What's New to Eat and Drink on Merritt Island, From Crockett Boulevard to the Causeway

"In a quest to make the vinegary drink that was then sold in stores more drinkable, he started making his own at home," Juli Claassen told Florida Today in September. She was describing how her husband, Gerhard, got started on the product that now fills the stainless steel tanks at 127 N. Tropical Trail.

Big Dog Kombucha began operating in 2019. The Claassens recently moved into a 7,000-square-foot brewing facility with a taproom that looks out over the production floor. The story is typical of what has opened on Merritt Island over the past year. The newest places tend to be small and owner-operated, and many of them sit along a handful of older streets: Crockett Boulevard, Grove Street, Magnolia Avenue and North Tropical Trail. The Causeway has gained the big dining rooms. The older core has gained a coffee counter, a wine garden, a pizza window and a taproom.

The Older Core Is Where the Small Openings Clustered

On July 23, 2026, the Merritt Island Redevelopment Agency published a short list of eateries that had opened on the island within the previous 365 days. Three of the seven have addresses on Crockett Boulevard, Grove Street or Magnolia Avenue. Add the Big Dog taproom on Tropical Trail and Papa Vito's on Crockett, and the older center accounts for five recent openings, more than any other part of the island covered in this research.

What stands out is how different they are from one another:

• Cuba Bistro, 233 Crockett Blvd., serves Cuban coffee, café con leche, cortaditos, coladas, pastries and breakfast, according to the agency's list. Its online ordering menu also lists Cuban sandwiches, including a Caribbean Cuban made with shredded beef, fried cheese and pineapple. Visit Space Coast describes it as family-owned.
• Papa Vito's Pizza Spot, 203 Crockett Blvd., took over the former Straight Outta Philly space. When Florida Today previewed it in December 2025, the paper named Billy Graham as owner and described a takeout and delivery shop serving pizza and Italian-American comfort food. The paper's Sept. 9 guide lists it among the county's 2026 openings and describes its pizzas as hand-tossed.
• Garden on Grove Wine & Beer Bar, 230 N. Grove St., pairs wine and beer with a changing menu of light fare in what the agency calls a beautiful garden setting.
• The Maple Pot, 407 Magnolia Ave., serves specialty espresso, lattes and Italian sodas inside a plant shop and gift boutique. Visit Space Coast lists it as woman-owned.
• Big Dog Kombucha, 127 N. Tropical Trail, runs its taproom from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and closes on Sundays. The kombucha is made with fresh fruit and raw honey rather than concentrates.

Between them, these five cover morning coffee, a Cuban lunch, pizza for dinner and an evening glass of wine without repeating a category. Each is independently run or franchise-owned and, going by the descriptions, sized for a neighborhood rather than a highway. That makes a short Saturday loop possible that the old center could not offer a year or two ago.

At Big Dog, the taproom overlooks the brewing floor, so a visit doubles as a look at how the product is made. The shop is also no longer only a Merritt Island story. Florida Today reports that the kombucha is now stocked by retailers and restaurants across Brevard County and elsewhere in Florida. The Tropical Trail location is where all of that production happens.

North Courtenay Parkway Added the Later Hours

North Courtenay Parkway picks up where the old core leaves off, and its new arrivals push the evening later.

Abbott's Frozen Custard opened on Jan. 14 at 2445 N. Courtenay Parkway, the brand's first Space Coast location. Franchise owners Sophia and Nick Chambers serve sundaes, pints and custard cakes. Florida Today reported hours of 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. When the paper introduced its September guide to more than 30 new restaurants across Brevard, "frozen custard on Merritt Island" was one of the three examples it picked.

Marina Wine Bar & Deli Café, 2137 N. Courtenay Parkway, serves homemade Italian food with wine and desserts. Chef-owner Gino Signore previously ran a restaurant in Cape Canaveral before opening on Merritt Island. The restaurant's own site names shrimp-and-crab ravioli, Pollo Parmigiana and gnocchi alla Bolognese among its most popular dishes.

Kavasutra, 975 N. Courtenay Parkway, is an alcohol-free kava and botanical tea lounge. Its location page lists hours of 8 a.m. to 2 a.m., seven days a week, which makes it the latest-closing spot in this roundup by a wide margin.

Like the Crockett Boulevard shops, these are specialists: one custard shop, one chef-owned Italian room and one kava bar. The difference is the clock. The old core leans toward daytime and early evening, while Courtenay now has places that stay open past 9 p.m.

The Causeway Is Where the Big Rooms Went

The Merritt Island Causeway is the one stretch where the new openings run large.

The Sushimo, 125 E. Merritt Island Causeway, appeared under "Now open" in Florida Today's July 30 dining roundup. It serves sushi, sashimi, hibachi, teriyaki, tempura, soups and appetizers, and seats more than 100 for dine-in, with takeout available. Farther east, Da Sushi Island at 1580 E. Merritt Island Causeway offers sushi, ramen, hibachi and a full bar. The business calls itself family-owned and describes the Merritt Island restaurant as its second location. That gives the Causeway two new sushi-and-hibachi restaurants in the span of about a year.

At Merritt Square Mall, Crossroads Jerk Center is expected to open at 777 E. Merritt Island Causeway. On Sept. 4, co-owner Lora Cross told What Now that it would open "next month," which points to October. She described indoor and outdoor dining with live entertainment seven days a week.

"We're going to jerk everything."

That covers jerk chicken and pork, along with curry goat and oxtail soup. The restaurant joins a mall dining lineup that already includes Margarita Island and China Max. As of this writing, no opening day has been announced.

One familiar Causeway stop is also back. The Chick-fil-A at 785 E. Merritt Island Causeway closed at the start of July for drive-thru improvements. By Sept. 15 it had reopened for dine-in service, with the drive-thru still waiting on final inspection.

The Full List by Corridor

"Opened in the past year" follows the redevelopment agency's July 23 wording, which covers the 365 days before that date. Abbott's, Papa Vito's and The Sushimo appear in Florida Today's Sept. 9 guide to Brevard's 2026 openings. Big Dog's taproom opening was covered in the paper's Sept. 3 story.

One Date for the Calendar

Food trucks are coming to the island on Saturday, Oct. 10, for the inaugural Fall Festival at The Amphitheatre at Veterans Memorial Park, 400 S. Sykes Creek Parkway. Hosted by the Brevard Veterans Memorial Center and the Melvin Morris Veterans Assistance Program, the event runs from 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. It includes a car show, vendors, arts and crafts, and pumpkin decorating. The live stage, presented by SpaceX, opens at 2 p.m. with John McDonald and the Mango Men. The night ends with the Space Coast Symphony Orchestra's "Red, White & Brass," a patriotic program honoring Brevard County veterans. Admission is free, and seating is on the lawn, so bring a blanket or lawn chair.

Knowing which part of Merritt Island fits your daily routine, whether that is a coffee counter on Crockett Boulevard or a later evening on Courtenay, matters as much as the home itself. If you'd like to talk through how the island's corridors differ, Maria Schmackpfeffer is glad to share what she knows. Let's Connect.