"Our proposed improvements include the addition of firepit tables, freestanding firepits, some planters and a built-in gas fireplace feature on the patio," Jason B. Taylor of the Bradenton design house Taylor Studios Inc. told Naples city staff and the Design Review Board, as reported by Gulfshore Business. He was describing the old Uncle Julio's building at Coastland Center. Its colorful western mural will be painted white, and the new restaurant's name will go on it in gold letters.
From Grey Oaks, Coastland is the mall at the U.S. 41 end of Golden Gate Parkway. The restaurant mix there is shifting. Over the past couple of years, casual chains have closed in the freestanding outparcels on the mall's western edge and in the inline space by the mall entrance near CMX CinéBistro. The three restaurants taking their place are larger and built for long dinners. One is a Mediterranean steakhouse, one is a Brazilian churrascaria and one is a raw bar and grill with a fire pit patio. None was open as of the latest reporting. All three are aiming for the stretch between late 2026 and early 2027, right in the middle of season.
Two closures left two buildings empty
The western end of Coastland was built as a row of freestanding chain restaurants. When construction started on the newest outparcel, Gulfshore Business listed what was already there: the Cheesecake Factory, CMX CinéBistro, Uncle Julio's, Bahama Breeze and Twin Peaks.
Two of those buildings went dark close together. Uncle Julio's Mexican restaurant closed in February after about three and a half years at 2096 Ninth St. N., on the mall's northwest corner at U.S. 41 and Golden Gate Parkway. Next door, the Bahama Breeze at 2088 Ninth St. N. closed when Florida-based Darden Restaurants shut 15 locations of that brand in May 2025.
Darden is retiring the Bahama Breeze brand next spring and converting the remaining locations to its other brands. The south Fort Myers location, for example, is set to become a Yard House next summer. As of Gulfshore Business's late-September update, Darden still had no plans for the Naples building, which remains the one empty restaurant on this row with no announced tenant.
Inside the mall, Aurelio's Pizza closed its Naples location during the third quarter of 2026, according to the Naples Press quarterly restaurant roundup.
What's replacing them
| Restaurant | Address | Replacing | Indoor space | Outdoor dining | Stated target |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlantic Forge Mediterranean Steakhouse | 2096 Ninth St. N. | Uncle Julio's | Nearly 11,500 sq ft building | Patio with fire pit tables and a gas fireplace | Early 2027 |
| Rodizio Grill | 2048 Ninth St. N. | Aurelio's Pizza plus an adjoining vacant unit | 9,160 sq ft | None | Late 2026 or early 2027 |
| Oar & Iron Raw Bar & Grill | 2094 Ninth St. N. | New outparcel in the Macy's lot | 5,899 sq ft | 1,833 sq ft patio with a fire pit under a louvered pergola | End of 2026, otherwise early 2027 |
The table shows the overall change. These are big rooms built for dinner, and two of the three plan to keep guests outdoors after dark around a fire. The places they replace were a Mexican chain, a Caribbean-themed chain and a pizza counter.
Atlantic Forge keeps the building and changes its look
Atlantic Forge is renovating the existing Uncle Julio's building. The Naples Design Review Board gave final approval on Aug. 26 to changes in the façade, landscaping and signage. City staff noted that the building's scale, footprint and site layout will stay the same.
The visible change is the palette. The exterior will be repainted in white, gold and browns. The ironwork near the patio will be removed. Agave and umbrella plants will give way to Italian cypress, bougainvillea and podocarpus. Drivers coming west on Golden Gate Parkway will see a tall, formal cypress line where a mural used to be.
Details on the menu, atmosphere and offerings haven't been released. Gulfshore Business describes it as a high-end restaurant expected to open in early 2027.
Rodizio Grill builds bigger than its Estero location
Rodizio Grill is the one project inside the mall rather than on an outparcel. Gulfshore Business places it on the mall's northern edge. The Brazilian steakhouse is combining two units into one. Its Naples restaurant at 2048 Ninth St. N. joins the former Aurelio's space with an adjoining vacant retail unit for 9,160 square feet of indoor dining. The same inline space at the mall entrance near CMX CinéBistro was once home to Pate's House of Prime Rib and Ted's Montana Grill, so this corner has hosted steak before.
Gulfshore Business reports that the Naples location will be significantly larger than the Rodizio Grill that has operated at Coconut Point mall in Estero since April 2016. The format is all-you-can-eat. Gauchos carve skewers of rotisserie-grilled meats at the table, and there's a 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.
Rodizio is the only one of the three without outdoor seating. The whole experience happens inside.
Oar & Iron takes the open corner
The third restaurant is the only new building in the group. Oar & Iron Raw Bar & Grill is going up on a cleared outparcel in the southwest corner of the Macy's parking lot, at U.S. 41 and Fleischmann Boulevard. It will be the sixth hospitality-chain outparcel on the mall's western end.
The concept is Florida's version of 110 Grill, a Northeast restaurant named for Route 110 in Massachusetts, where it first opened. For Florida, Oar & Iron uses lighter nautical colors, large outdoor dining areas, a raw bar and a menu weighted more toward seafood and steaks. RAVentures Hospitality Group owns and operates it. The patio will sit next to the main entrance at the Fleischmann and U.S. 41 corner, with a fire pit under a louvered pergola.
If Oar & Iron sounds familiar, the first location opened in late 2023 in Founders Square, at Collier Boulevard and Immokalee Road. The Coastland restaurant will be the fifth, after locations near Topgolf in Fort Myers, in Parrish and in Babcock Ranch.
The timeline has already moved once. The original sign on the site promised "Coming late 2025." Rob Luzzi, senior director of marketing for RAVentures Hospitality Group, told Gulfshore Business that the team "would love to be open by the end of 2026, but otherwise early 2027, based on construction." In the Sept. 25 Gulfshore Business update, the outparcel was still listed as under construction.
Across U.S. 41, one dining room becomes a clinic
On the east side of the highway, things are going the other way. The former Dorona space at 2110 Tamiami Trail N., at the southern end of the Centre Pointe retail center on the northeast corner of U.S. 41 and Golden Gate Parkway, is being built out as Northwestern Concierge Clinic.
That 7,380-square-foot room has been a restaurant for a long time. Dorona, a modern Italian steakhouse from the Aielli Group, operated there for more than seven years and closed in May 2025. TGI Friday's and Midtown Kitchen & Bar came before it. The clinic's services haven't been announced. Its parent is Chicago-based Northwestern Memorial HealthCare Corp., which already runs Northwestern Medicine Concierge Medicine Naples on Fourth Avenue North.
A steakhouse dining room on the east side of U.S. 41 is leaving dining entirely, while steak, seafood and fire pit dinners are concentrating on the mall side.
What's open today
For now, the only new arrival you can visit is a quick lunch. Just Salad opened in September at Naples Plaza, across U.S. 41 from Coastland Center. It opened at the same time as a second location at Granada Shoppes in North Naples. Gulfshore Business puts it at 1993 Tamiami Trail N., in the former Zoom Tan unit.
Here's how the dates line up from late October:
- Aug. 26: Atlantic Forge receives final Design Review Board approval. Renovation follows.
- September 2026: Just Salad opens at Naples Plaza.
- End of 2026, at the earliest: Oar & Iron's stated hope for opening, with Rodizio Grill's estimate starting in the same window.
- Early 2027: Atlantic Forge's anticipated opening and the fallback target for both Oar & Iron and Rodizio Grill.
- Next spring: Darden retires the Bahama Breeze brand. No plan has been announced for the empty Naples building at 2088 Ninth St. N.
All of these are targets set by operators and reported by local business press. Oar & Iron has already moved its date once. If the targets hold, the patios at Fleischmann Boulevard and at the Golden Gate Parkway corner should both open during the cooler months.
Our team at J2 Luxury Group keeps track of how the corridors around Grey Oaks are changing, from the cypress going in along Ninth Street North to the building that still has no tenant. If you'd like to talk about what that means for your home, we'd be glad to arrange a private consultation.
