Restaurant openings: modern steakhouse brings high-end meats, loungey vibes to Boca Raton

Liz Balmaseda, Palm Beach Post
Updated ·3 min read
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A decade after Meat Market restaurant brought its South Beach vibes to Palm Beach, the popular concept is set to open a sleek, new location in steakhouse-loving Boca Raton.

But don’t expect a traditional steakhouse when Meat Market makes its debut at the Renaissance Boca Raton Hotel Thursday, Oct. 5. Those unfamiliar with the Meat Market concept can expect a more chic approach to setting and hospitality, a steakhouse with “a sexy Halston vibe,” as it is described in a media release.

Steaks get the luxe treatment as well. Filet mignon steaks are finished with wagyu fat and butter. Prime picanha steaks are paired with habanero chimichurri. The American Kobe beef tartare is scented with white truffle.

“I want to take ‘steakhouse’ to a higher level,” says Meat Market corporate chef/partner Sean Brasel, who also features kosher steaks on the Boca Raton menu. “Anybody can get a steak from anywhere. But a steak here comes with a full experience.”

A tomahawk steak is served at Meat Market steakhouse, which has a new location in Boca Raton.
A tomahawk steak is served at Meat Market steakhouse, which has a new location in Boca Raton.

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Sean Brasel is corporate chef/partner for Meat Market steakhouse restaurants.
Sean Brasel is corporate chef/partner for Meat Market steakhouse restaurants.

At the Midtown Boca Raton location, Brasel has added Japanese-inspired items to the menu such as sushi, tiraditos and other raw bites. He says he is eager to see what Boca Raton diners “gravitate” toward on the menu, and will allow their preferences to help shape the specials and other dishes he offers.

Fans of Meat Market Palm Beach can expect a larger steakhouse with indoor and al fresco bar areas, three private dining rooms and more intimate, loungey nooks within its 6,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space. And because the steakhouse will serve as the hotel’s catering operation, it will offer breakfast and poolside dining service.

Later in the season, the steakhouse will operate a poolside tiki bar called Wet by Meat Market, serving cocktails and lighter bites. All the above is open to the public.

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A rendering view of the outdoor bar area at Meat Market steakhouse in Boca Raton.
A rendering view of the outdoor bar area at Meat Market steakhouse in Boca Raton.

As at Meat Market Palm Beach, the Boca Raton location features its bar prominently. This is by design, says the steakhouse brand’s CEO, David Tornek.

“You get the energy off the bar and into the restaurant,” says Tornek, who co-founded the original Meat Market on Miami Beach’s Lincoln Road pedestrian mall in 2008. That location closed in 2021. In addition to Boca Raton and Palm Beach, Meat Market has locations in Tampa and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The new Meat Market debut comes nearly three months after the Boca Raton opening of New York’s legendary Gallaghers Steakhouse, located a half-mile north of the new Meat Market. But the concepts are vastly different. Founded in the 1920s, Gallaghers is about as traditional as a steakhouse can get in both menu and setting.

“Boca does love its steakhouses, but we don’t compete with them (Gallaghers) as a steakhouse,” says Tornek. “We are more modern. They are more traditional. I don’t look at them as our competition. There’s something for everyone.”

Meat Market Boca

An artist's rendering of the dining room area at Meat Market Boca Raton.
An artist's rendering of the dining room area at Meat Market Boca Raton.

Opening on Thursday, Oct. 5, for dinner. Lunch and weekend brunch service is expected to start in November.

Located at the Renaissance Boca Raton Hotel, 2000 NW 19th St., Boca Raton, 561-245-6777, MeatMarket.net

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Meat Market steakhouse restaurant opens in Boca Raton near Gallaghers