Patrons at the Bounce restaurant and sports bar inside the redesigned Delray Beach Market. Photos by Tim Stepien/
The Coastal Star
As short season and demanding market topple dining spots, new ones arrive
By Jan Norris
Snowbirds returning in the fall will need to update their maps for their favorite dining spots. A plethora of restaurants have closed, moved or have refurbished their concepts.
New ones are opening as well, as a sort of tidal sweep of the dining scene takes place not just in South Palm Beach County, but all around South Florida.
Cabana El Rey thanked its customers after two decades of service on Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach.
Gone are Lionfish, and the decades-old Cabana El Rey on Delray Beach’s Atlantic Avenue. Salt 7, and the recent Delray Market food hall concept are out. In Boca Raton, Fries to Caviar was renamed and scaled back to Phil’s Place, but still couldn’t make it. Meanwhile in Boca Raton, Farmhouse Kitchen’s owner brought back Coal Mine Pizza’smenu to its restaurant, hoping diners who missed the pies will return.
To go with a more approachable flow, Avalon, one of the few white-tablecloth restaurants on the Avenue, will get a makeover of both decor and menu
Several new Asian spots, including Kapow!’s third outpost, in Delray Beach, and the expansion of Alleycat in Boca Raton, are incoming or already open. Upscale Italians are on the way from the Northeast: Gabriella’s Modern Italian from New Jersey is scheduled for a fall opening in Delray Beach.
Opinions differ on the reasons some long-timers have shuttered, or those newer to the area failed.
Lisabet Summa, chef/partner in the Elisabetta’s and Louie Bossi chains by Big Time Restaurant Group, has been involved in the county’s hospitality scene since 1983. She’s watched quite a few restaurants come and go.
She said it’s possible that the latest ones to close, several of which were corporate-owned eateries from the Northeast U.S., might have had too-high expectations in dealing with the South Florida season.
“I figure you have five good months, probably, January to May. Then a couple of transitional months,” said Summa, whose original Elisabetta’s is in Delray Beach. The season starts again in late fall, albeit slowly. But summer is typically very slow, she said.
Restaurant owners make most of their money in season, and squirrel away the profits to tide them over during the dead months. Some put staff on hiatus and abbreviate menus to cut costs.
Lease renewals are a big “aha” moment. Rents are up all over, but particularly on Atlantic Avenue as the Delray Beach downtown has been labeled a hot spot.
The city’s Downtown Development Authority spokeswoman, Melissa Perlman, says the DDA area has 160 restaurants with roughly 18,000 dining seats. It’s a lot of competition.
Chas Prakas, a restaurant real estate broker focusing on the area, says Delray Beach and Boca Raton remain hot entertainment spots.
“It wasn’t a dead area before, but it’s boomed post-COVID. This is the place to be. We had some of our strongest years before COVID. After the shutdown [ended], Palm Beach County just exploded,” he said.
Prakas and his staff have watched Wall Street companies relocating here swell the population as well, bringing diners with big cash to spend, he said. Steakhouses and sushi restaurants and high-end Italian have proliferated.
“There’s still a big influx from the Northeast, Texas and Georgia,” Prakas said. “In the big cities, there’s only a finite amount of property. Not a lot of choices in New York City.”
Bigger corporate owners with good concepts and who are well funded can afford the rents and are moving in.
But, “the small profit margins of restaurants make this a tough business,” he said.
For small owners, the skyrocketing rents, insurance and labor costs are crushing. Some restaurateurs, he said, must move out of Palm Beach County to have a chance. But Prakas says that isn’t always a bad thing. “I personally drive all over the place for good food and good bar programs.”
Gary Rack owns two Farmhouse Kitchens — one in Boca Raton and another on the busy East Atlantic Avenue/Second Street corner in Delray Beach. He sees rents going up as well.
“When I opened my first restaurant nine years ago, I was paying $125 a square foot. Everybody said I was crazy.”
It’s now close to the norm. Lowest base rents average $100 per square foot on Atlantic Avenue, Prakas said. That doesn’t figure in taxes or insurance or other fees.
Rack is staying. He says that the Delray Beach location is busy year-round, a big plus. Outdoor bar seating and bright neon signs make his wrap-around spot visible and with a ready-made vibe.
But in Boca Raton, at Royal Palm Place where dining is slower paced, he’s bringing back house favorites from a former menu, and working to entice diners who used to come in multiple times per week. A static menu gets boring, he said.
“I opened with Coal Mine Pizza, and we’re bringing it back. I won the No. 2 pizza in the worldwide contest in France with my truffle pie,” he said.
Guests have requested it, but it was a nudge from his spouse, Videl, that pushed him to fire up the pizza oven again when he contemplated a new menu.
“She said, ‘Why don’t you just bring back what you started with?’” Rack said.
The restaurant also has a new burrata bar, pizza sandwiches, three new pasta dishes, and more.
Rack’s former chef, Demetrio Zavala, came back two years ago as director of culinary for the restaurant. A whimsical redesign of the bar area spruced things up as well.
“The response has been amazing so far,” Rack said.
Another huge draw is the summer early bird: From 3 to 7 p.m. daily, diners take 50% off most of the menu, including alcohol. The only exceptions are pizza and the burrata bar.
The deal runs through September. Rack is expecting a swell in patronage as word gets around, boosting summer numbers for him. “We’ll take ’em,” he said.
Nicolas Kurban is owner of the Mediterranean Amar on Atlantic Avenue, another small venue, and agrees the seasonal dining crowd makes things tougher here, unlike in bigger cities that have year-round visitors.
But offering something unique and providing a satisfying dining experience can make a difference, he said. “You have to be consistent, with good food and service to back it up. It can’t be for just the season, but all year.”
His is a family-run restaurant, another plus for him, he said. “I’m here, my daughter works for me and my son-in-law. We are part of the community.”
Kurban is bullish on Delray Beach and after contemplating a move for expansion, decided to stay. He’s leased the former Bar 25 space (and former Mellow Mushroom) on Sixth Avenue, and will move Amar by the end of October. The new space will have 175 seats, an increase of 130.
“We’ll have a full bar, something that was missing before. Delray’s a drinking crowd — they love a happy hour, and craft cocktails,” he said. “I’ll get to open for breakfast and lunch, something I’ve always wanted to do.”
Kurban intends to keep the space on the Avenue, however, turning it into Gesto, a “cozy, wood-fired pizzeria,” something he says the street is missing.
Tired concepts with a lot of copycats are one of the reasons for failures, he thinks. “Italian, Mexican and steakhouses are all over,” he said. “I think that’s why Amar is successful.
The visitor from Idaho or New Jersey can get Italian or Mexican, but Lebanese food might not be accessible where they are.”
Another local, however, couldn’t make it. Philipp Hawkins changed the upscale Fries to Caviar bistro in Boca Raton on North Federal Highway into a casual Louisiana-themed restaurant, Phil’s Place. After failing to bring in the diners even on Father’s Day, he wrote on a local food blog that he was closing. “I just can’t afford the place anymore.”
Taking a chance
Several others from out of town are taking a chance.
Chicago chef Jonathan Fox and Michelin-starred restaurateur Takashi Yagihashi have teamed to open Kasumi in Boca Raton’s Waterstone Resort, they hope in September.
It will be a full-service Asian-themed restaurant based on the omotenashi service-focused art of hospitality from Japan. A completely new build-out for the 90-seat restaurant at the resort on the Intracoastal Waterway is underway.
“The ownership wanted to create a destination with Kasumi,” Fox said. He feels the resort and restaurant are the perfect match.
“This particular restaurant is refined but approachable,” he said. Noting the many other Asian restaurants in the market, Fox said this will be a refined experience, though “not fine dining.”
The menu will be structured for sharable food with sushi, raw dishes, and hot and cold appetizers.
The cuisine is authentic, Yagihashi said, and chef-created. “The menu is coming from the kitchen. In most sushi restaurants the chefs do the same things with imported fish, or from Toyosu from Japan. We want to have one more step.”
He plans to work with local fishermen to bring in fresh catches and provide seasonal fish on the menu. “Right from the water,” Yagihashi said.
The traditional items will be mixed with local ingredients, he said, but will “taste like Japan. We mix them with unusual ingredients, say, blood oranges, fennel, hyssop.”
“With the beautiful new dining room, and food-focused plate, it’s going to be an experiential restaurant,” said Manuel Bornia, founder of In House Creative, Kasumi’s management company.
Another Asian restaurant has reformatted and opened with fanfare on East Palmetto Park Road in Boca Raton.
Alleycat, from chefs Eric Baker and David Bouhadana, is now an Izakaya bar with loads of sharable small plates. It is high energy as expected from Baker, creator of the Rebel House, with modern American takes on dishes such as handroll tacos. The nori taco shells are made in-house.
The food covers all bases: brisket noodles, tableside-grilled Wagu beef, unagi and foie gras sushi, and an omakase platter. Vegetarian dishes and more common sushi are on the menu as well.
Tuna Tuesdays are a big hit with the crowd. The chef breaks down a giant fresh tuna as a demo, serving up dishes made from the fresh fish. Reservations are a must for that one. Visit alleycatboca.com.
A worker is busy transforming the former BurgerFi in Delray Beach into Pura Vida, a health food cafe.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said the restaurant Avalon is closed. Avalon will be closing for an interior redesign, according to owner Antonio Paganazzi. Currently, it is closed on Monday nights.
Coming and going in Delray Beach
Atlantic Avenue, a premier Palm Beach County dining destination, and its nearby side streets are seeing a gastronomical upheaval. Among the changes:
Pura Vida All Day Cafe, a Miami and NYC favorite for health food aficionados, is building out a space at 6 S. Ocean Blvd. — the old BurgerFi location. Opening early fall.
Boca Raton-based Kapow! Noodle Bar is taking the former Salt 7 space at 32 SE Second Ave. A fall opening is expected.
Geronimo Tequila Bar & Southwest Grill will move into Atlantic Avenue’s Cabana El Rey spot, which closed in July after a 20-year run. The new Southwest concept is from Connecticut. No opening date was set as of late July.
The Standard, an American restaurant and bar in Boca Raton's Mizner Park, opened a Delray Beach sibling at 166 SE Second Ave. in July in the former OG space.
Lefkes Greek opened inside the redesigned Delray Beach Market in July. It joins Bounce Sporting Club, a sports bar/club that has livened up the former food hall that never gained momentum. Owners have split the huge space at 33 SE Third Ave. into five spaces, focusing on “eatertainment,” with clubs and bars to come by 2025, including a 1970s-inspired disco, Good Night John Boy.
Roka Hula is a new modern Asian concept from the True Grit Hospitality Group (Voodoo Bayou, Calaveras Cantina). It’s changing up the former Taverna Opa space on Atlantic Avenue. Plans are to open by the end of the year.
Gabriella’s Modern Italian, a sibling of a New Jersey restaurant, is scheduled to debut in October in Atlantic Crossing.
Early fall, look for Jerk and Lime at Nicole’s House. The family-owned Jamaican fusion restaurant will be at 182 NW Fifth Ave.
Subculture Coffee opened a new location in July at 302 NE Sixth Ave. It has several other locations, including one in Mizner Park.
The Bridge Cafe expanded into a vacant spot next door this summer. It is at 814 E. Atlantic Ave.
Tony’s Market now has Johnny’s Deli inside, serving up sandwiches and more near the Delray Beach Tennis Center on West Atlantic Avenue.
In July, Subculture Coffee opened on northbound Federal Highway in Delray Beach.
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