Livermore, the Tri-Valley city known for its ranches and century-old rodeo, is a historic Bay Area community where past and present collide in poetic ways. 

Walking through the picturesque downtown, where vine-adorned pergolas shade alfresco diners along the main drag, I recently witnessed this in real time: A cowboy, his boot spurs clickety-clacking against concrete, crossed the road just as a young woman emerged from an IV therapy spa that promises to “enhance your life, drip by drip.”

Livermore just celebrated 150 years of incorporation, and like the rest of the Tri-Valley area, it is booming. Young families are moving in, and so are the food businesses: Meadowlark Dairy, one of the Bay Area’s best soft-serve purveyors, debuted its second location earlier this year there, on Second Street. New locations of the Breakfast Club chain of restaurants, Zachary’s Chicago Pizza, and Slice House by Tony Gemignani — all Northern California-based — also recently arrived on First Street, where Ohio-based Handel’s Homemade Ice Cream is slated to open in weeks. 

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Lucy, left, a local resident, plays at Lizzie Fountain Park in Livermore, Calif. Jordan Adams, right, visits Livermore from Monterey, Calif., on July 1, 2026.

That’s not all. At the entrance to downtown, where Railroad and Livermore avenues meet, an expansion of historic Blacksmith Square is set to bring another 13,200 square feet of new retail and restaurant space, including Doppio Zero and homegrown Story Coffee. Across the street: the future site of a four-story boutique hotel planned to have 133 rooms and a rooftop patio. 

The hotel is still a few years away, according to Brandon Cardwell, the city’s director of innovation and economic development. But with so many other visitor-focused projects on the horizon — a science center, a Shakespeare performing arts theater and a 250-seat events venue with construction scheduled to be completed in early fall — adventurers will certainly need a place to spend the night. 

A view of a pergola in downtown Livermore, Calif., on July 1, 2026.

“It’s part of this incredible resurgence of our downtown over the past 20 years,” Cardwell, a third-generation Livermore resident, told me. “You’ll have not just eating and drinking establishments but entertainment and experience establishments. If you want to have a full-service day and even multiday downtown, you need a variety. You’re not just going to eat and drink all day.”

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Speak for yourself, Cardwell — I certainly managed it. I usually come for the wine tasting — Livermore is a historic California wine region, and tasting fees are often half of those in Napa Valley — but also for the restaurants. Family-owned spots like Wingen Bakery and Restaurant, CaliKid Burgers ’n Shakes, and Range Life, a farm-to-table restaurant with chef and sommelier owners who met while working at San Francisco’s Bar Tartine, keep me coming back. 

A cherry tomato-topped pastry from Wingen Bakery, in Livermore, Calif., on July 1, 2026.

On this weekday morning, I start where I always do: at Wingen. Bryan and Aimee Wingen opened the sourdough bakery five years ago as a tiny counter spot with one baker and have since grown it into a sit-down restaurant and coffee shop with five bread bakers, four pastry chefs and eight wholesale accounts around town. (Hot tip: The Cheese Parlor makes about 24 sandwiches a day on Wingen bread, and they often sell out by 12:30 p.m. But you can call ahead to reserve one.)

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I was craving a breakfast sandwich on Wingen’s Bliss Bagel, which is what happens to an onion bagel when a seasoning savant is at work. In addition to onion, the bagel features dried garlic, rosemary and lemon peel, and is alone worth the drive to Livermore. Mine, loaded with a pasture-raised fried egg, bacon, cheese and house mayo ($14.75), was gone in........

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