Marco Navarrate grew up in Westmont. His new bakery is directly across the street from his old elementary school. He and Mikayla Machlet, who grew up nearby in the Woodridge and Downers Grove area, met as high school sweethearts more than a decade ago. In late August they opened the Westmont storefront of Beauty and the Baker after years of running the business out of Homer Glen and through wholesale and custom orders.
The bakery is one of two food openings in downtown Westmont that local news covered this season. The other is Rail & Rye on Quincy Street. Several more places are in the works, and most of them first appeared in Village Board records months before any sign went up. A liquor license request, a trustee's comment at the end of a meeting, a note about a mural on an empty building: these are the earliest public signs of what's coming to Cass Avenue and Ogden Avenue. Below are the places you can visit now, followed by what the records say is next.
Two places already open downtown
Rail & Rye opened in early September at 7 W. Quincy St., according to Patch. The focus is bourbon and rye whiskey, with a food menu of Midwestern favorites and bourbon-infused dishes. According to the restaurant's website, the kitchen uses no seed oils. It cooks with butter, avocado oil, olive oil and 100 percent beef tallow.
Appetizers on the menu include Wisconsin cheese curds, saganaki, bourbon-glazed meatballs and a warm whipped feta dip. Wings come with glazes or dry rubs such as Guinness BBQ, Railyard Bourbon, garlic parmesan and Cajun. For mains, there are close to a dozen sandwiches built on a half-pound burger, pulled pork, chicken parmesan or barbecue chicken. Quesadillas, fish and chips, grilled salmon and char-broiled skirt steak round out the menu.
Rail & Rye's hours, as reported by Patch at the end of September, are useful if you're planning around downtown events:
| Days | Hours |
|---|---|
| Tuesday through Thursday | 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. |
| Friday and Saturday | 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. |
| Sunday and Monday | 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. |
Beauty and the Baker is at 204 N. Cass Ave. It held its grand opening on Aug. 25 after two soft openings. The Westmont Chamber of Commerce & Tourism Bureau hosted the ribbon cutting that day. The almond croissant helped build the bakery's reputation before the Westmont shop existed, and it is still one of the top sellers. The cinnamon rolls are close behind, and there is also a peanut butter chocolate version. Customers have called the chocolate caramel bar and the s'mores bar "life changing," according to a Chamber profile published Sept. 25 in Shaw Local.
Machlet's personal favorites are the maple cinnamon pecan croissant, the chocolate caramel bar and the cinnamon chip muffins. Her everyday drink is a vanilla or tiramisu latte. The storefront has a pastel pink exterior, neon signs and a bright interior. "Everything is too sterile and dark nowadays," Navarrate told the Chamber. Popular pastries do sell out. When the owners tell customers an item is gone, Machlet said, the answer is often "Oh good! That's good for you!"
What the Village Board records say is next
Each project below shows up in a Westmont board packet or in meeting minutes from the spring or summer. None of them could be confirmed as open as of Oct. 1, 2026.
| Name | Where | What the public record shows | Status as of Oct. 1, 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cilantro Grill | 15 W. Ogden Ave., in the former Anna's Café space | The June 11 board packet describes an authentic Mexican restaurant and recommends adding a Class 3 liquor license | Opening not confirmed |
| Izakaya Tokyo | Westmont street address not yet published | July 23 board minutes mention an Izakaya Tokyo mural at the former China Chef | Its website lists Westmont as "Coming Soon" |
| Unnamed coffee shop | Cass Avenue and Richmond Street | A trustee said at the April 30 board meeting that it "will be opening" | Name not public in the minutes |
Cilantro Grill has the most detailed paper trail. The Village's June 11 agenda lists Architaben Patel as principal owner of Westmont Cilantro LLC. A summary of that meeting in Citizen Portal reports that the owners expected to open "within two to three months." That would put the target somewhere in August or September. As of Oct. 1, we couldn't find an opening announcement, so it's not confirmed whether the restaurant has opened.
Izakaya Tokyo already has a location in Chicago's Lake View neighborhood, at 3335 N. Halsted St. The restaurant describes itself as a modern Japanese izakaya with shareable small plates such as gyoza, takoyaki and skewers, plus a full bar and karaoke. At the April 30 meeting, a trustee also said a new Asian restaurant would open soon. Those minutes give no name, so it isn't clear whether the trustee meant Izakaya Tokyo.
The Cass and Richmond coffee shop is the hardest to identify. Bacuri Bakery & Cafe, which serves empanadas and single-origin Brazilian coffee, lists an address of 15 S. Cass Ave. on its website. Nothing in the Village record says it is the shop the trustee meant, so treat that as an open question.
Village records also show changes at existing businesses. An August license-cleanup agenda notes that Golden Bowl Restaurant at 6313 S. Fairview Ave. was sold on July 21, 2026, and that the new owners had not yet requested a liquor license. The same agenda records that Margie's Beef & Gyros closed in November 2025.
Saturday, Oct. 17, on Cass Avenue
Wicked West Fest takes over downtown Westmont from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Oct. 17, organized by Westmont Special Events. Everything happens within a few blocks of the new bakery and of Rail & Rye's corner on Quincy. Here is the schedule from the Village's 2026 Wicked West Fest announcement:
- 10 a.m. Sign-up opens for the Halloween Costume Contest on East Irving Street near Cass Avenue. There are six categories.
- 11 a.m. The Pumpkin Smash Extravaganza starts on West Irving Street near Cass. Village departments and public agencies send contestants 20 feet up in a Fire Department bucket truck to drop pumpkins on a target below.
- 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Westmont Chamber runs the Trick or Treat Trail at participating businesses along Cass Avenue.
- 12:30 p.m. Caskets on Cass, a foot race of homemade caskets entered by community organizations, businesses and residents, runs down Cass Avenue.
Later that day, the Westmont Park District's Haunted Forest runs from 3 to 9:30 p.m. at Diane Main Park, 200 W. 59th St. "Little Monsters" runs from 3 to 6:30 p.m., and "Sheer Terror" starts at 7. On a Saturday, Rail & Rye is open until 1 a.m., so the kitchen is still serving after either session ends.
The rest of the fall calendar
Most of the season's other events are downtown too, or a short drive away.
- Sunday, Oct. 4, noon to 4 p.m. The Last Straw at Gregg House Museum, 115 S. Linden Ave., with hayrides, pumpkin decorating sponsored by the Westmont Chamber, a petting zoo, a bake sale and a farmers market on the baseball field warning track. The Garden Club of Downers Grove helps with scarecrow building, and the $15 fee includes the burlap head, straw and a wood stand.
- Through the end of November. The Fall Business Window Mural Program from Westmont Special Events and the Creative Arts Network puts murals in the windows of participating businesses.
- Wednesday, Oct. 14, 5 to 6:30 p.m. Special Effects Makeup for grades 6 through 12 at the Westmont Public Library, 428 N. Cass Ave.
- Thursday, Oct. 15. Mini Pumpkin Painting at the library, with sessions at 4 p.m. for kindergarten through second grade, 5 p.m. for grades 3 through 5, and 6:30 p.m. for teens.
- Thursday, Oct. 22, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Mystery & Horror in the Golden Age of Radio at the library. Some library listings include standard wording about online delivery, so check the format with the library before you go.
- Friday, Oct. 30, 5 to 7 p.m. Spooktacular Fun Night at the Westmont Community Center, 75 E. Richmond St., with free family trick-or-treating, games and crafts.
- Saturday, Nov. 7, 9 a.m. to noon. The Village's pumpkin composting collection. The Pumpkin Smash is partly meant to promote this event. One Village release lists the location as the Westmont Library, and another lists the commuter parking lot next to Village Hall at 31 W. Quincy St. Check with the Village before loading the car.
If you want to know what opens next, the Westmont Village Board agendas are posted publicly before each meeting. Cilantro Grill's liquor license, the coffee shop at Cass and Richmond and the mural at the old China Chef all appeared in Village board records between April and July.
At DPG Real Estate Agency, we keep up with the same Village agendas and Chamber news you just read about, because every new opening on Cass or Ogden changes what a Westmont block offers. If you're curious how downtown's newest openings fit into the bigger picture for your home, we're glad to talk it through. Work With Us.
