Store-closing signs hang in both front windows at 1417 Lincoln Avenue. A Funke's has sold clothes in Calistoga for nearly a century, and someone has sold clothes at that address since 1953. Down the avenue at the Mount View Hotel, the bar that started life in a parking lot just added a 68-seat indoor room.
These two changes on the same street this fall point the same way. The places opening and expanding downtown are designing for colder months and for the people who live here. The shop stepping back built its trade on visitors who forgot a swimsuit.
A Patio Bar Builds a Winter Room
Robert Jones opened Robert's Tropical Table on the Mount View's patio at 1457 Lincoln Ave. in June 2024, serving Caribbean-leaning cocktails and small bites. According to Calistoga Currents, the space now draws locals as much as visitors, with movies in the back and live music out front near the street.
The patio was the hard part. In past winters, Jones moved inside to a bar he called the Rum Room in the hotel's former Veraison space. It was cozy but much smaller than the patio. The Escape, which opened Oct. 14 with a Calistoga Chamber of Commerce ribbon-cutting the next day, holds up to 68 people. The plan is jazz inside, reggae on the patio and a growing menu of Caribbean-inspired small plates. Posted hours run 3 to 10 p.m. Monday and Wednesday through Friday and 1 to 10 p.m. on weekends. It's closed Tuesdays.
Calistoga Currents framed the move in terms every outdoor operator in town shares, since keeping a mostly open-air restaurant going through the colder, wetter months is a problem they all face. The Escape is one answer to that problem, and its timing puts a new indoor room on Lincoln Avenue just ahead of December.
The Newer Tables Were Priced for Neighbors
The Escape is part of a larger pattern. Two downtown restaurants that opened within the past year were described this summer as settled into regular service, and both lean on a local audience.
Eight North reaches its first anniversary this month. It opened in November 2025 at 1374 Lincoln Ave., in the former Brannan's Grill space, which had sat vacant for nearly a decade. Betsy and Sarah Lawer of Lawer Estates own it, and their Calistoga and Knights Valley vineyards supply much of the wine list. The list also rotates in local wineries that don't have storefronts of their own. Executive chef Abby Burk builds the menu around a wood-fired grill.
Five Senses, Spencer Conaty's modern Japanese restaurant at 1227 Lincoln Ave., centers on a 25-foot sushi bar. Conaty has said he priced the menu with residents in mind, though checks can climb with items like bigeye tuna flown in from Japan. Its 3 to 5 p.m. happy hour has become a favorite window for locals. As of late July, it served Wednesday through Sunday, 3 to 8:30 p.m.
Gregg Lamer planned Bubbles Calistoga at 1120 Washington St. as a sparkling-wine bar and retail shop in the former Mangia Mi space. Lamer told Calistoga Currents that "bubbles should be consumed on a daily basis. They should be accessible to everyone." He described the shop as "sort of like a third place." His September plans set an Oct. 1 opening with hours of noon to 7 p.m., Thursday through Monday, and a shelf of tinned fish, olives and sauces alongside the pours.
| Place | Address | What's new | Key detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Escape at Robert's Tropical Table | 1457 Lincoln Ave. | Indoor bar and restaurant, opened Oct. 14 | Seats up to 68; closed Tuesdays |
| Eight North | 1374 Lincoln Ave. | First anniversary, November 2026 | Wood-fired grill; Lawer Estates wines |
| Five Senses | 1227 Lincoln Ave. | Open within the past year | 3 to 5 p.m. happy hour |
| Bubbles Calistoga | 1120 Washington St. | Planned sparkling-wine bar and shop | Plans called for noon to 7 p.m., Thursday through Monday |
| Funke's | 1417 Lincoln Ave. | Progressive closing sale | Lease ends at the end of February |
Funke's and the Limits of Visitor Traffic
The story of Funke's starts in 1927, when Lambert Funke, a tailor from Napa, opened a shop on Washington Street. He later moved around the corner to 1407 Lincoln Ave., then in 1953 to 1417 Lincoln, with a steam press and a commercial sewing machine in the back. His granddaughter, Donna Dill, and her husband, Bruce, still own the building.
The stock has stayed close to what it has long been: bathing suits, Tommy Bahama shirts, Brighton jewelry and the Kühl brand. Calistoga Currents reported that many customers are visitors who forgot a swimsuit, and some return every year. Owner Lizann Jovanovich cited rising insurance, tariffs and thinner visitor traffic among the reasons the shop became too much to carry.
"It's for sale if someone wants to buy it," Jovanovich told the outlet. "And if no one wants to buy it, then I'm planning to close when my lease is up in February." The business has been listed for sale for about a year. A progressive sale started at 20% off everything in the store.
Set beside The Escape and Five Senses, Funke's shows the same seasonal math from the other side. A shop built around summer guests depends on visitor traffic holding up, and the newer rooms downtown are designed to fill on an ordinary winter weeknight.
One Weekend When the Visitors Return
The first weekend of December is the exception, when the town fills from outside. The Calistoga Lighted Tractor Parade began in the late 1990s as a small community event. The City of Calistoga now describes it as bringing tens of thousands of people to town to kick off the holiday season. The 2026 calendar runs like this:
- Friday, Dec. 4, 5 to 7:30 p.m. Merry & Bright Night at Brannan Center. Admission is free and needs no reservation. The evening includes photos with Santa, gingerbread-house building, CJUSD musical ensembles, and food trucks and holiday treats. The tree lighting is at 7 p.m. sharp on the Dawn Terrace. The City lists Brannan Center at 1407 3rd Street.
- Saturday, Dec. 5, 7 to 8 p.m. Lighted Tractor Parade. Lighted and decorated tractors, construction and utility vehicles, and floats roll through town. Entries are limited to the first 50 complete submissions, through a participation form run by the Calistoga Chamber of Commerce.
- Saturday, Dec. 19. Tuba Christmas. Brannan Center lists its second annual Tuba Christmas as a free event.
Parade weekend is also the first big test for the indoor rooms that opened this fall. A town expecting tens of thousands of guests on a December Saturday now has more seats behind walls along Lincoln Avenue than it had a year ago. For Funke's, it may be among the last parade weekends at 1417 Lincoln.
The Fairgrounds Plan Asks the Same Question at Larger Scale
The decision to build for people who stay through the winter is also in play at the 72-acre Calistoga Fairgrounds. On Oct. 29, at the Tucker Building, Fairgrounds Advisory Committee member David Gates, a land planner, presented a concept plan. It keeps the speedway, the RV park and a shorter golf course, and it ties the property together with a loop of paths and plazas, a river trail, and new sports and cultural areas. The drawing includes a stage Gates said could seat about 4,000 people. It also shows a rebuilt pond with a fountain he wants timed to the Old Faithful Geyser.
Gates called it a starting point with no cost study behind it, and he asked for critique. Calistoga Currents quoted him at the meeting:
"Beat it up. Throw rocks at it. It's OK. Now's the time."
The city posted the concept on Oct. 30 and is inviting comments through its David Gates Fairgrounds Concept Plan page. The City Council has not approved it. Committee Chair Karen Jensen said the next step is a community meeting with the plan posted and some options to choose among. The plan also arrives as the city reviews three requests for proposals due in November. Gates said the plan gives the council a baseline for judging the operators who respond.
The comment window is open now, during the same weeks The Escape is filling its first winter and Funke's is working through its closing sale.
When Lincoln Avenue changes hands, the owners of nearby homes and historic commercial buildings often start asking what that means for them. If this fall's turnover downtown has you wondering where your Calistoga property stands heading into 2027, Lauren Lawson and The Peterson Lawson Group can walk you through it with discretion. Request a Confidential Home Valuation.