Mall to feature new eateries

Construction is scheduled to begin this week on two new restaurants at South Coast Plaza that will occupy the space where the Clubhouse restaurant just closed.

Capital Grille and Seasons 52, owned by Orlando, Fla.-based Darden Restaurants, will open their first locations in California in November on the spot of the two-floor Clubhouse, said Debra Gunn Downing, South Coast Plaza’s executive director of marketing. The lease has been signed.

The Clubhouse restaurant closed its doors Thursday after a decade at South Coast Plaza. The owners of the restaurant and the mall could not agree on the terms for a new lease.

Capital Grille is a hand-cut steak and fresh seafood restaurant with an excellent selection of wines, Downing said.

“It’s the sort of place you might go to pre-theater or for a business dinner,” she said.

Seasons 52 is “seasonally inspired with an emphasis on food from the local farmer’s market,” Downing said.

Although both will be making their debuts in California at South Coast Plaza, the Seasons 52 restaurant will be the chain’s first franchise located west of the Mississippi.

Capital Grille has other locations on the West Coast but none in California, Downing said.

The old Clubhouse building will be demolished. Capital Grille will make its home on the bottom level, and Seasons 52 will be on the top level.