"This tour will allow folks to travel around the world by taking an easy stroll across town," Max Gray told Jersey Bites about "Taste of Millburn." That's the guided food walk his company, Chow Town Food Tours, runs downtown on Sunday, Nov. 15. By the time that article ran on Oct. 18, the Starbucks at 343 Millburn Avenue had been closed for three weeks.
Downtown Millburn lost its best-known national coffee brand this fall. Its business district responded by putting money behind a tour of the chef-run, internationally minded places that make up most of the street.
The Chain Left on Its Own Schedule
The Millburn Starbucks closed by Sunday, Sept. 27. The Short Hills Sentinel reported it was one of only two New Jersey stores caught in the company's cut of 250 North American locations. The other was in Willingboro. In its Sept. 24 letter to employees, Starbucks said the closures targeted stores that could not deliver acceptable financial results or the experience it wants. The 250 stores were roughly 1% of its North American locations.
That was a decision about a national store portfolio, made far from Millburn Avenue. A second departure was closer to home. Casa de Natas, which Montclair Girl listed in 2025 as a Portuguese cafe at 348 Millburn Avenue, under the spelling Casa Das Natas, is also gone. Both closures appear in the economic vitality report Michelle Lemieux prepared for the Oct. 22 annual meeting of Explore Millburn-Short Hills, the town's business improvement district. The Sentinel's summary notes that the agenda materials gave no reason for either closing.
Who Moved In Along the Same Blocks
The newcomers are clustered within a few doors of the empty storefronts, and almost none are chains.
Address | Business | Status this fall |
|---|---|---|
343 Millburn Ave. | Starbucks | Closed by Sept. 27 |
348 Millburn Ave. | Casa de Natas | Closed |
346 Millburn Ave. | Peel'd Juice Bar | Soft opening expected the weekend of Oct. 16 |
321 Millburn Ave. | YK Salon | Opened Oct. 6; ribbon cutting Nov. 12 |
27 Main St. | Dilli Dilli | New Delhi–focused Indian restaurant |
35 Main St. | Willow & Whisk | Breakfast, brunch, and lunch |
515 Millburn Ave. | Roa Coffee | Lease signed; waiting on a zoning vote |
730 Morris Turnpike, Short Hills | Burn Boot Camp | Targeting an opening by year-end |
Dilli Dilli shows best what kind of business is choosing downtown Millburn right now. Owners Gaurav Anand and Vipul Gupta started the restaurant in Times Square, and its menu traces the street food of Old Delhi and the bistros of New Delhi. The brand's locations page lists just two addresses: West 47th Street in Manhattan and Main Street in Millburn. Able Atoubi, part of the founding team, told Millburn Matters that the move was deliberate. "We're not chasing the next Manhattan location," she said. "We're answering a call from a community that's been waiting for this."
A few doors down, Willow & Whisk lists daily hours of 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 35 Main Street, with OpenTable reservations for brunch and lunch. So a Main Street block that used to be a quick-coffee stop now has a sit-down breakfast room and a Delhi kitchen.
What the Tour Is Built to Show Off
Explore Millburn-Short Hills isn't just watching the turnover. At its Sept. 17 meeting, Gray pitched the walking tour to the board, which voted unanimously to negotiate an agreement with Chow Town. The district also agreed to subsidize tickets with a $25 promo code, capped at $500 in total. That cap covers about 20 discounted tickets, so the discount will be easy to miss if you wait.
The district is backing a specific story. Chow Town's tour page opens by asking how many international cuisines Millburn has, then lists the kinds of stops guests will visit:
- A Greek taverna serving huge olives, fresh pita, kebabs, and souvlaki
- American fusion from the culinary outpost at one of the region's most popular cultural destinations
- Custom cookies from a mom-and-pop bakery overlooking the Millburn historic green
- Inventive ice cream from a popular local shop
- Drink pairings, historical landmarks, and local murals
The Jersey Bites listing adds kati rolls, samosas, and artisanal desserts from an Indian-inflected, locally owned cafe. Every stop on both lists is described by the people who run it, with no franchise anywhere. Gray promises "secrets that even locals don't know about," and the Chow Town page says the tour is designed for visitors and longtime locals alike.
The "cultural destination" stop links to the district's other bet this fall. At the same meeting, the board approved a $1,875 cooperative marketing grant for Paper Mill Playhouse. The grant was tied to a state grant and required the theater to put Explore Millburn-Short Hills QR codes on its marketing materials and handouts. Paper Mill's 2026–27 subscription season includes Mary Poppins, Lend Me A Tenor, and Million Dollar Quartet. Every one of those audiences now gets a nudge toward dinner on Millburn Avenue.
The Coffee Shop Waiting on a Vote
Downtown's next independent coffee shop already has a lease, but it doesn't have a decision. Will Lee, owner of Roa Coffee, told the Township Committee on Oct. 6 that he had signed a five-year lease at 515 Millburn Avenue. According to TAPinto Millburn/Short Hills, he had begun the approval process after a Sept. 8 letter from the zoning officer described a coffee shop there as a conditional use. Lee said a proposed ordinance introduced a week before that letter would make the use unavailable at his location if it passed as written.
That measure, Ordinance 2769-26, would change the rules for restaurants and other food-service uses in the B-3 Neighborhood Business district. The Planning Board found it "not inconsistent" with the Master Plan in a unanimous Sept. 16 vote. It grew out of a months-long push by nearby residents to restore restaurant protections relaxed during the pandemic. At the committee's Aug. 11 meeting, residents asked for a 125-foot restaurant setback in the B-2 and B-3 districts, citing noise, odors, and refuse.
Neighbors are asking for buffers from kitchens while the business district pays to promote them. The committee tabled the vote from Oct. 6 to Oct. 20. As of Oct. 23, the Sentinel reported that the Oct. 20 result had not appeared in public records. The committee meets next on Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 7 p.m.
Planning Around the Fifteenth
If you're booking the tour, here are the details:
- When: Sunday, Nov. 15, 1 to 4 p.m.
- Cost: $90 per ticket, before the Explore promo code
- Distance: About one mile of easy, flat walking
- Meeting point: Sent with your ticket purchase
- Booking: Through the Chow Town tour page
Several other downtown dates fall around the tour:
- Friday, Oct. 30, 2:30 to 6 p.m. Explore Millburn-Short Hills holds its annual Halloween event, the day after this post appears.
- Tuesday, Nov. 10, 7 p.m. The Township Committee meets next, with Ordinance 2769-26 still unresolved in public records as of Oct. 23.
- Thursday, Nov. 12. YK Salon holds its ribbon cutting at 321 Millburn Avenue.
- Sunday, Nov. 15, 1 to 4 p.m. Taste of Millburn.
- Friday, Dec. 11, and Saturday, Dec. 12, 5 to 8 p.m. Winter Villages moves to Lot 6 this year because of expected construction at Town Hall Plaza.
The move to Lot 6 is a small sign of what next year holds. Downtown will spend part of the winter working around construction at Town Hall Plaza, and the shops and kitchens on the table above are the ones that will be open while it happens.
If you're a Millburn or Short Hills homeowner watching your own block change, from new storefronts to a zoning vote near your street, I'm glad to talk through what those changes could mean for your home's value and your timing. Richa Garg works with clients across Millburn and Short Hills. Book an Appointment whenever you're ready for that conversation.
