Montclair Village Is Rearranging Itself Before the Holiday Stroll

In September, sandwich boards went up around Montclair Village with a name nobody had seen there before. They were advertising Piggie's, a mother-daughter bistro moving into the space behind Safeway where Pagarung Thai Cuisine had served curries and summer rolls since 2005. One of the owners told the East Bay Times where the name came from. "We were also both born in the year of the pig," said Alex Piyapanee, who runs it with her mother, Nat Kongthai.

That sign is a small example of what's happening across the Village this fall. Almost none of the change is new square footage. The newcomers are moving into rooms residents have known for years: the Pagarung space, the old Grinders on Antioch Court, and the big former Rite Aid on Mountain Boulevard. Once one of those moves is finished, it's expected to empty a different storefront across the street. While all this shuffling goes on, the Montclair Village Association is painting the gaps. By the Holiday Stroll on Thursday, Dec. 10, the Village will look different, even though the count of empty windows hasn't simply dropped.

The pharmacy crossing Mountain Boulevard sets the scale

The CVS move is the biggest piece of this, and it shows the pattern most clearly. Rite Aid gave up its 27,000-square-foot space at 1991 Mountain Blvd. when it closed in July 2025 during its bankruptcy liquidation. That left the space dark for more than a year. In mid-September, Ginny Prior's "Eye on the Hills" column in the East Bay Times reported that the lights were on and merchandise was filling the shelves. CVS had leased the space and was expected to finish moving by December.

Moving to a bigger store fills one gap and opens another. The same column said the move would leave CVS's "relatively small space across the street vacant." CVS's store locator lists that store at 2000 Mountain Blvd. Once the move is done, the change is mostly about where the empty space sits. A big, long-empty box comes back to life on one side of Mountain Boulevard, and a smaller storefront opens up on the other.

Behind Safeway, a new kitchen in an old room

The restaurant side of the Village is shifting the same way, through new operators taking over familiar addresses. Oaklandside's Nosh reported that Pagarung put up a handwritten sign in August announcing its permanent closure after about two decades. A few weeks later, the East Bay Times reported that Bay Bridge Hospitality LLC had filed for an ownership change at 6200 Antioch St.

The new kitchen is Piggie's. In its Oct. 6 report, the East Bay Times described the owners' plan for brunch and dinner Tuesday through Sunday. Piyapanee worked as a bartender and sommelier at Daughter Thai for 11 years. Her mother has a hotel background and wrote many of the recipes. Piyapanee expects her mom's morning porridge, a savory oatmeal with assorted mushrooms, to be a signature dish. An Asian braised pork dish is planned as well, which fits the name. In the same report she said she wants a playful menu with "Asian flavor surprises." The Montclair Village Association listed Piggie's Bistro at 6200 Antioch St. among the businesses taking part in its Oct. 25 Halloween event.

On Antioch Court, a sandwich shop for a sandwich shop

A block away, the Grinders space on Antioch Court is also getting a new tenant from the same food category. The East Bay Times reported that banh mi fans were waiting for Go Banh Mi to open there, after Grinders had held the space for many years. The Village association lists the business as Go Banh Mi & Tea at 2066 Mountain Blvd.

Go Banh Mi's website describes the Montclair location as catering-only, with a $200 minimum. It lists walk-in and individual pickup orders as coming soon. The menu includes Vietnamese sandwiches with grilled meats, tofu, and fried egg.

Perle's parklet became the Village's first canvas

The one closed storefront without a named successor is the former Perle at 2058 Mountain Blvd. Oaklandside reported that it opened in 2017 as a California-French restaurant, closed briefly in 2025, came back as Perle Bar with a California-Vietnamese menu, and shut for good in August after nine years.

Rather than leaving the space bare, the association got to work on what sits in front of it. The wooden dining parklet Perle built during the pandemic had gone weathered and drab. It now carries a painted garden of Indian Paintbrush, California Tidytips, and Lupine. That mural launched Montclair Blooms, a community effort the association's executive director, Daniel Swafford, described to the East Bay Times as a way for public art to "sprout up" in the Village, attract business, and bring the community together.

The project is led by Minnie Bredouw, a Montclair artist and former creative director at Pinterest, working with local artists Nivi Ramesh Brett, Ophelia Ding, and Stephanie Lewis. In the East Bay Times' Oct. 20 column, Bredouw said she has been studying Northern California wildflowers and "thought Matisse-style graphics of our local flowers could bring forth a beautiful visual language for Montclair, nestled in nature." The same column said the next mural may go on the retaining wall near the tennis and pickleball courts. It also noted that the Village parking garage already has art on every level.

The Montclair Blooms page describes murals, native plants, and an updated Village brand, rolled out over the next six to eight months. It takes donations through a GoFundMe. With that timeline, the painting will keep going alongside the tenant changes. The murals are how the association is handling the in-between months while spaces like Perle's wait for their next occupant.

Dec. 10 is the first big night on the new map

The association's posted calendar for 2026 goes from the Oct. 25 Halloween event straight to the 24th Annual Holiday Stroll on Thursday, Dec. 10, from 4 to 8 p.m. That date falls within the December timeframe reported for CVS's move. It's also the first large Village gathering since Piggie's, Go Banh Mi & Tea, and the Perle mural all arrived. Admission and entertainment are free. The Holiday Stroll page lists photos with Santa, live music and caroling, craft beverages, a family zone, holiday shopping, and artisan vendors.

A walk on Stroll night can trace the whole reshuffle in about two blocks:

1. Start at the Perle parklet on Mountain Boulevard, the first Montclair Blooms mural.
2. Cross toward 1991 Mountain Blvd., the old Rite Aid that CVS is taking over, then look across at 2000 Mountain Blvd., the smaller store it plans to leave.
3. Head into Antioch Court for Go Banh Mi & Tea in the former Grinders space.
4. End behind Safeway at 6200 Antioch St., where Piggie's has taken over the old Pagarung room.

The Sunday farmers market at La Salle and Moraga avenues, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., rain or shine, carries the Village through the holiday weekends. The Urban Village Farmers' Market Association says its markets stay open on the Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year holiday weekends, though some vendors may take those days off.

If you'd like to talk about what the turnover along Antioch Court and Mountain Boulevard means for life in the Oakland hills, I'm always glad to compare notes. Tracy Zhou SIR is here whenever you want to connect.