"With the recent closings of two restaurants on Coastland Center mall property, I hope it won't be a restaurant that will fail." A Naples reader sent that line to Gulfshore Business columnist Tim Aten after fencing and barriers went up in the Macy's parking lot. The answer was a restaurant. So are two others now taking over spaces on the mall's northern and western edges. The casual themed chains that used to line the mall's edge, a Mexican cantina and a Caribbean island grill among them, are giving way to three steak-forward dining rooms. None has a confirmed opening date.
For anyone living in The Moorings or Park Shore, this is the closest dinner-and-a-movie strip, just across US-41. Here's what is going where, and what is still open while the fences stay up.
Six freestanding buildings, two of them dark
The western end of Coastland Center grew one outparcel at a time. Gulfshore Business traces it back to the long run of The Cheesecake Factory, after which freestanding buildings went up for CMX CinéBistro, Uncle Julio's, Bahama Breeze Island Grille and Twin Peaks. Two of those five are empty today.
Bahama Breeze at 2088 Ninth St. N. went first. It was one of 15 locations Darden Restaurants shut in May 2025, and Gulfshore Business called it a "short-term" Naples location. Then on Feb. 3, 2026, Darden announced it would permanently close 14 of the remaining Bahama Breeze restaurants and convert the other 14 to other Darden brands. That ends the brand altogether. The latest local report says Darden still has no plans for the Coastland building.
Uncle Julio's at 2096 Ninth St. N., on the mall's northwest corner at US-41 and Golden Gate Parkway, closed in February after about three and a half years. That building has a tenant lined up. So does a former pizzeria space on the north side, and a brand-new outparcel is going up in the Macy's lot. These three are the projects that set the edge's new direction.
Three new menus, and all of them center on the grill
| Address | What was there | What's coming | Projected opening |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2094 Ninth St. N., Macy's lot at US-41 and Fleischmann Blvd. | Parking lot | Oar & Iron Raw Bar & Grill | Late 2026, otherwise early 2027 |
| 2048 Ninth St. N., next to CMX CinéBistro | Aurelio's Pizza plus an adjoining vacant shop | Rodizio Grill | Late 2026 or early 2027 |
| 2096 Ninth St. N., US-41 and Golden Gate Pkwy. | Uncle Julio's | Atlantic Forge Mediterranean Steakhouse | Early 2027 |
| 2088 Ninth St. N. | Bahama Breeze | No tenant announced | None |
Oar & Iron is a Florida version of 110 Grill, the Northeast chain named for the Massachusetts road where it first opened. According to Gulfshore Business, the Florida version uses lighter nautical colors, big outdoor dining areas, a raw bar and a menu with more seafood and steaks. RAVentures Hospitality Group owns and operates it. Coastland will be its fifth location, after Founders Square at Collier Boulevard and Immokalee Road, which opened in late 2023, then Fort Myers near Topgolf, Parrish, and Babcock Ranch, which opened in early April. The brand's dinner menu gives an idea of the style, with an ahi tuna poke stack, crab cakes, coconut shrimp and oysters Rockefeller, though no Coastland-specific menu has been released.
Rodizio Grill is a Brazilian churrascaria: gauchos carve rotisserie-grilled meats at the table, and there's an all-you-can-eat salad bar with hot and cold sides plus a full bar. The Utah-based chain has more than 20 locations, six of them in Florida. The Naples restaurant will have 9,160 square feet of indoor dining because it combines the old Aurelio's space with the vacant unit next to it. That makes it much larger than the Rodizio that has operated at Coconut Point in Estero since April 2016.
Atlantic Forge Mediterranean Steakhouse is the least-known of the three. Gulfshore Business reports that no details on its menu, ambiance or offerings have been released yet. The name already says "steakhouse," which makes three new grill-centered rooms within one block of the mall's frontage.
The corner by the cinema has seen this before. Rodizio's space was once Pate's House of Prime Rib and later Ted's Montana Grill, before Aurelio's moved in. The new wave brings steak back to that spot and spreads it along the US-41 side.
The new patios are built around fire
The look along the edge is changing with the menus. The approved plans focus on outdoor seating that faces the street, centered on fire features.
At the old Uncle Julio's, the Naples Design Review Board gave final approval on Aug. 26 to changes in the façade, landscaping and signage. The large, colorful mural on the building's west wall will be painted white, with the restaurant's name in gold letters. The ironwork near the patio comes out. Italian cypress, bougainvillea and podocarpus will replace the current agave and umbrella plants. According to Gulfshore Business, Jason B. Taylor of Bradenton-based Taylor Studios told city staff the plans add "firepit tables, freestanding firepits, some planters and a built-in gas fireplace feature on the patio." The building's size, footprint and site layout stay the same.
Oar & Iron plans 5,899 square feet inside and an 1,833-square-foot patio with a firepit under a louvered pergola. The patio sits beside the main entrance at the corner of Fleischmann Boulevard and US-41, so it will be the part of the restaurant most visible to traffic on the Trail.
Rodizio is the exception, and the reason is practical. Its architect, Jeff Knighton, explained to the Design Review Board that the service style doesn't work with an outdoor dining area, as Naples Press reported: "For a Brazilian steakhouse concept, it's where the gauchos carry meat on the skewers, they would bring them out." The board approved the project unanimously on March 26, with conditions on the façade. Board members also said the old fenced patio left over from earlier tenants should either be removed or given benches and plants. The approved plans use stucco, cut stone block veneer and faux wood metal screening to tie the restaurant visually to CMX CinéBistro next door. Board Chair Stephen Hruby noted that this exterior part of the mall had been a hodgepodge of elements.
Season arrives before the steakhouses do
All of this runs on projected dates. The original sign on the Oar & Iron site said "Coming late 2025." Rob Luzzi, senior director of marketing for RAVentures, told Gulfshore Business the company "would love to be open by the end of 2026, but otherwise early 2027, based on construction." Rodizio's Naples page still says "Opening in 2026," with hours listed as "Coming Soon." The Coastland Center directory also shows it as "Coming Soon." Atlantic Forge is aiming for early 2027.
As of this week, a little over two months remain in 2026. The most likely result is that the busy winter months begin with two empty buildings, one construction site in the Macy's lot and one interior buildout near the cinema. Any of the three that opens on its projected schedule will arrive partway through season.
What's open around the mall while the fences are up
The mall directory still lists The Cheesecake Factory, CMX CinéBistro and Twin Peaks. Inside, Gelateria Made In Italy and Urban Planet are marked "Now Open."
Several 2026 openings nearby are also already up and running:
- Juice Society opened May 13 at 4233 Ninth St. N. in Park Shore Plaza, in the former Duck Donuts space. Gulfshore Business lists its hours as 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday.
- Heyday Cookshop opened in April in the Neapolitan Way center, according to Naples Press's first-half 2026 roundup. Gulfshore Business placed it in the endcap at 4691 Tamiami Trail N. that Ziggy D'Amico's had occupied.
- Flip Flop Beach Grill is the beachside concession at Lowdermilk Park, which the city lists along with restrooms, showers, a playground, volleyball courts and gazebos.
If you want to try the Oar & Iron style before the Coastland location opens, the Founders Square restaurant in North Naples has been serving since late 2023. Rodizio's Coconut Point location in Estero serves the same churrascaria format at a smaller size.
The empty Bahama Breeze building is still the one piece with no plan. Its future will decide whether this block becomes a full ring of steak-and-fire restaurants or keeps a gap at 2088 Ninth St. N.
Changes like a new restaurant row along US-41 shape how a neighborhood feels day to day, and we keep track of them corner by corner. If you live in The Moorings or Park Shore and wonder what all this activity means for your street, Brian Giacomello is glad to talk it through. Start Your Success Story.
