Palm Desert Mayor Evan Trubee described the new surf lagoon at Desert Willow as "the kind of project that reflects who we are as a city, open to new ideas." That line ran in a press release back in May, when construction crews were still pouring concrete around what would become a 5.5-acre wave basin. Three months later, the lagoon is full of water, professional surfers have already ridden it, and the project still doesn't have a public opening date. Meanwhile, in the exact suite where Shorebird used to sit on El Paseo, a restaurant that didn't exist in May opens its doors tonight.
That gap is the actual story this month. One project on El Paseo went from closure to grand opening in about fifteen weeks. Another, bigger and more hyped, has had a finished lagoon since June and still can't commit to a date. If you live here, understanding why those two timelines move so differently tells you more about how to plan your fall than either announcement does on its own.
The Sure Thing: YOZU Opens Tonight
Shorebird, the seafood and steak concept that opened at The Shops on El Paseo in February 2024, closed for good on May 12, 2026. The operator, Wild Thyme Group, didn't leave the space empty for long. Tonight, August 26, the same suite at 73-061 El Paseo reopens as YOZU, a modern izakaya built around sushi, shareable plates, and a sake list meant for regulars as much as first-timers.
Chef Kellen Gullatt, trained at Le Cordon Bleu, is running a menu that pulls from Japan, Korea, China, and Southeast Asia: hand rolls and nigiri from an open sushi bar upstairs, wok-fired shaking beef, Kurobuta pork belly fried rice, and Korean fried wings downstairs. The space seats 150 across two floors, with a happy hour running daily from 4 to 7 p.m. and DJ sets on weekends. It's the third concept Wild Thyme Group has run in this same stretch of El Paseo, following Shorebird and Molé Mexican Kitchen, which is still open a few doors down.
Three concepts from one operator on the same block isn't a coincidence. It's what happens when a group already knows a street well enough to keep betting on it, even after one bet doesn't pay off.
Why El Paseo Doesn't Sit Empty
Here's the number that explains the fifteen-week turnaround: El Paseo's retail vacancy rate sits at 5 percent, according to Palm Desert Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Alisa Williams. That's tighter than the broader Palm Desert retail market, which runs closer to 8 percent vacancy. A commercial strip that full doesn't have room for an empty storefront to sit and wait for the right tenant. When Shorebird's owners decided the seafood concept wasn't working, they didn't wait to see who might want the space next. They already had the next concept designed before the doors closed.
That's the mechanism worth knowing if you keep half an eye on which restaurants come and go here. A closure on El Paseo rarely means the street just lost a business. It usually means an operator is mid-pivot, and the replacement is already further along than the empty windows make it look.
The Bigger Project Still Doesn't Have One
DSRT Surf is a different animal entirely. The 5.5-acre Wavegarden Cove lagoon sits between the Firecliff and Mountain View courses at Desert Willow Golf Resort, and by most measures it's ready. The basin filled with water back in June. By July, professional surfers including Rob Machado, Josh Kerr, and the Colapinto brothers were testing waves on it, and at least one aerial specialist came away calling it the best wave pool he'd ridden. A Surfer.com writer who got a hands-on session in late July confirmed the lagoon is functioning at a high level and still reported no announced public opening date.
That's the pattern to notice. A finished lagoon with pro-tested waves is not the same thing as a bookable calendar. DSRT Surf isn't a single restaurant tenant filling a vacant suite. It's a 17-acre resort development with a hotel and villas planned for a later phase, a staffing plan that includes lifeguards and certified surf instructors, and a launch that's clearly being built around a bigger moment than a quiet soft open. Sessions are expected to start around $60 an hour once bookings go live, but as of this week, late summer is running out and there's still nothing on the calendar to reserve.
Here's the short version of what actually has a date right now and what doesn't:
- YOZU on El Paseo — opens tonight, August 26
- Living Desert Zoo and Gardens job fair — Saturday, August 29, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., hiring for guest services, animal care, gardens, and food service
- DSRT Surf public bookings — still no announced date, despite a finished lagoon and completed pro testing
If you've been holding off on plans because you assumed the surf lagoon would be open by Labor Day, this is your signal to stop waiting and check back closer to an actual announcement instead.
The Rest of August, and What September Brings Back
August at Acrisure Arena has been quiet by design. Ramon Ayala, the accordion player who's become something of a returning fixture at the venue, anchored what was otherwise a light month there. If you missed that show, the calendar reloads hard in September:
| Date | Show |
|---|---|
| September 2 | Chicago and Styx |
| September 13 | Weird Al Yankovic |
| September 26 | MANÁ |
Worth knowing before any of those: Kitchen 86 on El Paseo stays open until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays and until 11 p.m. the rest of the week, which is later than most of the street runs and useful if a show lets out after 9:30.
Outside of arena nights and restaurant openings, August is still the month for early mornings. The Bump and Grind trailhead off Highway 111 opens at sunrise, and the window to actually enjoy it is real but short. By 9 a.m. the rock is radiating heat and the coyotes have already retreated to shade. If a walk sounds better than a job fair or a dinner reservation, that's the hour to go.
The Pattern Worth Remembering
A single restaurant suite and a 17-acre resort project don't run on the same clock, and conflating the two is how people end up disappointed. On a street with 5 percent vacancy, a closed restaurant is a temporary gap that gets filled fast because the operator has every incentive to move quickly. A resort-scale attraction with a hotel and villas in a later phase has no such pressure. It gets built, tested, and refined until the people running it decide the launch is worth the wait.
That's not a reason to stop paying attention to DSRT Surf. It's a reason to treat "summer 2026" as a target rather than a promise, and to book the things that actually have dates in the meantime. Tonight, that's dinner at YOZU.
If you're weighing a move to Palm Desert, or already live here and are curious what a changing stretch of El Paseo means for property values nearby, Kara Duffy has spent years watching this market shift block by block. Let's Connect.
