17th Street Costa Mesa’s 2026 Restaurant and Shop Shift

Walk 17th Street in Eastside Costa Mesa at 9 p.m. this month and the block reads differently than it did a year ago. The daytime crowd is still there in memory, the lunch line at the deli, the afternoon wine tasting crowd drifting out of Hi-Time. The Country Club's closure has changed the block's late-night options.

That's because The Country Club, the late-night room at 330 E 17th that ran DJ programming Thursday through Saturday inside the old Pierce Street Annex building, has closed. The new and planned businesses discussed below are oriented toward daytime activity.

What Actually Closed

The Country Club's closure notice pointed regulars to two sister restaurants on the same street: Playa Mesa and Wild Goose Tavern.

The building itself carries weight beyond one tenant. Pierce Street Annex has been one of Orange County's older drinking and entertainment addresses, which means the closure isn't just the loss of a bar. It's the loss of a specific kind of room, one built around a Friday night that starts with dinner and doesn't end with it.

New and Planned Businesses on 17th Street

Here's the part that makes this more than a single closure story. Each new or planned address discussed here is oriented toward daytime activity.

• CAVA opened its third Orange County location at a new-construction development in Eastside Costa Mesa, joining FishBonz Seafood Grill and Paris Baguette. All three are fast-casual and counter-service, the kind of spot you hit for lunch or an early dinner, not a Saturday night out.
• Southe, a boutique carrying clothing, home goods, and personalized gifts, reopened at 333 E 17th in late August under owner Halleigh Hill after a remodel that used the remaining year on her previous shop's lease. It's a daytime retail stop, full stop.
• A few doors down at 154 E 17th, the former Santa Monica Seafood space, Bear Flag Fish Co. has been working through city permitting since at least last fall. When it lands, it's a seafood counter, not a bar.
• Two addresses up at 140 E 17th, Erewhon has signed a lease for a 2027 debut. A luxury grocer is the ultimate daytime tenant. Nobody's doing their after-dinner drinks run at a grocery store.

The four addresses span openings, permitting, and a future lease, but none is described here as a replacement for The Country Club's late-night programming.

Late-Night Options After the Closure

The closure notice points regulars to Playa Mesa and Wild Goose Tavern. Playa Mesa is an option for group dinner, while Wild Goose Tavern, a 21-plus room with its own parking lot and regular weekday specials, offers an after-nine option.

If your old plan was a 7:30 table at The Country Club followed by whatever came next, the honest re-time now is a 6:30 seating at Playa Mesa or an 8:00 walk-in at Wild Goose. The reservation pressure on both rooms goes up on exactly the nights The Country Club used to run its programming. That's not a guess. It's the logical consequence of one late-night room closing on a block where the replacements all keep daytime hours.

The Deep Bench That Isn't Moving

The closure and new openings are changing the mix, while the daytime and early-evening bench underneath the headline changes remains deep. That range of options helps define the block alongside its changing late-night landscape.

The 17th Street Deli has been running since 1989 at 369 E 17th, working with Boar's Head meats and C'est Si Bon baguettes. Sidecar Doughnuts, Breakfast Republic, Plums Café, The Crack Shack, and Eat Chow cover the morning and midday crowd the way they always have. Hi-Time Wine Cellars, home to one of the largest underground wine cellars in the country, keeps running its regular tastings regardless of what's happening two doors down. For dinner that isn't chasing a late crowd, Oak & Coal, Tabu Shabu, Ramen Tatsunoya, and Ospi Costa Mesa are still the rotation residents actually use on a Tuesday.

The block retains a range of daytime and early-evening options. The Country Club's closure leaves Playa Mesa and Wild Goose Tavern as the late-night options discussed here, while the other new and planned businesses are oriented toward daytime activity.

What This Means If You're On This Block Regularly

If 17th Street is part of your weekly routine, the practical shift is small but real. The block still works for breakfast, lunch, an afternoon wine stop, or an early dinner exactly as well as it did last year, arguably better once Bear Flag Fish Co. and Erewhon land. For plans after 9 p.m. on a Friday or Saturday, Playa Mesa and Wild Goose Tavern are the late-night options discussed here.

It's also worth watching what happens once Erewhon's 2027 opening gets closer. A grocer of that caliber signing on the same three-block stretch as CAVA, Southe, and the Bear Flag Fish Co. build-out is a signal about foot traffic during the day, and it's a signal that the corridor's daytime identity is only going to get stronger from here.

For now, the clearest takeaway is that 17th Street is adding daytime-oriented businesses while its late-night landscape changes.

If you're keeping an eye on this corridor for reasons that go beyond dinner reservations, our team at The Gipe Group tracks the Orange County blocks where daily life shifts like this turn into real opportunity long before it shows up on a listing site. Unlock Exclusive Private Listings to see what we're watching next.