The mural on the west wall of the old Uncle Julio's building at Coastland Center is being painted over. It will be white, with a restaurant name in gold letters, and the agave and umbrella plants near the patio will give way to Italian cypress, bougainvillea and podocarpus. The name going on that wall is Atlantic Forge Mediterranean Steakhouse.
From Grey Oaks, the drive west on Golden Gate Parkway ends at this corner. Across U.S. 41 is the building that held Dorona, the modern Italian steakhouse that ran there for more than seven years before closing in May 2025. That space is now becoming a medical office. The steak dinner has not left the intersection, though. It has crossed the highway onto the edges of the mall, where three of the projects underway are built around grilled meat, and two of them are designing their patios around fire.
The Building That Gave Up Its Steakhouse
Northwestern Concierge Clinic is building out the former Dorona space at 2110 Tamiami Trail N., on the southern end of the Centre Pointe retail center at the northeast corner of U.S. 41 and Golden Gate Parkway. Before Dorona, the 7,380-square-foot room was home to TGI Friday's and Midtown Kitchen & Bar.
The clinic is not Northwestern's first local address. Northwestern Medicine Concierge Medicine Naples already operates on Fourth Avenue North in Old Naples. The Chicago-based health system also owns the former Collins Hotel and Frank's Pure Automotive sites at 1100 and 1190 U.S. 41. A Northwestern spokesperson told Naples Press that "many of our patients and their families spend time in the greater Naples area and are seeking NM care closer to where they live, work and visit."
That leaves the east side of the intersection with one less dinner reservation. The west side is where the replacements are going.
Three Projects, One Menu Direction
Coastland Center's western edge has been a row of freestanding restaurant buildings for years. After The Cheesecake Factory proved itself, outparcels went up for CMX CinéBistro, Uncle Julio's, Bahama Breeze and Twin Peaks. Here is how the current turnover lines up:
| Address | Previous tenant | Incoming | Reported timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2096 Ninth St. N. | Uncle Julio's, closed February 2026 | Atlantic Forge Mediterranean Steakhouse | Early 2027 |
| 2048 Ninth St. N. | Aurelio's Pizza plus an adjoining vacant unit | Rodizio Grill | 2026, per the restaurant |
| 2094 Ninth St. N. | New outparcel in the Macy's lot | Oar & Iron Raw Bar & Grill | Late 2026 or early 2027 |
| 2088 Ninth St. N. | Bahama Breeze, closed May 2025 | Vacant | None |
Tex-Mex, pizza and Caribbean food are on their way out. Coming in are a Mediterranean steakhouse, a Brazilian churrascaria and a surf-and-turf grill. Naples News Now put it simply in its October roundup: "Coastland Center Is Becoming a Restaurant Story Again."
Atlantic Forge Keeps the Building and Changes the Mood
Atlantic Forge got final approval from the Naples Design Review Board on Aug. 26. The nearly 11,500-square-foot building keeps its scale, footprint and site layout. The changes are cosmetic: a white, gold and brown palette, Mediterranean landscaping, new signage, and the ironwork near the patio removed.
The patio is where the concept shows. Jason B. Taylor of Bradenton-based Taylor Studios told city staff and the board, as Naples Press reported, that the plans add "firepit tables, freestanding firepits, some planters and a built-in gas fireplace feature on the patio." The opening is expected in early 2027.
Rodizio Grill Returns the Inline Space to Meat
Before Aurelio's, the mall-entrance space near CMX CinéBistro was Pate's House of Prime Rib, and before that Ted's Montana Grill. With Rodizio Grill, the address goes back to the kind of meal it served before pizza. Aurelio's closed its Naples and Estero locations during the third quarter of 2026.
Rodizio is known for rotisserie-grilled meats carved at the table by gauchos, with a salad bar of hot and cold sides and a full bar. The Utah-based chain has more than 20 locations, six of them in Florida. At 9,160 square feet of indoor dining, made by combining Aurelio's former space with the vacant unit next door, the Naples restaurant will be significantly larger than the one Rodizio has run at Coconut Point in Estero since April 2016. Coastland's directory lists it as "Coming Soon," and Rodizio's own Naples page says 2026.
Rodizio is the one project without a patio, and the reason is the service itself. When the design went to the city board, architect Jeff Knighton told Gulfshore Business that for a Brazilian steakhouse, "it's where the gauchos carry meat on the skewers, they would bring them out. So going in and out of the front door in this case would be tricky from an operations standpoint." The board asked the restaurant to either remove the old patio fence or soften it with benches and plants. It also asked to approve whatever goes on the long northern wall, whether murals or greenery.
Oar & Iron Builds From Bare Pavement
Oar & Iron is the only one of the three going up on new ground, a recently cleared outparcel in the southwest corner of the Macy's parking lot at U.S. 41 and Fleischmann Boulevard. RAVentures Hospitality Group owns and operates it. Rob Luzzi, the group's senior director of marketing, told Naples Press, "[We] would love to be open by the end of 2026, but otherwise early 2027, based on construction."
The plan calls for 5,899 square feet inside and an 1,833-square-foot patio with a firepit under a louvered pergola, placed near the main entrance at the Fleischmann and U.S. 41 corner. Oar & Iron is a Florida version of the Northeast's 110 Grill, with lighter nautical colors, large outdoor dining areas, a raw bar, and a menu weighted toward seafood and steaks. The full menu is also available gluten-free.
Many Grey Oaks residents may already know the brand. The first Oar & Iron opened in late 2023 at Founders Square, at Collier Boulevard and Immokalee Road. Locations near Topgolf in Fort Myers and in Parrish followed, then Babcock Ranch in early April. Coastland will be the fifth.
The Building Still Waiting
Bahama Breeze at 2088 Ninth St. N. closed in May 2025, when Darden Restaurants shut 15 locations of the brand. Naples Press reported after the Aug. 26 Atlantic Forge approval that the building remains vacant. Once the other three open, it will be the only empty restaurant building on that edge of the mall.
What Is Already Open Around the Mall
The new arrivals that are already serving are much more casual than the steakhouses. Gelateria Made In Italy opened in the Coastland food court on Sept. 11. Urban Planet held its grand-opening weekend July 31 through Aug. 2. Across U.S. 41 in Naples Plaza, Just Salad opened its second Naples restaurant, at 1993 Tamiami Trail N., on Sept. 17. CMX CinéBistro, the dine-in cinema next to the Rodizio build-out, is still in the mall directory.
The Mall's Holiday Calendar
The busiest weeks of the year arrive while construction continues on the edges. Coastland Center's posted dates for this season:
- Santa, Nov. 20 through Dec. 14: weekdays 2 to 7 p.m., Saturdays 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Sundays noon to 6 p.m., near Entrance 7 by JCPenney
- Santa, Dec. 15 through Dec. 23: weekdays 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturdays 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sundays 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
- Christmas Eve: Santa from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Pet Night with Santa: every Monday and Tuesday, Nov. 30 through Dec. 15, 4 to 7 p.m.
- Thanksgiving, Nov. 26: mall closed
- Black Friday, Nov. 27: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
The mall's holiday page also lists a holiday choir performance by Bonita Springs Charter School and gift wrapping by the Naples chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma.
By the time the next holiday season comes around, the corner Dorona left should look very different. If you are weighing how much a central location like Grey Oaks' short drive to the U.S. 41 and Golden Gate Parkway corner adds to daily life, Taranto Team would be glad to talk it through. Schedule a private consultation.
