On the northwest corner of Coastland Center, where U.S. 41 meets Golden Gate Parkway, a big colorful mural covers the west wall of the old Uncle Julio's building. The mural is about to go. Under plans approved by the Naples Design Review Board on Aug. 26, it will be painted white with a new name in gold letters: Atlantic Forge Mediterranean Steakhouse.
For Coquina Sands, Coastland is the nearest mall on U.S. 41, and that repaint is the most visible change in a broader shift. The mall's restaurant corners spent the past two years losing casual chains. Three larger dinner restaurants are taking their place, all built around steak or surf-and-turf. None of the three is open yet, and they won't all open together.
The corners that didn't hold
Naples Press reported that the Bahama Breeze at 2088 Ninth St. N. opened June 24 and closed May 15, 2025, after about 10½ months. Uncle Julio's lasted longer next door, about 3½ years, and left its building in February.
Across Golden Gate Parkway, the change went further. Dorona, the modern Italian steakhouse at 2110 Tamiami Trail N. in the Centre Pointe retail center, closed in May 2025 after more than seven years. Before Dorona, the 7,380-square-foot space had been TGI Friday's and then Midtown Kitchen & Bar. The space is now being built out as a Northwestern Concierge Clinic, so this time it isn't becoming another restaurant.
| Address | Previous tenant | How long it lasted | What's next |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2096 Ninth St. N. | Uncle Julio's | About 3½ years, closed in February | Atlantic Forge Mediterranean Steakhouse, early 2027 target |
| 2088 Ninth St. N. | Bahama Breeze | About 10½ months, closed May 15, 2025 | Vacant, no announced plan |
| 2048 Tamiami Trail N. | Aurelio's Pizza | Space vacated | Rodizio Grill, "opening in 2026" |
| Macy's lot at U.S. 41 and Fleischmann Blvd. | New outparcel | Under construction | Oar & Iron Raw Bar & Grill, no current date |
| 2110 Tamiami Trail N. | Dorona | More than seven years, closed May 2025 | Northwestern Concierge Clinic |
The tenants that came and went fastest were the casual, walk-in kind of places. Every restaurant replacing them asks for more of an evening.
What's replacing them is bigger, and built for dinner
Atlantic Forge is taking over a building of nearly 11,500 square feet without changing its footprint. The work is cosmetic but extensive. Along with the white-and-gold paint, the ironwork near the patio comes out, and the agave and umbrella plants are replaced with Italian cypress, bougainvillea and podocarpus shrubs. Its design team told city staff the patio will get firepit tables, freestanding firepits, planters and a built-in gas fireplace. Menu details haven't been released. Naples Press reports an early 2027 opening.
Rodizio Grill is building inside the mall instead of on a pad site. The Brazilian steakhouse is combining the former Aurelio's Pizza space with a vacant unit next to it, for 9,160 square feet in total. According to the design review plan, it won't have outdoor dining. The company's Naples page lists the address as 2048 Tamiami Trail N. and describes rotisserie meats carved at the table, a gourmet salad bar, Brazilian sides, and private and semi-private event areas. The page still says "opening in 2026," and roughly ten weeks of the year remain.
Oar & Iron Raw Bar & Grill is going up as a new outparcel in the Macy's parking lot on the mall's southwest corner, at U.S. 41 and Fleischmann Boulevard. Naples Press describes it as an upscale-casual, scratch-kitchen surf-and-turf concept with a raw bar, expanded seafood and steak, cocktails, and a menu that can be made entirely gluten-free. RAVentures Hospitality Group owns and operates its Florida Oar & Iron franchises. That earlier report gave a late-2025 or early-2026 target while the project was still under city review. The building has since moved into construction, and no newer date has been published.
Taken together, the mall's northwest corner, southwest corner and an interior storefront are all turning into sit-down dinner restaurants. The format is a clear step away from margaritas and a quick plate before a movie.
The order they land in
Because each project is at a different stage, the change will show up one corner at a time:
- Rodizio Grill is the only one with an opening window inside 2026, according to its own website.
- Oar & Iron is under construction and has no announced date.
- Atlantic Forge has its design approval and is targeting early 2027.
- The Bahama Breeze building at 2088 Ninth St. N. has no announced future.
The fourth item is the one most likely to stay as it is. In a Feb. 3, 2026 announcement, Darden Restaurants said 14 Bahama Breeze locations would close and the remaining 14 would be converted to other Darden brands. The Naples building had already closed and isn't on the conversion list. Naples Press reports that Darden still has no plans for the short-lived Coastland site.
Inside the mall, things are steadier. The Coastland Center directory currently lists 104 tenants, 23 of them food and restaurants, with Macy's, Dillard's and JCPenney as anchors. Gelateria Made In Italy is marked "Now Open." The turnover is mostly on the outer pad sites, the buildings drivers see from U.S. 41.
Where the quick dinner went this fall
With the casual chains gone and the new restaurants not yet open, the easy weeknight meal near the mall has moved to smaller places that just opened.
Just Salad opened at 1993 Tamiami Trail N., Unit 4A, near Coastland Center. Gulfshore Business reported it opened less than three weeks after the chain's first Naples shop at 960 Immokalee Road, and both are open daily from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. The Naples Daily News reported on Sept. 17 that both Southwest Florida locations opened in September.
On the Gulf side of Coquina Sands, the newest casual option is at the resort that anchors the neighborhood's north end. The Wager, a sports pub with bowling and games, opened in mid-October at Market Square in Naples Beach Club, 801 Gulf Shore Blvd. N. According to Four Seasons, it's open Thursday and Friday from 4 to 11 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. It's closed Monday through Wednesday, so on those nights a quick bite near Coastland means Just Salad or the mall's own restaurants.
Looking ahead to January
The next big date on this stretch of U.S. 41 is a weekend event. Art Fest Naples holds its 30th annual show at Fleischmann Park, 1600 Fleischmann Blvd., across from Coastland Center, on Jan. 16 and 17, 2027. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. That's right around Atlantic Forge's early 2027 target. If the steakhouse opens on schedule, the art fest crowd will walk past a white-and-gold building where the mural used to be.
Changes like these at Coastland are part of how the area around Coquina Sands keeps shifting, and I follow them as closely as I follow sales on Gulf Shore Boulevard. If you're thinking about how this stretch of U.S. 41 fits into your plans for the neighborhood, Cheena Chandra would be glad to talk it through. Let's Connect.
