When my sister asked me what I wanted this year for my birthday, it was a no brainer. I asked for a plane ticket down to Florida to visit her during the month she rented a place in Delray Beach. It had probably been about 10 years since I had been down to Florida after spending years on planes visiting my parents when they retired there shortly after I got married. I waited about 7 years to have kids and after my first son, Ryan, came along my parents returned home to be closer to us. That was the end of our travels to the Sunshine State, with the exception of a few business trips and a visit to Walt Disney World. So, I was due for a return and could not wait to enjoy a few days of warm weather and a break from the day-to-day chores at home.
Before this recent trip, I enjoyed going to Delray to see the renowned Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens, a tranquil and lovely oasis, located just a few miles outside of town. Here you will find a large exhibition of bonsai trees and a lovely lake with a walkway that contains a portion of the Japanese Garden that reflects the practice of different Japanese eras. My mom was always very intrigued by Japanese culture and after a work trip became very interested in cultivating bonsai trees which she placed around our garden and swimming pool when I was growing up. This museum embodies the beauty and peace that Japanese art exudes from calligraphy to drawings of Buddhist sutras. There is also a lovely café, The Cornell, overlooking the lake that serves tea and other Japanese specialties such as bento boxes, gyoza, and miso soup.
But I didn’t make it over to the Morikami this time, as we chose to spend our time enjoying “Florida’s Village by the Sea,” and checking out the establishments lining the small town with a glamourous edge. My trip started out with a scare as my airline decided to reschedule my flight to a time much later than anticipated and only texted me the change as my husband was pulling up to drop me off at the airport. A quick call to my sister solved the issue and I was quickly rebooked to Fort Lauderdale, which is a short distance away. The nice thing about Delray is that you have a few choices in terms of where you fly in for your trip. I prefer Palm Beach International, which is less crowded and easier to get in and out of, but if pressed, either location will work just fine.
We started our trip with excellent Greek food and a belly dancing extravaganza at Taverna Opa on Atlantic Avenue. Our table shared an excellent platter of traditional cold meze selections including dolmades and a cold sampler of tzatziki, melitzanosalata, and tirokafteri with fresh pita bread. The meal started with a mortar and pestle used to make your own hummus with chickpeas, garlic, spices, and olive oil provided to grind together. It was delicious and very light. For our meals, we had grilled meat and a large Greek salad. I decided on chicken souvlaki which came with a side salad and French fries. Our group had a huge platter of lamb chops, beef tenderloin, chicken, and pork served over lemon potatoes. Split by three, it was huge and worth every penny.
Atlantic Avenue is the hub of Delray offering everything you could possibly want in a beachfront community from high end boutiques to souvenir shops and fine dining and fun bars. At night, the place comes alive with outdoor cafes, live music and people of all ages dressed to kill walking the street and driving their fancy cars to be parked by the valets. It’s a feast for the eyes. I think I was most impressed by the different age groups enjoying themselves in complete harmony. This is not something you would ever see where we live or further north. And the outfits! I’m not sure my eyes have recovered yet! Clearly, a lot of time and effort was spent by many to look so good in so few articles of clothing!
Delray felt like a more fun and much less expensive version of Santa Barbara, which I visited last year with my husband and sister. But the beach is way more stunning here than the one we found in California, where oil refineries were visible off the coast. I loved that we could stay close to downtown and walk out the door and find everything a short hop away with no issues. But back to the beach. I must admit that I am not a sunbather. I have a high fear of too much sun and have always covered up to avoid it at all costs. I am happiest sitting under an umbrella watching the world walk by. But in Delray, they aim to please and there are so many options for rent on the beach. You can choose a cushioned lounge chair with umbrella, a cabana that offers more coverage, or a more basic set of seats to while away your time on the beach. For $16 an hour, my sister and I went with two lounge chairs, and they were perfect. The water was absolutely stunning and so was the sand. I had never spent time on this beach, and I was really impressed with what was offered. Only a short walk away, were excellent food options, beach gear and lovely shops with designer clothes.
If you are headed to Florida and looking for a destination that combines a lovely beach setting, great food, reasonable prices, and decent shopping, look no further than Delray for your next trip!
The following are some more detailed recommendations for Delray:
Restaurants
Rose’s Daughter – You know when you see someone hand rolling potato gnocchi in the front window that you are in for a treat and we were not at all surprised that we enjoyed this restaurant located on 2nd Avenue as much as we did. They do not take reservations, so you need to arrive early. We opted for an outdoor seat on the terrace where we enjoyed a bottle of red wine stuffed zucchini blossom fritters to start. It was tough to choose between the pastas, pizzas, and grilled entrees, but I went with the Bolognese pappardelle and was not disappointed. Italian food is tough for my sister and I since we tend to be picky about it, growing up with such amazing cooks in our family, but Rose’s did a great job, and the atmosphere was lovely.
Caffe Luna Rosa – This spot is a Delray staple only steps away from the beach and offers numerous cocktails that are refreshing and unique. I tried a watermelon mimosa. Not just prosecco with watermelon juice, this concoction also includes vodka and a splash of watermelon liqueur. I can confirm it is quite potent, so go easy on this libation! The restaurant offers a welcome selection of brunch offerings including benedicts, avocado toast and coconut crusted French toast. Dinner is more Italian themed and includes specials such as Sunday gravy with long cooked meats over pasta or ravioli. This is good solid food in a great location with excellent drinks at reasonable prices.
El Camino – I could spend a great deal more time at this spot based on the margarita offerings alone. During our visit with a group, I was able to try the spicy avocado, guava, pina colada, and the cucumber. But the food is where this small chain restaurant with another location in Fort Lauderdale really shines with octopus a la plancha and fajitas filled with farm vegetables. We enjoyed the smoked brisket nachos and were not disappointed. Like many other establishments, there is an excellent happy hour that starts at 4:00 pm and offers a special menu of lower priced items. Get there early as it is very crowded during the high season!
Hawker’s Asian Street Food – A chain with locations all around the country, Hawkers is a terrific café offering all kinds of staples from numerous countries in Asia including spring rolls and dumplings from China, roti from India, and Korean twice fried wings. This is food that pairs perfectly with cocktails and Hawkers offers all kinds of libations to get the blood flowing from painkillers and mai tais to whiskey sours and hibiscus fizzes.
Brule Bistro – Located in the Pineapple Grove area of Delray, Brule offers something for everyone from Thai chicken meatballs and a salad of kale and brussels sprouts to shrimp and grits and moules frites. There is a Beverly Hills vibe sitting outside on the patio, drinking a lovely cocktail, and being served delicious and nicely portioned entrees that don’t break the bank. Definitely one of my favorite places we visited during the trip!
Bars and Music Venues
Johnnie Brown’s – A Delray institution, this 10-year-old open-air rock and roll music themed bar serves up live music, burgers, and brews on tap. It has the feel of someplace that looks like it might belong in Nashville, but it’s inviting and fun to check out. I ran into a father and daughter hanging out and enjoying themselves here, which shows how comfortable different generations are hanging together. I can’t recall when I ever enjoyed drinking with my dad (unless you count the time, I took him to Haus der 111 Biers in Munich as a college student), but I digress.
Park Tavern – This is a neighborhood restaurant focused on farm to table food in an intimate setting. In all honesty, however, most people seemed completely unconcerned with the food as they were more focused on the happy hour, which is the true draw in this establishment. From what I could tell, you could basically get any drink for $5.00 during happy hour, even the kind with fancy oven dried blood oranges, which was quite impressive! The only downside was that everyone else was there too and it was not easy to have a conversation with so many people jostling for a position! Best to come on a weeknight that is not a Friday!
The Ray Pool Bar – While we were walking around, I spied a fairly modern and unique building, which turned out to be the fairly new Ray Hotel, a property of the Hilton Hotel chain. The place to be seen apparently is their new rooftop pool, which has quite an extensive and swanky bar, with the prices to match. It’s a serene place and those cabanas look very inviting, but it doesn’t feel too laid back and given that it’s $19 for a rather small smidge of wine, I suspect you won’t be staying long if you make it up this way!
Tin Roof – This is a true beach bar with a live band and a laid-back atmosphere where you can simply kick back and enjoy the good times. It gets crowded on a Friday, so be prepared to get jostled and anyone concerned about Covid-19 should stay away. Actually, if you are worried about the virus, you should probably not take the trip at all, it should go without saying, but if you like to have a good time, this is the place to be!
Throw Social – This spot has a retro vibe with lots of flamingoes and you feel instantly transformed to Palm Beach in the 1960s, except the music is oh so current and you will find any kind of entertainment you fancy to while away your time from ax throwing (I did ask the question of what would happen if a rogue ax flew towards patrons and no one responded) to darts and bocce and table tennis. I would have enjoyed reserving a cabana, but the venue is large enough that you can easily find a seat at a high top and converse with friends. The live music is an added bonus and the bands performing were excellent. A comfortable location for a night of fun.
Other Places
Delray Green Market – This outdoor market is a wonderful Saturday morning destination located at the Old School Square front grounds off of Atlantic Avenue. It operates October through May and June and July and offers more than 50+ vendors featuring Palm Beach County farm-to-fork produce, just picked citrus and juice, farm fresh eggs, raw milk and butter, 100% grass-fed and finished (antibiotic and hormone free) Florida beef, poultry, pork and lamb, fragrant artisan baked goods, plenty of gluten free, vegan and sugar free products, fresh cut flowers, plants and other unique gourmet fare along with live musical entertainment each week. I think my personal favorite vendors included the folk’s making paella on site and those serving up authentic African food with delicious meats grilled to perfection. There was also a "Real" Maryland Crab Cake vendor, but as any native Marylander knows those are best to avoid! I will ay that the shrimp salad, however, looked to be on point!
Delray Beach Market – Not content to just offer food outside, there is also a covered marketplace that recently opened in Delray with several vendors. In a comfortable air-conditioned interior, you will find shops offering items including fresh eclairs from Maison Bouchard and fresh pasta at Sorella’s. My sister and I only had time to enjoy coffee at the Modern Rose and that was excellent! They even have a rose flavored coffee, which I was interested in trying. Perhaps on my next trip! If you visit any vendor, let it be Jamon Jamon, which offers tapas from Southern Europe, including the prized Iberico ham.
Joseph’s Classic Market – A friend of my sister’s insisted we check out Joseph’s, a market specializing in Italian food while we were in town. Needless to say, with many people visiting Florida from New York, there was no question that this small chain with additional locations in Boca Raton and Palm Beach Gardens would be on point and it was. While we were there, in fact, I heard the accent I hear most every day in my home – one of someone from New York City ordering a special dessert and it was music to my ears. Joseph’s carries an impressive variety of already made meals including eggplant rollatini and veal marsala to broccoli oreganata and classic Italian subs. This is my dream place. I did not want to leave, and I took a lot of pictures that I sent home! My mom was quite impressed!
Bagels With Deli – On the way to the airport, my sister took me to this real deal New York style deli that was quite impressive. The bagels were excellent, and I grabbed 8 to throw in my backpack for the flight home (everything smelled like garlic and onions, but I love my kids, what can I say?) The only thing missing from the huge menu was the chopped liver, which I have learned from being married to a New Yorker is a true staple. I also wanted to tell them they needed to keep my bread on the grill a bit longer for the pastrami on rye, but no matter! If you can’t be in the Bronx, this is the next best thing and I highly recommend it.
Where to Stay
Courtyard at Marriott – My sister rented a two-bedroom place while she was in town, but many of her friends were in town to celebrate her friend Avrah’s birthday and this is where everyone stayed. It was pretty great. They have a rooftop pool and bar with lounge chairs and a great view of the Ocean in the distance. Rates are reasonable and the property is located well within easy distance of the beach and dining establishments. The perfect choice for those not looking to break the bank.
Recommendations
1. Pace Yourself – Between the hot Florida sun, happy hour drinks and excellent food, you will need to hydrate frequently and make sure you find some time in the shade. I bought a wide brimmed hat, and it was one of the best purchases I made as it was highly portable, and I was able to pack it in my bag with no issues. This is a place made for napping mid-day and you should try to take advantage of it if you can since the nights go late here and the cocktails flow freely at reasonable prices. I am not a bar hopper in my regular life, but this is a place with a scene, and you might find yourself wanting to try everything and enjoy the excellent bands playing at some establishments.
2. Make Time for the Beach – This is truly one of the nicest strands of sand I have seen in a long time. Delray Beach is beautiful, with white sand and turquoise water beckoning you to relax. This is also a place that really thinks about its patrons and offers numerous places for you to lounge comfortably and without danger of becoming sunburnt. There also is zero concern about parking as there are numerous places to park and enjoy sun and sand without fear or reprisals. In looking back on recent beach vacations where this was an issue, it was nice not to worry!
3. Enjoy Happy Hour – According to my sister, some areas are not permitted to offer happy hour, including Newport, RI where she resides. I had no idea. I’m not sure why anyplace would be against offering reasonable prices, but this is where Florida has always excelled. They know they have a lot of retirees and visitors from other states, and they get it right. You can order pretty much any cocktail in some places for no more than $5.00. This is an awesome bargain and one that everyone should enjoy. If I had to pick my favorites, I would easily go with El Camino and Caffe Luna Rosa. You cannot go wrong.
4. Enjoy the Unique Mori kami - Founded as a farming colony by Japanese émigrés more than 100 years ago, this beautiful museum features six lush gardens inspired by famous gardens of Japan – perfect for a relaxing afternoon stroll. The temptation on a beach vacation is always to spend time by the water, but this is something worth seeking out and I promise you, you will not be disappointed.
5. Take a Side Trip to the PGA National Spa and Resort – The one thing I did not get to do on this recent trip that I really missed, was the PGA. I am not a golfer, but this is a beautiful spot for everyone to visit. It’s in Palm Beach Gardens, a short trip away, so if you have access to a car, I implore you to check it out. There is no better afternoon than one spent at the spa, which has numerous pools for relaxing. The spa is currently undergoing a renovation but is expected to open soon with a modern look. My favorite pedicure hands down is their dead sea pedicure which sloughs off the dead skin and leaves your feet feeling baby smooth. It’s a wonderful place and the kind of spa I wish we had where I live as it offers an exceptional experience for a reasonable fee. It’s a short distance from the Gardens Mall as well if you are looking to do some shopping!
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