Hillsboro Village Is Trying to Remember What It Used to Be
October 15, 2026
October 15, 2026
"That's what we're trying to bring back, the romance of Hillsboro Village, how it used to feel," Rebecca Moon told the Nashville Scene as she prepared to move her shop, The Green Ray, onto 21st Avenue South. According to Nashville Guru's running list of new businesses, the store opened October 1, 2026, with Earl Espresso operating inside.
The newest independent operators in the Village are rebuilding storefronts from memory, and the evening side of the Village has been collecting on Belcourt Avenue. Meanwhile one of the strip's longest-running anchors on 21st has its end date in sight.
The Green Ray took over 1721 21st Ave. S. The space most recently held the Molly Green boutique. Before that, the toy store Arcade operated there briefly after Pangaea closed in 2019. Moon's plans for the new store, as the Scene described them before opening, lean on references to the Village as it was:
The Davis family still owns the building and rents it to The Green Ray, so the Davis Cookware nod is planned for a storefront the family itself owns.
Earl Espresso, owned by Ana Reese, runs inside The Green Ray. It also has a coffee window on Belcourt Avenue with a bakery case and grab-and-go food. Earl ran as a "secret coffee window" inside Galeria Paloma on Gallatin Avenue starting in December 2025. In the Village it serves an expanded coffee menu, cakes from Little Bird's Vittles, savory and sweet items from chef Diana Lee Zadlo, and, a few days a week, pastries from Rebekah Turshen, pastry chef at City House and formerly of Provence.
Reese told the Scene she remembers weekend walks with her father to Fido for coffee and to Pancake Pantry for chocolate chip pancakes. She told the paper that the Village has "some awesome businesses in there now, and new ones coming," and that she believes locals like her can bring back its old community feeling.
The window puts Earl on the same side street where most of the Village's new evening spots have opened over the past three years.
At 1910 Belcourt Ave., MAP Hospitality opened Nowhere Special on July 16, 2026, according to Visit Nashville's announcement. The company's co-founders are Joseph Johnson, Robert Higgins and Cordarius "DJ Crisis" Freeman. The menu includes jerk shrimp tacos, deep-fried Cornish hen, braised oxtail grilled cheese and house cocktails.
Nowhere Special shares the address with MAP's earlier concepts. Eater Nashville reported that Bungalow10 at 1910 Belcourt was set to open in January 2024. JAR10 reopened inside Bungalow10 on September 5, 2024. In the Tennessean's July 2026 coverage, Johnson said he set out to build "one section of town with multiple different concepts, something for everyone."
Across the street is a gap. The Grilled Cheeserie operated at 2003 Belcourt Ave. It left Hillsboro Village in March 2026 after nearly a decade and went back to its East Nashville roots. The Nashville Business Journal covered the closing. As of mid-October, we have found no report of a new tenant for the space.
The Belcourt Avenue changes matter more because of what is happening around the corner. Fido is set to close in 2028. The Nashville Scene's cover story on the cafe explains the reason. Bob Bernstein renewed the Fido lease several times. When it ends in 2028, staying would mean paying market rate, and he told the Scene he does not know the exact number but believes it likely isn't viable.
Fido's lease history follows the Village's history. Bernstein planned to lease 1,200 square feet on 21st Avenue South. When the owners of Jones Pet Shop retired, 3,600 square feet came open, and he signed a 10-year lease that people told him was a crazy bet on the neighborhood. Fido later grew into adjacent storefronts and now covers more than 5,000 square feet in a century-old building. The Jones Pet Shop sign still hangs over the Village. The Game Point retail store next door is on the same lease and is scheduled to close with Fido. Bernstein hopes to move that shop elsewhere.
Fido's hours also explain the shift toward Belcourt Avenue. Before 2020, Fido stayed open until 10 p.m. and was the place to eat after a movie at the Belcourt. Bernstein told the Scene that after the pandemic the restaurant couldn't bring in enough revenue to stay open late. It now runs 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. The evening crowd from the theater now leaves onto a block where the newer bars and restaurants keep night hours.
Bernstein also remembered when the neighborhood's locally owned businesses held Halloween events with kids trick-or-treating from shop to shop. He said that kind of thing is harder to organize when many neighboring businesses are corporate-owned. Reese's comments to the Scene about restoring the Village's community feeling address the same loss.
Not everything is changing. Some long-running names and a few newcomers fill out a fall walk along 21st:
The theater is still the reason many people come to Belcourt Avenue after dark. The Belcourt's schedule for the rest of the season includes:
The Green Ray also plans its own book events in the larger 21st Avenue space. Once those start, the block will have two literary event venues within a short walk of each other.
Storefronts like these are part of what an address in Belmont-Hillsboro is worth, and they change over the life of a lease. If you own nearby and want to know how changes on 21st Avenue and Belcourt Avenue affect your home's value, Custer Rowland can prepare a valuation based on recent sales close to the Village. Request Your Home Valuation.
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