It’s been a fun year for restaurants in West Boca. We’ve seen a few opening and closings. Perhaps the most notable was the opening and then closing of Bistro Gastronomie, followed by its reopening as La Ferme. Bistro Gastronomie was great but due to issues with management and ownership, they were not able to stay open. BG’s Chef William Walden is a spectacular chef and we hear he’s still in the area. We’re hoping he gives it another try. The new owners are famous for their Flex Mussels restaurants and the mussels at La Ferme are excellent. It’s clearly the best fine dining experience west of the Turnpike. There’s one other new French place on SW 18th near Military, Fabien’s Bistro, but we haven’t had a chance to try it yet.
Another great new place is Sweet Dewey’s BBQ, which opened within the past week or so. We’ve been there three times already and it was so busy we haven’t been able to do a proper review yet. That location was already hot with one of the best Italian places in Stallone’s, and Bamboo Wok which was voted best west of the Turnpike in our Chinese food survey.
On Glades just west of the Turnpike Chinese restaurant Red Lantern closed. We’ve heard reliable rumors of a new place coming in and hope to do a story on that soon.
In the pizza world Tony Dell’s closed and was replaced by City Boys Pizza. The name sounds like an attempt to be like someone else, which is smart since Brooklyn Boys won our pizza survey. There’s also Lenny’s Kosher Pizza near the new Hobby Lobby, and a new pizza place in the gas station in Loggers’ Run Plaza, Bilotti’s. We haven’t tried it yet but we’ve heard good things.
Also in Loggers’ Run is the new Nikuya with Japanese and Thai food. It’s only open for dinner and we will do a review shortly. It replaced the Marcus Kosher Chinese place that closed. The Mama’s NYC pizza place also changed owners.
We’ve got a few new Mexican restaurants with Blue Agave in Parkland on 441, Casa Tequila on Glades near Boca Rio (replacing Campagnolo’s which closed), and the soon-to-come Lime Fresh in Shadowood. There’s also Cabo Flats in Delray Marketplace.
That plaza is also adding Apeiro soon. We’ve heard it may open in January.
In other news, Butcher Block Grill on Powerline at Camino Real has a new chef and some new menu items. Pei Wei Asian Diner is coming to Westwinds of Boca in the structure that’s going up on the southeast corner of Glades and 441.
Gyro Room in Mission Bay had a grand opening recently though they’ve actually been open a few months. Garbanzo Grill near Palmetto and Powerline opened and closed within a few months. Not far from Garbanzo and behind Olive Garden, Brooklyn Water Bagel appears to be doing very well.
Near Town Center on St. Andrews we have a few new places including Sicilian Oven, Aladdin’s Eatery, along with a relatively new First Watch and a Smoothie King. They were also expecting a Burger Fi, but that fell through.
In Boca Grove there’s been a few new additions with a Kosher Bagel place and the House of Dog which is also Kosher. Jidai Kaiten Sushi, with a moving sushi conveyor belt bringing various dishes around, replaced Kyojin Buffet. Tulipe Cafe replaced Le Macaron.
There’s a new kosher place in Somerset Shoppes but we haven’t made it there yet.
The worst news of the year in restaurants was of course the March murder of Jimmy “the Greek” Karaloukas. His accused killer, Tilus Lebrun, was found mentally incompetent to stand trial but also was charged with two other crimes while in custody for battery on police or guards. The restaurant continues and we wish them well.
