Issabella's, the Mediterranean restaurant that has anchored 1022 Lincoln Road in Miami Beach for the past five years, will serve its final meals on August 30, 2026. Taking its place will be a familiar name to longtime Miami Beach diners: Balan's, the brasserie-style brand that occupied that very address before Issabella's arrived, is set to reopen there on September 17, 2026.
The closure and comeback were first reported by Miami Herald food writer Connie Ogle, whose reporting lays out the timeline: Issabella's opened in 2021 and is now wrapping up after five years on Lincoln Road, while Balan's — created by the same owners, Jonathan and Keva Balan — moves back into the space it once called home. The new Balan's will revive daily brunch service until 4 p.m., featuring returning favorites like the Balan's burger, eggs Benedict, Belgian waffles and fish and chips, alongside new menu items that lean Mediterranean, according to the Herald's report.
A Space That Keeps Swapping Between the Same Two Concepts
This isn't the first time 1022 Lincoln Road has changed hands between these two Balan family concepts. Issabella's originally opened in that 4,182-square-foot footprint on December 17, 2021, taking over from Balan's after the brand's temporary hiatus on the pedestrian mall, according to reporting cited by CRE-sources. Jonathan and Keva Balan had run Balan's at that exact address for more than two decades before pivoting the space to Issabella's in late 2021.
Balan's itself dates back further than its Miami Beach run. The brand first opened stateside in 1997, following its 1987 founding as a 24-hour family-run diner in Soho, London, by Prady Balan, according to Modern Luxury. Those UK roots still shape the brasserie's menu and concept today. Meanwhile, Balan's at Mary Brickell Village, a 2,500-square-foot, 141-seat outpost that underwent a full interior redesign and reopened in early 2020 with an open kitchen and London-meets-Miami aesthetic, per Miami Culinary Tours, has remained open throughout Issabella's entire five-year run on Lincoln Road.
The Business Behind Both Brands
Jonathan and Keva Balan operate their restaurants under the corporate entity Uni Hospitality LLC, which also expanded its portfolio in April 2025 by launching Babu, an exclusive weekly Indian pop-up concept in Brickell. The 1020–1022 Lincoln Road retail property has been held by the same local family, the Brodys, since the 1980s — a long-term ownership structure that has historically given tenants like Uni Hospitality more flexibility to pivot concepts without facing the institutional rent pressures common elsewhere in South Florida, per The Real Deal.
Lincoln Road's Wider Shake-Up
Balan's return also lands amid a broader wave of change along Lincoln Road. Just down the street, Segafredo L'Originale, which had anchored the western end of the pedestrian mall since June 2000, permanently closed in June 2026 after 26 years, as Hoodline previously reported. New concepts have also been moving in, including the rooftop restaurant Mēdüzā Mediterrania at 500 Lincoln Road and Sulta Rosa, a coffee-and-dessert lounge opened in July 2026 by Dancing With the Stars performers Daniella Karagach and Pasha Pashkov.
The corridor's earning potential remains substantial even amid the turnover. MILA, the rooftop venue at 800 Lincoln Road, was named the highest-grossing independent restaurant in the United States in December 2025, pulling in $51.1 million in annual sales after climbing from $49 million the year before, according to Time Out. City officials have also stepped in to ease pressure on operators: in February 2026, the Miami Beach City Commission unanimously passed a temporary deregulatory ordinance eliminating conditional use permit requirements for new restaurants and live indoor entertainment venues along corridors including Lincoln Road, while also raising indoor entertainment occupancy limits from 200 to 750 patrons, per World Red Eye. In July 2026, commissioners further voted to extend the Lincoln Road Outdoor Concession Restaurant Fee Abatement program to help offset high operating costs for sidewalk cafes.
For now, Issabella's has just over a week left to serve its Mediterranean menu before closing out its run on August 30. Balan's brunch crowd will have to wait a bit longer, with the reopening set for September 17.
