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, YOZU was scheduled to open August 26.
That gap is the actual story this month. One project on El Paseo was scheduled to open about fifteen weeks after Shorebird closed. 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.
YOZU's Scheduled August 26 Opening
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. YOZU was scheduled to open in the same suite at 73-061 El Paseo on August 26 as 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.
The scheduled turnaround stands out against a retail market where El Paseo has relatively little vacancy.
Why El Paseo Doesn't Sit Empty
Here's the number that puts the fifteen-week turnaround in context: 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. After Shorebird closed, YOZU was scheduled to open in the same space on August 26.
That's the mechanism worth knowing if you keep half an eye on which restaurants come and go here. A closure on El Paseo can be followed by a new concept on a relatively short timeline, as the scheduled YOZU opening illustrates.
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 and a staffing plan that includes lifeguards and certified surf instructors. Sessions are expected to start around $60 an hour once bookings go live, with late summer already running out.
As of September 3, DSRT Surf still has no announced public booking date.
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. The remaining September dates include:
| Date | Show |
|---|---|
| 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 was still the month for early mornings. The Bump and Grind trailhead off Highway 111 opened at sunrise, and the window to actually enjoy it was real but short. By 9 a.m. the rock was radiating heat and the coyotes had already retreated to shade. If a walk sounded better than a dinner reservation, that was 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, and DSRT Surf's public opening date remains unannounced.
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.
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.
