Every restaurant with a fall opening date on Stevens Creek Boulevard is going into Westfield Valley Fair. Palo Alto Online reported in mid-September that Chubby Tan is expected in October or November and Chagee Modern Teahouse in November. On October 1, the Mercury News added that Izumi Revolving Sushi is expected to open there before year's end, with Kajiken following in early 2027. Across the boulevard, three Santana Row restaurants have been dark since June. The Row's next confirmed newcomer, CAVA, isn't expected until 2027.
The pattern comes down to who is opening and how much it costs them. Valley Fair's newest tenants are expanding concepts they already run somewhere else. Santana Row's empty rooms need a new operator willing to make an eight-figure bet. If you live in West San Jose and plan your weeknight dinners and weekend outings around this stretch, that difference decides what changes this fall and what stays the same.
The Valley Fair Calendar, Restaurant by Restaurant
These are the opening windows as of mid-September and October 1, 2026. Treat them as mall and operator estimates, not fixed dates.
| Restaurant | What it serves | Expected opening | Where the operator already runs it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chubby Tan | Charcoal-grilled gyutan, thick-cut beef tongue | October or November 2026 | Rowland Heights and New York |
| Chagee Modern Teahouse | Tea lattes, matcha, whole-leaf teas | November 2026 | Six Southern California shops |
| Izumi Revolving Sushi | Conveyor-belt sushi and kitchen dishes | December 2026 | Daly City and Westfield Oakridge |
| Kajiken | Brothless aburasoba noodles | Early 2027 | San Mateo, plus other U.S. cities |
Every concept in that table has already been tested at another location. Chubby Tan is a collaboration between Gyutan no Lemon, a Japanese chain known for charcoal-grilled beef tongue, and Chubby Group, which already runs Mikiya Wagyu Shabu House in San Mateo and Santa Clara. At its existing locations, the combo sets of tongue, rice, salad, beef soup, beef curry and dipping sauces run $44 to $54.
Chagee is a large chain. It was founded in Yunnan in 2017, now has more than 6,000 stores worldwide, and opened its first U.S. location in Los Angeles in 2025. The menu has no boba and no jellies. It focuses on tea lattes in flavors like Boya jasmine and peach oolong, priced at $5.95 to $9.45 at the Los Angeles shop. Valley Fair will be its first Bay Area location.
Izumi may already be familiar if you've been to the south end of the city. The conveyor-belt restaurant opened in Daly City in 2020 and at Westfield Oakridge in San Jose in 2025. Diners take plates off the belt or order on a table tablet, and the bill is tallied by plate at the end.
Kajiken is the one exception to the on-schedule pattern. Its Valley Fair debut was first planned for spring 2026, and it has since slipped to early 2027. Its San Mateo location opened in 2023 and made the Michelin Guide that year. Bowls there cost $16.50 to $22.95.
What Already Opened This Year
The fall arrivals follow a busy first half of the year. Tai Er Sichuan Cuisine, IJ Sushi Burrito, Asia Live and HeyTea all opened at Valley Fair in 2026. Asia Live, a two-story restaurant and food emporium, opened on June 23.
The mall's leasing team says outright that food drives traffic. When Valley Fair announced its newest merchants in August, it said Foodie Week had raised foot traffic by 14% in 2025. The 2026 Foodie Week ran September 19 to 27 and included 22 eateries and food shops.
"Westfield Valley Fair's eclectic and forward-thinking mix of retailers is one of the main reasons why we continue to see such success and growth," said Rachel Weisser, the mall's northwest regional marketing director, in the August announcement.
One practical note for map searches: Valley Fair's mailing address is 2855 Stevens Creek Blvd., Santa Clara, and the Mercury News describes it as the Santa Clara/San Jose mall.
Why the Former Vine Spaces Are Still Empty
On June 22, Marin County-based Vine Hospitality closed all seven of its restaurants at once. More than 350 employees lost their jobs. Three of those restaurants were on Santana Row: Left Bank, LB Steak and Meso Modern Mediterranean.
On August 18, the Silicon Valley Business Journal reported that Bacchus and Omakase were in discussions about the former Vine spaces. The paper put a price on the challenge: opening a new concept in one of those spaces could take an estimated $8 million to $12 million, shared between landlord and tenant. The public preview of that story doesn't say which operator is linked to which space, whether any lease is signed, or when anything might open. As of October 1, no replacement has been confirmed for any of the three.
That price tag explains the gap between the two sides of the boulevard. A tea chain with thousands of stores or a sushi operator with two Bay Area locations is copying a format it already knows how to build. A new tenant in a former Vine space has to justify an eight-figure buildout before the first table is set. Negotiations that size take longer than a fall season.
Santana Row's newer projects are moving on their own longer timelines:
- Flora at 355 Santana Row, #1060, is a California-cuisine restaurant from Danny Shafazand, Russ Fukushima and Jameson Parvizad. Eater reported in May that the team was still hiring a head chef and aiming for late summer 2026. As of October 1, the restaurant's own site still says only "Opening 2026."
- CAVA chose Santana Row as its first Northern California location and plans to open in 2027. The San Jose Blog lists the address as 3055 Olin Avenue, Suite 1035.
Farther west, a Chick-fil-A is planned at 4400 Stevens Creek Blvd. as part of the Stevens Creek Promenade project. Its lease started September 11, and the Mercury News report didn't give an opening date.
Santana Row's Draw This Fall Is the Street Calendar
The Row's existing restaurants are still running promotions. Fifteen of them took part in a September lunch deal. With no new openings to point to, the main reason to go this season is the event calendar:
- Glass Pumpkin Festival, October 2 to 4
- Makers Market's Local Artist Street Fair, October 10
- San Jose International Short Film Festival at Ciné Arts, October 22 to 25
- Farmer Mike Pumpkin Carving at Park Valencia, October 24 to 25
- Trick-or-Treat The Row Halloween Family Festival, Tuesday, October 27, 10 a.m. to noon
- Día de Los Muertos Celebration, November 1
The official calendar doesn't yet list any dates after November 1, so holiday plans on the Row are still to be announced.
Put the two calendars side by side and the fall almost plans itself. October on Stevens Creek is about the Row's festivals and street fairs, with Chubby Tan possibly opening by the end of the month. November brings Chagee, and December is when Izumi is expected. The next real change on the Santana Row side depends on whether a deal for one of the former Vine spaces closes, and those talks have been public since August without an announced result.
Following which storefronts fill quickly and which take years is part of how Michal Amodai tracks the West San Jose blocks around Stevens Creek. If you own nearby and want to know how changes on this corridor relate to your home's value, start with a free home valuation and a conversation about what's opening near your street.
