"We turn a lot of business away," Alex Balbus told The Daily Progress, speaking about Public Fish & Oyster on West Main Street. "It's a small restaurant; we can't grow it any more."
Their answer was to open a second restaurant, a block off the Downtown Mall. Several other downtown spaces that went dark in the past year are also getting new tenants this fall, and most follow the same pattern as the Hideaway. The new tenant is usually someone who already runs a business in Charlottesville and is expanding into the next space over.
The Hideaway: Public's overflow moves to East Market
The Hideaway opened at 4 p.m. on a Friday earlier this month at 609 E. Market St., in the old Michie Company building. The building also holds the Icarus medical device company, the architecture and engineering firm Stantec, and The Daily Progress newsroom. The restaurant's own gift card page lists the full address as Suite 101.
The space has a recent history. Tonic, the cocktail and small-plates spot that opened there in 2020, announced its closure on December 12, 2025, and served its last day on December 28. 29News reported that the owners cited tough times for small business owners. The room sat empty for most of 2026, until an owner with three busy West Main businesses took it.
That owner is Daniel Kaufman. He opened Public in 2014, the Bottle House wine shop and bar in 2020, and Black Cow Chophouse in 2023, all in Starr Hill, and he told The Daily Progress all three are "thriving." The Hideaway is his first restaurant near the Mall. It is built to take in the diners Public has no room for, and Public regularly has a line outside before it opens for happy hour and dollar-off oysters.
The menu isn't a copy of Public's. Public serves lobster rolls but not whole lobster, and its kitchen hasn't been able to turn out fish and chips consistently. The Hideaway serves both. Fish and chips mattered to Kaufman personally. His mother was born in England, and he recently received English citizenship.
"We'll be touching on the seafood that Public doesn't have, as well as bring over some favorites." Alex Balbus, Hideaway manager, to The Daily Progress
The kitchen is run by head chef Jay Gutierrez, formerly head chef at Café Frank on the Downtown Mall. Balbus, who set up Public's raw bar when it first opened, now runs the Hideaway's. He shucks oysters from Virginia and the rest of the East Coast, plus a rotating selection from the West Coast. The dining room carries over Public's blue-and-white nautical look, with an antique diving helmet, a captain's wheel and a mounted fishing trophy. The staff invite diners to ask about the portrait of Capt. Elias Wren behind the bar.
The 100 block of East Main, address by address
The Hideaway is one example. At the west end of the Mall, the 100 block of East Main Street shows the same pattern three times over. Three neighboring storefronts that lost long-running or high-profile tenants are being filled by people who already run a business in Charlottesville.
| Address | Previous tenant | New tenant | Who's behind it | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 E. Main St. | Alakazam Toys, closed August 2025 | Hype Gallery | Sonny Hudson, co-owner | Opened April 2026, appointment only |
| 107 E. Main St. | Vitae Spirits and Omakase Obscura, closed February 2026 | Sonny's Break Room | Sonny Hudson | Announced |
| 111 E. Main St. | Brasserie Saison, then Bonny & Read, closed September 2025 | Speeds Public | Peter Griesar | Announced; concept not yet public |
111 E. Main St. has had some of the most closely watched tenants on the Mall. Bonny & Read, a fine-dining seafood restaurant, opened there in November 2023 and closed in September 2025, among the first closures by its restaurant group, A Moveable Feast. Before that the space was Brasserie Saison. Employees of the group told The Daily Progress that declining foot traffic on the Downtown Mall hurt Bonny & Read.
The next tenant is a Charlottesville name. A Virginia ABC notice on the front door lists Peter Griesar, co-owner of Brazos Tacos and a former Dave Matthews Band keyboardist, as sole proprietor of a business called Speeds Public. The menu, the concept and the opening date haven't been announced. C-VILLE Weekly summed it up in September as "The vibe? The food? The opening date?"
107 E. Main St. is the former Vitae Spirits tasting room, which also housed Omakase Obscura. It is set to become Sonny's Break Room, a convenience store selling sandwiches and grab-and-go food, with no alcohol or tobacco. Owner Sonny Hudson told The Daily Progress he wanted "to give Downtown Charlottesville something it was missing," a place where "locals, workers, students, and visitors can grab everyday essentials, snacks, drinks, quick food, and unique local merchandise all in one place." He sees it as a quick-bite option on a block lined with sit-down restaurants.
100 E. Main St. was home to Alakazam Toys for two decades. The store closed in August 2025, citing rising product prices and declining sales. Hudson co-owns Hype Gallery, which opened there in April. It is an appointment-only gallery showing pop, street and neo-expressionist art, including works by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, Banksy and Jeff Koons, according to Hudson. Hudson is also CEO of Mixed Media Productions. He said he wants the gallery and the store together to bring new energy to the pedestrian mall, which turned 50 in July.
Two of these closures came with explanations close to Tonic's. Alakazam cited prices and sales, and Bonny & Read's staff pointed to foot traffic. In all three spaces on the block, the people moving in already run a business somewhere else in town.
The cost pressure hasn't stopped
North of town, Chandler's Bakery at the Rio Hill Shopping Center set September 29 as its last day. The family-run bakery, known for wedding cakes and radio bars, had been open about 31 years. The Chandler family's statement, published by The Daily Progress, named "the cost of ingredients, rent, payroll, and so much more" as the reason.
That helps explain who is filling the downtown spaces. An owner whose first restaurant already has a line out the door, or whose first downtown storefront is already open a few doors away, can take on a second space with less guesswork than a first-time operator.
Where the Mall's sushi chef went
The pattern also holds for people. Chef Yoshihiro Tauchi ran Omakase Obscura inside the Vitae Spirits space at 107 E. Main St. until it closed in February. He stayed in Charlottesville. On August 19 he opened Sanga Omakase, a six-seat sushi counter inside North American Sake Brewery, with two seatings Thursday through Saturday and a menu that uses the brewery's koji and kasu.
C-VILLE Weekly reported in mid-September that the counter was already booked through the end of the year. The waitlist is at sangaomakase.com.
Planning a downtown night around the new spaces
For a weeknight or weekend this fall, here's what each of these places is set up for right now:
- Dinner with a raw bar. The Hideaway is open now at 609 E. Market St. and opens at 4 p.m. Check hideawaycville.com for current hours before you go. Whole lobster and fish and chips are the dishes you won't find at Public.
- Art on the walk over. Hype Gallery at 100 E. Main St. is appointment-only, so book before you go rather than trying the door on a stroll down the Mall.
- A quick bite instead of a sit-down meal. Sonny's Break Room is planned for 107 E. Main St. Look for it opening next to the old Bonny & Read space.
- The one to watch. Speeds Public at 111 E. Main St. hasn't announced a menu or an opening date. The ABC notice on the door is the clearest sign the space is moving forward.
- The long-range reservation. Sanga Omakase is booked through year-end, so join the waitlist now if you want a seat in 2027.
Downtown is changing block by block, and so are the addresses within walking distance of it. If you own a home near the Mall and want to know what it's worth with these openings around it, Josh Harris can help. Get your instant home valuation, and when you're ready, Josh will walk you through the numbers in person.
