Yebo Beach Haus Rises in Palm Valley as Construction Hits Second Floor
Construction on Yebo Beach Haus and the Lions Head Private Club in Palm Valley has reached the second floor, with a 2027 opening confirmed. Read the full story here.
Prajakta Sanjay Warwadkar 
PALM VALLEY, Fla., May 29, 2026 — Construction on Yebo Beach Haus, the highly anticipated waterfront fine dining restaurant and private club development on North Roscoe Boulevard in Palm Valley, has advanced to the building's second level, with the foundation and first-floor walls completed, as the project moves toward a confirmed 2027 opening on the former site of Lulu's Waterfront Grille.
The development combines two distinct hospitality concepts on a single waterfront property: Yebo Beach Haus, a high-end New American restaurant with South African culinary influences, and the Lions Head Private Members Club, an invitation-only membership club occupying the building's second floor. A sign posted in front of the ongoing construction confirms 2027 as the target opening year.
The project is one of the most closely watched dining developments in St. Johns County, where waterfront restaurant sites along the Roscoe Boulevard corridor command strong community attention and where quality fine dining options have historically been limited relative to the area's affluent residential base.
Who Is Building Yebo Beach Haus in Palm Valley
The property was purchased in 2024 by Shark Tooth Dining LLC, an entity helmed by Ponte Vedra Beach oilman Alex Cranberg, who acquired the site, previously home to Lulu's Waterfront Grille, which permanently closed in 2021, for $4.1 million. Cranberg collaborated with True Story Brands to bring the Yebo Beach Haus concept to Palm Valley.
True Story Brands was founded in 2012 by South African-born entrepreneur Justin Anthony, who established the original Yebo Beach Haus in Atlanta that same year. The Atlanta location has served as the operational and conceptual model for the Palm Valley development, with the menu, atmosphere, and club membership structure all drawing from the established Atlanta format.
The Palm Valley site will seat approximately 200 guests across indoor and outdoor areas, supported by 69 parking spaces, according to previously submitted development plans. The scale of the seating plan positions Yebo Beach Haus as one of the larger fine dining venues in the Palm Valley and Ponte Vedra Beach corridor when it opens.
Yebo Beach Haus Menu: New American Cuisine with South African Influence
The restaurant's food programme blends New American cooking with South African culinary influences, a combination that reflects founder Justin Anthony's origins and distinguishes Yebo Beach Haus from the seafood and Southern-leaning casual dining formats that dominate the Northeast Florida coastal restaurant market. Featured dishes from the Atlanta location include Grilled Butterflied Branzino, Char-Grilled Ribeye, and Peri Peri Hummus, the last of these referencing one of South African cuisine's most identifiable flavour traditions, the peri peri chilli pepper that forms the base of one of the region's most recognisable condiment and marinade preparations.
The beverage programme will include craft cocktails and a curated wine list, consistent with the fine dining positioning and the dress code the venue maintains, guests are asked not to wear sweatpants, athletic attire, flip flops, excessively revealing clothing, or garments bearing offensive language or images, with baseball caps and bra-style tops also specifically listed as prohibited.
Lions Head Private Members Club: Second-Floor Exclusivity
The Lions Head Private Members Club will occupy the building's second floor, offering an intimate dining and social experience exclusively for members. Membership at the Atlanta Lions Head location requires a $10,000 initiation fee, a $5,000 annual fee, a referral from an existing member, and submission of detailed professional information, a structure that places the club firmly within the category of exclusive private dining experiences rather than the broader restaurant membership models that have grown in popularity across the US hospitality sector in recent years.
Whether the Palm Valley Lions Head will replicate Atlanta's exact membership terms has not been publicly confirmed, but the club's positioning as a second-floor private tier within the same development as the public restaurant creates a layered hospitality model that gives the overall project both broad public appeal and an exclusive private component.
Palm Valley Waterfront Site Carries History and Community Significance
The Roscoe Boulevard waterfront site that Yebo Beach Haus will occupy has been vacant since Lulu's Waterfront Grille closed in 2021, leaving a gap in the Palm Valley dining landscape that residents and community observers have noted consistently in the years since. The property sits along a stretch of North Roscoe Boulevard where waterfront access and visibility make it one of the most commercially desirable restaurant sites in the area.
The development by Cranberg and True Story Brands represents the first significant fine dining investment on the site in more than five years, and the combination of a New American-South African fine dining restaurant and a private club addresses a market segment, premium evening dining and exclusive social membership, that has been underserved in the Palm Valley and Ponte Vedra Beach area relative to the residential wealth and spending capacity of its population.
Construction progress visible from Roscoe Boulevard shows the structure advancing rapidly. The St. Johns Citizen first reported the project in December 2025. No specific opening month within 2027 has been confirmed by the development team.
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