Only open on Saturdays with reservations and known for their homemade gluten-free cheese bread.
Calzone, panini, wings and – of course – pizza.
A local institution offering breakfast, lunch and dinner all day and night. Try the egg specials or hot cakes for breakfast, catfish fingers for a mid-day snack, and then a burger for dinner. No credit cards accepted, but there is an ATM on-site.
Small, but popular Japanese place.
Having already made a good name for themselves in Coconut Grove, the founders of Bombay Darbar decided to take their talents to Las Olas Boulevard. This Indian restaurant offers authentic cuisine featuring classic staples like lamb, tandoori dishes and naan. And if you want to wash it down with something different, here’s the place if you’ve never tried Indian beer.
Enjoy Thai food with a direct view of the beach.
The casual café now has two locations, with a new spot on Wilton Drive joining its existing Marina Mile location. The largely Greek-inspired menu features unique favorites such as konafa (fillings such as spinach, eggplant, beef or lamb in a thin, shredded golden-brown pastry) and pita bread mini-pizzas. Or try favorites such as taramosalata, saganaki, moussaka and baba ganoush. Open all day, it also offers a full breakfast menu, as well as take-out and delivery.
Homemade pastas and gourmet pizzas.
The founder of Anthony’s Runway 84 and Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza, Anthony Bruno teamed up with restauranteur Michelangelo Mozzicato to open a casual restaurant with a Santa Maria-style grill as the centerpiece. The menu consists of American classics with a Florida twist – appropriate for a place in the old Dirty Ernie’s building.
Lovelee Bakeshop is the result of a dream come true for owner Lee Mazor, who previously worked as a pastry chef at a Michelin-starred Miami Beach restaurant. Located on the up-and-coming NE 13th Street, this modern bakery offers tiered cakes, cupcakes, macarons, decorated sugar cookies, chocolate chip sea salt cookies, dessert bar treats, cinnamon buns and much more.
A Fort Lauderdale staple since 1982, this Italian-American eatery will bring you back to Sunday dinners at your Nana’s house – if you’re Italian, that is. Expect Sinatra to play in the background as Chianti flows and platters of shrimp oreganata, veal Francaise, and zuppa di pesce are shared family-style. Intimate meals also work inside Runway’s setting, with its low lighting and mellow atmosphere. Don’t miss the Sicilian stuffed peppers (served cold with red wine vinegar and stuffed with bread crumbs, capers, olives, anchovies, and grated cheese), and the plump meatballs with marinara. Big-time diners will want the surf and turf entree, a combination of New York strip and South African lobster tail.
Oldest raw bar in the area with dockside eating available.
A popular watering hole for boat crews, this Irish pub offers Irish breakfast (all day), lunch, dinner and late-night fare. Try the fish & chips, corned beef and cabbage, chicken pot pie or Buffalo chicken wings. Then grab a pint.
Salads, sandwiches, shakes and their specialty, chicken tenders, with an array of sauce options.
A unique 50s-style restaurant that has been around for over 40 years. Be sure to try their infamous 14oz coffee cup if you need a quick pick-me-up!
For years a popular locals’ place,located in Southport Shopping Center this casual restaurant specializes in New England and local seafood dishes like “lobstah” scampi, fried clams, shrimp, oysters, crab cakes and scrod. New England clam “chowdah” is offered daily, along with rotating seafood soup specials.
Begin with the colossal stone crab claws or homemade meatballs before choosing between lobster and shrimp Fra Diavolo and a 10 oz. barrel-cut filet mignon. Or perhaps you’d prefer apple cider-marinated pork chops. For dessert, there’s vanilla bean crème brulee and chocolate soufflé.
The people who brought Warsaw Coffee Company to increasingly cool NE 13th Street have opened a cocktail lounge and cafe in the same building. The clubby sophistication of the well-appointed, wood-paneled space is matched by a menu of breakfast, lunch, dinner and bar bites – as well as the weekend daytime hours’ bottomless brunch. A standout cocktail menu includes treats like the Sailor to Pirate, a rum old-fashioned that transforms into a pina colada served with torched cinnamon sticks.
Located inside the Embassy Suites by Hilton Fort Lauderdale, this chic restaurant and lounge serves food and drinks.
Anthony Bruno, of Runway 84, opened this pizza joint in 2002 because he couldn’t find the “well done” pizzas of his native New York here in Fort Lauderdale. The flagship location has since become a nationwide chain. Ashy flavor permeates the crust of pies like the “Paul & Young Ron,” piled with meatballs, sausage, ricotta, and hot or sweet peppers. Oven-roasted chicken wings and salads round out the menu, and beer and wine are served.
The first thing you receive, after the warm welcome, is a basket of warm bread and a small bowl of garlicky chimichurri sauce to dip it into. Run by Salvadorans, the restaurant has a cozy elegance and serves generous portions of everything, including ceviche, mariscada soup and churrasco.