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Paris Baguette, Delray Beach
1911 S. Federal Highway; ParisBaguette.com
It has roots far from the City of Lights — South Korea, to be exact — but this fast-growing, bakery-café chain devoted to baked breads, pastries and caffeine has landed in South Florida, with its first location debuting April 2 at the Delray Market plaza. The eatery brands itself as a hub for trendy pastries, touting creations such as berry-crowned danishes, sugar-sprinkled mochi doughnuts and cocoa-dusted tiramisu tarts, along with red bean bread loaves, garlic croissants and curry-filled croquettes. There are also cake slices, turkey-mozzarella paninis, caprese baguette sandwiches, salads, and hot and cold Lavazza coffees.
Chef Reece Kitchen, Davie
5187 S. University Drive; 754-888-9994; ChefReece.com
Travis Reece, the top-billed chef who served up simmering oxtail stew poolside at the South Beach Wine and Food Festival in February, has upgraded into his first restaurant, which opened March 16 inside Renaissance Plaza on South University Drive. Raised on his grandma’s vegetable and cattle farm in Jamaica’s Saint Elizabeth parish, Reece, 30, had cooked for celebrities such as Kanye West, Travis Scott and Tristan Thompson as a private chef before turning to restaurants. Last year, he opened his namesake Jamaican fusion spot at a Chevron gas station in Pembroke Pines, where he served honey-glazed salmon and oxtail pasta braised in barbecue sauce and jerk seasonings. His new storefront adds an expanded menu of vegetarian items like coconut curry chickpeas, salads and natural juices, and more ambitious dishes including curried goat and whole fried red snapper on Fridays and Saturdays only.
El Pama Tavern, Fort Lauderdale
551 N. Federal Highway, Suite 600; 754-701-0670; ElPamaTavern.com
A Latin steakhouse and tobacco lounge billed as a “haven where culinary mastery and cigar sophistication unite” has replaced the long-running Brass Tap Fort Lauderdale and its upstairs speakeasy, Unit B, on North Federal Highway. No explanation was given for Brass Tap’s abrupt closure. The new restaurant-lounge, which quietly debuted March 8, is registered to managing partner Fernando Santa, who also operates a Miramar-based retail shop called El Pama Cigar Accessories. El Pama is steeped in tropical decor and speakeasy motifs, with cedarwood furniture, hanging moss, a white baby grand piano and servers wearing white satin gloves and 1920s-era flapper gowns. The menu features Cajun-spiced filet mignon steak bites, corn and lobster bisque for starters, soups and salads, and bourbon-glazed tomahawk pork chops, cioppinno, ribeyes and porterhouses for entrees, along with 12 cocktails.
Whit’s Frozen Custard, Coral Springs
2886 N. University Drive; 754-812-1143; WhitsCustard.com
This Ohio-spun emporium for rich frozen custard scooped out its latest South Florida franchise in late March in The Walk of Coral Springs plaza, following a recent flurry of openings in Lighthouse Point, Boca Raton, Wellington, Jupiter and Delray Beach. The sweet shop serves its custard in cups, cake, waffle cones and cookies (affectionately called “Whitties”), which are coated or blended with a choice of 40 toppings. Each shop also presents specialty flavors of the day, week and month, such as s’mores, white-chocolate caramel brownie, black raspberry chip, amaretto biscotti and chocolate caramel cashew.
Yellow Yolk, Pompano Beach
3200 E. Atlantic Blvd.; YellowYolk.com
After a short-lived stint at The Walk at University in Coral Springs, this all-day brunch house from restaurateur Steve Tsatas has migrated to a new storefront on Atlantic Boulevard, one block from the Intracoastal Waterway. The breakfast menu includes triple-stacked pancakes, classic eggs Benedict, corned beef hash skillets with eggs, avocado toast on walnut and raisin bread with poached eggs, as well as coffees and juices. Lunch, meanwhile, includes a Chicken philly with onions, mushrooms and peppers, smash burgers and salads.
Seafarers’ House Cafe by Big Chef, Fort Lauderdale
1800 SE 32nd St.; 954-734-1580; Facebook.com/seafarershouseFL
What started as a nonprofit offering resources, a chapel and meeting space for Fort Lauderdale’s maritime community has added its first public café -restaurant, which hosted its grand opening on March 25 in Port Everglades. The 76-seat breakfast-lunch eatery is registered to Rosana Santos Calambichis, who runs a catering company called Big Chef and describes the menu as “nutritious, casual and flavorful” on social media. Along with coffees, the menu includes chicken avocado sandwiches on baguettes, banana nutella crepes, brie-artichoke flatbread pizzas, dumplings and beef fajitas.
The West End Lounge, Wilton Manors
2100 Wilton Drive; 954-395-8964; TheWestEndLoungeWM.com
A new cocktail boîte and live music lounge debuted with a grand opening on April 6 on the ground floor of the Gables Wilton Park apartment complex, replacing the former Matty’s. The 2,238-square-foot nightlife space, which comes from owner Chris O’Neill, offers light bites along with mocktails, beer, wine and eight craft cocktails —- many infused with wines. They include a chocolate-forward, brown-butter old-fashioned and the Rosita, with Scotch bonnet-infused tequila, aperol, orange, agave, lime and a Cabernet float.
MaMa YaTai & Donut, Deerfield Beach
1636-1638 SE Third Court; Instagram.com/MamaYatai.donut
If you believe Mama YaTai’s social media, roughly 6,000 mochi donuts are made daily at this fantasyland of Japanese treats, which staged its grand opening on April 4 inside The Cove Shopping Center. The doughnut house — adorned in suspended floral paper lanterns, neo-Tokyo wallpaper and anime murals of Sailor Moon and Naruto — comes from owners Ngoc Chau and Loc Nguyen, who also operate MaMa YaTai’s flagship in Davie and its offshoot, An Banh Japanese Corn Dog and Bakery in Fort Lauderdale. As with other locations, MaMa’s menu features yakitori (chicken on skewers), whimsical Japanese corn dogs (coated in potato chips, Hot Cheetos, Rice Krispies) and 50 doughnut flavors (such as sakura cherry blossom).
El Segundo, West Palm Beach
3950 Georgia Ave.; 561-469-8597; ElSegundoWPB.com
This Tex-Mex-themed taqueria from prolific Palm Beach County restaurateur Rodney Mayo (Subculture Coffee, Dada, Kapow!, Sassafras, Howley’s, Hullabaloo, Respectable Street) debuted in March on the northeast corner of Southern Boulevard and Georgia Avenue. Dishes from executive chef Angelo Arboleda include six styles of tacos, from brisket burnt ends to al pastor to Cali fish. There are also double smash burgers, birria tacos, mole chicken quesadillas and chocolate birria churros.
Pizza Salad Pointe & Self-Pour Beer, Davie
6370 Griffin Road, Suite C102; 954-406-5445; PizzaSaladPointe.com
The centerpiece of this new pizzeria, which is registered to Isaac and Elena Golan and debuted in mid-March, literally puts the DIY in IPA: It has an alcohol wall with 30 tap handles where drinkers can pour their own craft beer, along with wine, cider and even cocktails. Dine-in patrons are issued a “drink card,” which they can scan at taps that display the alcohol’s price, name, style and alcohol by volume. (As of this writing, the tap wall offers sauvignon blanc, pinot grigio, Moscow mule, margarita cocktails and roughly 20 craft beers.) There is also a build-your-own salad bar with 60 toppings and a medley of New York-style, Sicilian, Detroit and vegan and gluten-free pies, along with calzones, stromboli, pastas and cannolis for dessert. The Golans also operate Zinncredible Pizza 2 miles west on Orange Drive and Pine Island Road.
Saiko-i Sushi Lounge and Hibachi, Coral Springs
5791 Coral Ridge Drive; SaikoiBoca.com
They revived Peking Duck House in Pompano Beach earlier this year, and now husband-and-wife hospitality vets Jason Zheng and Tina Wang (Koi Japanese Cuisine & Sushi Lounge, Coco Sushi Lounge & Bar, Yakitori Sake House) have opened this Japanese restaurant and lounge. The 4,000-square-foot Saiko-i debuted April 2, joining its flagship in Boca Raton, and offers hibachi-style entrees spanning duck and seabass to chicken and Kobe A5 steak, along with Mongolian beef, popcorn chicken, Thai red curry and seafood clay pots of jumbo shrimp, scallop, calamari, snow peas, mushrooms, carrots and XO sauce. There are also sushi boats, cucumber wraps, sashimi, tonkotsu ramen and stir-fry noodles. A long-awaited, 200-seat Plantation outpost is expected to follow by year’s end at 8100-8160 W. Broward Blvd.
Phuse Cream, Sunrise
2806 N. University Drive; PhuseCream.com
Joel Franklin’s emporium of sweets debuted March 29 in Sunrise, his second scoop shop specializing in ice cream and his signature treat: macaron ice-cream sandwiches. If the name sounds familiar — or you obsess over dessert anything — Phuse picked up acclaim for winning People’s Choice Champion at the 2023 Dessert Wars Palm Beach convention. Franklin, more entrepreneurial event impresario than baker, also programs Miami’s annual Black Pepper Food & Wine Festival, a showcase of Black-owned restaurants and food trucks. Phuse, which also has a flagship location on State Road 7 in Plantation, touts 40 ice cream flavors (and four vegan-only ones), including banana praline, Oreo Heath caramel crunch, guava cheesecake, cotton candy and vanilla black raspberry.
Night Owl Cookies, Coconut Creek
4431 Lyons Road, Suite 106; NightOwlCookieCo.com
Late-night cookie monsters know all about the over-the-top confections of Andrew Gonzalez, who brought his gourmet creations to Pembroke Pines in 2020. For the uninitiated, Gonzalez started baking in his mother’s kitchen in Miami and, in just a few years, was pumping out 1,000 cookies nightly and making late-night deliveries (as in 2 a.m.-late) to college-aged cookie lovers at Florida International University. (Forbes honored Gonzalez in its lofty “30 Under 30” ranking of top young entrepreneurs in 2017.) He has multiple locations, and now Night Owl has migrated north again, with a new Broward location that debuted in early March inside Promenade at Coconut Creek. (A second Broward outpost is expected to debut this summer inside Plantation’s Market on University plaza). Gourmet cookies on the menu include Ave Maria, topped with Maria cookies, guava chunks and cream cheese; Dirty Diana, which uses chocolate dough stuffed with Nutella; and Rainbow Over Bedrock, topped with Fruity Pebbles.
The Underground Pizza, Palm Beach Gardens
9920 FL-A1A, Suite 815; TheUndergroundPizza.com
No, it shouldn’t be confused with The Pizza Underground, a short-lived comedy band created by “Home Alone” actor Macaulay Culkin to parody the Velvet Underground’s songs with pizza-themed lyrics. But The Underground Pizza, which debuted in mid-March in the Promenade Shopping Plaza, does bill itself as a “punk rock pizza shop” inspired by that 1960s rock band. Owner Cole Herring’s pizzeria specializes in something called “East Coast Deep Dish,” a hybrid pie that resembles Chicago deep dish but has a cornmeal crust and other recipe variations. There are also thin-crust pizzas such as The Blonde (generously topped with garlic-infused olive oil, roasted squash, tomatoes, onions, feta, basil) and Lay’d Back (pineapple, bacon, red onion, jalapeños, feta), plus salads, baked wings and garlic bread.
B&D Trap, Fort Lauderdale
1551 NW Sixth St.; 561-382-7944; BDTrap.com
This 2,500-square-foot pit stop devoted to Texas-style barbecue is now smoking up Sistrunk Boulevard after its official grand opening on March 29. It’s no secret Texas is brisket country, and so the focus here, naturally, is dry-rubbed brisket by the pound and in sandwich form from hospitality veteran Kevin Rodriguez (The Doral Yard food hall) and pitmaster Orelle Young (The Beast by Todd English in Las Vegas), who competed a few years ago on Food Network Canada’s barbecue competition series “Fire Masters.” The 45-seat restaurant, which offers patio seating on picnic-style tables, also turns out ribs, chicken, pulled pork, wings and turkey, along with sides of mac ‘n’ cheese, baked beans, potato salad, coleslaw and cornbread.
Godly’s Dessert Café
681 NW 27th Ave., Fort Lauderdale; 754-777-9707; Godlyson6th.square.site
Everything is baked, churned and scooped in-house at this sweet treat parlor that debuted Feb. 1 on Sistrunk Boulevard, an area that has gained a mountain of new cuisine in recent months. Godly’s, which is registered to owner Kamille Bradley, offers ice-cream flavors such as blueberry cheesecake swirl, bubble gumball, red velvet and pistachio nut, in just about every configuration imaginable: sundaes, floats, by-the-quart, frozen creamsicles, and with housemade waffle cones. There are also fruity Italian ice flavors from mango’rita to blue raspberry, as well as Thai iced teas and fudgy Oreo cupcakes.
The Food Truck Store
1417 NE 26th St., Wilton Manors; thefoodtruckstore.com
Don’t let the name fool you: The Food Truck Store is actually a burger boîte. This fast-casual restaurant out of Argentina is the brainchild of Rodo Camara and has another stateside location in North Miami. The Wilton Manors spot officially debuted Feb. 20 to bring the best “American-style burgers to the sunny South, paying homage to the iconic classics you know and love with some next-level gourmet twists,” according to the eatery’s marketing.
Dos Amigos Tacos
10660 Forest Hill Blvd., Suite 170, Wellington; 561-508-4402; DosAmigosTacos.com
Back in late 2021, two employees from Lucille’s Bad to the Bone BBQ at Delray Marketplace peeled off to open their first fast-casual taqueria next door in the same strip mall. Now cofounders Derek Mazer and chef Michael Jameson have expanded Dos Amigos into its second location, which debuted Jan. 28 at Wellington Green Square. The centerpiece of their menu, naturally, are its 19 housemade tacos ranging from familiar (chicken, carne asada) to trendy (quesabirria, roasted cauliflower) to adventurous (Philly cheesesteak, meatball Parmesan on a mozzarella-crusted tortilla). There are also quesadillas, burritos and salad bowls.
Riko’s Pizza
14 N. Federal Highway, Pompano Beach; 754-220-0201; RikosPizza.com
This fan-favorite Connecticut export shuffled onto the corner of Atlantic Boulevard and North Federal Highway in late January with a style that’s fairly uncommon to local palates: ultra-thin pizza with blistered cheese, sauce and toppings that extend out to the edges of its cracker-like crust. (Think Chicago thin-crust without the square cuts.) The pizzeria, from local franchisees Jordan and Stefanija Mintz, is the second Florida offshoot of the Stamford, Conn., original (a Tequesta location opened in 2022). Its signature is the Hot Oil Pizza, a plain pie topped with spicy, housemade oil and Serrano “stinger” peppers. There are also oven-baked wings with five distinctive sauces, Riko’s Dogs (gussied-up versions of pigs in a blanket) and 10 pie flavors, from New Haven-esque Clam Pizza (clams, bacon, basil, chopped garlic) to Hawaiian to Nashville hot chicken.
Even Keel Fish Shack
1111 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale; 754-701-4895; EvenKeelFish.com
Chef-owners Dave MacLennan and Brad Phillips have docked on ritzy restaurant row Las Olas Boulevard with the second location of their seafood spot, which debuted in mid-December. This is the owners’ second foray into Fort Lauderdale: the flagship Even Keel began its life on North Federal Highway under the mast of restaurateur Dean James Max before it jumped ship to Lauderdale-by-the-Sea in late 2020. A hub for fresh local fish and greens (they source from Triar Seafood in Hollywood and Swank Specialty Produce in Loxahatchee), the second location will serve stone crabs and house-smoked fish dip, beer-battered spiny lobster bites and conch beignets, and larger entrees including an adult crab grilled cheese (with brie, truffle, blue crab and apple butter), clams carbonara and grilled swordfish.
The Blue Door
5700 S. Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach; 561-360-2064; TheBlueDoorWPB.com
One of the many new restaurants making West Palm Beach’s SoSo District (South of Southern) not so so-so, this Mediterranean coastal sit-down that opened Jan. 24 is the creation of five owners — Max Ricci, Michael Katzenberg, executive manager Tamara Magalhães, executive chef Nano Crespo and interior designer Sara Ricci. With an all-white color scheme (except for, you guessed it, a blue door), the bistro offers a slim menu of 23 items including gnocchi with house sausage and porcini, lamb chops with tzatziki and cucumber salad, seared scallops in tomato Provençal and Maine lobster tagliolini.
Mia Rosebud
150 E. Palmetto Park Road, Boca Raton; 561-462-3000; RosebudRestaurants.com
This famed Chicagoland restaurant and Italian steakhouse, blessed over the decades by the likes of Tom Selleck, Tom Hanks, James Woods, Bono, James Gandolfini, Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett, has come to town. The first Florida outpost — its 10th location overall — had a soft opening on Feb. 19. At 7,700 square feet, the 196-seat restaurant (164 indoors, 32 on outdoor terrace) offers an open-kitchen design. Chicago restaurateur Alex Dana’s Little Italy eatery, which originally debuted in 1976, specializes in huge portions of Italian classics including cavatelli cacio e pepe and rigatoni alla vodka, along with N.Y. strip steaks, brick chicken and veal cutlets, tiramisu and ricotta cheesecake.
KAO Sushi & Ramen
1390 Weston Road, Weston; 954-699-4233; KAOSushiandRamen.com
The Argentinean owners behind Hallandale Beach’s first shipping-container restaurant, KAO Bar & Grill, opened this Japanese-focused spinoff in Weston’s Country Isles Plaza in early January. Everywhere are nods to Matias and Marco Pagano’s origins, including the Buenos Aires roll (salmon, rice, cream cheese, sesame sauce) and tres leches sponge cake. (These items are also served at the Paganos’ first restaurant, KAO Sushi & Grill in Coral Gables.) The menu at KAO Sushi & Ramen also features tonkatsu ramen loaded with macerated beef or pork belly, sauteed noodles and tuna or crispy shrimp poke, and pork belly or caramelized barbecued beef bao buns.
Pura Vida
2364 N. Federal Highway, Fort Lauderdale; 754-345-1851; PuraVidaMiami.com
This fast-expanding, Miami-hatched, all-day cafe owned by Omer and Jennifer Horev debuted its second Fort Lauderdale location within the River Market strip mall on Dec. 28, bringing its total number of locations to 22. The health-conscious chain offers dishes such as pasture-raised egg sandwiches, salads, raw organic acai bowls, wraps and gluten-free vegan sweets.
Playa Bowls
401 E. Las Olas Blvd, Unit 185, Fort Lauderdale; playabowls.com
There’s a beach vibe with this fast-casual restaurant. After all, the concept started back in 2014 as a pop-up food stand on the Jersey Shore. Now the brand is known for its plant-based ingredients and for its sustainability efforts (they say they use reclaimed building materials, LED lighting and recycled/biodegradable bowls, spoons and lids). This location is owned by Darrell Casoria (raised in Fort Lauderdale) and Ricky Arguello and opened Jan. 13.
The Kebab Shop
11225 Miramar Parkway, Miramar; 754-287-1313; TheKebabShop.com
This California-based Mediterranean eatery specializes in customizable kebabs in grilled and rotisserie forms, and they’re served in a wrap, in a box or on a plate. Its first Florida outpost officially opened in early February inside the Miramar Park Place strip mall on Red Road, joining a recently opened Flanigan’s and a soon-to-open Duck Donuts. The menu also has lamb, beef, chicken thighs, saffron chicken tenderloin doner, along with steak and falafel and “crave fries” (topped with feta, garlic yogurt and pickled onions). The chain has carved out 34 locations in California and Texas; future South Florida outposts are expected in Coral Springs (1280 N. University Drive) and Boynton Beach (1780 N. Congress Ave., Suite 200).
CLOSED
B.C. Cafe, Davie
4801 S. University Drive, Suite 123; BCTacos.com
After 11 years of breakfast ramen and T-Rex tacos, the caveman-themed food truck-turned brick-and-mortar taqueria and burger joint in Davie abruptly closed in late February. “Thank you for a great 11 years,” Brett Chiavari, the “B.C.” in B.C. Cafe, posted in a Feb. 26 video on social media. “The food prices were getting out of hand, and I wanted to spend more time on the kids.” Chiavari’s restaurant began its life as the B.C. Tacos truck on the corner of Cypress Creek Road and Interstate 95, where he slung bowls, burritos and tacos filled with “prehistoric” pulled pork and “stone age” shrimp before opening his first acclaimed storefront in 2013. B.C. eventually added breakfast ramen (pork belly, Chinese sausage, scallion pancake) and other brunch items, along with salads and nachos.
