A year ago, three of the most recognizable storefronts at 50th & France sat dark. Lynhall had closed at Nolan Mains. Cocina del Barrio's corner at 50th and France Avenue was empty. Salut Bar Americain's space on France was papered over. D'Amico & Sons was gone from West 50th. If you walked the district on a Saturday morning last October, you were walking past a lot of brown paper and "coming soon" signs.
Fall 2026 is when that changes in earnest. Between the Edina Car Show in late September and the plaza pumpkin patch a few weeks later, most of those spaces reopen under new names, and the fall calendar happens to line up like a walking tour of them. This is the season to experience the district as a resident, not as someone reading a restaurant list.
The Blocks That Changed Between Art Fair And Fall Fest
If you skipped the district over the summer, here is what filled in, address by address:
- Thérèse, 3945 Market Street inside Nolan Mains. A French brasserie from Daniel del Prado in the former Lynhall space, with steak frites, croque monsieur, Lyonnaise salad, escargot and French onion soup on the classic side and uni custard, stuffed pig trotters, and langoustine ravioli from del Prado's team. It was slated to open in early November in the former Lynhall space at 3945 Market St. within the Nolan Mains development.
- Americana, 5036 France Avenue South. Del Prado's second Edina project, with Barrio owner Ryan Burnet, in the old Cocina del Barrio corner. By fall 2026, Americana will replace Cocina del Barrio and will feature a glass-enclosed rooftop patio and redesign by Christian Dean Architecture. Parking is the wrinkle worth knowing about: an ordinance requires Americana to add 14 off-street parking spaces to ensure there's enough room in the city's public parking ramps for all businesses at 50th & France.
- General Sports Bar, 5034 France Avenue, in the former Salut space. A new sports bar from the team behind Nolo's, with more than 25 televisions.
- Smith Coffee & Cafe, 3948 West 50th Street, in the former D'Amico & Sons. The Eden Prairie cafe's owner, Ann Schuster, announced the second location for the former D'Amico & Sons space; the cafe will be open daily from 7 a.m. until 4 p.m. with a grand opening anticipated sometime this fall.
- Smithson, at Southdale Center. Restaurateurs Sharon and Randy Stanley, of Baldamar and 6Smith, plan to open a steak and seafood restaurant in Southdale Center in fall 2026.
Two blocks. Five openings. That is not a normal turnover for a district this small, and it matters for how you plan the next two months.
Sunday, September 20: A Test Drive Of The New District
The annual Edina Car Show returns each fall to the 50th & France district, and the 2026 event takes place Sunday, September 20, from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. The show pulls in luxury, collector, and specialty vehicles from around the state, but the reason to circle it this year is what surrounds the cars.
Walk from a Porsche parked outside Lunds & Byerlys to a table at Thérèse. Cross the intersection to see the Americana rooftop patio glassed in for the first time. Grab an afternoon coffee at Smith on West 50th before the Nolan Mains plaza fills up. Every stop was a "coming soon" sign in September of last year. On the 20th, you can put a face and a menu to each address in about two hours of walking.
A practical note: parking pressure will be higher than in past years. The show closes stretches of the district to traffic, and the new Americana build has to account for that ordinance-mandated 14 off-street spaces before it opens. Plan on the ramps filling early and consider the E Line or the 46 bus, both of which stop in the district.
The Weekend Before, At Centennial Lakes
Anchor the fall calendar on the 2026 Edina Fall into the Arts Festival, September 12th and 13th at Centennial Lakes Park, Saturday 10 a.m.–6 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m.–5 p.m. It is the 22nd annual edition, benefiting the Edina First Responders Fund, and welcomes approximately 250 artists, food vendors, and sponsors across photography, jewelry, pottery, sculpture, wearable art, glass, fiber, wood, and painting.
If you have never used Fall into the Arts as an excuse to lap the ponds, the geography is the pitch. The booths line the paved pathways around the 10-acre lake, so you spend the day walking the water rather than a parking lot. Pair it with a paddleboat rental while the season is still open, or bring the kids and take a run at the putting course before the weather turns. The park lists standard paddleboats at $20 per 45 minutes, seating four people, and the putting course at $11 for 18 holes, $7 for 9. Both close for the season not long after this weekend, so treat mid-September as your last real window.
October, When The Plaza Turns Into A Pumpkin Patch
The 50th & France Fall Fest is the day the district stops feeling like a shopping street and starts feeling like a neighborhood block party. Last year the Nolan Mains Plaza at 50th & France was turned into a mini pumpkin patch during the October 4 Fall Festival, with pumpkins decorated with paint, stickers and markers covering the square as families explored other activities. Expect the same shape this year: pumpkin decorating on the plaza, llamas dressed for the season for photos, and Larry Ripp working the wind as Sir Sydney Soapington, the Baron of Bubble.
The rest of October fills in around it. HalloBoo Trick or Treat Trail runs in late October at Edinborough Park, with trick-or-treating throughout the park, games and play in Adventure Peak and the Great Hall. And a few days after Halloween, Pumpkin Smash and Bash is held as a fun way to compost your jack-o-lanterns. Between the three, you can build a full month of weekends without ever leaving Edina.
The Last Warm Weeks At Centennial Lakes
If you have kids or grandkids in from out of town over MEA weekend, Centennial Lakes is still the easiest sell in the city. The Farmers Market runs 3 to 7 p.m. Thursdays at Centennial Lakes Park into fall. The paths circle the water. The Edina Model Yacht Club's radio-controlled scale boats work the ponds well into the cooler weeks, and the club hosts glowing lighthouse nights and races into the fall, which are the kind of thing you only stumble onto if you happen to be walking that day.
Then it turns. In winter the ponds turn to 10 acres of amazing ice for skating, groomed daily and spread across three main ponds connected by canals. The city has confirmed the ponds and warming house are closed for the season and skating will reopen in late 2026. The window between the last paddleboat and the first pair of rental skates is short. It is worth using.
What This Fall Actually Signals
A restaurant district does not turn over five anchor tenants in one calendar year by accident. The pattern at 50th & France, from Thérèse in Nolan Mains to Americana's rooftop across the intersection to Smith Coffee on West 50th, is a bet that the walkable retail core still has decades of pull left in it. For anyone who already lives inside the Edina school district or in the neighborhoods within walking distance of the intersection, that is quiet good news about the ground under your house. Districts that reinvest look like this. Districts that do not, do not.
You do not have to think about that on September 20 with a coffee in your hand and a 1967 Corvette in front of you. But it is the honest read on what the fall is showing us.
If you have been curious what the reinvestment at 50th & France, Southdale, and Centennial Lakes means for your specific block, or you are weighing whether this is the moment to list, reach out to Randy Kellogg for a direct conversation about your street, your timing, and your goals. Get 100% Randy on Your Side.
