On Wednesday, October 7, customers walked up to 23 Skiddoo Café on Carteret Street in Bloomfield and found the doors locked. Montclair Local photographed the scene and reported that the café, open in the Watsessing Heights section since 2018, would reopen for one final weekend, Saturday, October 24, and Sunday, October 25, from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., for "one last cup, chat, and a hug."
That farewell lands on the busiest Saturday of the season in this corner of Essex County. The same morning, the Boooo-mfield 5K starts and finishes right outside the café's door. Hours later, two other towns hold Halloween events, and so does a county park. Meanwhile, a few miles up Bloomfield Avenue and over on Franklin Avenue in Nutley, a new group of restaurants, bakeries and dessert shops is opening.
Saturday, October 24, from first coffee to the haunted pumpkin patch
Times below come from each organizer's own listing. Where a calendar gives a date but no start time, the table says so.
| Time | What | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 7 a.m. | 23 Skiddoo Café reopens for its farewell weekend | 33 Carteret St., Bloomfield |
| 9 a.m. | Kids Halloween Dash | Outside 23 Skiddoo and Narda's Kitchen |
| 9:15 a.m. | Boooo-mfield 5K run/walk | Same start and finish |
| 10 a.m. | AfterBOO Party | Same spot |
| 10:15 a.m. | Race awards | Same spot |
| Listed for the day | Strut Your Mutt: Canine Halloween Costume Contest | Brookdale Park |
| Listed for the day | Fall-O-Ween | Verona |
| 3 p.m. | 23 Skiddoo closes its doors for the day | 33 Carteret St. |
| 7 to 9 p.m. | Haunted pumpkin patch | Oakeside Cultural Center, Bloomfield |
The race runs a 3.1-mile course through Bloomfield streets. A final route map is linked from the Boooo-mfield 5K registration page, which also lists the beneficiaries: the Bloomfield High School XC/Track teams and the Friends of Watsessing Park Conservancy. The Brookdale Park calendar and Verona's township events page are the places to check for start times on the other two daytime events.
Why a 5K turned into a send-off
The Boooo-mfield 5K was already on the calendar before the café closed. Race organizer Dave Alfano told Montclair Local that the event "has turned into a celebration of what he's done for our neighborhood and for our community," referring to owner Hodge Halili. Alfano added, "We will have 1,500 people there." The café is a race sponsor. In its closure coverage, The Montclair Girl reported that the team planned to treat race day as its final celebration with the community.
Here's why the timing matters. If you have lived near Watsessing Park for a while, the start line is a place you already know. The race page puts the start and finish outside 23 Skiddoo and Narda's Kitchen, so the two neighbors on the strip share the morning. The race also promotes family Halloween activity in Watsessing Park, though the splash park there is closed for the season.
For context on the closure, Montclair Local reported that it came the day after the Bloomfield Planning Board voted 6-0 to approve a subdivision of the property next door at 37-39 Carteret St. The approval clears the way for two single-family homes on about a third of an acre. What comes next for the café space has not been announced.
The status of 23 Skiddoo Gelato next door at 27 Carteret St., which opened in September 2025, is less clear. The Montclair Girl's article first says the owners confirmed only the café closed and the gelato shop would keep operating. Later, the same article says both are closed. Montclair Local described the closure as covering both the coffeehouse and the gelato shop. Until the owners post an update, a quick look at the storefront is the most reliable check.
Where the new tables are opening
Most of the new openings in the area cluster in two places: Bloomfield Avenue, from Bloomfield up through Verona, and the blocks around Franklin Avenue in Nutley. Many of these are independent shops and first storefronts, which makes them the most likely candidates for the next neighborhood regular spot.
Mambo Cuban Restaurant and Lounge, 412 Bloomfield Ave., Bloomfield. Mambo opened with a ribbon-cutting on September 18. Montclair Local's September roundup notes it is the chain's third New Jersey location, after Union and Harrison, with a menu of Cuban favorites and cocktails.
Aventura Restaurant & Lounge, 522 Franklin Ave., Nutley. Aventura took over the former MEAL space. It serves modern American food with Latin and Asian influences, daily from 3 to 11 p.m., and is the sister restaurant of MK Valencia in Ridgefield Park.
Golden Butter, 11 High St., Nutley. This is the bakery's first brick-and-mortar shop. The Montclair Girl reported a public township ribbon-cutting on Thursday, October 15, at 11:15 a.m. and a grand opening on Saturday, October 17. Those dates come from an October 6 announcement, so the shop's own channels are the best last-minute check.
The Soda Shop, 304 Bloomfield Ave., Verona. The shop serves customizable sodas and ice cream and announced a Saturday, October 10, opening. Kezus billed it as Verona's first dirty soda shop the day before. A roundup published October 10 still described it as getting ready to open, so it's worth checking hours before you go.
Tiki Bowls, 532 Bloomfield Ave., Verona. Tiki Bowls is moving into the former Green Point Juicery space. Green Point announced its Verona location would close September 27, and no opening date for Tiki Bowls has been announced.
Tenmomi, Nutley. Tenmomi is reported to be moving from Rutherford to Nutley and teaming up with Moffle Bar on a permanent ramen-and-bakery concept. No street address or opening date has been published yet.
Taken together, the list shows the shift. In the space of a few weeks, Carteret Street lost its morning coffee stop. Over the same weeks, Nutley gained a dinner spot with a bakery storefront days from opening, and Verona has a dessert shop announced and another on the way.
The rest of the season, in date order
The October 24 weekend is the peak, but the calendar on either side is busy too. Here is what the town and county calendars list through early December.
- October 14, 6 to 7:30 p.m. Nutley's Grandma/Grandpa and Me Pumpkin Painting Party at the Parks and Recreation Department, 44 Park Ave.
- October 15. An art exhibition at Provident Bank featuring work by four Bloomfield artists, listed by the Bloomfield Center Alliance. The listing gives no time. Golden Butter's ribbon-cutting in Nutley is the same morning.
- October 17, 4 p.m. Bloomfield Parks, Recreation & Cultural Affairs' Halloween Spooktacular at 84 Broad St., with candy, a magic show and a costume contest, as reported by Jersey Bee.
- October 17. Fine Arts & Crafts Sale at Brookdale Park, the same day as Golden Butter's grand opening.
- October 19. Breast Cancer Awareness Flag Raising in Verona.
- October 24 and 25. The full Saturday lineup is in the table above, plus 23 Skiddoo's second farewell day on Sunday.
- October 30, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Nutley's Spooktacular Halloween Celebration at 44 Park Ave., with a hayride, Halloween music, snacks and drinks. The township requires residents to preregister.
- November 5. Diwali Celebration in Verona.
- December 5. Fair in the Square in Verona.
- December 7. Hanukkah and Menorah Lighting in Verona.
Bloomfield and Nutley haven't posted 2026 tree-lighting dates yet. The township event pages are the place to watch as December gets closer.
If you'd like to compare notes on the new openings along Bloomfield Avenue and in Nutley, Jennifer Stowe and the team at Apogee Real Estate Advisors are always glad to hear from you. Let's talk about your next move.
