Seafood Market, a short walk away. Nothing like that was on the calendar when Willis promised in June that the street would "get fantastic" once everyone got through the summer. The three restaurants still on Park Street are open now, while the sidewalks are still being rebuilt.

If you own a home near downtown Westfield and want to know how the Park Street work and Park and Poplar could affect a future sale or purchase, Ann Williams Erickson follows these projects block by block and is glad to walk through it with you. Let's Connect.