Since June, downtown Danville and the blocks around it have gained a wood-fired Mexican restaurant, a flower and French antiques shop, a Southern California taco chain and a Nordstrom service counter. One restaurant on Hartz Avenue has closed, and with it went a Wednesday night program that had raised more than $100,000 for local nonprofits.

Here's what changed and where, starting at the north end of Hartz and working south.

The changes at a glance

The north end: flowers and old French things at 100 Hartz

Le Jardinet opened Aug. 5 at 100 Hartz Avenue, near the northern end of downtown. The Danville Area Chamber of Commerce describes it as a mix of a florist and an antique shop. You can pick up fresh bouquets, look through French antiques and vintage vessels, and pair new arrangements with containers that have some history to them.

Owner Rikki Roden told the Chamber, "I've always had a passion for collecting antiques and a knack for arranging flowers."

Because the antiques are collected one at a time, the stock changes as pieces sell and new finds come in. The shop also does custom arrangements and event flowers, and the Chamber says it carries seasonal merchandise and gifts. That should matter more as the holidays get closer.

The August announcement listed hours of Wednesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Hours at a new shop often change in its first few months, so check before you plan a Saturday stop around it.

Hartz and Church: one Mexican restaurant hands off to another

The longest wait of the summer was at 501 Hartz Avenue, on the corner of Hartz and Church Street. Rancho Cantina began a soft opening there on Monday, Aug. 24, in the space Cocina Hermanas had filled for nearly seven years.

According to Bay Area Telegraph, this is Rancho Cantina's second location. The first has been in downtown Lafayette for more than a decade. Danville residents Nico and Alice Tzikas took over the Lafayette restaurant in April 2024, expanded its hours and started planning a second location closer to home.

The handoff was announced in March, and the owners hoped to open by early summer. That target slipped while renovations, permits and the state liquor license were worked out. The license was issued in late May, and the doors opened about two months after the original goal.

What's on the menu

The restaurant calls its food "rancho cuisine," based on Spanish, Mexican and early Californio cooking from California's ranching era. Bay Area Telegraph's rundown covers:

• Familiar plates: tacos, burritos, enchiladas, quesadillas and sizzling fajitas
• Small plates: ceviche, guacamole and Rancho nachos
• Off the wood-fired grill: carne asada, brick chicken, fresh seafood and the Vaquero Platter
• At the bar: tequila and mezcal cocktails, several margaritas, plus beer and wine

The core menu matches Lafayette's. The Danville location has a bigger bar because the Hartz Avenue building has more room, and it added more salads for the downtown lunch crowd.

Patch reported on Sept. 1 that the restaurant has a main dining room, an outdoor veranda and a full bar, and serves brunch and dinner. Patch also listed hours as 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Bay Area Telegraph said reservations would open Sept. 1, and the restaurant's Danville page now has a reservation link.

Beyond Hartz: a taco chain on Diablo Road and a service counter at the Livery

Two of the summer's openings sit just outside the Hartz Avenue core, and both fill errand-shaped gaps rather than sit-down dinners.

Chronic Tacos opened in late June at 420 Diablo Road. The East Bay Times reported that it is the Southern California chain's first Bay Area location, with a grand opening set for Aug. 1. If you've only seen the chain in Southern California, the closest one is now in Danville.

At the Livery Shopping Center, 600 Sycamore Valley Road West, Nordstrom Local opened in late June. It isn't a department store. It handles online order pickups, returns and alterations. Contra Costa News confirmed it was open by June 27, and Patch covered it again on July 7. For anyone who used to drive to a mall to return a package or pick up hemmed pants, that trip is now a stop at the Livery.

267 Hartz: the closing took a weekly fundraiser with it

Virtue + Vice opened at 267 Hartz Avenue in spring 2022. Danville San Ramon reported on Sept. 11 that the restaurant had announced its closure on social media that week and planned its final service for that Saturday. That puts the last day on the weekend of Sept. 12, after more than four years downtown.

Owner and culinary director Sarabjit Bajaj founded the restaurant around seasonal menus of fusion comfort food from around the world. In its farewell, the team counted 14 menus and more than 100 cocktails over its run.

The farewell also mentioned Wednesdays. The restaurant ran a Dine for a Cause program on Wednesday nights, and management told Danville San Ramon it had "helped us raise more than $100,000 to give back to the community that gave so much to us."

A new restaurant can take over a corner and keep serving dinner, the way Rancho Cantina did at Hartz and Church. A recurring night where local groups could count on a share of the evening's business doesn't come with the lease.

Virtue + Vice's own website may still show older seasonal information and a reservation widget. The restaurant's closing announcement is the more reliable signal.

What comes next on Hartz

The corner at 501 Hartz shows how long a restaurant handoff can take. The transition was announced in March, and Rancho Cantina's soft opening came in late August, about five months later, after a remodel, permits and a state liquor license.

In the meantime, here's a short list to try before the holidays:

1. Le Jardinet at 100 Hartz for flowers and a one-off antique gift. Check the current hours first.
2. Rancho Cantina at 501 Hartz for a margarita on the veranda while October evenings still allow it.
3. Nordstrom Local at the Livery for holiday returns that would otherwise mean a mall trip.
4. Chronic Tacos on Diablo Road for a quick lunch.

If your nonprofit, team or school group used to rely on a Wednesday at Virtue + Vice, it's worth asking the newer Hartz Avenue businesses whether they plan to run something similar.

I keep an eye on which storefronts open and close downtown because it affects what it's like to live within walking distance of Hartz Avenue, and that's part of how homes nearby are valued. If you're wondering what this year's changes on Hartz mean for your own place, Danville Real Estate Company is happy to talk it through. Let's Connect.