Where do you go for a night out in downtown Richardson this weekend? For most of 2026 the answer started with the cones on Main Street. That's no longer true. Main Street's peak-hour lanes reopened in July, and the fall openings have arrived. Most of them aren't on Main Street, though.
As of the last week of October, the busiest new spot in The CORE District sits on the Central Expressway frontage. The big fall festival is moving to the park on Interurban Street. Main Street's own new tenants have signed on and posted target dates, but they aren't open yet. And the city scheduled Polk Street to close to traffic for paving starting the week of Oct. 19. For the rest of 2026, downtown is busiest on its edges while the middle catches up.
The busiest new address in The CORE faces the highway
Truck Yard opened Sept. 1, 2026 at 740 S. Central Expressway. The Dallas Morning News reports the beer garden seats more than 600 people. It's on the old Old 75 Beer Garden site. That place closed in 2024, and the Morning News reported that its founders cited Texas weather concerns.
Truck Yard's answer to the weather is built into the layout. The Morning News describes an indoor room with garage-door walls for climate-controlled dining. Owner Jason Boso told the paper the crowd can run from 40 people on a warm weekday to a few thousand on a pleasant Saturday. The patio has a 1950s and '60s design, with tables made from truck beds. One seating area nods to the Como Motel, a motor lodge that opened on the east side of Central Expressway in the mid-1950s. Boso couldn't buy the original sign, so he had a replica of the diamond-shaped C-O-M-O logo made.
The schedule shapes how this place fits into a week. According to Truck Yard Richardson's posted hours:
- Monday through Wednesday: 4 p.m. to midnight
- Thursday: 11 a.m. to midnight
- Friday and Saturday: 11 a.m. to 2 a.m.
- Sunday: 11 a.m. to midnight
- Guests must be 21 or older after 9 p.m.
That 9 p.m. cutoff matters for families. A Saturday lunch with kids works fine. A late Friday set doesn't. Truck Yard lists live music every day and a rotating food-truck lineup, and it warns that music artists and schedules can change. For Halloween weekend, the food-truck calendar lists Prime Taco and Flaming Grill BBQ on Oct. 31, then Flaming Grill BBQ and Sweet Kiwi on Nov. 1. Check the food-truck page the day you go, since the lineup rotates.
The building next door is lining up the next opening
The Central Expressway frontage won't stop at one business. Community Impact reports that Nashmi, a Jordanian restaurant, is coming to 746 S. Central Expressway, Ste. 100. That's a few address numbers from Truck Yard. The menu centers on shawarma and kebabs, plus fresh-baked bread and fries. It will be Nashmi's first Texas location. As of the Oct. 14 report, the opening date was listed as TBD.
Here's where downtown's new and incoming spots stand going into November:
| Business | Address | What it is | Status, per latest report |
|---|---|---|---|
| Truck Yard | 740 S. Central Expressway | Beer garden, food trucks, live music | Open since Sept. 1, 2026 |
| Nashmi | 746 S. Central Expressway, Ste. 100 | Jordanian street food | Coming soon, date TBD as of Oct. 14 |
| Sire & Sons Smokehouse | 107 E. Main St. | Halal barbecue | Targeting November |
| 1418 Coffee | 200 E. Main St. | Coffee shop | Company site says fall 2026 |
| Lockwood Distilling | 506 Lockwood Drive, Ste. A | Distillery with game nights | Open |
Look at the last column. Only two of the five rows say "open." The highway side and Lockwood Drive have places you can visit tonight. Main Street, which spent the summer under construction, has two signed tenants that are still on the way.
Main Street's turn is coming, a few weeks behind
Main Street's reconstruction was the downtown story for most of the year. On July 2, the City of Richardson reported that all Main Street lanes were open during peak travel times. Crews were still finishing sidewalks, landscaping and other infrastructure, and the city expected every lane to be fully open in August.
Two businesses have committed to the rebuilt street. Sire & Sons Smokehouse is set for 107 E. Main St. Its planned menu includes halal brisket, sausage, burgers and loaded fries. Owner Huzaifah Ali confirmed the November target to Community Impact. Down the block at 200 E. Main St., 1418 Coffee announced its first Richardson location in April with a late-summer target. The 1418 Coffee website now lists Richardson as coming in fall 2026.
Together, they'd give Main Street a morning stop and a dinner stop. Those are the two kinds of visits the rebuilt street can't offer yet. Until they open, plan on finding them closed, and check their own channels before you make a special trip.
The fall festival moved off Main Street too
The city's own event is following the same pattern. The 2026 Culture in The CORE Food and Music Festival runs from noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 7, at Interurban Common. Richardson Today reports that the festival is moving across Interurban Street from its old home at Main Street Plaza. The festival brings together music, dance, food and arts that reflect Richardson's global communities.
The new site is a linear park along Interurban Street between Main and Jackson streets, across from the Belt & Main development. Interurban Common opened in April 2025. It covers about 2.5 acres, with two pavilions, a trail, solar lighting, a seat wall and landscaping, and the city designed it to handle community events. The move puts the festival on a stretch built for crowds. It's also the first time many people will use the park for something bigger than a walk.
A Nov. 7 plan built from what's confirmed open:
- Arrive at Interurban Common around noon, when the festival opens, and eat your way through the vendors before the 4 p.m. close.
- If you want to stay out after the festival, Truck Yard on Central Expressway is open until 2 a.m. on Saturdays, and the 21-and-older rule starts at 9 p.m.
- If Sire & Sons has opened by then, it's on Main Street between the two.
Polk Street is the detour to plan around through mid-December
Downtown's construction isn't quite over. The City of Richardson announced that pavement work on Polk Street would begin the week of Oct. 19. The work closes Polk to traffic from the alley east of Texas Street to Greenville Avenue for about eight weeks, weather permitting. If that schedule holds, the closure runs into mid-December. That covers the festival, Thanksgiving week and the start of the holiday season.
This is the paving phase. It comes after the sanitary sewer and water main work in the area was nearly finished. Once this segment is paved, work moves from the alley toward Interurban Street. That's the street the festival park sits on, so expect construction near Interurban Common after this phase wraps. The city says sidewalks right next to businesses will stay accessible where feasible. Access may be briefly affected during landscaping and new sidewalk work.
For a Nov. 7 trip, plan to come in on Main Street or Interurban Street, not Polk.
The weeknight option that was already here
Lockwood Distilling already has a recurring calendar, while the newer arrivals are still getting started. Community Impact's October profile of the distillery at 506 Lockwood Drive, Ste. A, describes recurring trivia, bingo and game nights, plus occasional special events. Truck Yard is built for big Saturday crowds. Lockwood's game nights cover the weeknights.
So downtown's current pattern looks like this. Weekends center on Truck Yard and the Nov. 7 festival at Interurban Common. Weeknights have Lockwood's game nights. Main Street gets its first new tenants once Sire & Sons and 1418 Coffee open. Polk Street stays closed while those openings arrive.
New openings like these change what living near The CORE District is worth to people. If you own nearby and want to see how your home's value compares with recent sales, the Joseph Bazan team can show you where you stand. Get your instant home valuation, and we'll walk you through the numbers with no pressure.
