A taste of Key West has landed on Clearwater Beach. Lolita's Coastal Cocina, a Mexican coastal restaurant serving charred octopus, street tacos and customizable guacamole, has opened at the Opal Sol resort at 400 Coronado Drive, open daily from 11 a.m. to midnight to hotel guests and walk-up beachgoers alike.
The restaurant marks the latest addition to a growing lineup of new offerings at the Clearwater Beach luxury resort, according to Creative Loafing Tampa. The menu leans into coastal Mexican classics, including grouper a la Veracruzana, meaty nachos and Lolita's Carne Platter, alongside tequila- and mezcal-based cocktails, wines and beers. It is not the brand's first outpost — Opal Key Resort in Key West already operates its own Lolita's Coastal Cocina, the original version of the concept that debuted there as part of a property-wide restaurant and lobby renovation, according to Prevue Meetings & Incentives.
A Growing Food and Beverage Lineup at Opal Sol
Lolita's joins two other recently debuted spots at Opal Sol: the Float Malt Shop & Creamery and a Beach Market offering coffees, smoothies and quick grab-and-go fare, per the same Creative Loafing Tampa report. Together, the three street-level additions push Opal Sol's on-site food and beverage count from four venues to seven, according to Opal Collection. All three sit along Beach Walk, the wide pedestrian promenade that runs directly across from the public beach.
Opal Sol itself is a relatively new arrival on the barrier island. The 16-story, 248-suite all-suite resort officially opened to hotel guests in February 2025, built as a 680,000-square-foot property for Ocean Properties Ltd., according to Moss Construction. The building was designed with a concave curve that mirrors the convex shape of its sister property next door, ensuring every suite has a direct, guaranteed view of the Gulf of Mexico.
Linked to Opal Sands via Skybridge
Opal Sol connects to the adjacent Opal Sands Resort, which opened in 2016, by way of a glass-enclosed skyway bridge. Together the two resorts share access to 10 total dining outlets, four pools, two luxury spas and more than 106,000 square feet of event space, according to Race World Offshore. Both properties fall under Opal Collection, the luxury waterfront resort portfolio of Ocean Properties Hotels Resorts & Affiliates, which operates 28 high-end hotels and resorts across the Eastern United States.
Opal Sol has already made a mark locally beyond its restaurants. The resort hosted the Tampa Bay Area Chiefs of Police Foundation's 11th annual gala last month, an event that was opened to the public for the first time.
Record Tourism Numbers Fuel Beachfront Expansion
The restaurant's debut lands amid a booming stretch for Pinellas County tourism. The county recorded its highest-ever spring tourism season in 2026, collecting more than $36.2 million in tourist development taxes between February and April while generating over $10 billion in annual economic impact, according to FOX 13 Tampa Bay. That visitor spending is estimated to save local households roughly $2,000 annually in taxes.
The surge in visitation lines up with a broader wave of luxury investment along the barrier island. Clearwater Beach's high-end hospitality and residential market has kept expanding, with FirstService Residential hired earlier this year to manage the upcoming Viceroy Residences Clearwater Beach, a project Hoodline covered in its piece on the island's luxury condo and hotel boom. For now, Lolita's Coastal Cocina gives both hotel guests and beach walkers one more reason to stop along Beach Walk for a plate of street tacos or a mezcal cocktail.
