A Mediterranean restaurant four years and $6 million in the making opened Aug. 12 at 1300 Orange Ave., filling a second-story space that sat empty for most of the pandemic era.

By The Sea, owned by Coronado residents Doug and Lara Hamm, occupies the 6,500-square-foot venue that previously housed Vigilucci's, Maretalia and Boardwalk Beach Club. The Boardwalk Beach Club, run by Blue Bridge Hospitality, closed months after opening in late 2019 and never reopened.

The Hamms moved to Coronado in 2021 and secured the lease in 2022. Their hospitality group, Black Swan Hospitality, also operates Nolita Hall in Little Italy.

"The reason we even decided to do this restaurant is because we moved to the island and as soon as we moved here in 2021, we realized that it was kind of a dining desert," Doug Hamm told the San Diego Union-Tribune in an Aug. 3 article.

The renovation gutted the space entirely. Doug Hamm said the team tore part of the roof off to raise the ceiling and installed two large skylights. Lara Hamm told the Coronado Eagle & Journal that every inch is new, including a complete kitchen rebuild.

Design firm Tecture, which also designed Nolita Hall, worked alongside the Hamms' in-house studio Creative House on the interior, according to San Diego Magazine. Guests enter via a cobblestone staircase to a light-drenched dining room and outdoor patio shaded by eucalyptus trees. The restaurant seats approximately 245 guests, including a 24-seat bar.

Executive chef Alex Carpio leads a seafood-centric menu drawing from the south of France, Italy and the Greek islands. Dishes include bay scallop crudo with fermented chili, grilled branzino with tahini and Castelvetrano olive tapenade, lamb cavatelli with fennel and a 28-day dry-aged Flannery ribeye. A seafood tower built for groups features oysters, shrimp, tuna tartare and caviar.

The kitchen is stocked by local producers. That means fresh burrata daily from A Mano Cheese, plus produce from Connelly Farms, JR Organics and Girl & Dug, according to Patch.

Bar manager Andrew Phillips oversees a cocktail program with housemade syrups and fresh-squeezed juices, plus a wine list focused on small, organic, family-run producers.

By The Sea is open Wednesday and Thursday from 4 to 11 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 4 p.m. to midnight, and Sunday and Monday from 4 to 11 p.m. Closed Tuesdays. Weekend brunch and extended hours are planned but no date has been announced.

The opening adds to a wave of new dining on the island. The Baby Grand hotel's outdoor Greek restaurant Night Hawk and hidden oyster bar Fallen Empire both landed on Orange Avenue, and the Hotel del Coronado added Nobu last year.

Reservations are available at bythesea.co.