15 beloved Palm Beach restaurants that have closed during the past 25 years

Ever since Gilded Age high society decided to make Palm Beach its winter playground at the turn of the 20th century, dining out has been a revered and certainly prevalent pastime on the island.

Over the years, many restaurants have opened and some became popular mainstays as residents and visitors embraced them for astonishingly good food and service or charismatic owner-hosts or carousing good times or romantic vibes. Or all of those things.

But, eventually, some of them closed — victims of time or market forces.

Here’s a look at some of the notable restaurants that closed during the past 25 years — a mosaic that includes everything from a beloved family-owned French dining establishment to an iconic hamburger joint to a longtime see-and-be-seen hotspot with a ceiling fresco of painted nymphs.

2023: Ta-boo

After 83 years as an iconic Worth Avenue restaurant, with a busy bar and tropical-décor dining rooms, Ta-boo, 221 Worth Ave., which drew such stars as Frank Sinatra and Rod Stewart, closed this past May with a full-house farewell party. The closure capped a protracted eviction suit by the owner of the building housing Ta-boo, which debuted in 1941 as a hot spot for “the smart set” with live piano and jazz trios in the bar. Franklin de Marco, owner of Ta-boo since 1990, has said he hopes to reopen elsewhere on the island.

2022: Leopard Lounge & Restaurant

With its British Colonial flair, leopard-print accents and naughty red-and-pink ceiling mural of naked figures, The Leopard Lounge & Restaurant at The Chesterfield for three decades drew celebrities, Brits and night owls for high afternoon tea and late-night dancing to live cover bands until last call came in 2022. The historic hotel’s new owners, billionaire Brit-brothers Simon and David Reuben, are renovating and rebranding the property at 363 Cocoanut Row, which is slated to reopen as The Vineta in the second half of 2024.

2020: Bistro Chez Jean-Pierre

A beloved family-owned French restaurant in Palm Beach for 29 years, Bistro Chez Jean-Pierre, 132 N. County Road, was known for exquisite cuisine and an ambience that included a space decorated like an artist’s atelier. It closed in 2020 during the pandemic after the restaurant’s French chef-patriarch Jean Pierre Leverrier died in 2018. The Leverrier family ran the front of the house and the kitchen, turning out such fare as fine wines, boudin blanc, profiteroles and more.

2018: Charley’s Crab

Long a Sunday brunch and special-occasion seafood destination just south of Worth Avenue, Charley’s Crab, across the street from the beach and Atlantic Ocean, closed at 456 S. Ocean Blvd. in 2018 after 38 years in business. For years, shrimp cocktails and broiled fish flew out of the kitchen. By the time the restaurant closed, its owner-founder, C.A. Muer Corp., had been replaced by Texas-based Landry’s Inc., which said closing was "due to a natural lease expiration." The site is now home to a Mediterranean-style development of townhouses.

2017: Testa’s

Seismic change came to Palm Beach in 2017 when its oldest restaurant dating to the 1920s closed. Throughout its 96-year history, Testa’s at 212 Royal Poinciana Way was owned by the Testa family and was beloved by generations of residents who relished the restaurant’s knotty-pine dining room, covered patio, double steak-for-two, strawberry pie and a history beginning in 1921, when Royal Poinciana Way was known as Main Street. After the Testa family sold the property, it was demolished in 2017 to make way for Via Flagler, a mixed-use redevelopment project that opened in phases starting in 2020.

2016: Michael R. McCarty’s

It was a staple for more than a decade in Palm Beach and hosted bagpipers each St. Patrick’s Day, but Michael R. McCarty's in the Slat House at 50 Cocoanut Row in Royal Poinciana Plaza closed in 2016 — the same year the restaurant received the Palm Beach Chamber of Commerce’s Quintessentially Palm Beach Award. Owner-restaurateur Micharl R. McCarty, a native New Yorker with longtime Palm Beach roots, ran the restaurant for nearly 15 years, offering an eclectic menu, including a tuna burger and fried green tomatoes.

2015: 264 The Grill

An American bistro serving ribs, chicken and Maine lobster, 264 The Grill, located in a historic Addison Mizner-designed building at 264 S. County Road, closed its doors in 2015 after 22 years as the second incarnation of a popular “264” restaurant that preceded it. 264 The Grill was opened in 1993 by then-Palm Beach resident Victor de Marinis, who aimed to revive 264 Restaurant, which, founded in 1978, shuttered in the same space months prior because of economic woes and a kitchen fire. The property now is home to the Carriage House private club.

2012: Hamburger Heaven

With a horseshoe-shaped lunch counter, a beloved casual vibe and burgers, milkshakes and more, Hamburger Heaven, called an “institution” by locals, was one of the town’s oldest restaurants when it closed in 2012 at 314 S. County Road due to a sluggish economy, parking issues and stalled lease negotiations. Dating to 1945 in another nearby location where a toque-clad “burger meister” was known as Mr. Green, Hamburger Heaven was owned during its last two decades by Cindy Rosa, who later reopened it for a short-lived run in downtown West Palm Beach.

2010: Amici Ristorante

From the moment it opened in 1994 at 288 S. County Road, Amici Ristorante was popular for its authentic open-kitchen-prepared Italian cuisine and the hospitality of charismatic managing partner Maurizio Ciminella. He went on to open a second restaurant, seafood-emphasizing Galaxy Grille, in 1996 at 350 S. County Road. Although Galaxy closed five years later, Amici Ristorante remained popular and expanded to 375 S. County Road, but economic setbacks — including the 2008 economic crash — hobbled the restaurant, which closed in 2010. Months later, Ciminella in 2010 opened Amici Market, which continues as a specialty grocer and prepared-foods hotspot on North County Road.

2006: Chuck & Harold's

Time was when it seemed like everyone in Palm Beach went to Chuck & Harold's, an American-fare dining, drinking and people-watching institution at 207 Royal Poinciana Way. Bloody Mary drinkers packed Sunday brunch; a retractable roof in the rear dining room opened for dancing under the stars. For most of its 25 years, it was owned by the now-gone C.A. Muer Corp., but in 2006, new owners Texas-based Landry’s closed Chuck & Harold's to make way for a short-lived Italian-restaurant concept. The space is now home to Almond Restaurant.

2003: Jo’s Restaurant

For 20 years, restaurateur Jo Larkie and her chef-son Rick Kline treated guests to family hospitality and French and American fare — from roast duck to crab cakes — along with Thai specialties at their Jo’s Restaurant. It began at the corner of Chilean and South County Road before expanding to 375 S. County. In its final couple of seasons, Jo’s downsized in a space in the Paramount Center. The mother-and-son duo then took their restaurant act to West Palm Beach.

2002: Casablanca Café Americain

After celebrating its 10th anniversary on Valentine’s Day in 2002, Casablanca Café Americain, located at 101 N. County Road, closed months later that summer after facing financial troubles. When it debuted in 1992, the restaurant was an instant success, led by dapper and charming owner Nikki Stoupas, who formerly had been maître d’ at Café L’Europe and other fine restaurants. Casablanca, which expanded twice before its end, served Mediterranean cuisine and Greek specialties and periodically treated guests to belly-dancing performances.

2002: Dempsey’s

Known for more than a decade for its generous drinks, shad roe and a slew of regulars who relished the everyone-knows-your-name ambience in the dark-wood bar and restaurant, Dempsey’s closed in 2002 after affable owner/restaurateur George Dempsey sold the business to Michael R. McCarty, who then renovated and reopened his own namesake restaurant in the space. Dempsey opened Dempsey’s in 1988 (he’d previously been associated with now-long-gone Doherty’s restaurant), ran it for a decade and then sold it, only to return as its leader in 1999 before making the deal with McCarty.

1999: E.R. Bradley’s Saloon

Racetrack photos, a high-ceiling bar and cozy dining areas were the backdrop to happy-hour buffets, celebrity sightings and late-night carousing at E.R. Bradley's Saloon, a Coniglio family hot spot now located in downtown West Palm Beach. It bid farewell to 111 Bradley Place in 1999 after 15 years of good times, food and cocktails. Thanks to the inimitable style of late Coniglio patriarch and businessman Frank Coniglio, the restaurant and bar hosted countdown-to-closing parties for several evenings in the run-up to its closure.

1998: Nando’s

With its old-school steak Diane, stuffed clams, cannelloni, brick-accented dining rooms and warm and genuflecting hospitality by the DiFilippo family, Nando’s, a destination for generations of Palm Beachers, closed at 221 Royal Palm Way in 1998 after 33 years as an island favorite (it formerly had been in West Palm Beach). Patrons attired in jacket-and-tie and dresses came from far and wide to the restaurant; locals who loved the place included such famous part-time residents as Kennedy family members, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and Dina Merrill.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Best loved Palm Beach restaurants that have closed in past 25 years