West Palm Beach-Just moved here

[Toronto Fastfoodie]

Just moved into a place in WPM. Love the city but need food recommendations. I am more used to Miami/Aventura. We love Rascal House, Mario the Baker, Rustic Inn...places like that, along with a great bagel place, chinese food, etc...

We are from Toronto so are used to having amazing food of every ethnicity around us. What do we absolutely have to try? What will become our favorites?

We have small children & no baby sitter, so nothing too fancy, expensive, or bar recommendations.

[lichint]

Check out the following:
Grease Burger - Great Burgers
Rocco's Taco's - Mexican
A Paris Bakery - Best lunch and Breakfast - Crepes
Sunset Bar and Grill - Great Food unique ambience
Jade Kitchen - Casual dining very sophisticated menu
La Sirene - Italian
Cafe Saporis -Italian
Cafe Centro - Italian
Sushi Jo's
Pistache French Bistro
West Palm Beach Farmers Market
Hope this helps

[Toronto Fastfoodie]

Thanks for all the responses! I can't wait to try more of them...some of them we have already found. We are now down here for the next 3 weeks. Anything new we should know about?

[SFLisa]

I grew up in West Palm but left about 10 years ago. When I visit, I always want seafood and Cuban food. I like Havana, the Food Shack, Capt Charlie's, Raindancer, and the Tiki Hut in Riviera. The Tiki Hut is definitely casual and has good seafood. When I was home in March, we went to a good Cuban restaurant that was west of the Turnpike in a strip center the south side of Okeechobee. They had outdoor seating and very good Cuban food. Hope it is still there when I visit this week.

[charliejen3]

Cr Chicks is good for take out. They are all lover the city & do family meals.
Bagel Boyz has great bagels, breakfast & lunch...they deliver as well
Brown Baggin it in Lake Park has excellent homemade sammies!! bogo on weds!
Zuccarellis has the best pizza I have found down here so far..Pga & West Palm locations
Brass Ring is a bar ,but family friendly ...excellent wings!
Guanabana's in Jupiter ,atmosphere!!
Dune Dog - indiantown..Great little hot dog shack for kids! they do a family night 2..

Good Luck!!!
D.D.'s Cupcakes- around the corner from Dune Dog, delicious!!!
Tulipan Bakery-West Palm & Northlake blvd. guava cheese pastries!!
Joseph's Classic Market- fresh Italian food & great specials !!
Rocco" Tacos_ go early with kids!
Pizza Girls Downtown!!!! BBQ chicken pie!!

[freakerdude]

You should give Carmines La Trattoria or their Gourmet Market pizza a try....both cooked in the market. Carmine's has some nice gourmet style pizzas that nobody else offers. Anthony's Coal Fired is the second best with their Paul & Young Ron pizza but I have yet to try Zuccarellis. It is on my list though....

http://www.carmines.com/

-----
La Trattoria Restaurant
2401 PGA Blvd, Palm Beach Gardens, FL

[Alfred G]

IMO either Zuccarellis makes the best traditional (not coal fired) pizza around. Try it and let us know how you like it.

[Toronto Fastfoodie]

Tried Zuccarellis recently. Great garlic bread and chicken parm.

[gan911]

just tried some BBQ from McCrays. Really good ribs, terrible shoulder (it looked as though it was steamed...maybe should've asked for more bark, but its up to seller to even up the mix)

the bbq sauce had a good amount of vinegar...not too sweet...it'd probably be good to mix the hot and the sweet...so it would be balanced sweet n sour n spicy.

[freakerdude]

I agree. Ribs are good but the pork is below average. I didn't see any bark whatsoever on the pork and wondered how it was smoked. The pork has a color that I have never seen before and no apparent smoke ring. Get the hot sauce, as it's really not that hot. They have 2 mixed combo sauces available for you upon reuqest.

http://www.mccrays2bbq.com/

[gan911]

you didn't used to be on atlantacuisine did you freakerdude? just curious...

[freakerdude]

Yes, I was on there since it first started. But I moved here to SoFla almost 3 years ago. Now these folks have to put up with me.....

I see you are an ex-Atlantan. Welcome to SoFla! "Toto, you're not in Kansas anymore"......

[melias]

For Seafood, we love Captain Charlie's Reef Grille in Juno Beach, just off US-1 Whole Bahamian yellowtail is the best thing on the menu. Tell your server to reserve it as soon as you get there, because they go 86 very quickly.

For Mexi-Cali food, we see Lupita's on Dixie Hwy in Lake Worth as a good place. Unfortunately they have no wine or beer license, but try and be discreet! It's authentic and serves foodies as well as working class heroes.

For a great people watching venue which manages to serve great food as well, we love Palm Beach Grille in Palm Beach. Housed in the location of the old Au Bar, it is part of Hillstone Restaurant group,and an upscale sibling to Houstons. The food is excellent, but the service is spectacular. It seems the servers anticipate your every need, before you realize you need it! Sort of like having Radar O'Reilly from the M.A.S.H series serve you dinner. It's pricier than the average Houstons, but with a great wine list, full bar, excellent food and atmosphere, It's our favorite place.

[sis22]

WPB is good. Go to The Pelican Restaurant in Lake Worth. Its a breakfast joint. There whole wheat blueberry pancakes and ommelletes are to DIE FOR.

Also, they do this thing on Friday nights where they turn the Key Westy shack into a full-fledged Indian dining expierence. They keep it very very very exclusive to one night only and have a small limited yet fresh menu. whatever is fresh is made. Its reasonably priced and a 100% authentic. no if and buts about it. the mood is very casual and the crowd ranges from lake worth hippies to palm beach royalty. very different indeed. and several canadians and foriegners stop by as well because they know pakistani and indian cuisine.

give this a go. 610 lake ave! ask for Tara or Sami when you go!

[gan911]

what is this indian event? i'm curious...key westy shack? where is that?

[sis22]

i think their address is 610 lake ave, lake worth fl, 33460.

they are right in the center of lake worth downtown where all the restaurants are.

[gan911]

anything else chow-worthy within a 15 mile or so drive other than havana's/too jay/grand lake chinese/don ramon's/food shack? I'm definitely new to the area (from atlanta), and would love to find things thats hard to find else where...i.e. puerto rican, dominican, seafood, etc.

other good places with artisan bread/crepes/cafes are also needed. Basically i'm tryin to figure out what places are awesome so that I can go get something authentic and I've never seen before.

[Jcohen552003]

Hi everyone,
Been coming to the area for the past 20 years or so.
I have found a place that is AWSOME.
Its in Lantana and called the OLD KEY LIME HOUSE INN.
Its on Ocean drive.
Google it and you can find there web site.
They have sit down resturant, out door bar, views of the inter-costal, rocker tables for 2 to dine over the water.
Any thing we have had there was always very good.
Dont look at what the place looks like from the out side ...go in a see for your self.
At the bar they have 1/2 the menu and the prices are 30% cheaper also.
There is an older crowd there ..say from mid-30 to older but everyone is friendly
Just try it once..Music at night and happy hour every day.

[rainroosty]

There's great restaurants in WPB and also in all of the towns surrounding WPB. Lake Worth has lots of them. They're everywhere, unlike unfortunate places like Sonoma County, California.....somebody needs to go there and show them what good food really is.

[LaFlaca]

I disagree. If someone asks about good food recommendations for an area that I'm very familiar with, I won't lie. Sorry, ain't in me. You see, a message board is a great place for various opinions. I notice that you gave no recommendations, but simply posted opposite to my opinion. That is certainly your right. Ain't life grand? How about offering some specific examples of all of those "great" restaurants? I certainly didn't eat at every restaurant in WPB. Maybe I missed the great ones.

[LaFlaca]

Good luck. I lived in WPB for four years, and never found a good restaurant. Oh I found tons of average restaurants, but nothing I'd call outstanding. I was starting to think my expectations were too high, or that I was remembering past meals over-fondly. I now live in Sonoma county where good restaurants seem to be on every corner. This has served to confirm my view of WPB. While I lived there I couldn't understand why it seemed to be so difficult to use fresh ingredients, and to use them correctly. I remember seeing long (2 hour) lines at Olive Garden in Wellington and Cheescake Factory in Cityplace, while the nearby independent restaurants (with FAR better food) sat nearly empty. I don't miss it.

The best meal I had there was at McCormick and Schmick's down in Boca.

[michael772]

Toojay's is definitely a good "go to" spot for that NY deli menu. Raindancer is a little pricey. for steaks i prefer Okeechobee Steak House. Very close to RD'er on Okee Blvd and PB Lakes Blvd.
Definitely a bit of a cultural desert here... but there is no shortage of good latin food. head east of I-95 on Southern Blvd or Belvedere Rd. If you're brave enough to get out of your comfort zone there are some good Cuban and Dominican places. Yum!

[MattyG100]

Cuban- Havanna's in Lake Worth- Has a 24/hr window and has THE BEST CUBAN.

Seafood- Food Shack in Jupiter- Not for atmosphere but the food is hands down the best seafood place in Palm Beach County. This is at the very north end of the county

Steakhouse- Yeah we have Morton's and maybe another popular one, but IMO the best Steakhouse we have here is Raindancer off Palm Beach Lakes, Blvd. SOOOOO GOOD.

Those are 3 of my favorite spots to eat in Palm Beach County. I love food so much, i wouldnt steer you wrong with any of those choices above...

[Booboo731]

If you like Rascal House, try Too Jay's Deli. It's much better and cheaper than Rascal House! The bread is fantastic as is the corned beef. Rascal House does have better desserts though. There's quite a few locations around town.

[Alfred G]

I guess you have never had TJ's Killer Chocolate cake. What a shame.

[freakerdude]

I like TJ's killer cake but their key lime pie is more of a fluffy meringue version which I don't like.

[zenana]

Tacos al Carbon in Lake Worth for mexican. I've only eaten the tacos and they are the real deal.

[pikiliz]

Tacos al Carbon insanely great food ,definitely a unique outside style food place not sure family friendly ??

[pikiliz]

Don Ramon's
502 S. Military Trail
West Palm Beach, FL 33405 Map

Phone: [phone]

Cuisine: Cuban

Price: $ = $15 and less
Awesome Cuban Food I have eaten there for years

[Alfred G]

A great little gem is Grand Lake Chinese. Try it . . . you'll like it.

-----
Grandlake Chinese Cuisine
7750 Okeechobee Blvd West, Palm Beach, FL

[freakerdude]

Yes, Grand Lakes is very worthy for chinese. As ash said, be willing to drive and spend the time to seek out the the best.

I have yet to find great mexican, thai, or indian around WPB/PBG but still have some thai recs to try out.

[elgringoviejo]

Ate at Grand Lakes tonight, dim sum was uniformly excellent. Hot and sour soup was very good, and the eggplant in garlic sauce was quite excellent. i agree with Alfred G that Grand Lakes is a gem.

[pdpredtide]

ill have to try it out! grand lakes hmm

[freakerdude]

I am a 2 year transplant from a city with great food of all kinds as well. Quality authentic ethnic food, in most regards, is severely lacking. I don't want to sound negative, but do not expect anything like where you came from and appreciate what little the area has to offer.

I know Palm Beach Gardens better so I will let others chime in on WPB recs.

[ash0529]

I've been here 1 year now and haven't found my go-to place yet either without driving a distance. I've been noticing the last few months I find myself driving south more and more for good eats. There are some chow-worthy places within west palm that you should try at some point and decide for youself. Unfortunately, limiting them to family establishments that are inexpensive excludes many of them. I'm also young and single so that's just in my world of restaurants. I would definitely check out Howley's, an old school diner that does a great job of looking and feeling the part. Good atmosphere, good food, and decent prices. You can also find good discounts on local places at gogobogo.com and southfloridadines.com for Howleys and some others and that way you get to try more for less.

[feelinpeckish]

Howley's was a long time favorite of ours and still passable but the glow is gone in my opinion. Had a couple unsatisfactory visits over the past two winter seasons (yes I'm a snowbird). I don't rule it out but no longer see it as a must stop.