New Restaurants on Las Olas Boulevard: Your Fall 2026 Guide

"Our season in Fort Lauderdale is pre-boat show and post-boat show," Tim Petrillo told Miami New Times in late September. "That's the real marker of season kickoff."

Petrillo isn't the only one who plans around the show. Back in June, Mike Weymouth, president and CEO of The Las Olas Co., told the Sun Sentinel that openings are best timed around October's Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, "that way, when you open, you burst out of the gate." The paper counted 11 new restaurants headed for the boulevard and the blocks around the Henry E. Kinney Tunnel. Most of them chose to wait out the slow summer and open when the snowbird and tourist seasons return.

That means the boulevard's dining year doesn't change gradually. Most of it arrives at once, between now and October 28, in a fixed order. If you live within walking distance of Las Olas, the next four weeks follow a schedule you can plan around.

The October Schedule, as It Stands on October 4

Every date below comes from the restaurant or event organizer. Restaurant dates can still slip, and one of the original targets already has.

The last restaurant date on the list, Caviar Club's public reservations, falls the day before the boat show opens. Everything else is spaced out ahead of it.

SE 9th Avenue Turns Into a Corner People Stop At

The busiest stretch of this calendar is a single intersection. New Times reported that Caviar Club and NAIA will "transform the same corner within days of each other" at Southeast Ninth Avenue and Las Olas Boulevard. The two restaurants face each other across the street.

NAIA is the bigger physical change. It's going up at 904 E. Las Olas, the address that was home to Mangos for many years, and it will seat 240. Petrillo says the location has been ten years in the making. His team pulled the building back 25 feet to make room for a wide sidewalk, and the bar extends out toward the street. "Now it's going to be a signature corner and a great gathering space," he told New Times. The plan is to open with dinner, add lunch a week or two later, and start brunch within two to three weeks. The Sun Sentinel first reported an opening in the first week of October. The current target, the weekend of October 18, still depends on final inspections.

Across the street, Marc Falsetto calls Caviar Club "a retro-glam American steakhouse inspired by the excess and decadence and unapologetic luxury of the 1980s," and he says it is not exclusively for members. If you want a table after October 27, here's how booking will work:

• Reservations are taken only on Caviar Club's own website. They release daily at 9 a.m. for dates 30 days out.
• A limited number of early-evening walk-ins will be seated.
• The bar room opens daily at 4 p.m. with martinis, caviar bites, a limited dry-aged burger and a Wagyu French dip. The main dining room focuses on dry-aged and Wagyu steaks plus tableside Dover sole.
• The first 100 founding memberships sold out in three weeks, and another 50 were added.

The Art Fair runs along East Las Olas from SE 6th to SE 11th Avenue, so SE 9th sits near the middle of it. If NAIA keeps its date, it opens on the same weekend the fair fills the sidewalks out front. That makes October 17 and 18 the weekend to walk the 800 and 900 blocks, and also the weekend when getting a table will likely be hardest.

At the River End, a Restaurant Opens in a Park That Reopened in January

Head west and the boulevard meets the New River at Huizenga Park. The park reopened on January 24, 2026, after its overhaul. Its first year of programming includes more than 200 free events and activities. The restaurant at the center of that redesign has taken longer to arrive.

Sweetwaters, at 58 E. Las Olas, comes from Specialty Restaurants Corp., the family-owned group behind Miami's Rusty Pelican. It begins taking diners October 12 and starts with dinner, coastal cuisine, cocktails and patios facing the New River. Lunch and a morning café will come later. The Sun Sentinel describes the glass-walled building as seating 291 inside and on its river terraces, next to the park's renovated fountain and dog run. "The New River is one of the most beautiful backdrops in Fort Lauderdale," John Tallichet, the company's president and CEO, said in a statement.

Once the morning café opens, the park will have its own coffee stop. Until then, Sweetwaters is a dinner spot, and the park's daytime events go on as before.

The Openings That Didn't Wait for a Date

Some of the new arrivals have quietly opened already. Others haven't committed to a day yet.

Already serving:

• Little Hen at 1201 E. Las Olas, in the former Planta Queen space. Its website now lists Fort Lauderdale hours and Resy reservations. This is the fifth location for Enrique Altamirano's English-inspired breakfast and afternoon-tea brand.
• Flora at 1021 E. Las Olas, in the former B Square Burgers & Booze space. This spot was announced as a La Felicità trattoria. It now runs under the Flora name from La Felicità Group, with hours, table booking and a full menu posted.

Announced, no confirmed day:

• Amal at 500 E. Las Olas, in the former Sushi Garage space at the Icon Las Olas tower. This is INK Entertainment Group's Lebanese restaurant with executive chef Wissam Baki. It's still listed for fall.
• Skinny Louie, the Wynwood smashburger shop moving into the Bank of America building at 401 E. Las Olas. Its site still says "Smashing soon!"
• Good Night John Boy at 270 SE Sixth Ave., in the former Howl at the Moon space a block off the boulevard. Co-owner Michael Schwartz's '70s disco bar had an October 1 target. As of this weekend its Fort Lauderdale page still reads "Get Ready." Next door at 250 SE Sixth Ave., Kapow Izakaya is set for fall or winter in the former Elba space.

Two more have publicly skipped this season. Falsetto's Pizza Queen, a New York-style slice shop at 1217 E. Las Olas, is set for January 2027. Ivy's, the Serafini family's waterfront American restaurant named for Ivy Stranahan, is set for early 2027 in the former Salt7 space at 500 E. Las Olas. Once both are open, 500 E. Las Olas will hold Amal and Ivy's under one address.

The Farewell at 609

While the new places count down to opening night, one long-running spot announced its closing date. Big City Tavern, the brick-lined restaurant at 609 E. Las Olas, half a block east of the tunnel, said September 30 would be its last day after 25 years. Co-founder Todd Herbst of Big Time Restaurant Group, the company behind Louie Bossi's and Rocco's Tacos, framed the closing as a reason to celebrate. "Times are changing and you can't compete with progress," he told the Sun Sentinel. The restaurant's 45 employees were offered jobs at the group's other locations.

The space probably won't stay empty for long. "All I can say is we have a terrific agreement with the landlord, so stay tuned," Herbst said, adding, "There's more to come from us on Las Olas." No replacement concept has been named yet.

After the Boat Show

The schedule ends where the boulevard already planned for it to end. The 67th Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show runs October 28 through November 1. Its official overview lists Bahia Mar Yachting Center, Las Olas Marina, Hall of Fame Marina, Superyacht Village at Pier Sixty-Six South, Pier Sixty-Six Marina and the Broward County Convention Center. Falsetto calls this stretch "probably the most exciting time here in the last 10 or 20 years for downtown Fort Lauderdale, especially Las Olas." For anyone who wants a Caviar Club table on a Saturday in late November, the date to remember is 9 a.m. on Tuesday, October 27, the first morning public reservations open.

At Michael Miguel Gomez, we follow Las Olas the way we follow any market, one address and one opening date at a time, because the blocks around SE 9th Avenue and Huizenga Park are changing fast this season. If you're thinking about how these new restaurants and their crowds could affect a home or condo you own near the boulevard, or one you're considering, schedule a free consultation and we'll go over it block by block.