Every downtown Peekskill restaurant that opened or reopened this year is in a room that has served food before. K&P Lounge took over a South Street dining room that has had two earlier tenants. Kathleen's Tea Room crossed Main Street into a former restaurant. Yalla Mr. Halal is in an old bakery. Burger Diner came back to its own Bank Street corner after more than two years. The rooms still dark heading into November belong to three places that closed this summer, and as of mid-October none of them has a new tenant.
Seen address by address, here's where things stand.
Who Holds the Room Now
| Address | Earlier tenant | Status this fall |
|---|---|---|
| 911 South St. | Gleason's, then 140 Kitchen | K&P Lounge, open since February |
| 979 Main St. | Ofori's | Kathleen's Tea Room, open since May |
| 922 Main St. | Blondery | Yalla Mr. Halal |
| 1 Bank St. | Burger Diner, before the June 2023 fire | Burger Diner, back since Feb. 6 |
| 970 Main St. | Birdsall House, closed July 26 | Landlord seeking tenants |
| 23 S. Division St. | Gleason's, closed June 28 | No tenant announced |
| 300 Railroad Ave. | The Central, closed Aug. 30 | Closed indefinitely |
The top four rows are the openings. The bottom three are the gaps.
South Street's Third Tenant
The Peekskill Herald reported that K&P Lounge officially opened in February 2026 at 911 South St., with a menu built on Southern soul food and Puerto Rican flavors. Before K&P, the room was Gleason's, which later moved to 23 S. Division St. After that it was 140 Kitchen. If you remember eating at that address under either earlier name, the room is serving food again under a third.
A few blocks away, Peekskill's planning staff described Yalla Mr. Halal at 922 Main St. as a halal takeout and sit-down restaurant in the former Blondery bakery space. When the March 10, 2026 staff report was written, it was offering takeout only. In July, the Peekskill Business Improvement District counted it among downtown's new openings.
The Two Returns That Took Years
The openings that got the most attention this year were really comebacks, and both took a long time.
Burger Diner at 1 Bank St. officially reopened Feb. 6, more than two and a half years after a June 14, 2023 fire caused extensive damage. The Herald's account of the reopening said rebuilding was held up by construction, insurance and permitting. The diner kept its menu, which combines American diner food with Guatemalan dishes. In February it reported hours of 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday through Sunday.
Kathleen's Tea Room had been out even longer. A roof collapse in 2021 closed its original location at 982 Main St. This year the business reopened, for now, across the street at 979 Main St., in the space that used to be Ofori's. According to the Herald's June coverage, it ran a pop-up on April 24 and held a formal opening May 19. It kept its food and its Soul Food Fridays.
The 979 Main St. address also shows how this year's changes connect. Ofori's World Cuisine was on the list of departures that came up in the July community discussion about downtown turnover. By the time that discussion started, Kathleen's had already been open in the former Ofori's room for about two months.
The Rooms Still Waiting
Three places closed this summer, two of them after more than a decade downtown.
- Gleason's, 23 S. Division St. served its last meal June 28 after 14 years in Peekskill. No new tenant has been announced for that space.
- Birdsall House, 970 Main St. closed July 26 after 16 years. In an August 25 report, the building's landlord said he would start looking for tenants.
- The Central, 300 Railroad Ave. at the Metro-North station closed indefinitely at the end of the day on Aug. 30. Its owners said they were reevaluating the operation. In its Sept. 1 report, the Herald said one of the remaining partners planned to talk with the MTA about reorganizing and reopening with a new partner. No reopening has been announced since.
The closures prompted a long public conversation. The Herald covered it in July, and Bill Powers, executive director of the Peekskill Business Improvement District, responded with a list of what was going right: "two new restaurant openings–K&P Lounge and Yalla MR Halal–while two favorites reopened–Kathleen's Tea Room and Burger Diner." All four names on that list are in rooms that had served food before or, in Burger Diner's case, back in the same room.
Powers added that the BID usually knows when a new business is about to open but often hears too late that one is struggling. He invited downtown owners who need confidential help to get in touch. In this year's turnover, every reopened room had someone ready to take it on, while the empty rooms are waiting on a landlord's search or a partners' negotiation.
The Places That Didn't Change
Some of downtown hasn't changed at all. Ruben's Mexican Cafe at 12 N. Division St. has been run by owner Ruben Alvarez for 21 years. Slainte Peekskill at 21 S. Division St. opened in August 2023. Both were stops on an Oct. 4 tour of downtown businesses with state and city officials, which the Herald covered. Slainte at 21 S. Division St. and the empty former Gleason's room at 23 S. Division St. are only a couple of street numbers apart.
Terra Dulce Bakery at 1049 Main St. is another steady name. It's a family-run Chilean bakery serving traditional pastries, cakes, sandwiches and coffee. It marks its fifth anniversary this month.
What's on the Downtown Calendar Through Thanksgiving
These are the next dates that bring people downtown:
- Saturday, Oct. 24: Pumpkin painting in Pugsley Park, with costumes and Halloween music encouraged. At 11 a.m., a ribbon cutting celebrates Terra Dulce Bakery's fifth anniversary.
- Saturdays through Nov. 21: The Peekskill Farmers Market on Bank Street, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The market sits on the same street as Burger Diner.
- Friday, Oct. 30: Trunk or Treat, 6 to 8 p.m., at 1141 Main St., according to the city calendar.
- Sundays through the Sunday before Thanksgiving: The Peekskill Flea Market on James Street between Main and Park. Destination Peekskill's event listings show market dates on Oct. 31, Nov. 1, Nov. 7 and Nov. 8.
The Public Spaces Changing Next
The Downtown Civic Hub at North Division and Park streets is funded by Peekskill's $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative award. It's expected to be finished in December and will improve the flagpole area on the west side of Division Street and add new pedestrian seating.
The Paramount Hudson Valley Theater at 1008 Brown St. is also getting DRI money. The project architect told the Herald in early October that renovations were about 50 percent done, the marquee restoration was 95 percent done, and full completion was expected by summer 2027. Planned work includes the facade, a renovated lobby and bar, a new gallery, a new concession area, accessible raised seating, courtyard improvements and a six-foot stage expansion.
Questions about a downtown Peekskill storefront, whether you're a business owner thinking about one of this year's empty rooms or an owner deciding what comes next for your building, are the kind of local commercial and leasing work McGrath Realty has handled across the Hudson Valley since 1962. Contact McGrath Realty to talk through what a specific address could support.
