Mariners' Mile Is Trading Seats for Later Nights

Since late 2024, three harborfront restaurant buildings on Mariners' Mile have gone dark and found new tenants, or are waiting on one. The city's paperwork for one of them, the former GuacAmigos at 2607 W. Coast Highway, shows the direction of the whole stretch. The plan calls for fewer seats, a later closing time and live music in the room.

Each of the three buildings has a long history as a restaurant. The new tenants aren't simply taking over the old setups. They're cutting the rooms down and building them for the evening.

The address ledger

Here is where each building stands as of early October 2026.

The table looks like ordinary turnover. The city's records for 2607 show it's more specific than that.

What the 2607 permit actually trades

The building at 2607 W. Coast Highway sits near the corner of Tustin Avenue, with The Shamrock Bar and Grill, Rusty Pelican, Billy's at the Beach and The House around it. It has been a restaurant for decades. The Ancient Mariner came first, then Landry's Seafood House in 1994, Joe's Crab Shack in 1997 and GuacAmigos in 2018.

The late-night side of its history has come and gone. A 1998 use permit added late hours and live entertainment. In October 2023, a Minor Use Permit added DJ and pre-programmed music but took the late hours away. The Nice Guy, an Italian American-themed restaurant from West Hollywood, asked to bring them back. The Planning Commission adopted Resolution PC2026-005 on March 5, 2026. It approves a conditional use permit with a Type 47 alcohol license, late hours and live entertainment.

The city staff report's side-by-side table shows what that approval exchanges:

The building stays at 5,260 square feet, with no additions. Total seats drop from 178 to 131, and the bar is cut in half. In return, the restaurant can stay open until midnight seven days a week. Sunday service starts at 9:30 a.m. Live music can run daily until midnight, from a piano, a small ensemble, a DJ or pre-programmed amplified music. The floor plan has about 1,184 square feet of dining room and a stage of roughly 115 square feet at the southern corner, facing the tables. On the outside, the plans call for new siding, roofing, stucco, paint and an entry canopy.

In short, the permit allows a smaller room for longer evenings, and the music comes with dinner.

Why the parking math stopped being the obstacle

Parking explains why a later-hours restaurant could pencil out on this lot now. The building has 55 spaces. Under the previous allowance, the staff report lists 57 spaces as required, two more than the lot has. Under The Nice Guy proposal the requirement is 53, two fewer than the lot has.

The change dates to August 26, 2025. That day the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 2025-13. It brought the food-service parking rules in the coastal implementation plan in line with the city's general zoning code. A restaurant with late hours now needs one parking space for every 100 square feet of floor area. Mariners' Mile buildings sit on tight lots between the highway and the water. A rule that lets an existing lot cover a late-night use is the kind of detail that decides whether a building reopens.

The same pattern at the two rooms already open

The other two buildings have no published seat counts to compare, but they follow the same direction.

Nēsos at 800 W. Coast Highway took over from Pizzeria Mozza, which closed Oct. 31, 2024, after 13 years. Nancy Silverton, Joseph Bastianich and Mario Batali founded Mozza. Founder Vasili Kotsiovos grew up in Orange County and runs Louká in Beverly Hills. He told the Orange County Register in February that he was aiming for fewer than 100 guests. He also described an interior "completely different" from Mozza's and a wood-burning oven for lamb, poultry and seasonal dishes. The restaurant describes itself as an ode to Greece's Peloponnese region and serves dinner Tuesday through Saturday. Its website is taking reservations now.

Flecha Cantina at 2800 W. Coast Highway took over from The Whaler. A March 2026 city report lists The Whaler at that address. The Register reported in April that it had closed late that month, just under two years after opening. Flecha already runs locations in Huntington Beach, Las Vegas and San Diego. Actor Mark Wahlberg co-owns it, and it was created with hospitality veteran Randy Sharpe. The menu centers on tequila and mezcal, with Flecha Azul cocktails alongside tacos, seafood and steak. Its website lists the Newport location as open, with lunch, dinner and weekend service. Blue Door Magazine put it plainly in August. It wrote that a new waterfront dining room "adds another reason to spend an entire evening on that stretch of Coast Highway rather than treating it simply as the road between destinations."

Neither restaurant has published an exact opening day. Both are serving guests now.

Still on the drawing board

Two more projects would carry the shift down the highway. Neither is confirmed open.

1. The Nice Guy, 2607 W. Coast Highway. The permit is approved. The city has project plans for interior and exterior work. Visit Newport Beach's listing still says to stay tuned for an opening date.
2. Uchi, 2510 W. Coast Highway. Chef Tyson Cole's Japanese restaurant, run by Hai Hospitality, was announced in December 2024. At the time it was planned to open "by 2026" as the brand's first Orange County location. It will sit in a new mixed-use building with homes, steps from Newport Bay and Lido Isle. The city's project list shows the Planning Commission approved the restaurant permit on Dec. 5, 2024. It recorded the 2510 PCH Mixed-Use Development as under construction in a January 2025 update. Uchi's own locations page doesn't list Newport Beach yet.

Uchi is the one that adds something new to the corridor. The other three replaced restaurants inside existing buildings. Uchi puts a destination dinner spot in the same new building as residential units.

Fashion Island is adding tables too. Telefèric Barcelona, a Spanish tapas and paella restaurant from the Padrosa family, opened Aug. 20 in the former Hopdoddy space. Levain Bakery opened at 315 Newport Center Drive on Sept. 4. Those arrived in a shopping center built for them. On Mariners' Mile, decades-old buildings are being refit one permit at a time. At 2607, the most recent permit cuts 47 seats and keeps the kitchen open until midnight.

When a building with a long history gets a second act, careful preparation decides how it reads to the next person who walks in. A home works the same way. At JoJo Romeo, our JOJO TRANSFORMATIONS program plans that refit for sellers in Newport Beach, from layout and finishes to how each room presents. If you're thinking about what your home's next chapter could look like, ask us for a complimentary home valuation and transformation plan.