Since midsummer, local food coverage has reported eight new or imminent food businesses in Rockland County. Six of them are in the Town of Orangetown. Pearl River has two new restaurants on East Central Avenue. Tappan has one new trattoria and a steakhouse on the way. Sparkill has a new kitchen and bar on Main Street. Orangeburg now has a second location of a gourmet market that Nyack shoppers have known for years. The other two are a hotel restaurant in Nanuet and an approved coffee drive-thru in West Haverstraw that hasn't announced an opening date.
That puts most of this fall's new dining in a single town at the county's southern edge. For anyone already living in Rockland, the useful question this season is which Orangetown hamlet to go to and what kind of meal each one is now set up for.
Here are the addresses:
- Taco Central, 89 East Central Avenue, Pearl River
- Ape in the Kitchen, 20 East Central Avenue, Pearl River
- O Sapore 67, 67 Old Tappan Road, Tappan
- Lugo Steakhouse, 89 Main Street, Tappan, which is targeting a soft opening
- Alma Kitchen & Bar, 623 Main Street, Sparkill
- Old World Food Market, 1A Orangetown Shopping Center, Orangeburg
The Journal News also picked up on the season. Its September 28 Rockland dining roundup said "a host of Rockland eateries have either just opened, changed ownerships or moved," with more on the way, including "a national crave-worthy coffee drive-thru and a family-friendly eatery with a focus on entertainment." Most of the names from this fall that can be confirmed have an Orangetown address.
Pearl River gained two casual dinner options on one street
The Pearl River openings are the most practical of the group. Both are on East Central Avenue, and both are built for a weeknight meal.
Taco Central opened at 89 East Central Avenue with Mexican tacos, burritos and other casual dishes. Its opening was announced in July, and Boozy Burbs reported it open on August 13, 2026.
Ape in the Kitchen is at 20 East Central Avenue and was reported open by August 27, 2026. Chef April "Apes" Camacho Keosky is a Culinary Institute of America graduate who has worked in fine dining and high-volume kitchens. She runs the restaurant with her husband and business partner, Chris Keosky. The restaurant calls its food "First Generation Asian-American Cuisine for the Next Generation." The casual menu covers burgers, rice bowls, noodles, sandwiches and dishes to share. Some plates mix Asian ingredients into American comfort food, and others stay closer to traditional Asian preparations.
These two restaurants show the first thing the Orangetown cluster offers: new casual choices on a street Pearl River residents already use. The Journal News headlined its fall roundup with "Asian fusion," and Ape in the Kitchen is the Asian-American restaurant among this fall's confirmed openings.
Tappan is becoming the place for a reservation
Tappan's two additions are a different kind of meal, the kind you plan ahead for.
O Sapore 67 opened at 67 Old Tappan Road as an Italian vineria, salumeria and trattoria. It's open six days a week by reservation, and Boozy Burbs reported it open by August 17, 2026. Local coverage describes it as family-owned. Because it works by reservation, it suits an anniversary or a dinner with out-of-town guests better than a last-minute plan.
Lugo Steakhouse is next. It's moving into the former Il Portico space at 89 Main Street. The owner, Benny Castro, also runs Basque Tapas Bar in Piermont and Tarrytown. The menu is described as Spanish-influenced: tapas and appetizers alongside Certified Angus Beef cuts, two-pound lobsters and a range of seafood and fish.
As of October 3, Lugo hasn't opened. A September 30 report said it was targeting a soft opening on October 9 and planned to stay in a soft-opening phase through October. The same report later described the start as "sometime in October." The restaurant's website still said "Coming Soon." If you want to try it in the first weeks, check its website before driving over.
Lugo comes from an operator who already runs a restaurant in Rockland, Basque Tapas Bar in Piermont.
Sparkill and Orangeburg fill in the gaps
Pearl River now has casual dinners and Tappan has reservation dining. The last two Orangetown openings cover a night out at the bar and the weekly grocery run.
Alma Kitchen & Bar opened at 623 Main Street in Sparkill and was reported open by October 1, 2026. Owner Brenda Ortiz is the mixologist and leads the bar program, and chef Tatiana Bautista runs the kitchen. The food is New American with global influences. It's the most recently reported opening on this list.
Old World Food Market is the opening that matters most for everyday routines. The Nyack gourmet grocery opened its second location at the Orangetown Shopping Center in Orangeburg. In July, before it opened, the location was described as next to CVS. The store sells prepared foods, catering, gourmet groceries, sandwiches, salads and baked goods.
Owner Andrew Poma started the soft opening on Wednesday, September 23. He told the Journal News he decided it was time to open because so many people were stopping by or calling the Nyack store every day to ask when the new one would be ready. A grand opening will follow once the remaining details are finished, and no date had been announced. You can shop there now, and the official grand opening is still to come.
Old World's expansion follows the same pattern as Lugo's. Both businesses already had a Rockland location, Old World in Nyack and Castro's Basque Tapas Bar in Piermont, and both chose Orangetown for their next one.
The two openings outside Orangetown
The rest of the county did get some new spots, just fewer.
Piebird opened inside the DoubleTree by Hilton at 425 East Route 59 in Nanuet and was reported open by August 20, 2026. It's an American comfort-food restaurant and bar serving breakfast and dinner, with a name and menu inspired by classic American pie. The hotel once had a supper club, which gives the new restaurant a link to the building's past. It's also the one restaurant on this list with a breakfast service.
In West Haverstraw, 7 Brew has municipal approval for a drive-thru at Samsondale Plaza, 45 South Route 9W. A June 2026 report confirmed the approval but gave no opening date, and nothing found since then confirms it has opened. The Journal News roundup mentioned a coming national coffee drive-thru without naming it in the portion available, so treat 7 Brew as a project that's still on its way.
Planning around what's open now
Since the cluster is concentrated in one town, you can plan a few outings in one corner of the county instead of driving across it:
- A weeknight dinner in Pearl River. Taco Central and Ape in the Kitchen are on the same stretch of East Central Avenue, so you can pick one when you get there.
- A booked dinner in Tappan. O Sapore 67 takes reservations six days a week. Lugo Steakhouse, also in Tappan, should be in its soft-opening phase later this month if its October 9 target holds.
- Drinks and a late meal in Sparkill. Alma Kitchen & Bar is the newest of the group, with a cocktail program led by its owner.
- Weekend groceries in Orangeburg. Old World Food Market is in soft opening at the Orangetown Shopping Center, with its grand opening still unscheduled.
The two dates to watch this month are Lugo's targeted October 9 soft opening on Main Street in Tappan and Old World's grand opening in Orangeburg, which hasn't been scheduled yet.
Knowing which hamlet has the new trattoria, which street has the new taco counter and where the gourmet market just opened is part of knowing Rockland. If you're thinking about how life in Pearl River, Tappan, Sparkill or Orangeburg compares with where you live now, Nicole Isaacs can walk you through these hamlets with the same attention to detail. Let's Connect.
