When it comes to food, South Florida is a great place to be. So many new restaurants open nearly every day. Here’s what’s coming soon to a city near you.
Night Owl Cookies, Plantation and Coconut Creek
NightOwlCookieCo.com
1025 S. University Drive, Plantation
4431 Lyons Road, Suite 106, Coconut Creek
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 is migrating north again with a new pair of sweet shops. One is scheduled to debut this spring inside Plantation’s Market on University plaza, and a second Broward outpost would open this summer at Promenade at Coconut Creek. 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.
Bondi Sushi, Oakland Park
3333 N. Federal Highway; BondiSushi.com
This beachy, Big Apple-born, sushi-bar chain is expanding with its first Broward outpost, which expects to debut this summer at Oaklyn, a new sky-high tower giving Oakland Park a jolt of big-city appeal. The 2,100-square-foot kitchen comes from founder-partners David Hess, Aiden Carty and Justin Hauser, and will occupy space next to soon-to-open burger joint La Birra Bar and the motorcycle-themed Imperial Moto Café. The dining room will be distinguished by a Japanese-style cocktail bar and a sweets shop called Icebergs, which will serve Japanese ice cream, rice-cake desserts, sodas and candy. Bondi, which also operates a Miami Beach outpost, will serve king salmon and yellowtail jalapeno sashimi, 12 kinds of handrolls (from lobster and toro to A5 Wagyu and truffle avocado), 14 types of nigiri (sea scallop, seared albacore), crispy rice and shishito pepper appetizers.
Tomate Media
Renato Viola’s Mister O1 Extraordinary Pizza is expected to open this year at the new Manor at Miramar. (Tomate Media/Courtesy)
Mister O1 Extraordinary Pizza, Miramar
1 Main St., Miramar; mistero1.com
Renato Viola’s pizzeria is expected to open this fall at the new Manor at Miramar, an eight-story, mixed-use development right in the heart of the southern Broward County city. Known for star-shaped, Neapolitan-style pizzas, Mister O1 has multiple South Florida locations, including in Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, Pembroke Pines, Aventura and South Beach.
The Knife Parrilla Argentina, Coral Springs
9231 W. Atlantic Blvd., TheKnifeRestaurant.com
After closing locations in Hallandale Beach and Sunrise over the years, Argentinean-style steakhouse The Knife is carving its way back into Broward with a new home within Coral Square Mall. The 38-year-old restaurant chain’s newest outpost expects to debut this spring at the mall’s east entrance, beside Foot Locker, according to the mall’s website. The “parrilla,” which touts all-you-can-eat cuts at a fixed price, includes short ribs, rump and bottom sirloin, picanha, N.Y. strips, boneless chicken thighs, flank pork and beef briskets, along with side bars devoted to appetizers, salads and charcuterie. (There are also empanadas, desserts and cocktails including the Messi Favorito Mojito, in honor of superstar Inter Miami player Lionel Messi, of course.) Other locations remain in Doral and at Miami’s Bayside Marketplace.
John McCall / Sun Sentinel / South Florida Sun Sentinel
Jarael Holston-Jones, owner of Fat Boyz Barbecue, is planning to open a Coral Springs location sometime this spring. (John McCall / Sun Sentinel / South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Fat Boyz Barbecue, Coral Springs
10334 W. Sample Road; FatBoyzBarbecue.com
Owner Jarael Holston-Jones has grown and shrunk his smoky empire of barbecue multiple times over the years, so you’d be forgiven for feeling déjà vu over the pitmaster’s soon-to-open Coral Springs location. After the pandemic and overaggressive expansion killed his last outpost there in 2021, Holston-Jones’ shrine to Southern-style smoked ribs and brisket is expected back this spring. The new 1,000-square-foot shack will replace the former Juana La Cubana Café on West Sample Road and cater to take-out crowds, although its menu will be identical to other locations in Deerfield Beach and Fort Lauderdale. Its usual crowd-pleasers include dry-rubbed St. Louis spare ribs kissed with hickory and spice, Texas-style brisket, smoked lean pastrami and its Big Daddy sandwich, a combo of pulled pork, chopped brisket and mac ‘n’ cheese on a kaiser roll.
Ella Cafe, Davie
3890 Davie Road; Instagram.com/ellacafedavie
Plans are for the fourth location of this Plantation-born coffeehouse mini-chain to debut sometime in February on the ground floor of Davie’s new Zona Village apartment complex. The caffeine hub, which also operates a pair of coffee stands at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, is registered to managing partner Anthony Perera, a South Florida entrepreneur who also operates a Davie air-conditioning company. Ella will serve cappuccinos, chais and cold brews along with pastries, salads and sandwiches.
SoHo Kitchen, Fort Lauderdale
3020 N. Federal Highway; Instagram.com/sohokitchenfortlauderdale
This breakfast-lunch café plans to open this spring in Plaza 3000, next door to Lotus Chinese Kitchen and The Mason Jar Café. The eatery, which comes from husband-and-wife New York transplants Andrew and Jutbina Pirgousis, doesn’t have a full menu available yet but is said to specialize in all-day brunch and lunch specials.
Michael Laughlin/Sun Sentinel
Tacocraft plans to open its latest location in Coral Springs in June. (Michael Laughlin/Sun Sentinel)
Tacocraft, Coral Springs
3300 N. University Drive; Tacocraft.com
This growing taqueria chain is not only backed by powerhouse investors — gridiron great Dan Marino, radio star Paul Castronovo and restaurateurs Anthony Bruno, Pat Marzano and Marc Falsetto — but its new Coral Springs location will be its largest yet. When it debuts in June, the 4,500-square-foot, 200-seat restaurant from Handcrafted Hospitality will anchor the new City Village, a soon-to-open, mixed-use shopping plaza spanning two blocks on North University Drive. Along with a lineup of tacos (korean short rib, chicken al pastor, carne asada), there are trendy smash burgers, salads, fajitas, churro ice-cream sandwiches and a bar program of margaritas and tequila-forward cocktails. The Coral Springs location joins outposts in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Fort Lauderdale and Plantation.
Madame Tang’s, Boca Raton
6000 Glades Road; lovemadametangs.com
Celebrity chef Ralph Pagano and Jay Shirodkar have created Madame Tang’s to offer what they promise will be a new, modern take on Chinese cuisine and other Asian favorites. The restaurant inside Town Center at Boca Raton mall is expected to open in February, according to the website. Early word is that the bar will also have an expansive program. Fans of TV cooking competitions know Pagano for his turns on “Hell’s Kitchen,” “Pressure Cook” and “Iron Chef,” but local foodies know him for his Naked brand: Naked Taco and Naked Crab, which have multiple locations throughout South Florida.
Yolk, Boynton Beach
9884 S. Jog Road, Suite D9; eatyolk.com
When this location opens in late February, the number of Yolk eateries will increase to 18 nationwide — spanning across South Florida, Illinois, Indiana and Texas. The other two SoFlo locations are in Boca Raton and West Palm Beach. The new Boynton Beach venue will measure 2,900 square feet and seat 90 people inside and 72 on a patio designed with Yolk’s signature yellow umbrellas for shade. Touting a menu it describes as “constantly pushing the envelope with new and creative brunch dishes served in urban, upscale settings,” the eatery will be serving various French toast and eggs Benedict dishes as well as items such as Breakfast Mac & Cheese and Santa Fe Frittata. That’s in addition to gourmet five-egg rolled omelets, signature scramblers, pancakes, crepes, build-your-own options, burgers, sandwiches, coffees, lattes, craft beers, wines and cocktails. The brand has a test kitchen program to come up with foodie-forward culinary options.
Jerk and Lime at Nicole’s House, Delray Beach
182 NW Fifth Ave.; Instagram.com/nicoles_house_/
Owner Nicole Myers’ long-in-the-works Caribbean restaurant plans to open a slight jog west of downtown Delray Beach, a block north of the Spady Cultural Heritage Museum, sometime this February, the restaurant’s Instagram confirms. Myers, originally from St. Ann Parish, Jamaica, is cooking up a menu that will include braised oxtail with plantains and rice and pea cabbage, stew fish, fried lobster tail with jumbo shrimp, fried catfish, pepper steak with mashed potatoes, and jerk chicken with garden fruit salad.
Celis Juice Bar, Delray Beach
335 E. Linton Blvd., Suite B-12; celisjuicebar.com
This health-conscious eatery (make sure you check out their running club) will open its newest location in May, joining the original brick-and-mortar in West Palm Beach that opened in 2015 and the Palm Beach venue that followed a couple of years later. The quick-service restaurant offers fresh-pressed juices, smoothies, acai bowls and made-to-order breakfast and lunch. The boutique-chain is owned by the Celis brothers — Alex, Camilo and Felipe — and Taki Kastanis, who is also CEO of Yolk restaurants.
Juliana’s Pizza, West Palm Beach
905 N. Railroad Ave., West Palm Beach; JulianasPizza.com
For most pizza lovers, the arrival of Juliana’s to West Palm Beach’s rising NORA district heralds yet another New York-born pie shop sowing new roots in South Florida. But to folks fascinated with the Empire State’s very long and winding pizza wars saga, Juliana’s represents a slice of Big Apple royalty. The short version: Juliana’s was founded by restaurateur Patsy Grimaldi, who at various times ran Patsy’s and Grimaldi’s and traces his bona fides back to the original Lombardi’s, and has been selling pies in Brooklyn’s Dumbo neighborhood since 1990. (Juliana’s is named after Grimaldi’s late mother.) The history gets more convoluted from there, but Juliana’s has racked up countless accolades, topping best-pizzeria lists from TripAdvisor and USA Today to Cosmopolitan. The man most directly responsible for its South Florida expansion is cofounder Matthew Grogan, an ex-Wall Street executive and current Palm Beacher, who will bring Juliana’s menu of coal-fired pies with thin, crackerlike crusts, egg creams, meatballs and seltzer to West Palm in early 2025.
Drunken Dragon / Courtesy
Drunken Dragon / Courtesy Drunken Dragon, a Korean barbecue restaurant and tiki cocktail hub, has closed its longtime Miami Beach flagship and will reopen in Hallandale Beach’s Atlantic Village sometime in late 2024. (Drunken Dragon / Courtesy)
Drunken Dragon, Hallandale Beach
601 N. Federal Highway; DrunkenDragon.com
What happens when a Korean barbecue spot touting tiki-themed cocktails, Asian tapas and DIY grilling uproots from flashy Miami Beach? In Hallandale Beach, at least, enter the Drunken Dragon. The restaurant called it quits after 10 years on Alton Road with a Dec. 31 farewell party ahead of a planned late-2024 opening at Atlantic Village, a sprawling live-shopping complex. The move from cofounder Angel Febres and his Homecookin’ Hospitality Group (Rácket in Wynwood, Foxhole in Miami Beach) has been in the works since 2021. Drunken Dragon’s new 300-seat eatery is a rebranding of the barbecue house into what it calls a “craft-cocktail supper club,” with 37 communal grilling tables, a “Dragon Lounge” and live entertainment.
Wiseguy Pizza Las Olas, Fort Lauderdale
401 E. Las Olas Blvd.; wiseguypizza.com
This concept is part of the stable of brands under the Thompson Restaurants group, which includes Big Buns Damn Good Burgers and Matchbox at the busy-buzzy enclave of Las Olas Riverfront Circle. Wiseguy Pizza is expected to join the booming dining scene in downtown Fort Lauderdale’s business district at the Bank of America Financial Center in the first quarter of 2024, between January and March. The fast-casual eatery bills itself as “old-school,” cooking pizza on a stone deck oven (no pizza screens; your pizza bakes directly on the stones). The cheese comes from Wisconsin. The tomato sauce comes from California. The extra virgin olive oil and parmigiano-reggiano are from Italy. The sauces and dressings are made in-house. Along with the classics, Wiseguy Pizza will have a rotating menu of specials including vegan and vegetarian pies, as well as Korean Chicken, Paneer Tikka and Mushroom Truffle. It will also have a cauliflower gluten-free pie.
Bellagamba’s Fine Italian Restaurant, Fort Lauderdale
501 SE Second St., Suite 101; bellagambas.com
The website for this new Italian restaurant states: “COMING SOON FEBRUARY ’24.” The space at the Camden Las Olas Apartments in downtown Fort Lauderdale was formerly Rice & Dough Restaurant and Wine Bar. The menu at Bellgamba’s is expected to reflect authenticity, with the website asking: “Are you ready to experience Real Italian Food?”
X-Golf, West Palm Beach
1900 Okeechobee Blvd.; PlayXGolf.com
Another week, another indoor-golf experience is teeing off in South Florida, and this franchise expects to open its first Florida location in spring 2024. The 10,000-square-foot space, owned by franchisee brothers Steve and David Kittrell, will feature nine golf simulator bays and a 30-seat wraparound bar with eight TVs and a pub-friendly menu of pizza, wings, pretzels and libations. As with other X-Golf locations around the country, the venue has hired a “PGA-certified professional” to help visitors improve their indoor-golf game.
The Underground Pizza, Palm Beach Gardens
9920 FL-A1A, Suite 815; 561-254-4410, 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 does bill itself as a “punk rock pizza shop” inspired by that 1960s rock band — and its debut is expected in January in the Promenade Shopping Plaza. The pizzeria, from owner Cole Herring, 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 (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.
Black Jack’s Rum Bar & Grille, Davie
3890 Davie Road, Suite 104; BlackJacksRumBar.com
The restaurateur behind the Drunken Taco chain and the late Giovanni’s Coal Fire Pizza is back with this American pub that’s expected to debut in early spring on the ground floor of the new Zona Village apartment complex, across the street from Nova Southeastern University. The 200-seat pub from owner Ted Sabarese will have a full bar along with hamburgers and steaks, although its menu hasn’t been finalized.
Tutto Mare, Palm Beach
This Mediterranean concept from the Tutto il Giorno restaurant group is being billed as the first Intracoastal waterfront restaurant in Palm Beach. The eatery on the style isle is expected to open sometime this spring at The Royal Poinciana Plaza and is owned by Gabby and Gianpaolo de Felice, the wife-and-husband dining duo behind Tutto il Giorno in Southampton, East Hampton and Sag Harbor, New York. “Our goal with Tutto Mare is to create something chic, comfortable and intimate, balancing architecture with decor and ambiance,” she says. “Tutto Mare will be a place for the community to gather in a fresh environment, while celebrating Palm Beach’s rich history.” 340 Royal Poinciana Way, Palm Beach
Earls Kitchen + Bar, Fort Lauderdale
1002 E. Las Olas Blvd.; earls.ca
The Broward County location (the other is in Dadeland Mall) plans to open on Las Olas Boulevard sometime this spring. The hard-to-categorize menu created by chef David Wong has a global vibe with tacos, sushi, Cajun chicken, burgers, plant-based dishes, pizza, seafood, steaks and a host of weekend brunch classics. The brand started in 1982 with its first restaurant in Edmonton, Alberta, and is now based in Vancouver. “We are incredibly excited to introduce Earls Kitchen + Bar to the vibrant community of Fort Lauderdale,” says Kristin Vekteris, chief brand officer.
Lauren Delgado / Orlando Sentinel
A portabella omelet from Keke’s Breakfast Cafe, which will open its newest location in Parkland in early 2024. (Lauren Delgado / Orlando Sentinel)
Keke’s Breakfast Cafe, Parkland
7609 N. State Road 7; Kekes.com
This 17-year-old, Orlando-born, breakfast-lunch franchise does cheesesteak omelets and portabella paninis with roasted red pepper, but longtime fans know its pancakes sweeten the menu most. The plan is for Keke’s to debut its fourth South Florida outpost (joining Boca Raton, Boynton Beach and Wellington) in early 2024, with a fifth heading soon to Delray Beach (5032 W. Atlantic Ave.). Along with banana-pecan pancakes and apple-cinnamon-stuffed french toast, there are burgers, salads and chicken Caesar wraps, plus mimosas, bellinis and sangria cocktails.
Limani Grille, Boca Raton
6000 Glades Road; simon.com/mall
This seafood-focused eatery inside Town Center at Boca Raton promises Mediterranean dishes with a focus on Greek cuisines when it opens next spring. This will be the third location for the brand, which can also be found in Commack, N.Y., and Boston.
Luna Rosa Sandwiches, Delray Beach
1214 E. Atlantic Ave.
It’s been months since owner David Hunt closed the beloved Sandwiches by the Sea, his nautically themed port-of-call for handhelds a block from the ocean, after 22 years in business. In its place will rise this new sandwicherie from another Delray Beach veteran, Fran Marincola, who has operated casual Italian eatery Caffe Luna Rosa around the corner since 1993. Opening later this winter, the shop is registered to Maricola and business partner Kim Thomas. No menu or website is yet available, but the eatery is expected to offer some of the fresh-baked breads already served at Caffe Luna Rosa.
Serious Dumplings, Plantation
7626 Peters Road, Plantation; SeriousDumplingsUSA.com
Replacing the former “fast-fine” restaurant Ovlo Eats, which shuttered last year, is the fourth South Florida location of this dumpling franchise. Registered to franchisee Yang Ruyun, the shop expects to debut this winter in the Plantation Commons strip mall. The restaurant will specialize in dumplings of every ilk — xiaolongbao, pan-fried and steamed — along with noodle and rice bowls, scallion pancakes and squid salad, and dim sum from shrimp siu mai to braised chicken feet. The restaurant joins outposts in Boca Raton (which debuted in May), North Miami and Davie.
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 will smoke up Sistrunk Boulevard sometime in March. The focus, of course, will be 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 earlier this year on Food Network Canada’s barbecue competition series “Fire Masters.” The 45-seat counter will also turn out ribs, chicken, pulled pork and turkey, along with sides of mac ‘n’ cheese, baked beans, potato salad, coleslaw and cornbread.