Between May and July, Carlsbad Village picked up a neighborhood grocery store, an independent bookstore with a coffee bar, a board-game café, and a katsu counter in the Barrio. All four are inland, a few blocks from each other on Roosevelt Street, Grand Avenue, Carlsbad Village Drive and Madison Street. In September, crews went back to work replacing the beach stairs along Carlsbad Boulevard, and that project runs into 2027. So this fall the Village's busiest new foot traffic sits several blocks from the water, while the seawall stays a work zone on weekdays.
A Grocery Store on Roosevelt Street
Barons Market opened its first Carlsbad store at 2800 Roosevelt St. this summer. It's the 10th location for the Poway-based, family-owned chain, which was founded in 1993. Neighbors got a soft opening on June 25, and the doors opened to the public at the end of the month. The Carlsbad Village Association held a neighborhood preview on June 25 and 26, then a grand-opening weekend on June 27 and 28.
Urban Property Group, which handled the lease, said the store strengthens the Village's "daily-needs retail core." The firm described it as part of an ongoing revitalization plan for the neighborhood. Rachel Shemirani, a senior vice president at Barons, told the San Diego Union-Tribune that the store was meant to fit Village residents' active, tight-knit community. She said:
"We have wanted to open a store in this area for years and are excited to provide wonderful food options for Carlsbad Village."
The store carries organic, natural and specialty foods alongside the usual staples. It also sells freshly made soups and other hot foods. Urban Property Group pointed to the shaded patio, landscaped with succulents and designed as a gathering place. Barons lists the Carlsbad store's hours as 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., except holidays. That means you can pick up groceries for dinner on foot after work, well past sunset in October. In late August, trade coverage reported a positive response from neighbors.
A 40-Year Pub Became a Bookstore on Grand
Three blocks of change in one season would be news on its own. The second anchor carries more history. Carlsbad Village Books opened July 2 at 640 Grand Ave. For 40 years the space was an Irish pub, first Dooley McCluskey's and then O'Sullivan's. It took about half a year of cleaning, painting, design and shelf-stocking to turn it into a bookstore with Marla's Coffee inside.
The shelves hold new and used books, and the store also sells gifts, board games and crafts. In a September roundup of new Southern California bookstores, the Orange County Register quoted manager Jayna Wrisley confirming the opening. It also listed two sets of hours: Marla's Coffee runs 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the bookstore runs 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. The split matters. The coffee counter covers the morning, and the books stay open into the evening, three hours after the coffee closes.
The store has also started booking a calendar. The Carlsbad Village Association listing shows this week's events:
- Monday, Oct. 5: writing workshop
- Wednesday, Oct. 7: author event
- Saturday, Oct. 10: author event
- Sunday, Oct. 11: live music
The Oct. 7 author event lands on a Wednesday, the same day as the farmers market just up Grand Avenue at State Street. More on that below.
The Inland Loop, Stop by Stop
Barons and Village Books are the biggest additions, but they aren't the only ones. Put this summer's openings on one route and you get a loop that never reaches Carlsbad Boulevard:
- Barons Market, 2800 Roosevelt St.: groceries, hot food and the patio, open 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- Carlsbad Village Books and Marla's Coffee, 640 Grand Ave.: coffee from 7 a.m., books until 7 p.m.
- The Boarding Home, 300 Carlsbad Village Drive, Suite 103: a board-game café in Village Faire, which held its grand opening on May 23.
- Little Kiki Katsu & More, 2958 Madison St., Suite 101: a katsu restaurant in the Barrio that soft-opened June 15, per San Diego Magazine.
Two stops on that list are built around board games, one at Village Faire and one, the bookstore, on Grand. Taken together, the four cover groceries, a morning coffee, an evening browse, a game night and a weeknight dinner. In May, before any of them had opened, nearly all of that meant a drive.
The city's next Village project lands on the same streets. Carlsbad Public Works plans new energy-efficient pedestrian lights, plus upgrades to the tree lights, on State, Roosevelt, Madison and Washington streets. Construction could begin as soon as late 2026. Roosevelt is Barons' street, and Madison is Little Kiki's. The blocks that gained the most new evening businesses this summer are also the ones in line for brighter sidewalks.
On Carlsbad Boulevard, Crews Are Back
The coastal edge is moving on a slower clock. The city's project to replace the upper seawall stairs and widen the sidewalk covers Carlsbad Boulevard between Pine and Tamarack avenues. It started in November 2025 and paused for summer, because the schedule rules out construction between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Work resumed Sept. 8.
As of Patch's Sept. 10 report, crews were finishing new stairs and railings at Cherry and Hemlock avenues first. Maple and Sycamore come after that. The city's schedule originally gave the first phase until spring 2026, so the Cherry and Hemlock work ran past that date. Neither the September reporting nor the city's pages confirmed that work at Maple and Sycamore had started. Here's what to expect along the seawall right now:
- Stairways: the city's project FAQ lists Hemlock and Cherry as closed. Maple and Sycamore stay open, and so do the ramps at Pine and Tamarack. The city says at least two stairways between Tamarack and Pine will stay open for the whole project, and the grass area south of Hemlock stays open too.
- Sidewalk: parts of the upper sidewalk are closed. The city points walkers to the lower seawall or the sidewalk on the east side of Carlsbad Boulevard.
- Driving and biking: the boulevard is down to one lane in each direction in the work area. Bike lanes stay open, with occasional detours, and some street parking is restricted. The city's 2025 construction notice set a 20 mph speed limit in the work zone.
- Work hours: Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., except city holidays.
The FAQ list of closed stairways doesn't carry a date, so check it again before relying on a particular staircase. The city describes deteriorating concrete, exposed and corroding rebar, and soil erosion around parts of the foundations. That explains why each staircase gets torn out and rebuilt rather than patched. The finish date depends on the source. The city's posted schedule runs the second phase from fall 2026 to spring 2027, and Patch reports the project on track for completion by summer 2027. Either way, the coastal stretch closest to the Village won't be finished until well after the new inland businesses have been through their first holiday season.
Where the Fall Calendar Lands
The fall's scheduled events cluster in the same inland blocks. The State Street Farmers Market sets up at State Street and Grand Avenue every Wednesday from 2:30 to 7 p.m. That's on Grand, the same street as the bookstore, and it ends at the bookstore's 7 p.m. closing time. Here's what's coming up:
- Wednesday, Oct. 7: the farmers market, 2:30 to 7 p.m., the same day as the bookstore's author event.
- Thursday, Oct. 8: Taste of Carlsbad Village, 5 to 8 p.m., ticketed.
- Saturday, Oct. 31: Halloween in the Village, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., with village-wide trick-or-treating, games, crafts and a costume contest.
- Sunday, Nov. 1: the fall Carlsbad Village Street Faire, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Sunday, Dec. 6: the 41st Rotary Holiday Tree Lighting at Village Faire, 2 to 4:30 p.m., and Santa on hand for free photos from 2 to 4 p.m.
- Saturday, Dec. 12: the "Tis the Season Holiday Open House" at Village Faire, noon to 3 p.m.
Halloween falls on a Saturday this year and the Street Faire the next morning, a Sunday, so the Village has events on back-to-back days that weekend. Since the stair crews work weekdays only, neither day overlaps with active construction on the boulevard. The Village Faire dates in December are a short walk from The Boarding Home's address on Carlsbad Village Drive. Those dates are the first holiday season for this summer's new businesses.
If a new grocery store, a bookstore and better sidewalk lighting have you curious about what they mean for homes near Roosevelt and Grand, The Malkiewicz Team can walk you through it. We follow the Village one block at a time, and we're happy to share what we're seeing whenever you want to talk it over. Get Your Instant Home Valuation.
