What's New On Fort Myers Beach This Summer
July 23, 2026
July 23, 2026
Three years ago, the question on Estero Island was which businesses would come back at all. This summer the question is narrower and more useful for people who actually live here: which corners of the island are open again this week, which openings are landing next, and when the pier work is going to change how you get around Times Square. The answers cluster tightly around one week in July.
Two of the most anticipated reopenings on the south end are targeting the same date. South Beach Grille in The Santini Plaza has a planned grand opening of July 15th, with a possible soft opening beforehand. On the same day, Jersey Mike's in the Key Estero Shopping Plaza has set a tentative opening date of July 15th. That's not coordination. It's what happens when contractors, inspectors, and permits all finally line up at the same tide.
For residents, the practical read is this: the south end gets two new lunch options in the same week, and Santini Plaza gets back one of its keystone tenants. South Beach Grille was one of the most popular hangouts for residents and visitors on the south end and is one of the most anticipated reopenings.
Fort Myers Beach is transitioning from recovery to renewal.
That's the local read from analysts tracking the rebuild, and it lines up with what you can see on the ground this summer.
The Key Estero plaza has a second act coming after Jersey Mike's. The owners of Sol Tequila, formerly Mr. Tequila, are shooting for a September 2026 opening, owned by the same family — it's a name change. Same operators, same location, new signage. If you were a regular at Mr. Tequila before the storm, this is the reopening you've been waiting on.
The more emotional milestone happened a few weeks before summer started. Mariner's Boathouse Fort Myers Beach reopened on May 5, 2026, standing as one of the most poignant symbols of the island's recovery.
Around those anchors, the older survivors are doing what they've always done. Nervous Nellie's on Old San Carlos Boulevard has been one of Fort Myers Beach's most celebrated waterfront restaurants since 1991, and the grouper tacos and stone crab claws in season are consistently cited as the table highlights. Pinchers on Old San Carlos Boulevard is the reliable family seafood chain with a fresh fish market approach, good crab and shrimp, and a casual atmosphere that suits a family with young children after a long beach day.
Zoom out from the island for a second. The regional dining tracker at Gulfshore Business logged dozens of openings across Bonita Springs, Estero, Naples, and Fort Myers in the first half of 2026, from Acqua Bistecca at Saltleaf on Estero Bay and Craft Spirits Social at Entrada to Mason's Famous Lobster Rolls at Coconut Point. Fort Myers Beach's pace looks slow by comparison, and it should. The island isn't racing the mainland. It's rebuilding in code-compliant, insurable increments.
If you live on the north end, this is the update that actually reshapes your fall. Lee County has moved the pier project from paper to contract.
| Old Pier | New Pier |
|---|---|
| ~600 ft, destroyed by Ian | 1,000 ft into the Gulf |
| Standard width | 12 ft wide |
| Basic decking | ADA access, bench seating, turtle-friendly lighting |
| N/A | ~70% longer than the previous pier |
Lee County commissioners awarded the construction contract to Panama City-based RJ Gorman Contracting LLC, whose $11.7 million winning bid arrived $4.2 million lower than the next competitor and more than $5 million below the county's initial internal estimates. County staff confirmed that RJ Gorman is a vetted marine contractor currently managing similar large-scale pier restorations, including the Mexico Beach pier in the Florida Panhandle.
Design specifics are already locked. Renderings show a structure that will be wider and longer than the original, stretching about 1,000 feet with ADA access, bench seating, and turtle-friendly lighting designed to protect wildlife. The rebuilt pier will extend 1,000 feet in length and 12 feet in width, and these renderings represent 100% design completion; the layout and overall design are finalized.
Timing is the piece to plan around. The pier project is now in the design and permitting phase, construction is anticipated to begin in late 2026 and take about a year, and the rebuilt pier will be in the same location as the destroyed pier. The new pier is expected to be completed in 2028. The county's own signage is a little more optimistic. Signage posted by Lee County indicates construction is expected to begin in the summer of 2026 once federal permits are approved, the build is expected to take about a year, with potential completion in the summer of 2027, and all dates are estimates.
What that means in practical terms: sometime this summer or fall, the parking, foot traffic, and staging around Lynn Hall Memorial Park is going to change. The rebuilt pier will be adjacent to Lynn Hall Memorial Park and Crescent Beach Family Park. If you walk that stretch every morning, expect fencing, equipment, and a different beach access pattern.
Funding still has a gap. Lee County expects to receive approximately $11 million from FEMA to rebuild the pier, and since commissioners approved building it back larger, there will be a shortfall of approximately $6 million the county needs to come up with either through Tourist Development Tax funds or through a new request to use funds from the BP/Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
The rebuild story is easy to overweight. The other thing that changed this year is that the local event calendar is no longer a skeleton. What's Up FMB and the town have layered summer programming across venues that finally have the capacity to host it again.
Here's what's actually on the schedule if you live here:
Farther out, the fall and winter menu is already lining up. Mullet Madness is a two-day island celebration hosted by What's Up FMB, featuring live music, themed contests, games, and island-style fun including the Joe Dirt Look-Alike Contests for kids and adults. The Island Hopper Songwriter Fest brings award-winning singer-songwriters to Fort Myers Beach for a weekend of live music at local bars, restaurants, and beachfront venues. The Haunted Carnival Crawl, hosted by the Fort Myers Beach Community Foundation, transforms the island into a night of fun and fundraising with themed stops featuring games, costumes, and carnival-inspired activities supporting local causes.
A few things worth holding in your head if you actually live here:
The south end gets busier around July 15. Two openings, one plaza corridor, one shopping plaza a block away. Expect a run on parking at Santini and Key Estero for two or three weekends after the openings, then normalization.
Book the north end dinners now, not in September. Nervous Nellie's and Pinchers absorb the pier-construction spillover once fencing goes up around Lynn Hall. If your standing Friday night is at either, the reservations get tighter, not looser, once the equipment arrives.
Watch the Lee County agenda for the pier funding vote. The $6M shortfall gets resolved in a commission meeting, not a press release. If Tourist Development Tax funds are the vehicle, that decision will show up on the Board of County Commissioners agenda before it shows up in the news.
Traffic during Times Square events is worse than it was pre-Ian, not better. Fewer parking lots have been rebuilt than restaurants. LeeTran, the local public transport system, often does not operate on July 4, so plan as if transit access is limited. The Beach Trolley from Park & Ride is the better bet for New Year's Eve and any big Times Square night.
The takeaway for anyone who's lived through the last four island summers: this one is the transition. The reopenings that were "coming" are opening. The pier that was "planned" is under contract. The event calendar that used to be an act of faith is a real calendar. If the last few summers were about waiting, this one is about showing up.
If you're thinking about how your own property fits into what the island is becoming — whether that's a Gulf-side condo, a bayside cottage near Times Square, or a rental you've been running through the recovery — Kevin Shelly Realty is on the island every week and happy to walk you through what these changes mean for your address specifically. Get in touch when the timing feels right.
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