Saratoga Village Is Keeping Its Old Rooms and Changing What's Served in Them
October 8, 2026
October 8, 2026
"The town is definitely becoming more lively," Clyde Zaya told the Mercury News this summer. He has run Bella Saratoga with his business partner Claudio Nicosia since 2007. "Things are definitely getting better since the pandemic. You're seeing more businesses coming in, which is good. The more, the merrier." He said this while denying a rumor that Bella Saratoga was being sold. It isn't.
The businesses that did change this year have something in common. Not one of them built anything new. Each one moved into a room that already had a long history. A 1913 brick building, a French restaurant's 1972 home, a winery tasting room that lasted 18 years and a wine bar that closed during the pandemic all have new tenants in 2026. The rooms still look like the Village. The menus are different.
The Bank has been on Big Basin Way for years as a dive bar. It is now The Bank Lounge & Wine Bar, in a 1913 brick building that city documents list at 14421 Big Basin Way. Laura Ness described the update in her July 12 Mercury News column. The bar has the same footprint as before. It now has a small fireplace, better seating and big TVs above the bar that can be seen from anywhere in the room.
The change regulars will feel most is that The Bank no longer takes only cash, so there's no need to stop at an ATM first. It's a small fix, and it shows how this year's changes have gone. The building and its size stayed the same, and how it runs got updated.
The clearest example is up the street. Cinnabar Winery closed its downtown Saratoga tasting room on March 31, 2025, after 18 years, and moved its focus to its Gilroy tasting room at 3200A Dryden Avenue. When the closure was reported, the Mercury News said the business had not returned to normal after COVID.
Pop Haus Coffee now occupies 14612 Big Basin Way. Anya Kolty and her husband Erik Abramyan run it. She is a UX designer and he is a professional jazz musician. The morning menu includes an orange marzipan latte, an ube matcha latte, fancy toasts and pastries. Flatbreads and fresh salads round out the food.
In the afternoon, Pop Haus turns into a wine bar, so the old tasting room still serves wine. The wine now comes from Georgia, Abramyan's home country. "We chose Saratoga Village for our first food service venture for its friendly atmosphere," Abramyan told columnist Debby Rice. "We are thrilled that we have been very busy since opening."
The café also became a place to meet the mayor. Rice reported that Mayor Chuck Page has held "Coffee with the Mayor" pop-ups at Pop Haus, and the city calendar listed one there on August 21. Page also holds informal office hours at the Saratoga Farmers' Market from 10 a.m. to noon on the first Saturday of each month.
The biggest change this year is at the address with the longest history. Marc Masek's parents opened La Mère Michelle, a traditional French restaurant, in 1972, and he spent many years running it as executive chef and co-owner. This year he sold the building to Parviz Sahbaee, who owns Negeen, a Persian restaurant at 801 W. Hamilton Ave. in Campbell. City documents list the restaurant's address as 14467 Big Basin Way.
In her September 22 East Bay Times column, Rice wrote that Negeen Persian Cuisine "will soon open" its second location in the former La Mère Michelle space. She noted that the Campbell restaurant has been a local favorite for more than 20 years and serves a wide range of meat and vegetarian dishes. That column gave no opening date, and Negeen's online ordering page lists only the Campbell location. The Saratoga Chamber's restaurant directory already includes a "Negeen of Saratoga" at 14467 Big Basin Way, with the phone number 408-866-6400. Calling ahead is the most reliable way to check before heading over.
Sultan's Kebab is already open a short walk up the street at 14554 Big Basin Way. The menu has beef kebabs, lavash, rice, hummus and falafel, plus vegetarian dishes, and takeout orders go through 408-740-8021. Once Negeen opens, the Village will have two new restaurants serving the cuisines of the eastern Mediterranean and Persia within one block.
The same thing happened just off Big Basin Way. Silvia Petrova and her family are longtime Saratoga residents. Last year they bought Bell Tower Café on Saratoga-Los Gatos Road, and they turned the building next door into Scarlett Cocktail Room & Lounge, which opened May 22. The space used to be Claudine's Wine Experience, which closed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Our vision was to create a Prohibition-style speakeasy cocktail lounge with an intimate, timeless feel. The centerpiece is a 100-plus-year-old Irish back bar imported from Dublin." Silvia Petrova, to the Mercury News
Jacqueline Aguirre is the lead bartender. The most popular drinks are two bourbon cocktails, the Scarlett No. 9 and the Velvet Orchard. Corn riblets and the Scarlett slider trio sell best on the food menu. The wine list is all Californian but includes nothing yet from local wineries. Petrova said she is looking for chances to work with nearby producers. Live music plays on Fridays and Saturdays, and the schedule is posted at scarlettroom.com.
That makes two former wine rooms that reopened in 2026 under new owners serving something different, Cinnabar's and Claudine's. Both new owners still say they want to keep wine in the room.
Going up Big Basin Way by street number, the changes come in this order:
Scarlett is off this route, next to Bell Tower Café on Saratoga-Los Gatos Road. Bella Saratoga is still in the Village under the same owners.
This October, the oldest business group in the Village gets its turn. The Saratoga Chamber of Commerce will hold a free 100th Anniversary Celebration on Saturday, October 10, from 6 to 9 p.m. at Odd Fellows Saratoga, 14414-A Oak St. There will be light hors d'oeuvres and drinks. The Chamber asks guests to RSVP, and donations are welcome but not required, according to the Chamber's site. The city itself turned 70 this year and celebrated its incorporation anniversary at Wildwood Park on August 22. That means the Chamber started about 30 years before Saratoga became a city. The group supporting the Village's businesses is older than the city government.
The scarecrows on Big Basin Way are also the Chamber's work. SCAREatoga runs through November 1 along Big Basin Way and at participating homes. Residents, businesses and organizations make the scarecrows and compete in categories including Most Original, Funniest, Scariest and Best Organization. Each winner gets a $60 gift card to a local restaurant, so the prizes go right back to the Village's restaurants.
The rest of October in town:
Saratoga Nights ended its 2026 season on October 1. For the rest of the fall, the Village's evenings will happen indoors at The Bank's fireplace, the Scarlett's Dublin bar, Pop Haus's afternoon wine pours and, once it opens, Negeen at 14467 Big Basin Way.
Changes on Big Basin Way, and what goes into its oldest buildings, affect how buyers see the homes around the Village. If you own nearby and want to know how this year's changes fit into your home's value, Yore & Van Zant can walk you through it in a Free Market Analysis.
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