The old Cilantro Cocina Mexicana storefront on Dixie Highway isn't sitting empty anymore. Earlier this year, a new owner took over the space with plans to have the doors open by late spring. A few blocks over on Ridge Road, 69 Prime spent part of the year working through a village-backed upgrade to its building. And on a Tuesday night that used to be quiet, the parking lot outside Maple Tree Inn is full.
None of this is coincidence. Three of the most talked-about restaurant changes in Homewood this year share a detail that doesn't show up in the Yelp reviews or the "look what's new" posts: the Village itself put money, licensing, or both behind every one of them. That's a different kind of momentum than an independent operator taking a personal risk on a vacant building, and it means the downtown you've been walking through all summer is being built on purpose, not by accident.
The Burger Concept That Came With a Trustee's Blessing
Back in February 2026, Antoine Washington bought the shuttered Cilantro Cocina Mexicana property at 18755 Dixie Highway. He's not new to the restaurant business. He currently owns 20 other restaurants across the southwest suburbs, and the concept going into that Dixie Highway space, 3B Burger-Bird-Brews House, is a brand he built specifically to franchise. He's already got another location going up in Posen.
The Homewood Village Board approved his Class 5 liquor license at its March 24, 2026 meeting, clearing the way for a burger-and-chicken concept that was targeting a May opening. Village Trustee Lauren Roman was on the board that night, and her reaction is worth sitting with:
"I'm excited to see that restaurant space get revived and come back to life."
That's a public official talking about a specific, previously dark storefront on a specific street. It's a small window into how deliberately the Village is tracking which corners of downtown sit empty and how quickly it's willing to move once someone's ready to fill them.
69 Prime's Facelift Is Partly Paid For By the Village
If 3B Burger-Bird-Brews House shows the Village clearing the path for a newcomer, 69 Prime shows something different: the Village writing a check to help an existing, successful restaurant upgrade itself.
On February 10, 2026, the Village entered into a formal redevelopment agreement with Paul Spass and 69 Prime LLC under Homewood's Business Incentive Program. The agreement covers upgrades to the restaurant's building at 2034 Ridge Road, which sits inside the Village's B-1 downtown core district. This isn't a startup asking for a break. It's a steakhouse that's already built a following asking the Village to help it look the part on one of downtown's most visible corners, and the Village said yes.
Line these two stories up next to Maple Tree Inn's permanent relocation to Homewood and Stoney Point Grill's new location downtown, and a pattern comes into focus:
| What Changed Downtown in 2026 | Location | The Village's Role |
|---|---|---|
| 3B Burger-Bird-Brews House | 18755 Dixie Highway | Approved Class 5 liquor license, March 24, 2026 |
| 69 Prime | 2034 Ridge Road | Business incentive agreement for building upgrades, Feb. 10, 2026 |
| Maple Tree Inn | Downtown Homewood | Established Cajun/Creole restaurant relocated here permanently |
| Stoney Point Grill | Downtown Homewood | Opened a new Homewood location |
None of these is a first-time operator gambling on an unproven block. They're proven brands and established institutions, and where the Village had a lever to pull, it pulled it.
The Farmers Market Just Grew Into the Same Footprint the Village Wants to Redevelop
Homewood's Farmers Market has been running for more than 40 years, and the 2026 season is its biggest yet. Vendor counts pushed past 50 on select Saturdays this summer, and for the first time the market physically expanded onto Chestnut Road, spilling out of its usual Martin Avenue Square footprint. Events Manager Marla Youngblood called it "an expanded footprint and even more to offer our residents and visitors," and if you've been to the market this year, you've felt that expansion firsthand in the crowd and the vendor lineup.
Here's the part that doesn't show up in the market announcements: that Chestnut Road expansion is happening in the same three-block downtown core where the Village has proposed its largest transit-oriented development in Homewood's 133-year history. The project sites, at 2066 Ridge Road and 2024 Chestnut Road, are slated for a mixed-use redevelopment with market-rate apartments, private terraces, and concierge-style amenities, under Holladay Properties, the Village's named preferred developer. The Village's own timeline targets a 2026 groundbreaking with a fourth-quarter 2027 opening.
That doesn't mean your Saturday morning market disappears next weekend. It means the physical shape of downtown Homewood, the same sidewalks the market just grew into, is on a construction clock that starts within the next year or so. If you've gotten used to strolling from the produce stand across Chestnut Road to grab coffee, that particular walk has an expiration date attached to a redevelopment timeline, not a rumor.
For what it's worth, there are six Saturdays left in this year's outdoor market season, running through October 10 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. That's this version of downtown Homewood, expanded footprint and all, before anything on Chestnut Road starts to change.
Homewood's Event Calendar Doesn't Stop at the Market
The market isn't the only thing that fills a Homewood weekend. The Village runs a full slate of downtown events each year, centered mostly on Martin Avenue Square, including Drivin' the Dixie, the Art & Garden Street Fair, Starry Nights Concerts, and Dog Days of Summer. Most of those have already had their turn for the year. What's still ahead as the market plays out its final six Saturdays is the Village's Fall Fest, which typically lands downtown as the season winds down. Exact dates shift year to year, so check the Village's community events page before you build a weekend around it.
What's changed isn't which events exist. It's that they're now happening against a backdrop of a downtown that's quietly being reshaped by the Village's own money and licensing in a way it wasn't a couple of years ago. A stroll from the farmers market to 69 Prime for dinner, or a stop at 3B Burger-Bird-Brews House on your way downtown, is a different kind of evening than it would have been in 2024, and it's one the Village had a direct hand in creating.
What This Means If You Live Here
None of this requires you to do anything. You don't need to rush to try 3B Burger-Bird-Brews House before it's "discovered," and the farmers market isn't going anywhere this season. But it's worth knowing why downtown suddenly feels like it has more going on than it did two summers ago. It's not that Homewood got lucky with a wave of independent restaurateurs taking chances on empty storefronts. It's that the Village put its own money, licensing, and redevelopment plans behind specific corners of downtown, and the results are the ones you've been walking past all year.
If you're the kind of resident who likes knowing the mechanics behind the changes on your own street, that curiosity doesn't stop at restaurants. The Lauren Roman Group keeps close tabs on what's actually happening in Homewood and the other south suburban and Northwest Indiana communities we work in, from downtown redevelopment plans to the small print in a Village Board agenda. If you're ever curious what any of this means for your own home's value, especially with a project like the Ridge Road and Chestnut Road redevelopment on the horizon, get your free home valuation and we'll walk you through it.
