Over the past year, three of downtown Campbell's sit-down dining rooms changed hands, and none of them stayed empty for long. Lira at 368 East Campbell Avenue closed after New Year's Eve. A Bellagio left 33 South Central Avenue after more than two decades of Italian dinners. Opa! left 276 East Campbell Avenue after the chain went through a Chapter 7 filing. All three addresses now have new tenants, either open or under construction, and the replacements have a lot in common. They serve shareable food, they put the bar near the middle of the room, and they stay open later than the places they replaced.
That pattern matters more than any single opening. Downtown didn't lose its restaurants this year. It lost a style of dining that depended on long, formal evenings, and it gained places that work better for a drink and a few plates after the Thursday concert or a late Saturday walk down the Avenue.
Four Addresses, Four Handoffs
| Address | Before | Now | Status as of early October 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 368 E. Campbell Ave. | Lira, contemporary fine dining | Trial | Error, cocktail bar with small plates | Targeting an October opening |
| 33 S. Central Ave. | A Bellagio, Italian, 20+ years | Honō Izakaya & Sushi | Open; first reviews appeared in July |
| 276 E. Campbell Ave. | Opa!, Greek | Elia, Greek and Mediterranean | Open, taking reservations |
| 278 E. Campbell Ave. | Mo's | Sultan's Kebab | Online ordering active |
Lira opened in January 2025 with chef Tucker Ricchio, a San Jose native, in the kitchen. Ricchio left in June 2025, the restaurant closed after New Year's Eve, and the owners later said the fine-dining math no longer worked. That explains the whole year better than anything else. A 110-seat contemporary dining room, patio included, became a cocktail bar with small plates, run by Jason Seele of Los Gatos Soda Works.
At 33 South Central, Honō took over A Bellagio's space and put a bar in the center of the room. The menu is Japanese fusion. The Silicon Valley Business Journal reported the opening in September.
The Greek address stayed Greek. In November 2025, the Mercury News reported that Elia, the Greek and Mediterranean group that started in Pleasanton, would take over the former Opa! space, with co-owner Fatih Ulas aiming for late January to early February. The exact opening day isn't documented, but Elia is now taking reservations at the Campbell address. It serves weekday lunch, dinner and weekend brunch, and stays open until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. Next door at 278 East Campbell, Sultan's Kebab is taking online orders for pickup.
What the New Tenants Have in Common
Midnight closing on weekends is a real change for this stretch of East Campbell Avenue. A Bellagio was known for its Italian dinners, and Lira was a dining room first. Their replacements are built around the bar and the evening.
Trial | Error's projected hours are roughly 4 to 11 p.m. Plans call for tapas-style plates to share, and a lobster corn dog was among the dishes still being developed this summer. In a July interview with Palo Alto Online, Seele described his approach to drinks this way:
The cocktails have "a beginning, a middle and a finish."
Honō's center bar, Elia's mezethes and late weekend hours, and Trial | Error's small plates all point the same way. These menus work for a two-hour dinner, and they also work for a single round at 9:30 p.m. The San Jose Blog's August roundup, drawing on Business Journal reporting, said city staff describe the turnover as "concept replacement." It also observed that the new operators running cocktails, sushi, dumplings and mezze filled spaces faster than vacancies piled up.
The Pruneyard Kept Its Anchors and Added One
The same change shows up on Bascom Avenue, and there the main news is what stayed.
In January, Pruneyard Dine-In Cinemas and the Cedar Room announced they would close on January 25. They reversed that decision after reaching an agreement with Regency Centers, the property owner, as NBC Bay Area reported on January 16. Both are still running this month. The theater has showtimes listed for October 7, and the Cedar Room has live events on October 10 and October 14.
The new arrival is Dough Zone Dumpling House. It opened June 5 at 1875 South Bascom Avenue, Suite 405, in the former Patxi's Pizza space between Trader Joe's and Humphry Slocombe. The 3,167-square-foot restaurant is the Bellevue-based chain's sixth Bay Area location. Before it opened, Campbell's closest Dough Zones were on Lundy in North San Jose and on Cherry in South San Jose. For anyone who used to drive across town for xiao long bao, Q-Bao or dan dan noodles, the Mercury News coverage means a much shorter trip.
So the Pruneyard followed the same pattern as downtown. A pizza space became a dumpling house, and the movie theater and live-music room that almost closed are still open.
Still Under Construction
Several projects are announced but not yet open. Each one fits the same pattern.
Trial | Error was still aiming for October as of the late-August roundup, which gave no confirmed opening day.
Ainsley's Spout House is a Scottish-Californian beer garden that Alan Hicks is building in the former Ainsley Corporation offices on Harrison Avenue. Its own site says "Opening 2026" and "Construction continues," with no specific day. An earlier target of October 2025 has passed.
Hamilton Avenue has proposals but no dates. Dutch Bros and Chipotle have floated drive-thru plans. An Apni Mandi supermarket of about 26,000 square feet has been proposed for Wing Center, and Da Vien has proposed taking over a former Charles Schwab space. The San Jose Blog's roundup describes Da Vien as a Vietnamese coffee shop. The city's January economic development newsletter named Villa Sport as the future tenant of the former Bed Bath & Beyond at 515 East Hamilton Avenue, with a planned 40,000-square-foot facility. No opening date was given.
October Brings the Biggest Crowds
The new lineup's first busy fall weekends are close. October is downtown Campbell's most crowded month, and nearly every big event takes place on the same few blocks where these handoffs happened.
- Saturday, October 10, 5 to 7 p.m. Florra's Fall Launch Event, listed by Downtown Campbell.
- Saturday, October 17, 9 a.m. Oktoberfest Fun Run at Campbell Park, on the city's October 7 Parks and Recreation agenda.
- Saturday, October 17, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, October 18, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The 31st Annual Campbell Oktoberfest at East Campbell Avenue and North First Street. Admission is free. The Campbell Chamber of Commerce's Biersch Garten has German beer and food plus the Zicke Zacke band. There are also more than 100 arts and crafts booths, four stages, and a Kids Zone. Only service animals are allowed. Drink tickets and the entertainment schedule are posted at CampbellOktoberfest.com.
- Sunday, October 18. No farmers market. The Sunday market normally runs 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. year-round, and its 2026 calendar skips Oktoberfest Sunday and resumes October 25. One line on the market's page gives a different date, so it's worth checking with the market before you go.
- Saturday, October 24, 7 to 9 p.m. Thrill the World Zombie Crawl.
- Sunday, October 25, 4 to 6 p.m. Creepy Crawly Halloween Trick-or-Treat at East Campbell Avenue and North First Street. One listing on the city's October 7 agenda shows October 26, so check with the organizers.
- Thursday, October 29. Free pumpkin-carving contest at the Community Center. Finished pumpkins are accepted from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Most of these events end by early evening. The Oktoberfest Saturday program ends at 6 p.m., the Sunday program at 5 p.m., and the trick-or-treat at 6 p.m. Several of the new tenants, however, are set up for the hours after that. Elia is open until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays, and Trial | Error's projected hours run until 11 p.m. Under the old lineup, a festival day downtown ended when the crowd left. Now a few of these rooms are built to keep serving after the booths close.
One change affects families heading out of downtown. At John D. Morgan Park, the second phase of the restroom project is scheduled to start the week of October 12. It includes demolishing and replacing the restroom and improving the ADA pathway, and completion is expected by February 2027.
Downtown Campbell changes a little with every tenant swap, and our team keeps track of those changes because they shape day-to-day life in the neighborhood. If you're thinking about what a changing downtown means for your own home, whether you're planning a move, settling a parent's property, or just want to understand the area better, Noriel Adricula and Team NL Homes are glad to talk it through. Schedule A Consultation whenever the timing feels right.
