"It's always a gamble," Regency Theatres President Lyndon Golin told the Claremont Courier shortly before his company reopened the old Laemmle fiveplex on Second Street. "But we do this because we love the business and we love showing movies, and we're a neighborhood theater business, so this is right up our alley."
Twelve days after the theater's soft opening, Walter's Restaurant was set to start serving again on Yale Avenue. The two places that anchored a Village evening shut down at different times for different reasons, and they came back in the same month. They reopened on staggered schedules, so the full evening has been coming back in pieces. Thursday, October 29, is the night the last piece returns.
Two closings, seventeen months apart
Most people remember the Village losing these two places as one long stretch. It happened in two steps:
- August 22, 2024: A fire started shortly before 2:33 a.m. at Walter's, 310 N. Yale Ave. The Courier reported the damage was mostly to the roof and that no one was hurt. The restaurant had just celebrated its 50th anniversary.
- November 2025: The Courier reported that Regency Theatres had bought the Laemmle Claremont 5 and would take it over at the end of January. An earlier sale to Win Fund Investment LLC fell apart in January 2023, after escrow had dragged on for more than a year.
- January 28, 2026: The Laemmle Claremont 5 closed after 18 years, according to The Student Life.
- October 2, 2026: Regency's Directors Cut Claremont soft-opened at 450 W. Second St.
- October 14, 2026: Walter's began its phased reopening.
So from August 2024 until this October, the Village never had a sit-down dinner on Yale and a five-screen theater on Second open at once. Through most of 2026 it had neither. The fire also damaged five businesses next to Walter's, including Balboa Thrift and Loan and Lumen Spa, which the Courier reported had roof and water damage. Both of those neighbors now post their Claremont hours on their own websites.
What came back on Second Street
The building is the same five screens with a different setup inside. Regency added electric reclining seats with tables and called it a major remodel. Golin told the Courier the company had "pretty much touched every surface." He said seating capacity went down "a lot because of the size of the chairs," and that the screens were replaced to get brighter pictures. A full house is now a smaller house, so sold-out shows on popular nights are more likely.
The "Directors Cut" name tells you what's playing. Golin described it as the same model as Regency's Laguna Niguel location, "a combination of specialty films and the more sophisticated commercial films." Classic films run on Flashback Wednesdays.
Here's what a ticket costs, from Regency's grand opening announcement published October 8, 2026:
| Ticket | Price |
|---|---|
| Matinee, before 5:15 p.m. | $12.50 |
| Seniors and children | $11.50 |
| General admission | $14.50 |
| Students and military with valid ID | $12.50 |
| Discount Tuesday, all seats all day | $7.50 |
| Senior Matinee Wednesday | $8.50 |
Two things were still unfinished as of that announcement. Beer and wine were listed as "coming soon," next to a bar-style food menu and popcorn with real butter. The posted schedule in late October also had most shows in the afternoon and evening, with start times like 12:40, 3:45 and 6:50, or 4:45 and 7:15. An early-evening start is the one that matters for the rest of this post.
What came back on Yale, one week at a time
General manager Dawoud Ghafarshad told the Courier that Walter's would bring service back in weekly phases instead of opening everything at once, so the staff could "work out the kinks as we go." The repair work behind the reopening included removing old wiring and debris from the attics, a new roof, new cameras and new kitchen procedures.
Here's the rollout as the Courier reported it:
- October 14: Lunch, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Wednesday through Friday
- October 17: Weekend brunch, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- October 21: Dinner, 5 to 10 p.m.
- October 26: Lunch expands to all weekdays, and weekday happy hour starts, 3 to 6 p.m.
- October 29: Late-night service returns, 10 p.m. to 1:30 a.m.
The restaurant's own website now reads "WE ARE BACK!!" It lists dinner Wednesday through Sunday for the October 21 to 25 phase, and late-night Thursday through Saturday for the week of October 26 to November 1. A grand reopening is planned for "either near the end of this year or the beginning of next year," once the staff is fully hired and trained.
Late-night is the last phase on that list. Until October 29, the evening Walter's was known for, a show and then a late table, wasn't on the schedule.
The week the whole evening lines up
Put the two schedules side by side for the week of October 26 and each night works a little differently:
- Tuesday: The $7.50 Discount Tuesday tickets pair with Walter's weekday happy hour, 3 to 6 p.m. A late-afternoon show and an early drink before or after is the cheapest version of the evening.
- Wednesday: Flashback Wednesdays and the $8.50 Senior Matinee fall on the same day Walter's posted its dinner week as starting. That makes it a classic film and a 5 p.m. table.
- Thursday through Saturday: Late-night service, 10 p.m. to 1:30 a.m., is the piece that came back last. A 6:50 or 7:15 show gets out right around when the late kitchen opens. This is the full evening the Village hasn't had since August 2024, and it starts Thursday, October 29.
- Saturday and Sunday: Brunch runs 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Any show before 5:15 p.m. is $12.50, so a weekend afternoon can be brunch on Yale, a short walk, and a matinee on Second.
Check both sites before you go, since showtimes change weekly and Walter's is still rolling out by phase. Showtimes and tickets are on Regency's Claremont page or by phone at 877-462-5843, and Walter's posts its current phase at waltersrestaurant.com.
Where the Village calendar goes from here
Both places reopened just ahead of the Village's busiest stretch of the year. The 44th Village Venture Arts & Crafts Festival was scheduled with 400-plus booths in the Village on Saturday, October 24, three days after Walter's dinner service was set to begin. Two more dates are coming up:
Sunday, November 1: The 22nd annual FestivArts runs 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Padua Hills Theatre, 4467 Padua Ave. Adult admission is $10, according to Discover Claremont. It's in the foothills, not the Village, but weekend brunch hours make it easy to eat on Yale first.
Friday, December 4: The city's Holiday Promenade and Tree Lighting runs 5 to 8 p.m. in the Village. Santa will be at City Hall, and the tree lighting is at the Depot at 6 p.m. It will be the first big evening event in the Village since both businesses reopened. It also lands right around when Walter's has said it might hold its grand reopening.
If the Friday Nights Live stages from summer in the Village are how you think of a Claremont night out, this fall works differently. It now runs on two business schedules, one on Yale and one on Second, a few minutes' walk apart.
Some of the best evenings out in Claremont depend on two or three places sitting a few blocks apart. That kind of everyday detail matters when you're thinking about where to live or what makes your current home worth keeping. If you'd like to talk through how close to the Village you want to be, or what your place near Yale or Second is worth today, Nicholas Cardenas is happy to walk it with you. Request a free home consultation, or start with the Claremont neighborhood guide.
