Golf carts still slow down at the same corner they always have, the one across from the fountain, but what's behind that stretch of stucco has changed twice in two years. First there was a name attached to a restaurant that never opened. Then there was a different name, and this time the doors actually did open, by reservation only, to residents. If you've lived inside Sabanera's gates through both versions, you already know the corner. The restaurant has opened under a different chef than the one first associated with it, and the Sports Hub was announced with a completion target of the end of 2025.
Together, the two projects offer a snapshot of how Sabanera's clubhouse core is evolving.
Two Names For One Restaurant
Back in early 2024, the concept attached to this same clubhouse-adjacent lot was tied to chef Wilo Benet, with an opening pegged for that year. That version never materialized under his name. What eventually opened, across from Plaza de la Fuente and next to the Clubhouse, is Mercado y Restaurante La Pérgola, led instead by chef Ángel Rodríguez, a Puerto Rican chef who built his career in Miami and Texas before returning to the island.
The restaurant is reservation-only and reserved exclusively for residents, which is a meaningfully different access model than a public clubhouse bar. The café next door, by contrast, remains available for walk-in purchases.
The Café Next Door
While the restaurant sat in limbo, the smaller operation next door kept running the way it always had. Café de la Pérgola is not the same venue as the restaurant, despite the shared name, and the confusion between the two is common enough that it's worth spelling out plainly. The café is where residents pick up daily essentials without leaving the community: Puerto Rican coffee, dairy, wine, artisanal beer, personal care items, over-the-counter medication, and the kind of last-minute grocery run that saves a trip through the gate.
Here's the quick distinction, since the names get used interchangeably in casual conversation:
| Venue | What it is | How you access it |
|---|---|---|
| Mercado y Restaurante La Pérgola | Sit-down restaurant led by chef Ángel Rodríguez | Reservation only, residents |
| Café de la Pérgola | Daily essentials, coffee, wine, groceries | Walk-in, no reservation |
If someone tells you they had dinner at "La Pérgola" and someone else tells you they grabbed coffee at "La Pérgola," they're describing two different buildings that happen to share a name and a property line.
The Sports Hub's Timeline
In mid-2025, the developer announced a Sports Hub for the Finca Sabanera area, with a stated goal of finishing by the end of that year. As of this writing in September 2026, there's no published confirmation that the Sports Hub has opened.
What's actually planned for the space, according to the developer's own materials:
- Two beach tennis courts
- Six pickleball courts
- A dog park
- Extended walking trails
That's a real expansion of what's currently available on the tennis and basketball courts near the main Clubhouse, and pickleball demand in particular has outpaced court supply in plenty of communities far outside Dorado. But if you've been planning weekend matches around an opening date you heard secondhand, it's worth confirming directly with the HOA or community management office rather than assuming the original 2025 target held.
Restaurant and Sports Hub: Current Status
The restaurant opened under chef Ángel Rodríguez after an earlier concept was associated with chef Wilo Benet. The Sports Hub was announced with a completion target of the end of 2025; as of September 2026, its opening has not been publicly confirmed.
For a household that's already inside the gates, that distinction matters. It's the difference between planning a dinner reservation around a chef who's actually in the kitchen and confirming court availability before planning a pickleball afternoon.
The corner across from the fountain is worth a walk-by if you haven't been recently; the dining room is open to residents by reservation.
If you're weighing what life inside Sabanera or another Dorado gated community actually looks like day to day, Erin Pelling has spent years tracking these details on the ground, not just the finished brochures. Reach out for local insight on Dorado living, or to request private listings and a home valuation when the time comes.