Every New Table at Bal Harbour Shops Sits in an Old Room. Hillstone's Room Is the Open Question.

"Wanted to reach out personally and let you know that we have permanently decided to close our operations." That voicemail went to a diner holding a reservation for Monday, August 10, 2026. Miami New Times reported the same day that Hillstone at Bal Harbour Shops had closed without warning after 11 years. The caller offered to rebook the guest at Hillstone's North Miami or Coral Gables locations. By that afternoon, a reader saw staff gathered outside the dark dining room.

Hillstone was one of three big dining changes at the Shops this year. China Grill and Slim's both opened, and each one moved into a room an earlier restaurant had left. Hillstone's room is different. New Times' August report named no successor, and none came up in the coverage reviewed for this post.

A Building With No Empty Rooms

The restaurants trade rooms because the building has almost no space to spare. When Whitman Family Development closed a $740 million refinancing and construction loan with Blackstone in December 2024, the center covered about 500,000 square feet and was 98 percent leased across 110 tenants. Whitman has since described the property as full, with a waiting list.

In a building that full, a new restaurant usually has to wait for an old one to leave. China Grill shows how long that can take. Jeffrey Chodorow signed his Bal Harbour Shops lease in July 2021, but the room he wanted belonged to Le Zoo, whose lease ran through April 2025. Miami New Times called the 2025 changes at the Shops "a larger game of restaurant musical chairs."

The Rooms and Who Holds Them Now

Sources for the table: Le Zoo's history and the first-floor handoff come from Miami New Times. Slim's taking Makoto's original space after Makoto's 2022 move was reported in a separate New Times story. Hillstone's opening and closing dates come from New Times' August report.

Aba also left the Shops in early 2025, a few weeks before Le Zoo announced its closing. None of the reporting gathered here names a successor for Aba's space, so it isn't in the table.

China Grill's Return Took Five Years

China Grill ran at 404 Washington Avenue in South Beach from 1995 until it closed in 2012. Its new location is Unit 135 on the first floor, the room Stephen Starr's Le Zoo had held since late 2015. It took five years to get from the signed lease to the first service. Haute Living reported the June 9 reopening the next day.

The menu keeps the original's lobster pancakes, lamb spare ribs and spicy beef dumplings, and adds Peking duck and tuna au poivre. Dishes come to the table as they're ready and are meant for sharing. China Grill serves lunch, brunch and dinner. Dinner service runs until midnight. In practice, that makes the first-floor room usable at noon and late at night. Le Zoo, for comparison, was known for long lunches that ran into late-afternoon profiteroles.

Slim's Took Over a Room Starr Already Knew

Starr's company didn't leave the Shops when Le Zoo closed. In its April 2025 goodbye, Starr Restaurants said it planned to open a new concept at a different location in the Shops. That concept is Slim's, and it went into the room where Makoto, Starr's sushi restaurant, first opened at the Shops. Makoto still operates at the Shops. Starr gave up one room and moved into another one he had already run. Through all of it, his company kept a presence at the Shops.

The dates differ by source. The Shops advertised a grand-opening event for Saturday, March 14, and one later account puts the first service on March 17. Haute Living's September guide describes checkerboard Nero Marquina and Calacatta Viola Monet marble floors, honey-colored leather banquettes and Art Deco-style murals by Christoph Niemann. The menu covers prime cuts, a raw bar, caviar service, a Wagyu cheesesteak and twin lobster tails. Slim's is open nightly from 5 to 11 p.m., and the guide calls it one of the hardest reservations in the area.

The Room Above Collins Avenue

Hillstone opened at the Shops in March 2015. Miami New Times described it as "perched above the luxury shops with views overlooking Collins Avenue," a favorite meeting place for local business executives, tourists and longtime regulars. The paper also called it one of South Florida's hardest reservations. It was known for consistent service, the French dip, sushi, spinach and artichoke dip and the Hawaiian rib-eye.

The message on the restaurant's website was short. "Hillstone at Bal Harbour has closed," it read, and it thanked guests and invited them to Hillstone's other restaurants. Hillstone Restaurant Group didn't answer New Times' questions before publication, and no reason has been reported. The company still runs its Coral Gables and North Miami locations.

Le Zoo and Makoto's original room each had a named successor before the old tenant moved out. For Hillstone's room, the reporting reviewed for this post names no successor. Given how full the building is, that's the clearest open question in Bal Harbour dining this fall.

Where the Expansion Fits In

The other big change at the Shops this season is the West Shops expansion. WWD reported in November 2025 that the roughly 200,000-square-foot addition was projected to open in the third quarter of 2026. The first boutiques opened on Level 1 on Wednesday, September 23, and the official tourism listing says more openings are still to come. None of the reporting gathered for this piece names a restaurant in the West Shops. For now, the addition is retail.

Getting in by car still works differently than it used to. Bal Harbour Village said the 9700 Collins Avenue vehicle entrance would close on February 27, 2026, until further notice. Drivers were sent to the 96th Street garage or the 9800 Collins entrance, and rideshare pickups were moved to the garage. The West Shops opening notice gave the same directions for the 96th Street Garage and Green Level Valet. No reopening date for the 9700 Collins entrance has been published.

The Day's Seatings, as of October

Here is how the Shops and the village's nearby hotel dining rooms fill a day this fall, using each restaurant's published hours or policy:

1. Late morning, Carpaccio. Haute Living calls it the longtime anchor of the Shops' dining and the one most likely to have a full patio before noon on a weekday. It takes no reservations, so the patio goes to whoever arrives first.
2. Lunch or brunch, China Grill, in Le Zoo's former first-floor room.
3. Afternoon, La Gourmandise at The St. Regis Bal Harbour. Haute Living describes French pastry by Executive Pastry Chef Adrian Colameco and 30 tea blends, including custom blends made only for the St. Regis.
4. From 5 p.m., Slim's, open nightly until 11.
5. Late, China Grill again, which serves until midnight.

Makoto and Atlantikós, the Greek restaurant at The St. Regis Bal Harbour, round out the dinner options. Both appear on Bal Harbour's Miami Spice list with China Grill and Slim's, offering three-course brunch, lunch and dinner menus priced from $40 to $95. The village's listing gives an end date of October 31, 2026, though its own description says Miami Spice takes place in August and September. Confirm with the restaurant before you book a Spice menu this month.

If you want something away from the Shops, the Village has scheduled Sounds by the Sea at Bal Harbour Beach North by the Jetty on October 11, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. A Moana movie night is planned on the same stretch of beach on October 17, from 6:30 to 9 p.m. The Fall Festival is at Waterfront Park on October 24, from 7 to 9 p.m.

Carmenate / Duchon follows Bal Harbour addresses the same way this post follows the Shops' restaurant rooms: who held them, who holds them now and how long the handoff took. If you own a home in the village and want to talk through how changes at 9700 Collins affect your property, Mick Duchon and Eloy Carmenate are available. Book a private consultation.