Tropical Smokehouse
FLORIDA
Where to Eat in West Palm Beach: The 17 Best Restaurants Right Now
By Eric Barton | July 16, 2025
AUTHOR BIO: Eric Barton is editor of The Adventurist and a freelance journalist who has reviewed restaurants for more than two decades. Email him here.
Back when I lived in Flamingo Park—West Palm’s most walkable old neighborhood not named El Cid—I could count the city’s good restaurants on one hand, with fingers to spare. I’d walk to dinner, usually to City Cellar or Bradley’s, then maybe to O’Shea’s if things got late and weird.
But in the years since I moved, every time I come back—and I do often—I’m stunned at how much the scene has changed. There are now real chefs opening real restaurants, not just copy-paste concepts from Clematis trying to survive on brunch. You’ve got smokehouses getting Michelin recognition, butcher shops serving Wagyu sandwiches, and modern kitchens pulling off dishes that would’ve felt out of place here a decade ago.
These are the spots I keep going back to, the ones that finally make West Palm feel like it deserves a seat at the Florida food table. These are the best restaurants in West Palm Beach right now.
1. Grato
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Grato is Buccan’s louder, rowdier sibling, a place that took some time to catch its footing but is now humming with just as much culinary might anywhere else in town. Chef Clay Conley’s house-made pastas and Mediterranean-ish small plates compete for your attention with the pizza, which is always a downright excellent choice. It’s a scene, sure, but a fun one—just expect to fight for a bar seat and shout over the din while nursing a frozen Moscow mule.
2. Proper Grit
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Proper Grit in The Ben hotel leans into Southern comfort without getting hokey about it—fried chicken, stone-ground grits, and bourbon cocktails served like they belong on linen. Chef Daniel Pundik gives the classics just enough refinement to land them in a room with velvet barstools and leather banquettes. It’s part hunting lodge, part hotel lobby, and exactly where you want to end up when you're hungry in West Palm.
3. Tropical Smokehouse
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Chef Rick Mace spent years in fine dining before turning his attention to barbecue, and it shows in every precise, smoke-kissed bite at Tropical Smokehouse. The menu leans Florida, with gator sausage, wahoo dip, and smoked mahi that makes a case for coastal ‘cue. If you’re in a hurry, the nearby Tropical BBQ Market slings a turkey sandwich that might ruin you for all others.
4. The Blue Door
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The Blue Door doesn’t fuss with garnish or plating theatrics—just straight-up Mediterranean flavors done right. Chef and owner Nano Crespo keeps it simple: perfectly dressed tomato salad, lamb chops worth braving the heat for, and seafood that tastes like it skipped the middleman. The patio’s the move in winter, but even in August, this place earns its sweat equity.
5. Estiatorio Milos
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You walk into Milos expecting a design statement—and you get one: two floors of soft marble, olive trees, and Greek restraint dressed as luxury. But it’s chef Costas Spiliadis’ seafood display, iced and glistening like a fine jewelry case, that steals your attention. The fish is flown in from the Med, the lobster pasta is unapologetically rich, and the whole experience feels like West Palm finally landed its grown-up, fine-dining showpiece.
6. Elisabetta's Ristorante
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Elisabetta’s is proof that chef Lisabet Summa knows exactly what she’s doing. The pasta’s made in-house, the pizzas come blistered from a wood oven, and the burrata arrives like it owns the place. It’s near the water, but the real view is whatever’s coming out of the kitchen next.
7. Pink Steak
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Pink Steak is what happens when chef Julien Gremaud decides a steakhouse should also be a fever dream of pink flamingoes. Executive chef Aaron Black delivers on the Miami-style flash with serious food—think tuna cones with caviar, tom kha-drenched crudo, and Wagyu hanger steak with a coffee rub crust so good it feels illegal. It’s loud, luxe, and unapologetically extra, but underneath all the velvet and torches is a kitchen that knows exactly what it’s doing.
8. Cholo Soy Cocina
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At Cholo Soy, even the nachos pull off that rare trick of feeling genuinely special—brisket layered over crisp chips with crema that demands napkins and double takes. Almost everything is scratch-made, from the pork belly and pescadito frito tacos to bowls that satisfy without skimping. Fair warning: the margaritas and the vibe draw crowds fast on weekends, but the service is quick—and the payoff is worth it.
9. Adrienne’s Pizza Bar
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Adrienne’s Pizza Bar brings the New York slice to West Palm, with just enough polish to make it feel like more than a satellite. You can go round, square, thin-crust pan—just don’t skip the speck and ricotta combo if it’s on the board. There’s meatballs, lasagna, even carpaccio if someone in your group insists on cutlery, but really, this place is about the pizza.
10. Table 26
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Table 26 serves the kind of dressed-up comfort food that lets you pretend you're behaving while chasing lobster mac and cheese with a negroni. Chef Martha Encarnación swings between shrimp and grits, lamb shank curry, and fried chicken so juicy it should come with a poncho. It’s global in scope, polished in presentation, and playful enough that dessert might arrive looking like it was plated by your inner child with a trust fund.
11. Isla & Co.
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In the Warehouse District, Isla & Co. adds just enough Aussie swagger to keep things interesting. Clint Snowling riffs on classics, like the fish and chips with yuzu kosho tartar, or a brunch menu that earns its espresso martini flight. It’s casual, sunlit, and just polished enough to feel like you’ve discovered something.
12. Felice
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Felice feels like it was airlifted in from Florence, down to the hand-rolled pasta and polished wood accents. Chef Adrian Kercuku keeps things rustic but focused—cacio e pepe done right, and a tiramisu that lands soft but hits hard. It’s tucked into CityPlace, but inside, it’s all Tuscany.
13. Sassafras
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At Sassafras, chef John Thomas reworks Southern staples with just enough swagger—duck confit chicken and waffles, spicy shrimp, cornbread that flirts with cake. The space channels old Florida charm without tipping into kitsch, and the cocktail list makes a strong case for bourbon before noon. It’s the kind of brunch spot that reminds you why brunch was invented in the first place.
14. RH Rooftop
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RH Rooftop feels like dining inside a design magazine—marble tables, olive trees, and skyline views from the top of Restoration Hardware’s palatial flagship. The menu keeps things tight and polished: a solid burger, a lobster roll that’s all claw meat, and a roasted half chicken that makes a strong case for simplicity. It’s one of the few spots where the setting competes with the food—and neither loses.
15. Howley’s
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Howley’s has been slinging late-night eggs and sass since 1950, with just enough of a retro facelift to make you forget people once smoked in here over pancakes. The fried chicken still comes with a side of homemade applesauce, the toast is reliably white or wheat, and the coffee tastes like it has something to say. It’s where you go at 2 a.m. for cake, caffeine, and the illusion that your life might secretly be a noir film.
16. Avocado Grill
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Avocado Grill is chef Julien Gremaud’s answer to the question: what if brunch, but make it a lifestyle? The menu leans fresh and colorful—avocado toast stacked with smoked salmon, seared scallops that somehow taste like summer. It’s bright, loud in the right way, and best experienced with something cold in hand during their not-so-casual happy hour.
17. Okeechobee Steakhouse
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Okeechobee Steakhouse has been doing prime cuts and crab-stuffed everything since Eisenhower was in office, and it still packs the house nightly. It’s the kind of old-school chophouse where the steaks are big, the sides are decadent, and the wine list reads like a novel with a thousand pages. Come hungry, leave with leftovers, and maybe a little reverence for a place that’s stayed great for seven decades.
