Northampton Street's New Businesses Are Moving Into Old Rooms

"Even in just this 100 block, we've had four new businesses in the last year in what were previously vacant spaces for over six months," Caitlin Hamlin-Myers of the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce told WFMZ when the Chamber celebrated a new cigar lounge below Centre Square.

That quote fits most of what happened on Northampton Street this year. From the 100 block to the 1400 block in the West Ward, the 2026 openings went into spaces that already had a past. One joined a block that has been filling long-vacant storefronts. One took a market stall that had already held two tenants. One revived a basement from the 1920s, one expanded into the shop next door, and one put a new name on a kitchen that was already cooking. The street didn't get bigger. Its rooms changed hands.

The tour below runs from the river end of the street out to the West Ward.

The 100 block filled its empty storefronts first

Legends, at 154 Northampton St., held its grand-opening celebration on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026, according to lehighvalleylive. Easton native Larry Holmes Jr. co-owns it. WFMZ reported that it's the only cigar bar downtown. It serves premium cigars, cocktails and quick bites, and its kitchen covers 1,500 square feet and can handle large parties. It's open Wednesday through Sunday, and it plans to screen fight nights featuring his father's classic bouts. Heavyweight champion Larry Holmes is the same Larry Holmes whose work helped redevelop the Easton waterfront.

"When we designed this, I really wanted it to feel like you were sitting in your living room," Jonelle Holmes told WFMZ.

More may be coming to the same block. In July, The Morning Call reported that Marcy's Hamburgers planned to move to 125 Northampton St., with a target of August or September 2026. The research didn't find a report confirming the move is finished, so check before you head over for a burger.

At 325 Northampton, the same stall has a third tenant

Walk a couple of blocks west past the Circle to the Easton Public Market. There, Tortuga Club opened on Wednesday, July 1, WFMZ reported. According to lehighvalleylive, the stall's most recent tenant was Cluck N' Shuck, and Silvershell Counter + Kitchen held it before that. CJ Moyer, Jean Jimenez and Jessica Watson run Tortuga.

The menu has traditional and house-style tacos, quesadillas and tortas, with sides like ceviche, fries and nachos, plus margaritas and other cocktails. As of June 2026, the market itself was open these hours:

Those are the building's hours. Tortuga may keep a shorter schedule, so plan a Tuesday taco run carefully.

At 431 Northampton, the room's history became the business plan

One block west, Easton Speakeasy & Dining Room starts ticketed events in mid-October at 431 Northampton St. Private events are planned for next year. Co-owners Aaron Coleman and Tony Austin told The Morning Call that the neighbor who sold them the building said the basement had been a speakeasy in the 1920s. Around a corner of that basement, they found an old doorway from the building next door, where visitors had signed their names and the year.

They built the venue around that story. The first-floor dining room has glass chandeliers and a baby grand piano. Downstairs, the basement has a mirror bar, a fireplace, lounge seating, and the sealed entrance that once led next door. The building holds up to 70 people. Ticketed events have formal dress codes and include Mimi's Drag Brunch Melodies, jazz, burlesque, stand-up comedy and vaudeville.

The venue also brings in food from established Easton restaurants. Its listed catering partners are Porter's Pub, Aman's Artisan Indian Cuisine, Meli, Colonial Pizza & Spaghetti House, Stoke Coal Fire Pizza & Bar and Sette Luna. So a night at 431 also serves food from kitchens a few blocks away. Coleman is board vice chair of the Easton Area Chamber of Commerce, and Austin is an architect.

In the West Ward, existing businesses are growing in place

Farther out Northampton Street, the changes come from businesses that were already open.

Plants + Coffee at 1458 Northampton St. is expanding into the space next door, where Mystery Box Games ran until its final day on Aug. 30. The board game cafe had opened as Punch Out Games in 2022, near Circle Park. Co-owner Jenny DeLorenzo, who runs the cafe with her husband Brandt, told The Morning Call she hopes to finish the expansion by the end of the year. The plans include:

• More seating
• A test kitchen, so the cafe can make more pizza bagels and serve soups and salads beyond the fall season
• More plants, bringing back the retail side of The Curious Plantaholic, the couple's Nazareth plant shop that closed in 2025
• More books from Jojo's Book Nook, the shop barista Jocelyn "Jojo" Schienholz opened inside the cafe
• Possibly later hours for coffee and retail after the kitchen closes, plus takeout bagels and cream cheese, which are still under discussion

Jojo's Book Nook only began this summer. It announced a June 26 grand opening and stocks romance, mystery, thriller, fantasy and books by LGBTQ+ authors. In under six months, a bookshop opened inside a cafe, and now the cafe is taking the storefront next door partly to give that bookshop more room.

Eight blocks east, Salaam Bros announced a grand opening this Saturday, Oct. 10, at 1300 Northampton St., with free Nashville hot chicken sandwiches from 3 to 5 p.m., Lehigh Daily reported. The address and listing are shared with Salaam Arabian Kitchen, which has served there since at least 2024. The report says it's unclear whether the new name replaces the old one or runs alongside it.

The full ledger, address by address

Taken together, here's what each address on Northampton Street held before and what it holds now, as of early October 2026.

Every row describes a room that was already there. The only change is who's running it.

One stop off Northampton Street

On the South Side, the J's Steaks & Subs food truck has been soft-opening at the Weyerbacher Brewing Co. taproom, 905 Line St. Aleea and Brandon Clawson, a husband-and-wife team, operate the truck, WFMZ reported. Ed Lozano, who owns both the truck and the brewery, told The Morning Call in August that he expected a grand opening "by Oct. 1, if not sooner." The research didn't find a report confirming that event happened, so check the truck's own channels for its current schedule.

The next few weeks on the street, in order

1. Saturday, Oct. 10: Salaam Bros launch at 1300 Northampton St., with free sandwiches from 3 to 5 p.m.
2. Mid-October: Easton Speakeasy & Dining Room begins ticketed events at 431 Northampton St.
3. By the end of 2026: Plants + Coffee targets finishing its expansion into 1458 Northampton St.
4. Unconfirmed: Marcy's Hamburgers' move to 125 Northampton St.

What happens to a building after its first tenant leaves has been one of the most useful things to track in Easton this year. Northampton Street's 2026 additions all fit in rooms that existed in 2025.

If you want to talk through what this kind of turnover means for a home a few blocks off Northampton Street, whether you're selling a West Ward rowhome or still deciding which end of the street fits you, Jamie Elstner is glad to walk through it with you. Let's Connect.