Dockside dining is just one attraction at this eatery perched on the Intracoastal just south of Oakland Park Boulevard near A1A. The vibe is Florida-casual, and you can expect to see men in Hawaiian shirts disembarking from boats and strutting inside. Traditional bar bites, Floribbean fare, and international offerings comprise the menu, including crabcakes, fried calamari, coconut shrimp, seared ahi, and conch fritters. You can also order half-pound beef burgers, overstuffed wraps, and out-of-the-ordinary takes on fish, like the blackened mahi Reuben sandwich. Cocktails run the gamut, including fruity martinis, thick frozen margarita-like concoctions, and enormous fish bowls filled with fizzy, vodka-based drinks.
Contemporary sushi and Thai restaurant offering a wide variety of entrees and appetizers.
A pleasing mix of Thai and Japanese dishes.
Press Gourmet Sandwiches is more than just your average sandwich shop. Founders Christopher DelPrete and Rand Carswell, who first started out with Miami Press Food Truck in 2012, bring 15 years of culinary experience with them and a knack for chef-inspired gourmet fare. The name was born out of wordplay – all the sandwiches are pressed – but DelPrete and Carswell decided to give each sandwich a newspaper-themed name. And thus, a theme was born.
Small French eatery offering sweet and savory crepes along with sandwiches and sweet treats.
Las Orquideas (“The Orchids”) serves authentic Colombian and Latin American cuisine. Small and bright, the restaurant is often crowded with customers sitting over plates filled with steaks, beans, plantains, chorizo and rice. Some come in just for the baked goods, which include the gluten-free pandebono.
This small, warm restaurant named for the artist Frida Kahlo enhances the typical Mexican menu with some harder-to-find dishes like chochinita pibil (roasted Mayan pork leg marinated in achiote citrus juice), fish Veracruz style and shrimp mole verde. The tortillas, like the guacamole, are homemade.
With 25 years of Italian culinary experience, Chef Walter Hernandez brings authentic Italian cuisine to the table. Classic Italian menu items include shrimp scampi, Frutti Di Mare, Veal Frascati sautéed in a lemon white wine sauce with spinach, capers, artichoke hearts, and roasted red peppers with spaghetti, pizza and more.
Open seven days a week since it debuted in 1989, Zuckerello’s still has its original owner and chefs in place pumping out home-style Italian. Expect to find traditional dishes like zuppa di clams, fried calamari, and house-made meatballs, along with pasta such as penne alla vodka, crab ravioli, lasagna, and linguine with clam sauce. Large booths can accommodate family-size parties, and the casual-elegant vibe will keep you lounging long after you finish eating. Red and dark gray walls adorned with lively paintings are complemented by glossy wood tabletops and chairs in a contrasting shade of wood. House specialties like veal Marsala, chicken Milanese, and panko-breaded eggplant Parmesan are affordable and come in shareable portions. Fish lovers should try the herb-crusted salmon in orange beurre blanc sauce.
Opened in 1969, this is one of the last of the area’s corned beef-and-pastrami lunch places. Order The New Yorker and you’ll get both meats with Swiss cheese and Russian dressing, and a crisp half-sour pickle on the side. There’s also chopped liver, creamed herring, lox and bagels and, for dessert, coffee cake and rugelach.
Mexican food gets an upscale makeover at owner and Chef Eduardo Pria’s award-winning eatery. Featured in Bon Appetit, Gourmet Magazine, and on the Food Network, Pria denounces typical tacos and boring burritos for more authentic fare such as guajillo chile-spiced black bean soup, pan-seared Florida Keys yellowtail crusted in toasted almonds and thyme, and achiote-rubbed pork loin with honey-pasilla chile glaze. And it’s not always offered, but if Pria is making his cilantro soup when you visit, be sure to order a bowl.
Chef Giacomo offers Northern Italian cuisine with a twist: mushroom strudel and crusted eggplant parmigiana. More traditional fare includes veal Marsala, homemade ricotta & spinach ravioli, and cappellini filetto di pomodoro.
A ’20s-themed bar and restaurant featuring brunch, cold and hot plates, desserts and a store selling meats and cheeses.
Thai and Japanese dishes plus a “build your own burrito” option.
This family-owned restaurant specializes in German-American food, including seven types of schnitzel, two types of calf’s liver, bratwurst and sauerbraten. For more American meals, there are baby back ribs, steaks, and surf and turf.
For casual-elegant dining along the Intracoastal, this acclaimed eatery provides first-class fare with an art deco interior and a stunning backdrop. Offerings from the raw bar include an iced seafood tower of oysters, shrimp, ceviche, clams, tuna tartare, and Maine lobster cocktail. Togarashi-spiced local swordfish with bok choy, udon noodles and coconut curry lime broth highlight the international inspiration.
The new Plunge Beach Hotel adds another eatery to Lauderdale-By-The-Sea. Backflip Beach Bar offers the right light bites and beverages any beach-goer would need to sit back and relax with. The cocktails stay true to the beach theme, being named after cult classics featuring the sea – try the “Bigger Boat Needed” or “There Was Room for Two.” As for those bites? They include street tacos, grilled steak sandwiches, fried fish catch of the day and, of course, juicy burgers. From local brews to rum cocktails to fresh juice blends to tasty treats, all you need by the sea is right here.
An eclectic dining experience with artsy vibes serving gastro cuisine in tapas style or larger portions.
A beautiful restaurant with a dark wood interior, high ceilings and large windows overlooking the Intracoastal. Tables on the terrace provide a more casual setting. Sweet ginger calamari comes with a chili ginger beer glaze and the filet mignon is served with chimichurri and a loaded baked potato.
A casual cafe with the flair of Milan and great Italian dishes all the way through to dessert.
Press Gourmet Sandwiches is more than just your average sandwich shop. Founders Christopher DelPrete and Rand Carswell, who first started out with Miami Press Food Truck in 2012, bring 15 years of culinary experience with them and a knack for chef-inspired gourmet fare. The name was born out of wordplay – all the sandwiches are pressed – but DelPrete and Carswell decided to give each sandwich a newspaper-themed name. And thus, a theme was born.
The be nice Restaurant Group – the people who bring you Coconuts, G&B Oyster Bar, Red Cow, Top Hat Deli and Foxy Brown – has now introduced Lunchroom as a fast-casual sandwich shop. The name says it all—the perfect place to stop by during your lunch break (or break from the beach) to get a fast sandwich. If you’re on a health trip and want to skip the bread, any sandwich can be made into a bowl—seriously, any. If you’re thirsty, they’ve got Argyle coffee, Non-Prophet kombucha, vintage sodas and Cuban coffee ready to be served.
Family-run bagel shop also offering sandwiches, salads and wraps.
A part of the Ocean Manor Beach Resort, this casual spot serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. There’s brunch on Sunday, followed by a late-afternoon Caribbean pig roast buffet. Mondays are dedicated to Italian food, and parties are held whenever the moon is full.
Casual restaurant serving Spanish-style food for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Venezuelan deli and bakery offering custom-order sandwiches and more.
Il Paesano emphasizes fresh ingredients, quality food and spreading love. There’s no set menu, only daily specials determined by the fresh ingredients that are found in the market. During the week there are about 15 to 16 different dishes. And owner Vergilio Peixoto has no freezers; from the pasta to the tomato sauce, everything is made fresh in-house. Il Paesano’s chef formerly owned Vesuvio, which was a popular Italian restaurant in Fort Lauderdale back in its heyday.
Il Paesano has a wide variety of wines and the private wine room can also be used as a more intimate setting for couples to dine. (There have been marriage proposals, Peixoto reports.) And if you want to know more about wine, Peixoto hosts a winetasting class every month. But be quick – the classes tend to fill up within minutes of being announced.
Bakery and gelato shop.
Unique sandwiches only using the highest quality ingredients and homemade treats to dessert.
Get ready for hot bagels and delicious sandwiches because this Miami-based deli has opened its first Broward location. They serve made-to-order homemade signature schmears, bagels, omelets and artisanal specialty sandwiches. Don’t forget to try the Normandy Lox, which includes cream cheese, Nova lox, tomato, onions and capers, or the Collins Breakfast Wrap, made with scrambled eggs, feta cheese, spinach and onions.
The dishes Myapapaya puts out feature ingredients found in few South Florida restaurants, healthy items owner Adam Kanner says he found while traveling the globe. The kale salad, for instance, features almonds roasted with tamari, a soy sauce brewed with a deeper flavor. The Whole Grain Bowl — overflowing with quinoa, brown rice, tomatoes, peppers, chickpeas, feta, and coconut oil — has a bit of dulse flakes, a snack food from Iceland that provides a nice saltiness to a stunningly beautiful and delicious dish.
The juices, sold in 16-ounce plastic bottles for about $9, are made in a cold-press system that keeps more nutrients and allows them to stay fresh longer. They also feature blends like the Peruvian Pink, with beets, ginger, pear, pineapple, and a Peruvian fruit called maca, which some believe improves libido.
This Peruvian place started as a sandwich shop – try the sirloin steak with bacon, cheese, egg and shoestring potatoes – and now serves dinners, so you can get lomo saltado as an entrée as well as a sandwich and, of course, ceviche.
It’s hard for Fort Lauderdale locals to imagine a summer without taking a dip in the water…well, what about their bagels? Known for a 14-step water filtration process that goes into its authentic Brooklyn-style bagels and coffee, Brooklyn Water Bagel Co. has officially opened its second Fort Lauderdale location. In addition to bagels and coffee, menu items include breakfast and deli sandwiches, baked goods, omelets and “baninis” – bagel paninis, naturally.
A Latin cafe serving lighter fare options.
Big servings, friendly staff, raucous bar – especially popular for Sunday brunch.
A juice bar modeled after Brazilian “sucos.” Serving acai bowls, superfood smoothies and healthy snacks.
The healthy fast casual concept stays true to its local supply chain philosophy by sourcing much of its produce from J&J Family of Farms in Loxahatchee and herbs from Harvest Sensations in Miami. The name’s a bit of a misnomer; Just Salad also does wraps, smoothies, “warm bowls” featuring dishes like shawarma and umami, and soups.
Offering wine, beer, tomato soup and – of course – grilled cheese sandwiches.
Bakery Fusion Café brings a blend of global flavors to its menu of fresh foods and homemade baked goods. The coffees are a good example; you can wake up with 100 percent Arabic gold roast coffee, traditional Brazilian café com leite or Italian caffe affogato. As for food, they’ve got Italian, French and Brazilian breads and pastries. The Pompano Citi Center spot also serves pies, sandwiches, salads and even ice cream.
Founders Robert and Abby are longtime surfers and beach lovers. They were inspired by their many trips to exotic beach locations including Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, California and Hawaii. Each destination featured its own spin on acai or pitaya bowls. When they came back home, they were inspired to recreate their versions of some of their favorites. The menu features a wide variety including banana bowls like the Nica Bowl (banana blend topped with granola, banana, cocoa nibs, walnuts, strawberry and peanut butter).
