What's actually new at the north end of Pelican Bay this fall? Mostly places that close by midafternoon. Almost everything that has opened along Vanderbilt Beach Road since September is built around mornings and lunch. The changes that affect evenings, like a longtime raw bar, a movie theater's screen count and a quick-service burger spot, are all still ahead, and several are plans rather than confirmed dates.
That timing shapes how this season plays out between The Pavilion at U.S. 41 and the Shoppes at Vanderbilt at Airport-Pulling Road. Your weekday mornings have already changed. Your evenings will change in steps, mostly after New Year's, while the county widens the road you use to get there.
The new arrivals keep breakfast-to-lunch hours
The clearest example is in The Pavilion. Sour & Dough Artisan Bakery opened in September at 893 Vanderbilt Beach Road, Unit 58, in a small space next to Kava Culture near what Gulfshore Business called the "elbow" of the center. The bakery is run by the same family that opened the first Sour & Dough in University Village near FGCU in May 2024. The menu covers French-inspired loaves, croissants, cinnamon rolls, cruffins and sandwiches built on house breads. One example is Prosciutto di Parma with brie on a brioche bun. During the soft opening, hours were listed as 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily, and the owners called those hours tentative. The 1,190-square-foot space has covered seating indoors and out.
About two miles east, the Shoppes at Vanderbilt picked up two more daytime places. Paradise Coast Mahjong took Suite 705, one of three units carved out of the former Axe Lodge space. It offers lessons, leagues, open play, memberships and a boutique of mahjong supplies. The business's own site set its opening for Tuesday, October 20, at 2371 Vanderbilt Beach Road. Lola Moda, a women's clothing shop, has also opened at 2355 Vanderbilt Beach Road, Suite 130.
The biggest weekly draw is also a morning one. The Vanderbilt Farmers Market started its season October 3 and runs every Saturday through May 22, 2027, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., rain or shine. It's at 2355 Vanderbilt Beach Road and lists more than 90 vendors during the October-to-May season.
The Good Pour is the exception that stays open late. This wine and spirits store opened in early September in a new 7,200-square-foot building facing Airport-Pulling Road at 2373 Vanderbilt Beach Road. It's open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday. Inside are a Tasting Bar, a Reserve Room for private events, and dispensers that pour 16 wines by the glass in 1-, 3- or 6-ounce sizes. A separate machine pours seven spirits. The store donates part of each purchase to a charity the shopper picks from more than 300 nonprofit partners. It's a place to stop on the way home. For a dinner out, you're still looking at the same short list as last spring.
The season calendar, by what you can count on
| Place | Location | What's happening | How firm |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sour & Dough Artisan Bakery | The Pavilion, 893 Vanderbilt Beach Rd | Opened in September | Open |
| The Good Pour | 2373 Vanderbilt Beach Rd | Opened early September | Open |
| Vanderbilt Farmers Market | 2355 Vanderbilt Beach Rd | Saturdays, Oct. 3 to May 22, 2027 | Scheduled |
| Paradise Coast Mahjong | 2371 Vanderbilt Beach Rd, Unit 705 | Opening set for Oct. 20 | Business's own date |
| Big Daddy Smash Burger | 2355 Vanderbilt Beach Rd, Suite 142 | Targeted for November | Target only |
| Neighborhood Organics Market & Cafe | Shoppes at Vanderbilt | Closing in November | Announced |
| Paragon Theaters | The Pavilion | 10 screens through the holidays, then possibly 6 | Conditional |
| Rusty's Rooftop Raw Bar & Grill | 2343 Vanderbilt Beach Rd, Suite 1102 | Moving in early 2027 | Planned |
The top four rows are open or running on dates their operators have set. Every row from Big Daddy down depends on a date that hasn't happened yet.
The evening changes are relocations and swaps
Rusty's Raw Bar & Grill is the largest evening change on this stretch, and it's a relocation. After more than two decades at Uptown Center on Immokalee Road, Rusty's plans to reopen in early 2027 as Rusty's Rooftop Raw Bar & Grill. The new space is a two-story unit facing Vanderbilt Beach Road at 2343 Vanderbilt Beach Road, Suite 1102, with a bar on both floors and indoor/outdoor bar seating upstairs. The original location stays open through January, and the restaurant told customers, as Gulfshore Business reported, "We'll close one day here and open there the next." So until that changeover, a Rusty's dinner still means driving to Immokalee Road.
The quicker options are also swaps. Big Daddy Smash Burger, a new brand making its first location here, is moving into the former Imperio Taqueria space, which closed in February. It's aiming for November. The center's directory page, last updated August 31, listed it as closed every day under a coming-soon graphic. Another new quick-service brand has signed for the end unit where Crazy King Burrito closed in February, and Art of Fudge is taking the former Kitchen Social space. All of these fill spaces that went dark earlier this year.
One departure lands this fall. Neighborhood Organics Market & Cafe has been in the center since 2014 and plans to close when its lease ends in November. Until then it's still selling its house-made soups, baked goods and prepared meals, and the owners will stay involved with the Saturday farmers market.
Movie night at The Pavilion shrinks only after the holidays, and only if a deal closes
The Pavilion's theater is the most conditional piece of the season. Alamo Drafthouse closed its Mercato theater on September 9. Paragon Theaters is looking at taking over those 11 screens and closing four of its 10 at The Pavilion, according to Gulfshore Business. The four screens at risk are in a separate 9,850-square-foot building at the back of The Pavilion's northwest corner, linked to the main theater by a hallway near the bar. Michael Whalen, Paragon's co-CEO, laid out the timing to the outlet:
"We are still operating those four screens probably minimally until the end of the year because Mercato probably won't open until December or January. So, we'll continue to operate the 10 screens at Naples through the holiday."
Paragon is aiming to open at Mercato on December 18, when the new Avengers and Dune sequels come out. Whalen also said he won't open there without the company's Lux Box seating, and that seat delays could push the opening to early January. The plan to cut screens at The Pavilion depends on Paragon leasing the Mercato space, and the most recent reporting calls that lease likely, not signed.
The future of the back building is even less settled. Regency Centers, which owns The Pavilion, has the option to take back the old Tuesday Morning space and lease it to someone else. Whalen mentioned interest from an indoor soccer operator and from the center's cycle shop, which might want storage room. Paragon is also considering converting the space to about six golf simulators that would use the theater's existing kitchen and bar. Every one of those is still an idea. For a holiday movie, The Pavilion has its full 10 screens.
The drive east gets its hardest stretch in spring
If The Pavilion's changes are slow, the road between The Pavilion and the Shoppes at Vanderbilt is on a firmer schedule. Collier County gave notice to proceed on widening Vanderbilt Beach Road from four lanes to six, from just east of U.S. 41 to east of Goodlette-Frank Road, about 1.8 miles. The contractor began bringing in equipment the week of July 6, 2026. Here's what the county has said about timing:
- Most lane closures happen between 9 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., Monday through Saturday.
- In spring 2027, while a box culvert goes in under the road, traffic drops to one lane each way for about two months between Strada Place and Goodlette-Frank Road.
- The $28.4 million project is expected to take two years, weather permitting.
Most of the widening is in the existing median, and sidewalks stay open. The project also includes intersection work at Strada Place and Goodlette-Frank, plus changes to median openings at Bay Laurel Drive. The weekday closure window falls right on the bakery's hours, and the spring single-lane stretch comes just after Rusty's is due to open. The new rooftop bar's first few months will line up with the slowest driving on this road.
Pelican Bay Boulevard runs on its own schedule
South of all this, the season at Artis Naples starts the same Thursday this post goes live. Masterworks 1, "Beethoven and Brahms," plays tonight and tomorrow, October 29 and 30, at 7:30 p.m., with a prelude at 6:30 p.m. Alexander Shelley leads the Naples Philharmonic, with pianist Yeol Eum Son in Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3. The program also includes Ellen Taaffe Zwilich's Jubilation and Brahms' Symphony No. 1. Upstairs at the Baker Museum, The Surrealist International, with works from Tate's collection by Magritte, Dalí, Carrington and Miró, runs through February 14, 2027. Florida Contemporary 2026–27, featuring Naples-based artist Nicario Jiménez-Quispe among others, is in the Hayes Hall galleries and Blair Foundation Gallery through June 27, 2027.
Those exhibitions have fixed closing dates, which none of the Vanderbilt Beach Road evening changes have yet. For planning around firm dates this winter, the boulevard is the safer bet.
How quickly a stretch like Vanderbilt Beach Road refills, and which new tenants actually stay, has a lot to do with how buyers see the homes around it. If you own in Pelican Bay and want to know how this season's corridor changes might factor into your home's value, Adam Dearmond can walk you through it with local sales data and an honest read of the timing. Request Your Free Home Valuation.
