Six new food, beverage, and retail operators have signed on to Cotino Bay Beach, Dining, Shops, the waterfront town center anchoring Storyliving by Disney's master-planned community in Rancho Mirage, California. The lineup — spanning a full-service Mexican restaurant, an Italian all-day café, a specialty juice and coffee bar, artisan gelato, a curated desert marketplace, and a sustainable household-goods refill shop — is scheduled to open to the public in spring 2027.
The Tenant Lineup
The marquee food-and-beverage additions give Coachella Valley diners a range of dayparts and concepts. Asada Cantina + Kitchen, rooted in San Clemente, will operate as a sit-down lunch-and-dinner destination built around Mexican cuisine and craft cocktails. SottoSopra, a new concept from the team behind Palm Desert and Palm Springs favorite SottoVoce Cafe, brings Italian fare — including ossobuco, risotto giallo, and pastries — across breakfast, lunch, and dinner, plus a curated Italian wine list. Big Juice, already a multi-location Coachella Valley staple, will contribute cold-pressed juices, protein smoothies, specialty coffee, and breakfast and lunch items. La Dolce Piccola Gelateria, a family-owned Palm Desert business, rounds out the sweet-treat category with fresh homemade gelato, coffee, and artisanal baked goods on a rotating menu.
On the retail side, Mojave Flea Trading Post — known for its Palm Springs, Yucca Valley, and San Francisco locations — will curate a rotating roster of regional makers, artisans, and small brands featuring vintage apparel, ceramics, home goods, and apothecary items. It Refills, with existing stores in Palm Desert and Indio, introduces a sustainable refillable model for household and personal care products, targeting the growing consumer demand for waste-reduction retail options.
Operator Implications
"These new businesses reflect what makes the Coachella Valley special, from artisan makers to family-owned favorites," said Claire Bilby, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Storyliving by Disney. "Cotino Bay Beach, Dining, Shops will celebrate both the character of this region and the distinct experiences that define Storyliving by Disney."
The six new tenants join three previously announced operators: Elevare, an elevated dining concept with panoramic bay views; Artigiano, a Canadian craft coffee brand making its U.S. debut at Cotino; and On the Mark Fine Foods & Provisions, a locally owned gourmet marketplace. The full tenant mix reflects a deliberate strategy of blending regional independents with emerging multi-unit concepts — a model increasingly common in experience-driven mixed-use hospitality development projects targeting affluent leisure travelers and residential communities.
The town center is designed to activate from morning to evening, with shaded walkways, an open-air marketplace, regular farmers markets featuring Coachella Valley growers, live music, and seasonal events. Ticketed beach access to Cotino Bay — featuring Crystal Lagoons technology — will be available separately, with pricing details to follow. A future development phase will add expanded dining and retail, plus a hotel, signaling long-term foodservice and hospitality growth potential for operators in the market.
The project is located off Monterey Avenue between Gerald Ford and Frank Sinatra Drives in Rancho Mirage. Additional tenant announcements are expected in the months ahead as the town center build-out continues.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
