What's Actually Open at Monmouth Square Right Now, and What's Still "Coming Soon"

The former Monmouth Mall site in Eatontown has had two openings since midsummer. Whole Foods Market opened its doors at 8 a.m. on July 29, 2026. CAVA followed on Monday, September 21, at 180 Route 35. Meanwhile the Monmouth Square website lists a dozen businesses as "Coming Soon." Almost none of them have a published opening date.

That gap shapes what the place is today. For now, Monmouth Square is a strong stop for groceries, a quick dinner and a movie. The open-air town-square side of the plan, with a central green, a sit-down Italian restaurant, coffee, ice cream and pizza, is still mostly future tense. And most of it depends on construction that has no public finish date.

The scorecard, sorted by what you can do this week

This is the Monmouth Square directory, in the version stamped July 14, 2026, compared against later local news coverage. "Listed without a Coming Soon tag" means the Monmouth Square site shows the business with a regular link and not the Coming Soon label.

By the directory's own count, the "open" column is mostly businesses that were there before or need little more than a storefront. The "Coming Soon" column holds nearly everything that would change how the site feels on a Saturday afternoon.

What the July and September openings added

Whole Foods sits at 180 Route 35 South. If you remember a June date, that was the announcement. One July article in Two River Times included a line saying the store would open June 30. The retailer's own release gives June 30 as the day it announced the store and July 29 as opening day, and Patch confirmed the store was open that morning.

CAVA's hours run from 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day. NJ.com confirmed the September 21 opening in a September 26 story that called the restaurant part of the mall's makeover. The Monmouth Square directory also describes Barnes & Noble's Starbucks café as a spot to "settle in with a coffee."

Taken together, a resident can already do a full weekly shop, grab a bowl or a burger, browse books and catch a film at AMC without leaving the property. That's a real change from the long demolition stretch. It also sets the ceiling for this fall. The next tier of experience depends on tenants still listed without dates.

The "square" part depends on a green that has no opening date

Patch reports that over the past two years Kushner demolished large parts of the old mall and cut its footprint by 40 percent. The plan is an open-air layout with walking paths and shops arranged around a large central green, similar to how the mall worked in the 1960s. Eatontown's December 2023 planning board minutes describe the central green as about two acres, open to all. The construction manager describes a walkable "Paseo" linking retail, residences and dining.

The research turned up no opening date for the green or the paths. A January 2026 profile of the project in City Lifestyle reported that work was moving forward on the central green and a resident clubhouse, and it put overall completion in 2028.

Felice is the clearest example of why that matters. Patch reported in October 2025 that the family-owned Tuscan restaurant and wine bar signed for a 4,500-square-foot space at the central green, targeting the fourth quarter of 2026. We're now in that quarter. The directory version stamped July 14, 2026 lists Felice as "Coming Soon." The research found no newer date. So treat the fourth-quarter target as a year-old plan, not a confirmed opening. Once Felice does open, it will be the first sit-down restaurant built around the green that defines the new layout.

How to read the "Coming Soon" list

The directory gets cited as proof that a lot is about to open. Two dates on the record suggest caution.

1. The homepage carries a July 14, 2026 publication stamp. Some names on the list may have been there for months. A listing doesn't show when the lease was announced or when the doors will open.
2. A March 2025 NJ.com article forecast five announced businesses for 2026. That was a broad early target. It doesn't serve as a current date for the tenants still marked "Coming Soon."

With that in mind, the list sorts into three groups:

• Everyday treats. Prince Street Pizza, which the directory describes as serving its Sicilian "SoHo" squares and Neapolitan pies. Van Leeuwen Ice Cream, which includes a full vegan lineup. Offshore Coffee Co., described as a local coffee brand. And Pura Vida, a Miami-inspired spot for balanced meals.
• Home furnishings. Arhaus and Design Within Reach, both listed as "Coming Soon."
• Fitness, beauty and apparel. STRONG Pilates, which Patch listed among signed leases, plus Jones Road, Vuori, Bloombar and LaserAway.

The first group is the one that would turn a trip for groceries into an evening out. None of the four had a published date or season as of early October.

The residences are on their own schedule

The housing part of the project goes by Livana Monmouth Square. The official Monmouth Square site says "Occupancy this winter." The Livana page itself still labels the property "Coming Soon," and the research found no exact move-in date. The January 2026 project profile reported that vertical construction had started on the first residential buildings, with leasing targeted for late 2026.

For anyone shopping or eating at the site, the point is simple. Building work on the residential side, the green and the clubhouse will likely continue after the next few restaurants open. That's consistent with a project whose overall completion is projected for 2028.

Planning an October visit

• Expect active construction. The construction manager describes ongoing utility rerouting, sitework and redevelopment. It also says Macy's and Boscov's are getting entrance and façade updates. The research found no published closure schedule.
• Access points. No current notice about a Route 35 or Route 36 detour, parking restriction or temporary entrance change turned up. The most specific access information is from Eatontown's December 4, 2023 planning board minutes. Those describe five existing access points staying in place and an internal ring road in the southern part of the site going from four lanes to two. That describes the approved plan. It isn't a traffic advisory.
• Events. As of October 5, the official Monmouth Square events page showed no upcoming events, and the October calendar on the homepage listed none. Holiday programming may still be announced. Nothing was posted at the time of writing.
• Dinner timing. CAVA's 10 p.m. closing is the late option among the new openings. Hours for the other dining tenants weren't part of this check.

The next real milestone to watch is Felice. When a restaurant on the central green opens, it will be the first sign that the open-air layout is starting to work the way the plan describes, and not just as a grocery store and a set of pad restaurants beside a construction fence.

Projects like Monmouth Square change how a town works day to day, from where people shop to how the Route 35 corridor feels on a weekend. If you live near Eatontown and want to talk through how changes like these could affect your plans, Jennifer Stowe is glad to share what she's following around the county. Let's talk about your next move.