Coral Ridge's Fall Is Happening at the Edges

Most of what's new in Coral Ridge this fall sits on its edges. There's a bakery café coming to North Federal Highway, a frozen custard shop just north of Oakland Park Boulevard, a steakhouse taking over a restaurant space by the drawbridge, and a new kosher dining room on North Ocean Boulevard. The busiest dates on the calendar fall on the Intracoastal, which runs along the neighborhood's waterfront.

George English Park on Bayview Drive is the one major project inside the neighborhood, and it moves more slowly. A pump station there has been pushed into 2027, and the larger renovation is tied to city budget years. So the corridors around Coral Ridge are changing month to month, while the park in the middle changes year to year. Knowing which is which makes it easier to plan the next few months.

What's Opening Around the Edges

As of early October, these are the confirmed openings and announcements on the streets around the neighborhood, with each one's status taken from the latest report.

Miami New Times describes Koji & Coal as "already open." Its name pairs koji, the Japanese fermentation technique, with cooking over coal, and the menu "crosses into steakhouse territory" in a dining room with warm lighting and natural textures. The same Sept. 30 roundup calls Paris Baguette "the kind of everyday bakery stop this list needs." That's a fair description of what a weekday morning on North Federal Highway has been missing.

Whit's comes from Granville, Ohio, where Chuck and Lisa Whitman founded it in 2003. It now has more than 100 locations, including nearly two dozen in Florida. WhatNow reported the fall 2026 target in April, based on permit filings with the state, and no firmer date has appeared since. Peppi's is in a similar spot. Its owner gave the Sun Sentinel an "End of September or early October" estimate in August, so it's worth checking before you head over. Ella's Coffee House was announced on Oct. 1 with a menu of roasted coffee, handcrafted drinks and pastries, but no opening timeline yet.

Not every change is an opening. Giorgio's Bistro & Bakery at 3537 Galt Ocean Drive opened in early 2025 and closed this spring or summer. The brand's Hollywood location is still open.

The Corner by the Oakland Park Bridge

The biggest change on the edges is at 3330 E. Oakland Park Blvd., just east of the drawbridge. For years, Thasos Greek Taverna served chef and owner Sophia Mylona's upscale Greek cooking there. It closed with a "Last Party and Supper" on May 21, and Meat Market, the steakhouse based in Boca Raton, bought the property in June.

Meat Market CEO David Tornek explained the move to the Sun Sentinel:

"Fort Lauderdale has been a market we've had our eye on for some time, and we believe this is the right location for our next South Florida restaurant. Construction will begin soon, with additional details and an opening timeline to be announced."

That was in late August. No opening date has been announced since. For anyone driving across the Oakland Park bridge this fall, the most likely sign of progress is construction work at the site.

George English Park Moves by Budget Year

George English Park at 1101 Bayview Dr. is Coral Ridge's largest shared space. The city lists boat ramps, a canoe and kayak landing, tennis and pickleball courts, a playground, athletic fields, basketball, fishing, a pavilion, a recreation center and walking paths. Dogs are allowed on a leash but not on the fields, courts or playground, or in the water.

The most visible change right now is at the southeast corner. Since July 28, 2025, the city and contractor Southern Underground Industries have been rebuilding Sewer Pump Station B-4 with new pumps, electrical and monitoring equipment, repaired underground structures and a backup generator. On Aug. 27, the city moved the completion estimate from fall 2026 to early 2027 because the station needed more rehabilitation work. Crews work weekdays from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., and about 11 parking spaces on the park's east side, near the boat ramps, stay closed until the work is done. Those spaces will be closed through the busiest stretch of the boating season.

The renovation residents have been waiting for is a separate project with its own timeline. Here's how its funding has moved so far:

1. 2022. On May 3, the City Commission approved a Parks Board recommendation that included pickleball courts at George English.
2. 2024. The first phase under the Parks Bond Program upgraded the lights on the athletic fields.
3. Phase two. The city's bond page lists a community center renovation, a crew boathouse, shade for the basketball court, pickleball courts and a playground, solar panels, a walking trail with outdoor exercise equipment, a pavilion, lighting, signage and ADA improvements. The page says this phase is still waiting on approval and funding and gives no construction dates.
4. Fiscal year 2027. The city's preliminary capital plan for 2027 through 2031 puts $4,112,088 toward George English Park improvements in FY2027, on top of $905,479 already budgeted, for a total of $5,017,567. The same plan sets aside $113,750 a year from FY2027 through FY2030 for the second phase of the park's floating docks.
5. Sept. 14, 2026. The commission adopted the final FY2027 budget.

The preliminary plan put the park's largest dollar amount in the budget year that just started, and the budget itself is now adopted. The bond page still doesn't show a construction start date. The money and the planning are lined up for the year ahead, but construction hasn't started.

The Streets Around Bayview Are Next

The same preliminary plan funds smaller projects on the streets around the park. It includes $130,000 in FY2027 for rectangular rapid flashing beacons on Bayview Drive and $120,000 the same year for bike lanes on north Bayview Drive. Coral Ridge Park gets $285,000 in FY2027, and a Complete Streets project on NE 26th Street is listed at $525,000 for FY2028.

These are planned dollars in a document the city labels preliminary, not construction notices. Still, they follow the same pattern as the park. The changes inside Coral Ridge are being scheduled a budget year at a time, starting with the stretch of Bayview Drive right next to George English.

The Intracoastal Calendar Through December

While the park waits on its schedule, the waterway it sits on is about to get busy. Here are the dates that matter between now and the holidays:

• Oct. 17–18: The free 39th Annual Las Olas Art Fair, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., on East Las Olas Boulevard between SE 6th and SE 11th avenues.
• Oct. 28–Nov. 1: The Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show at Bahia Mar, Hall of Fame Marina, Pier Sixty-Six, Las Olas Marina and the Broward County Convention Center.
• Oct. 31: Halloween Fest at Bonnet House, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., with a costume runway, face painting, a trick-or-treat trail, music and food vendors.
• Dec. 12: The Seminole Hard Rock Winterfest Boat Parade starts at 6 p.m. This year's theme, "Party in the U.S.A.," marks America's 250th anniversary.

The parade matters most for Coral Ridge. It starts on the New River, turns east to the Intracoastal and then heads north to Lake Santa Barbara in Pompano Beach, so the boats pass along the neighborhood's waterfront. Winterfest's 2026 bridge schedule lists road closures at the Sunrise Boulevard bridge starting at 7 p.m. and at the Oakland Park Boulevard bridge at 7:30 p.m. Anyone with dinner plans on either boulevard that evening should plan around those times. The ticketed viewing area is at Las Olas Intracoastal Promenade Park, where the boats are expected around 6:30 p.m. Organizers also list bridges and other spots along the route as places to watch. Bridge times can change, so check Winterfest's schedule again in early December.

If you're watching the steakhouse construction by the Oakland Park bridge, wondering when the George English parking will reopen, or thinking about what the Bayview Drive projects could mean for your block, Caroline Conlon keeps up with these updates as they're announced and is glad to talk through what each one means for your part of Coral Ridge. Let's Work Together.