Ellis Preserve Became Newtown Square's All-Day Downtown One Small Opening at a Time

In December 2018, the Delaware County Daily Times reported that Whole Foods would open at 3737 West Chester Pike on January 18, after a wait of four years. The same article listed the neighbors at the time: a Hilton Garden Inn, Ulta, Firepoint Grill and Zoe's Kitchen. So the lineup was a grocery store, a hotel, a beauty retailer and two restaurants. That was enough for a dinner out or a weekly shop. It wasn't enough to fill a morning.

The current directory at Ellis Preserve lists more than two dozen food, fitness and retail tenants on Squire Drive, West Chester Pike and Equus Boulevard. The developer now describes The Village at Ellis Preserve as "now complete." The pattern in how it got there is the useful part. Most of the openings since mid-2025 weren't dinner restaurants. They were bakeries, cafes and quick counters, and they filled the hours on either side of dinner. Together they turned a place you drove to for one errand into one that runs from breakfast until the firepits go cold.

The Order Things Arrived In

When businesses opened tells you more than the directory does. Here's the timeline as local reporting recorded it.

1. The January after that report: Whole Foods Market opens at 3737 West Chester Pike.
2. September 2024: The AC Hotel by Marriott held its grand opening at 200 Squire Drive. It's a five-story building with 140 rooms, meeting space, a cafe and lounge, and a fitness center.
3. March 2025: Ruth's Chris Steak House announces a March 31 opening at 3745 Equus Boulevard.
4. July 2025: Toastique opens at 108 Squire Drive on Saturday, July 19.
5. September 2025: Wonder holds its grand opening at 3741 West Chester Pike on September 18.
6. October 2025: Paris Baguette holds its grand opening at 104 Squire Drive on October 24.
7. June 2026: Cleavers, the Center City cheesesteak shop, schedules its ribbon-cutting at 103 Squire Drive for June 20.

After the steakhouse, four openings came in under a year: a toast cafe, a multi-restaurant delivery and pickup concept, a bakery and a cheesesteak counter. None of them is a white-tablecloth dining room. Each one gives someone a reason to stop on the way to work, between errands, or after a class at one of the fitness studios.

The Newest Arrival Came Home

Cleavers is the most recent addition, and the reason for it is local. Co-owners and siblings Dimitri and Electra Poulimenos chose Newtown Square for their second location because they consider it home, according to Philly Grub. Electra Poulimenos told the outlet the aim was "more than just a cheesesteak spot," and that they wanted to serve their hometown with the same passion, quality and energy as the Center City shop.

The Philadelphia Inquirer put the shop in its roundup of new suburban restaurants for summer 2026, noting that it grand-opened in June with cheesesteaks, chicken cheesesteaks, burgers, sandwiches, fries and milkshakes. Its neighbors at 103 Squire Drive are Kilwins Ice Cream, Otaka Sushi & Ramen and goGLOW. On that one block you can get lunch, sushi and dessert.

A Full Day, Mapped by Address

With the timeline in place, the directory reads as a schedule. Here's how the current tenants group by when most people are likely to use them. Every name and address comes from the Ellis Preserve directory.

The directory also lists services in the same clusters: Warby Parker, FedEx and Franklin Mint Federal Credit Union at 3741 West Chester Pike, plus Bank of America and Stile by Per Lei at 101 Squire Drive. That means a bank stop, an eyeglass pickup and a grocery run can share one parking spot. The first tenant set in 2018 couldn't do that.

The Dinner End Has Turned Over Too

Of the two restaurants named in 2018, Firepoint Grill is no longer in the directory. LaScala's Fire is now listed at 3739 West Chester Pike, and the Ellis Preserve directory's menu link for that spot still points to Firepoint. The sources don't say exactly when the switch happened. LaScala's describes its Newtown Square restaurant as "classic Italian American reimagined." Its menus include lunch and dinner, sushi, happy hour, and rotating seasonal taps.

LaScala's also has the busiest published October calendar on the property. Its Newtown Square happenings page lists these events for the rest of the month:

• October 12: Girl Dinner
• October 13: Game Show Palooza
• October 15: Brian Elliot
• October 16: DJ RV
• October 22: Eric Levy
• October 23: DJ Eric Be
• October 29: Adam McCue
• October 30: DJ Acer

Down the block at 3747 Equus Boulevard, NAPA Kitchen and Wine has a California Coast Wine Pairing Dinner on October 14, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The restaurant's location page says it hosts wine-pairing dinners monthly. NAPA opened later than first planned. In April 2024, Vista Today reported that a first-quarter 2025 opening was expected. DELCO.Today reported it open in an item dated March 9, 2026.

A 2024 report expected Sedona Taphouse to open at Ellis Preserve within months and gave its address as 3805 West Chester Pike. The restaurant's official page now lists it at 106 Squire Drive and shows it operating, with hours, menus and reservations. Neither Sedona's opening date nor Otaka's appears in the published record.

What Holds It Together After Dark

The developer's own description explains why the restaurants sit together on a green instead of in a row along the highway. The Village was designed to feel like "a walkable suburban downtown where one can linger for a conversation or relax in a pocket park." The Village Green has Adirondack chairs, picnic tables and pergolas. It also has firepits, which the developer says "will provide warmth on crisp autumn evenings." The same page says the green hosts live entertainment on weekends and evenings, outdoor exercise classes from the fitness tenants, community events, and outdoor dining.

The restaurants are only one part of the plan. The developer lists more than 75,000 square feet of dining and entertainment space and an 18,000-square-foot wedding and conference center. The rest of the final phase is the 140-room AC Marriott, 200 apartments at The Harrison, 64 townhomes, and a five-story, 105,000-square-foot mass timber office building. It describes landscaped lanes and walkways that link the offices, homes, hotel and shops within walking distance. It also notes that the Village sits steps from the Charles Ellis Green, 13 acres of permanently preserved open space. According to the developer, the whole project began with an idea more than 20 years ago. Office workers, hotel guests and people who live on site are all within a short walk, and that helps explain why the newer tenants lean toward mornings and lunch.

Ellis Preserve hasn't published a dated calendar for concerts, a fall festival or holiday events on the green. The firepits and seating are confirmed. Specific programming for this season isn't, so the restaurant pages above are the most reliable guide to a given night.

The One Name Still Marked "Coming Soon"

The directory lists only one business as coming soon: Livewell Animal Hospital at 101 Squire Drive, with no opening date. 100 Squire Drive, which also houses Benari Jewelers and Turning Point, has a space marked available. A veterinary practice would fit the pattern of the last two years: one more thing people go to on a weekday, not one more dinner reservation.

How Ellis Preserve filled out its day is part of what Newtown Square is like to live in now, and it comes up when we talk with clients about how a home connects to everyday life around it. If you're thinking about what's changing near your own address, the Houder Nunez-Strid Team would be glad to sit down with you. Schedule a Confidential Market Consultation.