"[We] would love to be open by the end of 2026, but otherwise early 2027, based on construction," Rob Luzzi, senior director of marketing for RAVentures Hospitality Group, told Naples Press in May about the Oar & Iron Raw Bar & Grill rising in the Macy's parking lot at Coastland Center.
For Grey Oaks, that window matters. Coastland sits a few minutes west on Golden Gate Parkway, and its western edge along U.S. 41 is where three new restaurants are now under construction. All three replace or join concepts that have closed. All three are built around steak, seafood and the grill. Two of them will add firepit patios where there were none before.
Six Outparcels, Two Gone Dark
The restaurant row on Coastland's west side grew one building at a time. Naples Press columnist Tim Aten traces it back to the long run of the Cheesecake Factory, which was followed by freestanding buildings for CMX Ciné Bistro, Uncle Julio's, Bahama Breeze and Twin Peaks. Oar & Iron will be the sixth chain outparcel on that end of the mall. Bahama Breeze and Uncle Julio's closed within about a year of each other, which is why the corner has looked half-empty for most of 2026.
Uncle Julio's left in February after about three and a half years. Aurelio's Pizza, which had an inline space near the CMX entrance, also closed its Naples location. Here is where each address on Ninth Street North stands as of early October 2026:
| Address | Previous tenant | What's next | Latest reported timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2096 Ninth St. N. | Uncle Julio's | Atlantic Forge Mediterranean Steakhouse | Early 2027 |
| 2094 Ninth St. N. | New outparcel in Macy's lot | Oar & Iron Raw Bar & Grill | Late 2026 or early 2027 |
| 2048 Ninth St. N. | Aurelio's Pizza, plus an adjoining vacant unit | Rodizio Grill | "Coming Soon," with a 2026 opening on its own site |
| 2088 Ninth St. N. | Bahama Breeze | No announced plan | Vacant |
Naples Press put Rodizio in the same late 2026 or early 2027 window as Oar & Iron. The Rodizio Grill Naples page and the Coastland Center directory both still list it as coming soon, and neither gives an opening day.
What the Newcomers Are Actually Building
The three projects share a menu center of gravity, but each is putting its money into a different part of the building.
Atlantic Forge is reworking the nearly 11,500-square-foot building Uncle Julio's left behind. The big, colorful mural on the west wall will be painted white and carry the restaurant's name in gold letters. The ironwork near the patio comes out. Agave and umbrella plants give way to Italian cypress, bougainvillea and podocarpus. The Naples Design Review Board gave final approval on Aug. 26. Jason B. Taylor of the Bradenton design firm Taylor Studios described the outdoor plan to city staff:
"Our proposed improvements include the addition of firepit tables, freestanding firepits, some planters and a built-in gas fireplace feature on the patio."
The building's footprint and site layout stay the same. Details on the menu and ambiance have not been released.
Oar & Iron is the one concept on this list Naples already knows. Its first location opened in late 2023 at Founders Square, at Collier Boulevard and Immokalee Road. Later ones followed near Topgolf in Fort Myers, in Parrish, and in Babcock Ranch, which opened in early April. The concept grew out of 110 Grill, a Northeast chain named for the Massachusetts route where it began. The Florida version has lighter nautical colors, a raw bar and more seafood and steak. At Coastland it will have 5,899 square feet indoors and an 1,833-square-foot patio with a firepit under a louvered pergola, positioned at the main entrance on the corner of Fleischmann Boulevard and U.S. 41. The Oar & Iron locations page does not list the Coastland site yet.
Rodizio Grill goes the other way. It is putting everything indoors. The Brazilian churrascaria is combining Aurelio's former space with an adjoining vacant unit, a stretch that once also held Pate's House of Prime Rib and Ted's Montana Grill, to create 9,160 square feet of indoor dining and no outdoor seating. The format is all-you-can-eat rotisserie-grilled meats carved tableside by gauchos, plus a salad bar with hot and cold sides and a full bar. The Utah-based chain has more than 20 locations, six of them in Florida. The Naples restaurant will be much larger than the one it has run at Coconut Point in Estero since April 2016.
Put the three side by side and the pattern shows. The spaces that held a Mexican restaurant and a pizza place are being filled by a Mediterranean steakhouse, a raw bar and grill, and a churrascaria. The addresses on this corner are being rebuilt around dinners where the grill sits at the center of the menu.
Why Bahama Breeze Stays Empty
The one building on the row with no new tenant has a corporate reason for staying that way. Darden Restaurants closed 15 Bahama Breeze locations in May 2025 and plans to retire the brand next spring, converting the remaining restaurants to other Darden concepts. The long-running Bahama Breeze in south Fort Myers is slated to become a Yard House next summer. As of the latest report, Darden still had no plans for its Coastland building at 2088 Ninth St. N.
Across U.S. 41, one former dining room is leaving the food business altogether. Dorona, the Aielli Group's modern Italian steakhouse, closed in May 2025 after more than seven years in the Centre Pointe retail center on the northeast corner of U.S. 41 and Golden Gate Parkway. The 7,380-square-foot space at 2110 Tamiami Trail N. had previously been home to TGI Friday's and Midtown Kitchen & Bar. It is now being built out as a Northwestern Concierge Clinic, affiliated with Chicago-based Northwestern Memorial HealthCare. So the Golden Gate Parkway and U.S. 41 intersection loses one restaurant address for good, even as the mall side gains three.
Closer to the Gate, the Food Bays Are Still Open
The newest retail at Grey Oaks' end of Golden Gate Parkway has filled in a different order. Poinciana Plaza, at 2160 Airport-Pulling Road on the southwest corner of Airport-Pulling and Golden Gate Parkway, received certificates of occupancy for its two buildings on March 10. Fitness tenants opened first:
- Discover Strength, an 1,820-square-foot studio described as the brand's first in Florida, was open by the time developer Halstatt issued its completion announcement in late May.
- LVL Fitness is operating, with a Poinciana address, class booking and posted hours on its studio page.
- Starbucks, a 2,500-square-foot drive-thru, was planned for summer, according to Halstatt and Gulfshore Business. We could not confirm that it has opened.
- The Retreat Aesthetics, a med spa, signed a lease with a late second quarter or early third quarter target. We could not confirm that it has opened either.
- Fresh Monkee was expected in late summer or early fall, according to Naples Press. No opening has been confirmed.
The remaining bays were being marketed for one or two restaurants, and Halstatt said food-and-beverage space was still available. No restaurant has been named. For now, the grill-centered dinners on the calendar are all happening farther west, at the mall.
The Season Calendar, as Currently Reported
Every date below is the operator's target, so treat it as a target. Oar & Iron's original site sign said "Coming late 2025" before the date moved.
- Late 2026: Oar & Iron's hoped-for opening at 2094 Ninth St. N., and the earliest window Naples Press reported for Rodizio Grill.
- Early 2027: Atlantic Forge's anticipated opening at 2096 Ninth St. N., and the fallback window for Oar & Iron and Rodizio.
- Next spring: Darden's planned retirement of the Bahama Breeze brand, as described in the Naples Press column covering the Aug. 26 design approval. No plan has been announced for the empty Coastland building.
- Next summer: The south Fort Myers Bahama Breeze becomes a Yard House, per the same column.
- Open-ended: Poinciana Plaza's restaurant bays, with no tenant named.
If the current targets hold, by the peak of season the western edge of Coastland will have three new places to eat where steak and fire are the draw, two of them with firepits facing U.S. 41.
Curious how a new restaurant row like this one fits into daily life on your side of Golden Gate Parkway, or what it could mean for a home you own nearby? TJ Bialek keeps track of the openings and timelines that shape the Grey Oaks corridor and is glad to talk them through with you. Let's Connect.
