When I first moved to South Florida, it was at the end of Fort Lauderdale's spring break glory days. In the 1990's the city decided that it wanted to distance itself from being called Ft. Liquordale and began phasing out the iconic nightclubs that had fueled the spring break party scene. Part of the catalyst for revitalizing the beach area was Beach Place, a two-story, open-air shopping and entertainment complex in Fort Lauderdale that opened in 1997. It was built on the former site of the 1952 Marlin Beach Hotel, which had fallen into disrepair. Beach Place was created as a mix of retail and entertainment that was meant to rebrand the area as a tranquil vacation destination following the decline of its chaotic spring break reputation in the mid-1980s. When it first opened, Beach Place was the place to be. Parking was still plentiful at the beach, and it was quite the destination. I remember shopping at Gap and Banana Republic and going to Howl at the Moon, a dueling piano bar, as well as Sloppy Joe's, Cafe Iguana, and Lulu's Bait Shack. Unfortunately, through the years it lost some of its luster, with a high vacancy rate and complaints of drug dealing and other criminal activity. On New Year's Eve, December 31, 2025, 17-year-old Joshua Gipson Jr. was shot and killed in front of the CVS. Today, the open-air mall has been rebranded as The Gallery at Beach Place. Parking in the garage is expensive and often full if there are events at the beach. I recently visited to eat at the second-floor Taco Bell Cantina, a spot famous for its views of the A1A beachfront. I hadn't been here since the '90s and found it to be a shell of the upscale retail destination it was designed to be. It looked worn down, with multiple souvenir shops. Lulu's Bait Shack is still there, along with Beach Cafe, Crystal Ballroom, Hooters, Con Murphy's Beachfront Pub, Ocean Bar, Dick's Last Resort, Häagen-Dazs, Oakberry Açaí, Wave Island Juice Bar, Maui Nix Surf Shop, and Crepe Island. I still remember when the beach was lined with parking meters that you could feed with the change from your car's floorboard. When those went away, there were still city parking lots with reasonable fees. Now those are gone too, replaced by development. The lack of parking is the main reason I stopped coming to Beach Place and Fort Lauderdale Beach. After making the effort to visit The Gallery at Beach Place, I realized the memories and the view from Taco Bell aren't enough to make me return anytime soon. In their quest for tourist dollars, the city has they alienated the locals who keep this area going during the summer months. As for The Gallery at Beach Place, the city is sleeping on what could be a real draw for the beach. read more

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I've seen the shopping center go through so many changes. When I first moved to Florida. Beach Place was just about to open and I had two accounts inside. My very first day of work in Florida was setting up the stores in the shopping center. Beach place was a three level open air, entertainment, and shopping complex. It was designed to be similar to Bayside and Coconut Grove. When it opened, it was a hotspot with sloppy Joe's, Fat Tuesdays, a piano bar and nice shopping. It wasn't just souvenir shops. It had some nice upscale stores and a great night life right on the beach. Over the years it just disintegrated. Most of the stores couldn't survive. It was touristy and loud they never did get the local resident shopping. What I saw was actually very sad. It never lived up to the original vision and it has so much potential. There are so many empty store fronts, most of the restaurants were closed inside and now it's just a place for tourists to buy some sunscreen, a trinket, and cheap drinks at the bar at Lulus Bait Shack. read more

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Years ago this beachfront mini mall along the Fort Lauderdale strip was operating in full force and seems to have slowed a bit. The property supports a Marriott Hotel in addition to six restaurants and bars including several beachy surf shops. Open daily from 8am - 10pm. They have parking in a public garage for $10.00 per hour or $40.00 flat fee. Its pretty steep but its Fort Lauderdale. Other parking lots are available nearby for similar rates. Parking was a headache so I recommend ride share if possible. The restaurants/bars and shops are as follows: Taco Bell Hooters Con Murphys Ocean Bar Dicks Last Resort Lulu's Bait Shack Fort Liquordale Haagen-Dazs Oakberry Acai Hookah Lounge Wave Maui Nix Bites on the Beach Salty Savage Co. If youre looking for a great happy hour location with an amazing view of the Fort Lauderdale beach, this is the place. read more

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I was there 7/20/25- Sunday summertime took family of 4 to Escape room $150 and dinner $120. My parking cost $50.00,?, We had teens with their car so $100 total for us to park?!!??? We pay for the kids. I called security from the call box to see if we get a discount since we spent money in these 2 establishments in the plaza and he was no help and had aggressive-ish energy - I feel ripped off and will not be going anytime soon. I also ran into my dental hygienist there and will be going to the dentist this week to let everyone know this ridiculous cost. This plaza used to have Express clothing in the day - I've been coming a longtime But $100 for 2 cars for 2.5 -3 hrs really? WOW!!!! read more

This is an older and run down shopping center. The place is small so the selection of stores leaves much to be desired. In fact, the main reason they even get business is because they are located right on the beach. The businesses that stand out are the Fat Tuesdays, Hooters and CVS. The rest of the stores are mainly overpriced and generic gift shops, beach wear stores and snack shops. Go to the Galleria instead if you're looking for an actual shopping center. read more

Beach Place Gallery - Shopping Centers Near Me - Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Shopping center, you can buy jewels, swimming goods, surf goods and fashion. A lot of tourists. read more

Beach Place Gallery - Beach place beach. - Shopping Centers Near Me - Fort Lauderdale, Florida

The souvenir shop called Wave is only a place to shop if you are a middle aged white man. If you are not, expect rudeness from the employers (one employee specifically was extremely rude, this woman employee (a Latina woman, short, in her 30s) served the middle aged white gentleman who was clearly there after me, before she served me. Then she was rude and told me I have no respect for people, when clearly she was the one that was incapable and unprofessional. Don't go there if you are not a white, middle-aged male. read more

Beach Place Gallery - Shopping Centers Near Me - Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Mostly a ghost town when we went with most of the stores closed. However, the cart selling funnel cake is a GEM. I tried the Magic Funnel Cake (funnel cake topped with strawberries, chocolate sauce, and A LOT of whipped cream). Funnel cake was fresh, hot, and crunchy. Combination was so delicious, we couldn't resist getting another :)) Woman running the cart is also so sweet and friendly. Unfortunately, this place was the only positive of the whole center. Definitely would recommend stopping by for the funnel cake if you're in the area / at the beach tho. read more

Beach Place Gallery - Shopping Centers Near Me - Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Needed a beach umbrella. What a mistake! Did not hold up to the wind!:One seem is already ripping out!! This was after 3 hours of use! Maybe their t-shirts are fine BUT DO NOT BUY A BEACH UMBRELLA FROM THIS PLACE!!! A WASTE OF $89!!!! read more

While all the comments from my previous review still stand, I need to update and drop my rating by 1 star. Why? Because of the same reason Gina mentions in her review. I was meeting a friend here for dinner at 7:30 on a Saturday night and I arrived to find that the meter parking on the side of Beach Place that I'd normally always used had been removed. With that, the only decent option for parking is their attached garage. I saw the same sign that Gina did, with the PARKING $3.00 in large letters, and "for the first hour" in fine print. When I went to exit later that night, I handed them my ticket and the attendant said I owed $25.00. WTF?? So it cost me more to park here than it did for my meal and a few beers?? I've posted a photo of the sign on Beach Places' listing here on Yelp so you can see how misleading it can be! Also, yeah, $3 for the first hour and then maybe $10 or $15 to park for the evening is understandable. $25 to park here for for a few hours while patronizing their little mall and their restaurants and stores is absurd! read more

Beach Place Gallery - When you pull into the garage, you only see $3.00. Read the small print. It's actually $25 / night. - Shopping Centers Near Me - Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Beach Place has definitely been continuing on that upswing! I came here this weekend to go to Lulu's Bait Shack and was pleasantly surprised with all of the renovations they have done. They painted and re-did the tile flooring. Even the elevator smelled better! LOL! There are several new businesses in the plaza too but they are not yet at full capacity. I am so happy to see the success of this complex. Keep it up. read more

What a sad state of affairs this place is. What could be a great hub for both tourists and locals is just a sad-sad area sparsely filled with restaurants that no one goes to. It's not completely empty. There's a Hooters, Lulu's Bait Shack, CVS, American Social Club, Fat Tuesday's and Crocs- yes I said that one for last, but are you really seeking any of these places out? Probably not. The escalators have been broken for ages so you have to take the stairs. The bathrooms are disgusting. The parking is essentially a trap for tourists who don't know where else to park- $5 for your first hour then a ridiculous amount after. It's not necessarily the safest place either. The views though are amazing so it sucks that this place isn't being utilized to its full potential. The beach has better food options than anything in this "mall". No need to stop by here. read more

This may be deemed a placed of nuisance now, but I remember when I came here to listen to live bands, watch artists paint and order some of the best pizza on the beach. This used to be quite the ritzy place, but now it's a bit more of a dive. But not necessarily in a bad way. It's full of tourists, college students on Spring Break or the occasional crazy person. I can't resist Fat Tuesday daquiris, and I love people watching. The beach area in front of Beach Place is perfect because it isn't too small or overly large. You can toss a football around or place soccer (which can't do in other beaches). I love that food, drinks, bathrooms and now a CVS are right across the street for me to get anything I need while I'm chilling at the beach. I wouldn't suggest any restaurants here other than maybe Atlantic Surf Club, but like I said, I usually only come here for a daiquiri (which you can't take on the beach anymore), convenient parking (metered for $1 per hour) and just to hang on the beach. FYI, don't take coolers of liquor/beer to the beach either. We saw someone forced to open and dump all 20+ beers they brought and get a $300 ticket. read more

Beach Place is one of those urban planner and developer dreamed up plans (read taxpayer supported scams) designed to attract tourists and revitalize what they envisioned as a potentially deteriorating area. Because of it's location it has proved successful, but only marginally so. More business have come and gone at Beach Place than I can count. Its biggest drawback is parking. The entrance to the ramp garage can be tricky to find and often displays misleading signs. It's not uncommon for them to post large signs indicating a low price for parking but hide a caveat that the low price is only for the first hour, which one hour provides hardly enough time to go through the place, select a restaurant and have lunch or a drink. So, be prepared because you can unwittingly run up a much larger parking fee that you might think. The structure itself is rather new, but already displays serious signs of general as well as structural decay. A few businesses do OK such as Lulu's Bait Shack and Hooter's, but the rest, like Da Big Kahuna seem marginal at best. It is a tourist trap, but it was designed and meant to be a tourist trap. You'll find few locals at Beach Place as the price to value ratio is on the low, low side of the scale. The redeeming features of it are that it is on the beach, centrally located, and that from vantage points such from Lulu's, Hooters and Da Big Kahuna one has some of the best, most beautiful views of the most active areas of Fort Lauderdale's beach. For a few drinks and some marginally ok food, those places aren't bad and in fact can be a lot of fun. read more

I remember when parking on the beach was free as long as you found a spot along the side of the road. And then there were parking meters, still prices were reasonable for a family outing. Why am I, a local taxpayer paying $30 to park at a digging FREE beach?!?! A PUBLIC beach?!? For a little over 4 hours, parking here will cost you $30. Just park at Winn Dixie in Cordova road or under the bridge in the city lot & Uber to the beach. It's cheaper than these rip off parking machines that have been set up. The sign says $15, Kiosk says $15 up to 10 hours. Same happened to me on Labor Day. You can't exit without paying & there's no longer an attendant there. Also the lot is & elevators are hot & dirty. Very poor maintenance, read more

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We walked through here on a weekday evening and while it's a nice area with an appealing set up, there isn't much happening here. There are a few restaurants including a Fat Tuesday's, food stands (doughnuts and coconut drinks) and shopping stores but there are also a good number of empty spaces. Again, very nice setup especially the third floor that overlooks the ocean. If they fill the empty storefronts, then this place could definitely be happening! read more

Amazing location for a shopping center, right on the beach. But on a Wednesday afternoon, have the stores were closed. So points off for that. It's great that there is a parking garage and prices are high but again it's right on the beach. After enjoying time at the Atlantic Surf Club, we tried to do some light shopping and just about every shop we were interested in was closed. So we gave up. Maybe stores open on weekends only? read more

Little gift shop was a horrid experience. Not only do they rip you off but the lady followed us all around the store.

The best thing I can say about Beach Place is that they have garage parking albeit very expensive $10 for under 2 hours. more than what I paid the day before at Mary Brickell Village the night before in Miami which was $6. Also the garage it self is filthy and unsafe. You get out of your car and your senses are heightened because it feels unsafe. There is no security present at all on a Friday night. You go down hallways hopeful that it leads to the mall. There is signs to pay the parking machines but no machines. I asked the unfriendly parking attendant you pay at the exit but she was little help at all. She only proves the point there is no machines to pay for parking. This place was something when it was first built. Full of shops and restaurants. Now mostly unoccupied spaces and tacky souvenir shops. We came for Hooters. But even that was a challenge as we only found escalators up nothing going down. As if they don't want you to leave. We took the escalator up but ended up at Lulu's and than climbed the stairs to Hooters. There is zero reason that makes you want to return to Beach Place. read more

Located directly in front of the Marriott Beach Towers this is an outdoor 3 story strip center where you can party, shop or see dueling pianos contest. The party hang outs are Hooters, Lulu's Bait Shack, Fat Tuesday, Da Big Kahuna, Sopranos Piano Bar and Tequila Joe's. Not in the mood to party? Check out CVS for souvenirs, go shopping at Maui Nixs surf shop or EA Factory for sunglasses or grab an ice cream at Haagen Daz. If your staying at the Marriott party on and don't worry about driving BC you can stumble your way back! read more

BIG FAIL TO BEACH PLACE FOR THEIR LAME PARKING GARAGE!. You get there and theres this BIG sign saying Parking $3. So you go coooooollll....I'd definitely come back here again because they're helping their tenants out by offering cheap parking. In you go, navigate the shittiest warren of a parking garage I have ever encountered...parking spots are GREAT for Smart Cars and motorcycles. So off you go on your night out, happy in the knowledge that your car is indoors, snuggly and safe from Florida's wacky weather. You party hard with your buddies, having good times, and then comes time to go home so you all get to your cars and once again, try to navigate your way through pillars and dim lit corners of what I can only say resembles a DOOM video game. Very few directional signs. Get to the booth and have your sticky three single dollar bills in your hot little sweaty palm (from all that dancing dontcha know)....and the attendant says..."that's twenty-three dollah please". ME: "WHAT?...the sign said $3" HIM: "Yeah, under that (in tiny squeenchy little written on a grain of rice letters) it says "for the first hour". ME: "Oh shit". Lucky for me my student days are long past so I had sufficient funds left over in my sweaty pants pockets. Maybe your restaurants and stores wouldn't be closing down at a fast clip if you would actually entice people to park and shop there. BIG PARKING FAIL BEACH PLACE!!!! read more

There's no real reason to go here anymore. Sure they have a couple of restaurants, but nothing you would drive to Beach Place for. They have a Fat Tuesday and a Hooters and LuLu's Bait shack, but again, not worth driving here for. Now if you are on the beach maybe stop in and grab a drink or something to eat, but meh it's not my first choice. It used to be fun, used to have nice stores (Express and Black & White Market), and at one time it used to have a clubs in it. Now it's all junky. Management really needs to do something w/ the price of their rent here or something to entice stores and cool restaurants to come back in. The views are amazing from some of the places but in my opinion the best thing in here is LuLu's. If you are looking for beach food, hit up something else. There's a bunch of restaurants right up the road--Casablanca, S3, Primanti Brothers, and Subway even that will satisfy your food craving much better then selections in here. read more

Good little touristy place to go in Ft Lauderdale! Shopping, restaurants, & the beach-Everything u need to have a good time! It's no South Beach, but a quiet alternative with the occasional rowdiness on weekends & holidays! read more

The gallery is starting to look nice! The restrooms have been upgraded and small businesses are starting to pop up.

Tourist trap. The type of people that frequent here say "Ft. Laudy", homophobic , and usually college kids. It's filled with chain restaurants and overpriced food/drinks. Definitely wear sunglasses if you go here because it's basically a sea of neon shirts and objects littered with the states name. If you want a one stop area to eat, drink, and do the beach thing. This is it. It reminds me of Riverfront but on the beach, but sadly there isn't one redmeaming restaraunt or bar. read more

I have fond memories of Beach Place because my husband and I flew to Fort Lauderdale in 2004 during our R&R from Iraq, and we thought it was awesome. Of course we were both in our 20s, and into the spring breakish vibe. Now that we are older and with child, Beach Place holds little appeal. Now it seems run down, smelly, and other than Sonic, the restaurants/bars aren't our cup of tea. Some of the hallways have an overpowering urine smell that will make you gag. And the parking garage is a nightmare. I have accepted the insane cost, but it is the worst parking garage I have ever driven/parked at in my life. The speed limit is 5mph, but hardly anyone observes it. Blind corners are everywhere, and I can't tell you how many times we have parked next to pole that I inevitably hit with my car door. And could they make it more narrow? I have done and 85 point turn just to get out of a space before. (And I'm not an awful driver) Unfortunately for us, we tend to return because of their central location and the great ocean views at Sonic. read more

This touristy entertainment plex is home to the Marriott Towers and popular with Spring Breakers. Hooters, Lulu's, Soprano's Dueling Piano Bar, ice cream, Express and other retailers, and some vendors in between. It is not a top destination, but worth checking out at least once. As other reviewers cautioned, the parking garage is hazardous to your health and car, especially large SUVs and trucks. It's narrow and there are lots of poles ... pricing can exceed $25 for a few hours..better to save your $ for drinks and park in one of the lots nearby. Great views and people watching. read more

Visitors beware the parking structure for this place does not have cameras and is a thieves paradise. Cars are broken into unfortunately one of those cars was ours. They stole all our stuff, punched our door lock. Parking attendant didnt give a shit. Nothing worth parking there for . Future trips will take me to fort lauderdale to spend the night but i wouldnt spenda penny in this dump, or this shitty area. BEWARE. read more

Loved the little food and coconut trucks. However, the beach souvenir store there was terrible. My husband and I were walking around and the lady was following us nonstop and everything we grabbed she took from me to bring up to the register. She continued to follow us. She didn't do that to anyone else in the store. After being followed for 10 minutes we got annoyed and left. read more

What is better than walking around drinking and shopping. Lulu's is the best but make sure and stop by Fat Tuesday and get a 190 Octane. I like the little vendors they have too. read more

Before or After the beach this is the place to go, it's a small mini mall with 4 floors, there is everything here to enjoy your beach day plus new rest rooms. Restaurants a ton of them from Hooters just to name a few. There is also parking in the same complex, I always take the trolley can't beat it for 50 cents. read more

We stayed at the resort and we love it... But stay away from the cheap beach gear store. They will rip you off!!!! CVS is nice and employees very helpful. The restaurants are nothing special. Overall terrible!!! read more

Nice spot but we actually went to Hooters (they don't show up on yelp) because a friend wanted to get wings from there. I don't know what people see in Hooters. I mean it can't be these so called famous wings because they are not tasty at all. I believe people only go there to see the female workers with the big boobs and flat backside. I never want to eat at another Hooters for the rest of my life. There are way better wing spots out there. My mild extra wet wings not tasty. The sauce seemed more oil than anything else. I also had their alcoholic lemonade which our waitress said was tasty but it wasn't. It seemed more water down than anything. Plus I couldn't understand why there was an orange slice and a cherry in my lemonade. I mean I did ask for the lemonade drink right? Yea. read more

Several reasonably priced chain restaurants with good drink prices and million dollar views of the ocean! And, public washrooms on the ground floor. read more

This place is the best when I come here on vacation! It's really beautiful and clean. There's a big selection of resturaunt a throughout the whole beach! Like Hooters, LULU's, Nick's, Fat Tuesday, and much more. The hotels are unbelievable!!! It's not expensive 4 the parking garage at all! NICE¡!!¡¡Although it's a little bit crowded on weekends. read more

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Pros- -beautiful rooms and a nice hot tub/pool -great views -perfect location Cons- -confusing parking garage -rude staff at parking garage read more

Today my Beach Place experience will keep m from returning. I Purchased a strawberry smoothie at there fruit wagon for $9. I proceeded to the 2nd floor restrooms and both closed. Downstairs were closesd as well. I approached some janitorial workers who said 'go buy something from someone with there own restroons" and I guess found it funny. So Beach Place is for GOOD BYE"S and not go buy's. If I could rate them zero I would. read more

Beach Place Gallery - Beach Place - Shopping Centers Near Me - Fort Lauderdale, Florida

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Non-existant security. My bill to park was $15 on Friday night. There was rotting vomit in the elevator. Why ever go back? Never again!

Shopping centers aren't usually my thing because I don't really like being in an excessively overcrowded place with tons of stuff that I want but can't really afford and this place wasn't exactly that different to be honest. I mean there were plenty of stores that were great to go to, whether you need last minute groceries or milkshakes and ice cream and Haagen Dazs. I do feel the Haagen Dazs at this particular shopping center was lacking a bit because the milkshakes tasted a bit bland and they were pretty expensive as well which is annoying because if I had known they were going to be bad milkshakes I would have spent my money elsewhere but unfortunately that wasn't the case. The place was a little smaller than the average shopping center but fortunately it wasn't that crowded the day I wanted. I would go here again though because there was some great stores and stuff. read more

So disappointed to see the beach place deteriorate from what it once was. Piano bar is gone, as is sonic, as is the Hawaiian themed restaurant - just kitschy tourist stuff now and a cvs. Hooters is still there, and a few other places. Hopefully this gets back to how much fun it used to be. read more