The 34th Sherman Oaks Street Fair takes over Ventura Boulevard between Kester Avenue and Van Nuys Boulevard on Sunday, October 18, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is free, the Sherman Oaks Chamber of Commerce runs it, and last year's edition pulled somewhere between 50,000 and 100,000 people to that stretch of pavement, according to the fair's own numbers reported by KTLA.
What makes this year different has nothing to do with the fair itself. It's timing. Two of the biggest restaurant openings the corridor has seen in years are racing the calendar toward the same weekend, and they're going to finish at completely different points. One should be pouring sake by the time the barricades go up. The other will still be a construction site.
A Fair With the Same Address, a Different Boulevard
The street fair route hasn't moved. Kester to Van Nuys has been the footprint for over three decades, and recent years have brought the same reliable mix: a Cham-BAR outdoor lounge pouring drinks from four neighborhood bars, Buvette, Islands Restaurants, The Local Peasant, and The Oaks Tavern, plus carnival rides like the Ferris Wheel and the Rugged Warrior Obstacle Course, and a pet adoption zone hosting groups including Callies Canine Rescue, Concerned Citizens Animal Rescue, and SoCal Golden Retriever Rescue.
What's changed is everything alongside that route. Over the past year, operators have signed leases on the west end of Ventura, and the corridor those attendees will walk through this October looks nothing like the one from the fair's 33rd year.
The One That Should Be Open By Then
Yama Sushi Marketplace is taking a roughly 7,200-square-foot space at 15300 Ventura Boulevard, its fourth location after West L.A., Koreatown, and San Gabriel. CEO Scott Kohno told What Now Los Angeles the brand had been watching its own West L.A. customers drive in from the Valley for years, and framed the move plainly: "We see the whole Ventura Boulevard as ground zero for sushi in Los Angeles."
The target was late summer 2026. As of late April, permits and buildout were still in progress with no firm date locked in, according to What Now Los Angeles. Late summer puts the opening squarely in the weeks leading up to the fair rather than after it. If that timeline held, Yama's grab-and-go format, sashimi cases, bento boxes, and full liquor license pouring sake and Japanese whiskey should already be running by the time anyone parks for the fair.
That matters for more than convenience. Yama isn't opening a quiet counter. It's building a kitchen large enough to run catering and delivery for the whole company out of this one location, according to Hoodline's reporting on the buildout. A location sized to anchor a brand doesn't get timed casually. Landing before the neighborhood's biggest single day of foot traffic is either good luck or good planning.
The One That Won't Be
Hapa Haus is a different story. The golf-simulator restaurant-bar is heading into the Sherman Oaks Galleria at 15301 Ventura Boulevard, with owner Alex Miyawaki targeting a November opening. Plans filed with the Los Angeles City Planning department show the space at 7,983 square feet, with 69 indoor seats, 48 outdoor seats on a covered patio, a Hawaiian-leaning menu, and five golf simulators built for groups rather than solo practice.
November means after the fair, not before it. Anyone hoping to walk from the barricades into a golf bay for a post-fair round is going to find scaffolding instead. The Galleria has spent a decade shifting away from its 1980s reputation, and a locally owned concept of this footprint is a real step in that direction, but it isn't ready for October 18. It's worth planning around rather than for.
Here's how the two compare heading into fair weekend:
| Opening | Address | Size | Target Date | Ready for Oct. 18? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yama Sushi Marketplace | 15300 Ventura Blvd | ~7,200 sq ft | Late summer 2026 | Likely, pending final permits |
| Hapa Haus | 15301 Ventura Blvd (Galleria) | ~7,983 sq ft | November 2026 | No |
What's Already Settled In
Two other 2026 arrivals aren't racing the fair at all, because they're already running or close to it. Burger She Wrote opened its second location at 14245 Ventura Boulevard in late March, six blocks east of the founders' original Fairfax spot on Beverly Boulevard. Professional skateboarder Don "Nuge" Nguyen and restaurateur Steven Arroyo built the menu around wagyu smash burgers on King's Hawaiian buns, a nod to Nguyen's hometown of Oklahoma City.
A few doors down, Aromas Indian Cuisine is preparing to open at 14350 Ventura Boulevard, in the space that previously held Billa Indian Cuisine and then SanSai Japanese Grill. Jaspal Singh and Jaspreet Bindra lead the project, with a menu built around classic Indian dishes, street food, and fusion plates. No opening date has been announced, but a submitted liquor license application, reported by What Now Los Angeles, signals the team is moving toward one rather than sitting on the lease.
The Landmark a Few Blocks Off Ventura
Not everything new on this stretch is a new business. A few blocks off Ventura, at 5043 Van Nuys Boulevard, sits a building that spent more than sixty years as a Googie-style coffee shop designed by Armet & Davis, most recently known as Corky's before it closed and sat dark for six years. The City of Los Angeles designated it Historic-Cultural Monument #1215 back in 2020.
Rather than demolish it, the new tenant spent more than five years rebuilding the structure from its original plans, working with architectural historian Alan Hess and designer Miranda Lee to reconstruct the Palos Verdes stone walls, restore the neon sign, and recreate the zigzag booths. It reopened as a Chick-fil-A on December 4, 2025. Owner-operator Brad Boerneke, a six-year Sherman Oaks resident, went through a two-year franchisee process and received 1,500 job applications before the doors opened. Whatever you think of the chain, one of the last intact Googie buildings in the city is a working restaurant again instead of a demolition notice.
What Was Never Going Anywhere
Set against all this churn, a few things on this same corridor haven't moved and weren't going to. Books On The Boulevard, the used-book shop at 13551 Ventura Boulevard, has anchored its stretch since 1995. The Sherman Oaks Farmers Market has run every Tuesday afternoon at the Westfield Fashion Square lot on Riverside Drive since 2010, accepts EBT, and draws a mix of produce stalls and prepared food vendors regardless of what opens or closes a few blocks away.
The Martin Pollard Branch Library, one block north of Ventura on Moorpark Street, keeps a lower profile but a fuller calendar than most residents track. This year's summer programming included:
- STAR storytimes for younger kids
- Creative writing and adult coloring sessions
- Free tutoring
- Tea and a Tale, a virtual reading series marking the 100th anniversary of Central Library by reading work from 1926
The Friends of the Library used book sale runs the second Saturday of most months, with the next two dates landing on October 10 and November 14. None of that depends on whether Yama's permits clear in time or Hapa Haus makes its November target. It was happening regardless.
Planning the Day
If you're walking the fair on October 18, the practical order is straightforward. Start at the west end near Van Nuys Boulevard, where Yama should be running if its late-summer timeline held, grab something before the crowds build, then work back east through the barricades toward Kester. Save the Galleria for a return trip once Hapa Haus actually opens in November. If a Saturday morning frees up before then, October 10 pairs a library book sale with an easy walk past Aromas and Burger She Wrote to see how the newer additions have settled in.
None of this changes what the fair itself offers. It changes what's around it, which is the part locals actually plan a Sunday against.
If you're curious how a shifting Ventura Boulevard translates into value for a specific Sherman Oaks address, that's a conversation Blanche D'Souza has all the time. Let's Connect.