Vanderbilt Beach's Restaurant Map Has Changed. Here's What's Open Now.

"Fish from these waters have been on our menu since day one, so bringing Buck & Rider to Naples feels like coming home." That is Adam Strecker, the Scottsdale chef bringing his seafood concept to the old Brio space at Waterside Shops, talking about a restaurant that has not opened yet. He is not alone in that timing problem. If you live near Vanderbilt Beach and have not eaten out much since spring, you may find that the neighborhood has changed while the construction fencing was still up.

Most years, the story around here in late summer is that nothing moves. The snowbirds are gone, the tables are open, and you eat at the same three places you always do because nothing new is worth the drive. That pattern broke across three places in a short stretch.

Three Centers, One Concentrated Stretch

Mercato, the Galleria Shoppes at Vanderbilt, and Waterside Shops sit within a few minutes of each other and serve the same residential base. Normally their tenant rosters shift one restaurant at a time, spaced out over years. Between mid-2025 and this fall, all three turned over a meaningful piece of their dining lineup in a concentrated stretch, which is the part that has not made it into the usual "best restaurants near Vanderbilt Beach" roundups.

At Mercato, the central Piazza along Strada Place broke ground on an expansion in July 2025 and reopened that November more than doubled in size, growing from about 3,000 square feet to close to 6,700, with a permanent covered stage and room for the property's regular slate of events. The reopening drew several hundred people and raised more than $20,000 for the Guadalupe Center. Around that same footprint, Burntwood Tavern became Taberna Burntwood, Waxin's opened a Swedish-American concept next door, and Beeline launched as a cocktail lounge across the street. Bravo Italian Kitchen closed for good in early July 2025, and Chicago-based DineAmic Hospitality announced plans to bring its Violi concept into that space.

A few minutes east, at the corner of Airport-Pulling and Vanderbilt Beach roads, the Galleria Shoppes at Vanderbilt lost two longtime tenants, The Cave Bistro & Wine Bar and Naples Wine Collection, and used the combined space to bring in Ambrosi & Sons, an Italian import market and wine bar from longtime Naples resident Rudy Ambrosi, open since spring 2026. The same stretch of plaza is adding The Good Pour, a Florida wine and spirits retailer taking the entire new 1000 Building behind the CVS, The Supper Club in the old Tableside space, and Aufieri & Martinez Argentinian Steakhouse. Crazy King Burrito opened there in late 2025 and Playa Bowls is moving into the former Nautical Bowls unit.

At Waterside Shops, the change came with more finality. Eddie V's Prime Seafood opened this past summer, with a wine list of more than 300 bottles recognized by Wine Spectator. Down the walkway, Buck & Rider is aiming for a late 2026 opening in the space vacated by Brio Tuscan Grille, which had operated at Waterside for nearly two decades.

What Brio's Filing Does—and Doesn't—Tell Us

It is tempting to read Brio's exit as a sign that Naples diners moved on. Brio's parent company, Bravo Brio Restaurants LLC, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on August 18, 2025, its second such filing in five years. The filing does not establish why the Naples location closed or how well it drew. Buck & Rider's founder has said he pushed hard for a fourth-quarter 2026 opening in that exact spot.

That distinction matters if you are trying to read the neighborhood correctly. The bankruptcy filing provides context for Brio's exit, but it does not establish why the Naples location closed or whether interest in dining near Vanderbilt Beach had declined.

The Corner That's Still Catching Up

Not everything is finished. The Ritz-Carlton, Naples has its own restaurant lineup mid-renovation, and depending on when you are reading this, part of it is still closed. The Grill has been shut through October 2026 for what the resort calls a transformation, with dinner service expected to resume after October. Sofra, the resort's Mediterranean restaurant, listed its dinner closure as running through September 4, which means if you are checking this week, that one should already be back on the schedule. Dusk and Gumbo Limbo have stayed open through all of it.

If you tried Sofra for dinner over the summer and found it dark, this is the point where that changes. If you are waiting on The Grill, that wait runs through October.

If You Want The Old Version, It's Still A Short Drive

None of this touches Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park, and that is worth saying plainly. The park sits on a mile of largely undeveloped barrier island a short drive north of the retail corridor described above, with about 80 percent of its 166 acres in mangrove forest. It is home to loggerhead sea turtles and functions as one of the few stretches of this coastline that has not been rebuilt, released, or reopened with a press release in the last year. When the parking lots at Mercato or Waterside fill up on a Saturday, this is still the option that has not changed.

What's Actually Ready This Month

• Ambrosi & Sons at the Galleria Shoppes at Vanderbilt, open since spring 2026, with a rotating list of nearly 20 Italian wines by the glass
• Eddie V's at Waterside Shops, open since this past summer
• The rebuilt Piazza at Mercato, open since November 2025, with regular events on the new stage
• Sofra at the Ritz-Carlton, back on the dinner schedule as of this week
• Taberna Burntwood, Waxin's, and Beeline near the Mercato Piazza, all already operating

Still ahead: Violi at Mercato's former Bravo space, Buck & Rider at Waterside targeting late 2026, and The Grill at the Ritz-Carlton reopening for dinner after October.

None of this changes what makes Vanderbilt Beach work day to day, the beach access, the quieter side streets behind the retail corridor, the short drive to a state park that has not been touched by any of it. It just means the version of "going out" that residents have relied on for the last few years has genuinely moved, in ways that reward checking before you assume the usual spot is still the only option.

If watching a neighborhood change this closely also has you thinking about what it means for property here, from a condo near the Galleria corridor to a home closer to the beach itself, Joe Caveney and the CVJ Team track these shifts as part of the daily work of representing Vanderbilt Beach buyers and sellers. Reach out for a private conversation about what is happening on your street, not just at the shopping centers around it.