Now La Torretta Italian Grill, a comforting staple of the Indian Trace neighborhood, is scheduled to permanently close Jan. 11, management confirmed with the South Florida Sun Sentinel on Tuesday. Manager Martha Vasalo said new landlords in the Weston Lakes Plaza planned to “dramatically” increase rents beyond what longtime owners Fabrizio and Vita Russo could handle.

“Silent investors from California have decided to raise us,” said Vasalo, adding that La Torretta marked its 34th anniversary in business in early December.

La Torretta’s imminent closing marks Weston’s second closing of a longtime comfort-food icon in recent months, after Lucille’s American Cafe shuttered in late August after 26 years. It also bookends another particularly brutal year for local dining, adding to the tally of longtime eateries that met their demise after grappling with doubled rents, increased food and labor.

Regular diners who heard about La Torretta’s choice to close took to social media in waves of shock and anger, listing their favorite dishes while bemoaning the hardship that legacy restaurants face to stay alive.

“We have been ordering from La Torretta for 27 years!!!” commenter Lisa Cole wrote. “What a loss to Weston!”

“We had a large group for dinner after my mom’s funeral and they treated us very well. Hate to see this when they were one of the first restaurants in Town Center,” commenter Linda Palmer said, adding, “We really miss Lucille’s as well.”

“I guess we’ll be ordering there a few more times before they close,” Traci Caruso-Borkowski wrote. “I’ve never had a bad meal there.”

At its peak, La Torretta operated two locations — one in Weston Lakes and a second 3 miles east, with a slightly altered menu, at 1352 Weston Road in the Country Isles Plaza. Here, La Torretto turned out a carousel of Italian-American classics in its spacious dining room and pink column-wrapped patio, including manicotti, ravioli and lasagna, chicken fortified with Marsala wine, mussels marinara and calamari.

La Torretta faced recent setbacks, among them being temporarily ordered shut July 30 by state inspectors for a handful of dirty dining issues.

La Torretta Italian Grill, at 308 Indian Trace, in Weston, expects to close Jan. 11. Call 954-389-0551 or go to LaTorrettaWeston.com.

The West Palm Beach mega-mercato, which opened on Dec. 6, becomes the Torino, Italy-founded brand’s second South Florida location, following the summer opening of Eataly in Aventura. The market has a mighty U.S. presence, with 16 stores from New York and Chicago to Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

“Eataly West Palm Beach is not only a continuation of our presence in South Florida, but an emblem of our brand’s mission to showcase the Italian Art of Living,” Tommaso Brusò, CEO of Eataly North America, said in a statement.

Across 23,000 square feet of shopping space inside the former Harriet Himmel Theater, there’s imported cut-to-order salumi, bright boxes of panettone, Roman-style pizza (more on that later), fresh truffles and caviar, olive oils and wine varietals of every hue. There’s also a cooking school and a performance stage for demonstrations.

And the fresh pasta! A kaleidoscope of carbohydrates in every shape awaits, but perusers may want to stymie the urge to possess them all on their first visit. For one, they’re fragile (or fra-gee-lay, which is Italian), and two — oh, look, one counter over, there’s mortadella studded with pistachios. And fresh burrata! Better save some trunk space for those.

You get the point: It’s a mesmerizing circus of endless choices, and it can overwhelm, especially with hundreds of similarly awestruck shoppers milling around. So here’s a breakdown of the restaurants, the market and the grab-and-go-counters, just in time for New Year’s Day parties.

The restaurants

La Pizza & La Pasta: It’s 15 styles of Napoli-style pizza at this sit-down, including the Related Pizza (so named after Eataly developer Related Ross), with San Marzano tomato sauce, Napoli mozzarella, 18-month prosciutto, fresh burrata, basil and olive oil. There are also rustic breads, antipasti, aperitivos and an abbreviated menu of artisanal pastas also served at Il Pastaio.

Il Pastaio: This full-service restaurant serves housemade pasta by the bowlful, prepared daily by Eataly’s own pastai, who knead, roll, cut and form each shape from scratch, yielding dishes from tagliatelle alla bolognese to tonnarelli cacio e pepe. There are also salads, cured meats and cheeses.

The Counters

La Salumeria: The stuff from which decadent charcuterie boards are made, customers can order cured meats and cheeses by the pound, such as prosciutto di parma and Parmigiano-Reggiano and even jars of fig jam.

La Pizza alla Pala: A grab-and-go devoted to pizza alla pala, so named because the dough is stretched over an oval paddle. These Roman-style pies with airy, focaccia-like crust, are sold by the slice.

La Pasta Fresca: Fresh, hand-formed pastas of every color and shape can be ordered here, from orecchiette to linguine.

La Pasticceria: Indulge in chocolate-filled cakes, chantilly-filled bignès (cream puffs), fruit tarts, baba al rum. Or have a tray of tiramisu portioned for four or more, so you can tell your family you made it or accidentally-on-purpose forget to tell anyone you bought it, then feast on it yourself. We won’t judge.

Il Gelato: Picture rich chocolate, hazelnut, pistachio and other fruit flavors in sorbetto and gelato form, sold by the scoop.

Caffè Lavazza: As the name implies, find espressos, after-dinner drinks, traditional colazione Italiana (Italian breakfast), including custard-filled cornetti and biscotti.

The Markets

Lining the market aisles are must-haves for any New Year’s Day celebration, including candies, chocolates, House-branded panettones in colorful boxes and bottles of Franciacorta, a sparkling wine from Lombardi. There’s also a curated produce section stocked with endive, radicchio, fennel, limes and beefsteak tomatoes

If you go

What: Eataly West Palm Beach
When: Now open
Where: 580 Hibiscus St., West Palm Beach, inside CityPlace
Info: Call 728-728-8440 or go to Eataly.com

Yes, the 36-year-old Fort Lauderdale icon Tom Jenkins’ Bar-B-Q is gone, but in short order we’ll have a smoked-meat smorgasbord in Drinking Pig BBQ in Delray Beach and the West Palm Cowboy Club, two places we’re eagerly anticipating. We said goodbye to Char-Hut Pembroke Pines, another stone-cold classic, but it’s hard to sulk knowing that Charm City Burger Co., coming this winter to Boca Raton, also crafts an exceptional patty. Are they true-blue successors? No, but it’s heartening to know these MVPs are coming.

Consider other reasons the state of our restaurant union remains strong: Mangos, the bygone tropical Las Olas lounge, and Pelican Landing, the beloved dockside bar at Pier Sixty-Six, both are making long-awaited comebacks. Fancy doughnut slinger Mojo Donuts is expanding.

So call us optimistic about South Florida’s new crop of 2026 restaurants, which are all vying to survive and thrive long enough to be called classics. Below are the 10 new eateries we’re anticipating in the new year.

Note on projected openings: These are hot-take projections based on what owners and developers expect at the time of publication, not gospel, so don’t be surprised if they open ahead or behind schedule.

BROWARD COUNTY

Sweetwaters
32 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale; HuizengaPark.org/thingstodo
OPENING: Fall

The centerpiece of the multimillion-dollar revival of Fort Lauderdale’s Huizenga Park, this enormous sit-down (6,140 square feet, plus a 3,500-square-foot riverfront patio) comes from Specialty Restaurants Corp., operators of Miami icon Rusty Pelican. So we have high hopes for this two-story, glass-walled restaurant that broke ground in November after a two-year delay — even without any announced menu. The 291-seater is destined to become the big draw of Huizenga Park’s revival, along with a renovated park fountain, a dog run, new public seating and restrooms.

Ember & Vine
5920 Coral Ridge Drive, Coral Springs; EmberandVineFl.com
OPENING: Summer

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, power couple Eddie and Christina Pozzuoli have shaken up the west Broward ‘burbs with neighborhood sit-downs that radiate cozy comforts, from hand-rolled pasta under candlelight at Eddie & Vinny’s in Coral Springs to soul-warming brisket po’boys at sporty Parkland pub Dear Olivia. That trend will continue with this Napa Valley-esque restaurant from P Hospitality Group, inspired by a recent birthday outing in California wine country. “When we went to Napa, we were like, ‘How cool would it be to transport this feeling home, but without making it feel pretentious?’ ” Eddie Pozzuoli explains. Their answer, for now, is this rough-draft menu under chef Jeff Tunks, offering coffee and pastries by day and Mediterranean-leaning entrees cooked over an open hearth by night. Picture everything from wood-roasted oysters, diver scallops and garlic prawns to grilled Wagyu picanha, Roman-style pinsa and lamb chops, paired with uncommon California, French and Italian varietals. The Pozzuolis say Ember will repurpose the existing bar-adjacent open hearth left behind by Angelo Elia Pizza, Bar & Tapas, which closed here in early December.

Mojo Donuts
2810 N. University Drive, Coral Springs; MojoDonuts.com
OPENING: Spring

Yes, Broward is cluttered with more fancy doughnut rivals than when this tasty pastry pioneer opened its Pembroke Pines flagship in 2013. But owner Shawn Neifeld has always kept his head above the powdered-sugar fray, outlasting most with trays of accolades, among them appearances on Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” (for the short-lived but delicious Miami mashup Mojo Donuts & Fried Chicken) and a No. 4 ranking on Yelp’s “Top 100 U.S. Donut Shops 2022” list. After some growing pains, Mojo will rise at The Walk of Coral Springs with a raft of sinful flavors, including decadent Cuatro Leches, Guavecito, Oreo Speedragon, Salty Caramel Cheese and Log Cabin Bacon. Be still, my arteries.

Pelican Landing
2301 SE 17th St., Fort Lauderdale; PierSixtySix.com
OPENING: Spring/summer

We get it: Pier Top, with its lavish rotating lounge and stylish brunch, is reason enough to explore the $1 billion makeover of Pier Sixty-Six, the sprawling resort icon that reopened in January. But arguably the most beloved and relaxing of Pier Sixty-Six’s nine new restaurants (!) is the dockside Pelican Landing, a jewel of a bar on the Intracoastal Waterway framed by megayachts where carousers kick back with fruity tipples, conch fritters and PBR against a majestic fading sun. It’s a piece of quintessential Old Fort Lauderdale that we’re glad to see coming back.

Signor Sassi
1006 E. Hallandale Beach Blvd., SanCarlo.co.uk
OPENING: This winter

Never mind that Signor Sassi’s website calls this new location “Signor Sassi Miami” — out-of-towners mislabel our region so often it’s practically tradition — but this high-end London staple and celebrity magnet will actually occupy Hallandale Beach’s buzzy Atlantic Village district. No menu is available yet for this first U.S. location, but if it’s anything like the 41-year-old flagship, this Italian sit-down will offer a swanky see-and-be-scene, with no less than four black truffle dishes, occasional pop-ins from famous faces (Rihanna, The Rolling Stones and Mary J. Blige have all rolled through), creamy housemade ravioli, ossobuco with risotto and an unmissable tiramisu.

Mangos
9 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale
Opening: Late summer

South Floridians of a certain vintage — that is, anyone who remembers Las Olas pre-pandemic — may recall this beloved locals’ lounge with tropical motifs, live bands and cozy bar food that reigned for a quarter-century until closing in 2017. (They may also recall the short-lived, oddball Euro-Italian revival that replaced it a year later under the same name.) Now The Restaurant People’s Tim Petrillo (S3, Nubé, YOLO, Java & Jam), longtime landlord of the Mangos building, tells the Sun Sentinel he’s rebooting it himself. Details are slim for now, but after a recent teardown at 904 E. Las Olas Blvd., Petrillo says the new Mangos will retain the loungy vibes while adding a menu of health-conscious, Mediterranean-Asian cuisine.

PALM BEACH COUNTY

West Palm Cowboy Club
200 Clematis St., West Palm Beach; WestPalmCowboyClub.com
OPENING: This winter

A country-western-themed restaurant and nightclub with live music programmed by … South Florida’s own DJ Diplo? If anyone can make the transition from dubstep to the Texas two-step, it’s Grammy-winning producer Thomas Wesley, who as “musical director” (the venue’s term) will preside over a two-story venue where “beer, barbecue and basslines collide,” as hyped in a news statement. (Translation: He’ll be in charge of live-music bookings, karaoke nights and special events.) The cowboy club’s other VIP is Adrian Ricouz (owner of Miami’s Slab Daddy BBQ, ex-chef of Allapattah’s Hometown BBQ), who’ll present a Latin-accented BBQ menu of brisket, ribs and pulled pork, plus dishes including cornbread and caviar, barbecue-inspired pizza and Southern-style brunch.

Charm City Burger Co.
201 NW First Ave., Boca Raton; CharmCityBurgerCo.com
OPENING: This winter

Evan David and Mike Saperstein’s 17-year-old joint is royalty in South Florida’s burgerdom, lauded for winning countless patty brawls (Riverwalk Burger Battle and Boca Burger Battle come to mind) and for the savory simplicity of its crowning handheld: The Emperor. Each one is made with ultrarich, perfectly salty American Wagyu, heaped with aged Gruyère, arugula and truffle aioli on brioche toast. And each burger is sourced from Sunshine Provisions, the high-end meat wholesaler that David and Saperstein run in Hallandale Beach. So it came as little surprise that, when the duo said they’d send their Deerfield Beach flagship north to Boca Raton back in August 2023, it stirred a carnivorous frenzy online. An opening date is finally imminent for its larger shop (2,200 square feet), for which they signed a five-year lease. It will carry a similar menu of deep-fried Oreos, sinful milkshakes and less-fancy-still-delicious burgers like the Good Ole (a juicy chuck-brisket-short rib-blend on a sesame bun). Their Deerfield Beach original, meanwhile, will be rebranded Charm City Sandwich Co. and specialize in smash burgers and hot and cold-cut subs.

Del Mar
1015 N. Railroad Ave., West Palm Beach; DelMarMediterranean.com
When: Summer

Ohio restaurateur Cameron Mitchell and his massive eponymous hospitality outfit are fairly untested in South Florida’s market. It has two Fort Lauderdale restaurants — surf-and-turf sit-down Ocean Prime debuted in April and Del Mar, inside the luxe Auberge Beach Residences, opened a month ago. But already we’re intrigued by its clout (Tampa oyster room The Pearl is Michelin-recommended) and by its sprawling menu of Mediterranean coastal delights, spanning lobster spaghetti with Calabrian chili, veal chops, lamb sausage Turkish flatbreads, swordfish and sea bass with tomato broth and fennel confit. Del Mar, when it opens this summer, should become an attention-grabbing draw in West Palm Beach’s rising NORA District.

Drinking Pig BBQ
22 W. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach; DrinkingPigBBQ.com
OPENING: Fall

South Florida isn’t a barbecue town — yet — but the truest expression of ‘cue in our region may just be Raheem Sealey and Mark Wint’s marriage of oak-smoked meats, Caribbean jerk and Asian spices. Born a pandemic pop-up, Drinking Pig BBQ brought Caribbean-kissed Texas brisket, mac-and-cheese casserole and spare ribs to the locked-down masses with his Instagram-famous stand at the end of a North Miami cul-de-sac. Now, after the November debut of their first permanent location in Coconut Grove, the chefs are Delray-bound, shuffling into the 7-acre Sundy Village project. Though its new neighbors include Philly coffeehouse-sushi izakaya Double Knot and New York-based French hotspot Maman, Drinking Pig — judging from its Grove successes so far — is poised to be Sundy’s hottest new property.

The Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk in Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park is now 1.15 miles long, making it an out-and-back stroll of 2.3 miles. Most of the trail is on an elevated wooden boardwalk. (There are some hard-packed gravel/sand connector pathways.)

The boardwalk’s nearest neighbor is tiny Everglades City, 10 miles away. Naples is 25 miles northwest. If you’re visiting this corner of Florida, it’s worth taking the time to take this easy hike.

For years, the original Big Cypress Bend was a popular boardwalk, full of wildlife, orchids, strangler figs and lush jungle flora. But then Hurricane Ian devastated it in September 2022.

Finally, after 1,247 days, the “original” portion of the boardwalk was rebuilt and reopened in late November 2025. A new entrance with parking, restrooms and a beautiful breezy interpretive pavilion was constructed and opened in January 2024.

This parking area is the starting point for the new boardwalk, which now continues and connects to the route of the old boardwalk. This path with a platform overlooks a scenic pond, where you are likely to see alligators, birds and more.

Designated a National Natural Landmark by the National Park Service, the original Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk was built in the 1960s by philanthropist Lester Norris, who owned the land before the Fakahatchee became a preserve.

The boardwalk takes visitors back in time to a tiny slice of ancient cypress forest. It was the rare spot that was spared from logging, thanks to Lester Norris.

The first half of the trail is sunny and wraps around a lake. At a Miccosukee community, the path takes a sharp right turn and where the old boardwalk started, the new one continues on the same route. Those who walked it in the past will remember the picturesque strangler figs along the boardwalk.

There is only one entrance to the boardwalk, at the parking area at 27020 Tamiami Trail E, Naples, 34114. The Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk is open daily from 8 a.m. until sunset. Depending on the time of day, mosquitoes, no-see-ums, and/or deer flies may be present.

Beyond the boardwalk

Fakahatchee Preserve is huge — more than 80,000 acres stretching from Alligator Alley to the Tamiami Trail. It is truly wild, one of the rare places where visitors occasionally see Florida panthers and black bear.

The preserve has miles and miles of hiking, including dry, easy-to-walk trails through a vast and beautiful cypress forest filled with air plants and wild orchids.

While Fakahatchee Strand is enormous, there is essentially one road that goes into the park, Janes Scenic Drive. It’s a dirt road through a beautiful cypress swamp and it’s closed to vehicles after the first six miles. It continues for five more miles for hikers and fat-tire bikes.

At several points along this road, hiking trails head into the woods.

That six-mile-road takes almost 30 minutes to drive, primarily because of potholes. But going slow is good because plenty of wildlife is viewed from the road.

The preserves’ former logging roads create a network of good hiking trails. We hiked on East Main Trail, which starts where cars reach the end of the drivable section of Jane’s Scenic Drive.

East Main Trail is high and dry as it passes through the cypress swamp. While the trees are not the ancient giants of the past, the cypress swamp is luxuriant with ferns, orchids, airplants and knobby cypress knees.

The Fakahatchee is the spot enthusiasts go to see wild orchids. (It was the scene of Susan Orleans best-selling book “The Orchid Thief,” which became the Meryl Streep movie “Adapation.”)

This forest is also the site of a large number of stately native royal palm trees. There are many along the East Main Trail.

A perfect hike is an easy two-mile stroll down East Main Trail to a private cabin that makes a great turn-around destination. The rustic building of old wood and corrugated metal has a sign at the front door that jokingly calls it the Fakahatchee Hilton.

It’s a good place to linger. It’s located on a beautiful pond; a boardwalk connects the cabin to the lake, where we had our picnic on the dock overlooking a half dozen alligators lazily floating and sunning while in the trees several anhingas dried their wings.

It was absolutely silent, except for loud complaints from a big crow atop a nearby cypress.

There is also a picnic table and an outhouse at this location. The trail continues for several miles.

The park’s website says the two most popular trails are the East Main, which we hiked, and the West Main trail, which passes through two miles of strand swamp before opening up into a beautiful marle prairie.

You can also explore this vast park in kayak or canoe. It’s easy to miss the park’s East River. The kayak and canoe launch is tucked away down an unmarked dirt road off US 41/Tamiami Trail and most traffic whizzes by. For more about the kayak trail, visit Fakahatchee Strand Preserve on FloridaRambler.com.

While you’re in this end-of-the-road corner of Florida, stop and have fresh seafood or stone crabs in the fishing village of Everglades City. This is also the location of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Visitor Center in Everglades National Park. This is a good place to rent kayaks or take a guided boat tour out into the Ten Thousand Islands. Here’s more about the Everglades Gulf Coast area.

If you go

Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park

137 Coastline Drive, Copeland FL 34137
239-695-4593
Admission is $3.

Bonnie Gross gives tips on visiting the natural and authentic Florida at FloridaRambler.com. You can sign up for their newsletter here.

The 7,500-square-foot facility will be home to more than 40 sloths living in a rainforest-inspired setting. And while it will operate near the heart of Central Florida’s tourism district, its mission is more scientific in nature, says Ben Agresta, owner and president of Sloth World.

“We want people to know that there’s really four, kind of core, things to Sloth World — conservation, education, research and a gentle bit of entertainment value,” Agresta said.

The attraction — which he calls a Slotharium — is expected to open in February.

Sloth World visitors will wander in small groups through the experience on a guided tour that lasts about an hour.

“You’re going to experience what a sloth really does,” Agresta said, adding that the setting should encourage their natural behaviors.

“There’s no cages, there’s no screens, there’s no enclosures, there’s no hidden rooms and secret passages,” he said. “It’s a completely decked-out rainforest. The temperatures are accurate, the humidity is accurate, the air exchange is accurate. Their food is perfect, their veterinary care is perfect. There are no predators. There are no diseases for them to catch.”

Admission will help support research efforts for the species, which is found only in Central and South America.

“We’re hoping that a lot of people who want to see how they [sloths] really live and really operate and what they can do to help are the people that are going to help really expand the horizons of the least-studied animal on the planet,” Agresta said.

Sloths, which naturally live a slow-paced life, have worldwide appeal, said Pete Bandre, Sloth World’s vice president and head of animal care.

“It’s just an animal that really gets people’s hearts, and it gives us a great opportunity to expose an animal that’s really not very well-known,” he said.

Although Sloth World will be situated amid hotels, restaurants, T-shirt shops and the general hubbub of I-Drive, its design is referred to as “intentionally calm.” It’s also soundproof, Agresta said.

“They won’t hear anything from you outside. They’re barely going to hear you inside…. We make our own thundershowers and make our own sounds,” he said. “So, the sloths … they have no idea it’s International Drive.”

In keeping with the natural-habitat concept, visitors will not be allowed to touch the animals or otherwise be disruptive, Agresta says.

“You will not hold a sloth. You get to see them. We’re not high-fiving them,” he says. “You will not use your camera’s flash. You will not make sudden noises and jittery movements. … The sloths will not be climbing on you.”

Sloth pregnancies will help maintain the business’s population.

“Several South American countries have been granted the permission to release animals from the wild into captivity. Most of those go to the United States to zoos and educational facilities,” Bandre said.

Gathering a large number of sloths serves multiple purposes. For the I-Drive location, it will increase the odds of activity for visitors. Sloths are a sleepy bunch, Agresta said.

And having a formidable set of animals, along with their medical data, will be of value to researchers, Agresta says.

“A large captive population of sloths is very beneficial to the scientific community right now, having different sets of bloods that you can follow up with later,” he said. “If you have to do your research in the wild, you have to find the sloth again. … Good luck with that.”

The animals are not an endangered species, but the threat of climate change could have drastic effects on their future, Agresta said.

“It’s time to research these animals and to learn as much as we can,” he said.

Presale tickets, priced at $49, are now available for Sloth World, which will be located at 6582 International Drive. For purchases and more information, go to slothworld.com.

dbevil@orlandosentinel.com

The thrill ride, which debuted in 1999, will be getting a Muppet makeover and a tweaked name: Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets. Disney had previously announced that park visitors will be able to board that version in summer 2026.

The changeover was first announced in November, and it was part of a ripple effect of attractions at Hollywood Studios. The park is adding a land (and suspended roller coaster) themed to “Monsters, Inc.” in the area that has been home to the long-running MuppetVision 3-D attraction. Construction has started on the “Monsters” area, although no completion date has been announced.

The revised Rock ‘n’ Roller, Disney says, will include the Electric Mayhem characters, including Animal and Dr. Teeth as well as Scooter’s uncle J.P. Grosse, who now owns G-Force records. A ride poster from Disney indicates special guests Miss Piggy, Kermit and Gonzo, while a rendering of the preshow studio in the queue shows penguins — animals seen in MuppetVision — at work.

The official Disney Parks Blog also makes reference to “a very fast limousine” a la the Aerosmith version. “The iconic scenery and landmarks of Tinseltown will feature a Muppet twist,” a blog post states. The ride has three inversions and speeds up to 57 mph.

The exterior will get a new paint job for its enormous guitar, Disney said.

Work has already begun as the prerecorded queue section that featured members of Aerosmith has already been removed.

Orlando theme park rides: What’s closed and what’s coming

Hollywood Studios has another construction project underway. The Magic of Disney Animation — featuring the “Once Upon a Studio” short, Drawn to Wonderland playground and a photo opportunity area called Off the Page — will debut in summer 2026.  Before that, the new adventure for the park’s Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, will debut May 22.

Email me at dbevil@orlandosentinel.com. BlueSky: @themeparksdb. Threads account: @dbevil. X account: @themeparks. Subscribe to the Theme Park Rangers newsletter at orlandosentinel.com/newsletters.

Disney World shares plan for 2026 reopenings, including Big Thunder

From Lucille’s American Cafe in Weston to Loch Bar in Boca Raton, diners have said goodbye to scores of time-honored eateries, and if you don’t mind us waxing philosophical for a second, these closings reminded us that our dining scene is fragile and fleeting — a poignant wake-up call, even, to enjoy the places we have left.

So consider this lineup of 10 shuttered restaurants of 2025 an exercise in stress therapy. We could name the culprits of the Great Dining Scene Shakeup of 2025 (and already have in a previous article), because we shed dozens of great eateries each year like old snake skins. But let’s instead celebrate why we cherished them in the first place: the rush of nostalgia, the savored last bite, the unforgettable hospitality on your birthday.

Maybe it’s as commenter Pam Charney posted in the Sun Sentinel’s foodie Facebook group, “Let’s Eat, South Florida”: “I came up with a term for this that I use. It’s called restaurant grief. It’s when one of your favorite restaurants closes and you mourn not being able to go there anymore. Can anyone relate?”

Yes, we can relate. We’re feeling restaurant grief. So here are 10 places in Broward and Palm Beach counties that we’ll miss the most.

BROWARD COUNTY

New York Grilled Cheese Co.
2207 Wilton Drive, Wilton Manors
Closed: Dec. 1

When the funkiest sandwicherie on Wilton Drive was brand-new, back in 2012, its oddball vibe — cheese-yellow walls, Big Apple skyscraper wallpaper, late weekend hours — beckoned like a comfort food bat-signal for nightlife crowds. Other places might treat grilled cheese as menu-filler, but owner Leor Barak stuffed his crispy, panini-pressed waffle melts with ingredients that made other sandwiches jealous. Take the Meat Packing District, slow-roasted beef with white cheddar, horseradish-chive sauce and caramelized onions enfolded in rivers of mozzarella, Swiss and brie; or the Fifth Avenue, fried chicken tossed in sweet Sriracha, Muenster and pepper jam. We’ll be thinking about those dipping cups of tomato-basil bisque for years to come.

Lucille’s American Cafe
2250 Weston Road, Weston
Closed: Aug. 31

Part 1940s-style cafe and part comfort-food institution, Lucille’s was a welcome wagon for a city in its infancy. The lunch-dinner destination debuted in 1999, back when Weston was a toddler, and grew up alongside the city under longtime owners Paul and Beth Nunez, serving homey fare such as roast turkey dinners, fork-tender baby back ribs, meatloaf in mushroom gravy and chicken pot pie in a dining room that played Great American Songbook tunes around-the-clock. The COVID-19 pandemic hit them hard, as did the sluggish return to in-person dining, Beth Nunez said, until landlord negotiations this summer stalled out and forced them to close. The couple’s Lucille’s outpost in Winter Haven remains open.

Christine Lee’s
801 Silks Run, Hallandale Beach
Closed: Sept. 21

How often did days of betting on the ponies end with evenings of defeat and sake at this Chinese staple, which held court for 18 years at Gulfstream Park, overlooking the track? Too many, we think, and somehow not enough. The 200-plus seater, which closed in September when second-generation owner Mary Lee decided to retire, held many locations over its impressive 55-year run including spots in Sunny Isles Beach and even Tamarac before landing in Hallandale Beach in 2007. The place became renowned for its spare ribs slathered in the chef’s slightly sweet, tangy barbecue sauce, Peking duck and pan-fried noodles in a garlicky sauce.

Swirl Wine Bistro
4976 W. Atlantic Blvd., Margate
Closed: June 27

Overlooked and underappreciated in a sea of Margate menu sameness, this gem from chef Judith Able (winner of Food Network’s “Guy’s Grocery Games”) and her husband, co-owner Mike Able, was a singular place, delighting adventurous palates with a rich Caribbean-European fusion. That they did so at two nondescript strip-mall locations for five years is impressive in itself, but their rotating menu definitely helped: pumpkin risotto, oxtail ravioli, pan-fried alligator and sausage dumplings, jerked chicken drumettes, poached pear salads, pork-belly tacos with apple coleslaw and Cornish hens — all got punched up with island spice and paired with sumptuous boutique wines and local art on the dining-room walls.

Char-Hut
12221 Taft St., Pembroke Pines
Closed: May 24 

Back in 1976, a multigenerational family weary of New York winters led by patriarch Joe Cammisa morphed a Royal Castle on Miami Gardens Drive into a mecca for juicy, smoky charbroiled burgers. So began the legend of this burger icon — beloved by Burger Beast blogger Sef Gonzalez and many others — which has grown and shrunk over its near-50 years of existence, then shrank further with the May closing of its 30-year-old Pembroke Pines location when the building was sold to new owners. Two Char-Huts remain (in Davie and Tamarac, run by Joe’s sons Michael and Tony Cammisa) and both still have chuck- and brisket-blended burgers on soft, poppy-seeded Kaiser rolls, chili dogs and seriously crunchy onion rings. Yes, many competitors abound, but Char-Hut’s simple flavors are such a testament to its longevity that we hope it survives another half-century.

PALM BEACH COUNTY

Konro
424 Park Place, Suite 101, West Palm Beach
Closed: June 2

First, the elephant in the room: Chef and co-founder Jacob Bickelhaupt currently awaits trial on charges that include attempted second-degree murder, for which he has pleaded not guilty. Which makes it especially hard to disentangle the man, his stated redemption arc or his alleged crimes from the lofty ambitions of his 10-seat chef’s counter. Konro briefly earned Palm Beach County’s first-ever Michelin star in April before it was stripped in August, after his arrest. During Konro’s 18-month existence, the counter presented a ballet of Japanese A5 Wagyu, dry-ice smoke, alluring oddities like drumstick cones of crackling chicken skin stuffed with foie gras and cloudberry jam, delicate bouquets of microgreens and other surprising morsels paired with exotic, small-producer wines from his partner, sommelier Nadia Bickelhaupt. If nothing else, the Konro litmus test proved, however briefly, that Palm Beach County deserved to snatch the culinary limelight, and can do so again.

The Butcher and The Bar
510 E. Ocean Ave., Unit 101, Boynton Beach
Closed: Nov. 9

At this sandwich shop and whole-animal butchery, the porchetta sandwich was worth the price of admission alone: pork saddles that co-owner Eric Anderson rubbed with lemon zest, parsley, shaved fennel and garlic, roasted for four hours, piled onto fresh ciabatta and smeared with gremolata and extra pork skin for added crunch. Or consider its New York-style dogs, made with chuck that chef Logan Gates butchered from the cow, stuffed into a casing and doused in mustard and sauerkraut on a soft split-top bun. Such were the ambitious aims of this downtown spot that scratch-made just about everything. (Ever eat bread-and-butter pickles brined from local cucumbers? You could here.) The eatery shut after a five-year run that even attracted chef Guy Fieri, who featured the eatery on Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives” in a segment that finished with Fieri downing a whole hot dog on camera. (We’re guessing he liked it.)

Loch Bar
346 Plaza Real, Boca Raton
Closed: Aug. 31

A righteous whisky menu, live music that drifted across Mizner Park, briny oysters on the half-shell and jumbo crab cakes were reasons alone to frequent (and lament the demise of) this Maryland-spun mini-chain. But we’ll especially miss its fried chicken: Free-range, coated in house batter and pressure-cooked to yield all crunch and little grease, this bird was a sleeper hit, especially when accompanied by comfy garlic mashed potatoes. The raw bar quiet-closed in late summer, but continues to operate outposts in Baltimore, Philadelphia and Houston, per its website.

Racks Fish House and Oyster Bar
5 SE Second Ave., Delray Beach
Closed: Aug. 16

Northeast snowbirds and transplants flocked to Gary Rack’s highly trafficked perch off Atlantic Avenue for a dozen years, lured by bold, New England-y flavors: white wine-soaked clams, Old Bay-doused lobster rolls, chargrilled octopus and Maryland fries. That strategy worked right up until it didn’t. Premium seafood costs shot up this year and customers visited less often this summer, prompting Rack, staring down a lease renewal with higher rent, to close his seafood shack for good. “I can’t just keep pricing fish higher and higher until no one wants to pay it,” Rack told the Sun Sentinel.

HONORABLE MENTION

Tom Jenkins’ Bar-B-Q
1236 S. Federal Highway, Fort Lauderdale
Closing: Dec. 21

We’d be remiss if this roundup of bygone eateries didn’t include this institution, even though it’s not closed yet. Harry Harrell and Gary Torrence’s mighty Southern pit-stop, closing after 36 years, presided over the Federal Highway drag with a staff in perpetual motion: flipping slow-cooked brisket, chicken and St. Louis-style ribs on the 6-by-10-foot pit, chopping juicy pork in the kitchen, ladling mac ‘n’ cheese for the masses. After starting its life as a food trailer across the street slinging barbecue and sweet sauces, the longtime friends said the 40-seat Tom Jenkins’ will close because of higher meat costs and because it’s time to retire. Its imminent closing, as with the other nine restaurants on this list, will leave a void in our local culinary scene.

But on Dec. 21, the longtime friends and pitmasters will permanently close their barbecue house at 1236 S. Federal Highway, known for heaping portions of St. Louis-style ribs, juicy chopped pork and smoky chicken, collard greens and mac and cheese, Harrell told the South Florida Sun Sentinel on Thursday. He said they plan to sell the building and land.

Calling their retirement “bittersweet,” Harrell, 65, said the tension of “skyrocketing” food prices, catering orders eroded by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the higher costs of labor and insurance convinced them to retire.

“Things have just gotten so much tougher,” he said. “Two years ago, me and [my partner] Gary looked at each other and realized, ‘We’re about to turn 65 — how long do we keep doing this?’ We got to a point where we wanted to step aside.”

This week, the barbecue duo posted their Dec. 21 closing date in goodbye messages taped to Tom Jenkins’ front door and cash register, which Harrell said triggered a flurry of “shocked phone calls” from longtime customers.

The message states: “After two years of careful planning … we have decided to retire and close the doors of Tom Jenkins Bar-B-Q. We want to thank all our customers for all these years of loyal support. … This has been a journey full of love blessed by God and we are certainly grateful.”

Harrell and Torrence, Omega Psi Phi fraternity roommates at Florida A&M University, at first picked careers that bore no resemblance to barbecuing. Harrell majored in computer science and worked at IBM for 13 years as a computer programmer and systems engineer, while Torrence majored in electrical engineering, designing computer chips for eight years before becoming a middle-school math teacher in Broward County.

Together, they created a barbecue sauce — a palate-pleasing blend of sweetness and vinegar — that friends and family clamored for at every gathering. This convinced them to start a business.

However, banks kept rejecting their loan applications because “restaurants then and still do have a risky 90% failure rate,” Harrell said.

“We weren’t into climbing the corporate ladder,” he said. “We’re just kind of entrepreneurs at heart, so we started small, building up a clientele, and thankfully our plan worked.”

In 1989, while still working their 9-to-5 jobs, they opened an 8-by-12-foot barbecue trailer on Federal Highway, in the parking lot of the Inn N Out Oil Change. In 1995, they crossed the street and transformed The Straw Hat, a country and western bar, into the 40-seat Tom Jenkins, named after one of Torrence’s favorite uncles. The restaurant opened for business in 1996.

“That was always the inside joke between us,” Harrell recalled with a laugh. “We had these STEM degrees working with electricity, and here we are now cooking with wood. Go figure.”

Through the years, Tom Jenkins became a massive fan favorite for its three top-sellers — ribs, chopped pork and smoky chicken — slow-cooked over red oak in the restaurant’s 6-by-10-foot pit. And they became just as noteworthy for their sides, including potato salad, cole slaw, baked beans, corn on the cob, french fries and onion rings.

Tom Jenkins’ shack has earned decades of praise in local publications, most recently from the Sun Sentinel, whose readers named it the Best Barbecue in 2011 and made it a finalist in the Best of South Florida Dining series last year.

However, the restaurant’s fortunes turned sour when the pandemic obliterated its office catering business, which accounted for 35% of sales, Harrell said. Then, just as their catering business rebounded in recent years, the cost of food, labor and liability insurance soared.

“In-person dining didn’t make up for the loss in catering,” he said. “Restaurants don’t work like gas stations. When oil goes up, gas goes up, and people are used to it. But you can only charge so much for a pork sandwich. If pork prices go up, the menu price stays the same, and we just ate the difference.”

Harrell insists that the recent rise of nearby barbecue competitors — Fat Boyz Barbecue a half-mile north, Ukiah Japanese Smokehouse downtown and all-you-can-eat Gen Korean BBQ on Las Olas Boulevard — did not factor into the decision to retire.

“We were never concerned about competition, not to sound arrogant,” he said. “That’s our IBM training: Never disparage anybody else. We just want to present the best product we can, and we knew it could stand up to anyone else’s product.”

Tom Jenkins’ Bar-B-Q, at 1236 S. Federal Highway, Fort Lauderdale, is scheduled to close on Dec. 21. Call 954-522-5046.

Sun Sentinel writer Phillip Valys can be reached at pvalys@sunsentinel.com or Twitter/X @philvalys.

Such an opportunity is only possible while visiting the aptly-named “Manatee Capital of the World,” Crystal River, a charming Gulf Coast city that benefits from a large concentration of freshwater springs.

These are primarily found in Kings Bay and the protected Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge, the only refuge created specifically for the protection of the threatened Florida manatee. The shimmering, azure-blue water coming up from the aquifer helps give sea cows a warm-water refuge during cool winter months.

Crystal River is the only place in the United States where people are legally allowed to swim with these gentle giants, who reveal to human swimmers their docile nature on guided snorkeling tours. There are several dozen area outfitters to help in achieving this bucket-list endeavor.

One of them is Crystal River Watersports, a family-owned business that started more than 20 years ago.

“People are looking to create memories and experiences. I think swimming with manatees checks that box,” said Mike Engiles, the outfitter’s owner. “It’s something you can only do in Florida.”

The company prioritizes education and environmental stewardship when interacting with visitors on tours.

Manatee protection may be eroded under Trump administration’s proposed changes to Endangered Species Act

“There’s that old Jacques Cousteau quote, ‘You will only protect what you love.’ Until people experience something, they don’t have that same appreciation,” Engiles said. “What we hope people take away is an appreciation for the animals and their environment, and how to protect it. At our core, we include education on our tours.”

During a recent tour with Crystal River Watersports, we spotted close to a dozen manatees during the three-hour experience, stopping near Hunter Springs Park to explore Jurassic Spring and House Spring. From there, we ventured over toward Three Sisters Springs, where our captain parked the boat outside of the spring run, which is off limits to kayaks and paddleboards during manatee season. We swam in to find at least six manatees enjoying the quiet refuge.

Crystal River’s beloved manatees have been able to thrive in part due to the community’s conservation ethos, something that is shared by the outfitters and concerned citizens who pitch in for stewardship efforts — like restoring the native eelgrass that the sea cows rely upon to survive. In addition, there are a lot of people keeping an eye on them.

“Bob Bondi’s quote and one that the industry likes is, ‘If I were a manatee, I’d want to be in Crystal River.’ You have 30 tour companies and captains and guides that are out looking,” Engiles said, referring to one of Florida’s preeminent marine biologists who studies manatees. “So if there’s a manatee that’s distressed, it gets spotted.”

All of the outfitters and individuals are beholden to the same passive observation rules and “manatee manners” — don’t feed, disturb, chase, surround, ride, grab, prod, step on or otherwise harass manatees. Crystal River Watersports goes one step further with a Guardian Guides Certification from Save the Manatee Club, which recognizes outfitters prioritizing education and stewardship efforts through four principles.

Regardless of the outfitter, many guides and captains are waiting to help visitors achieve their dreams and cross off a bucket-list item while swimming with manatees.

To see a full list of tour companies, visit discovercrystalriverfl.com. Kayak and paddleboard tours and rentals are also available through more than two dozen outfitters in Crystal River.

Find me @PConnPie on Instagram or send me an email: pconnolly@orlandosentinel.com. Stay up to date with our latest travel, arts and events coverage by subscribing to our newsletters at orlandosentinel.com/newsletters.

In November, 72 “gold-star” restaurants and food trucks made the list of perfect inspections because not one violation — minor, intermediate or high-priority — was red-flagged at the time of the surprise visit from Florida safety and sanitation inspectors. Inspections typically take place at random every six months to a year.

In Broward County, 43 eateries earned perfect scores. Meanwhile, in Palm Beach County, 29 passed their inspections without a single incident.

The Sun Sentinel has tallied them all up in an easy-to-read format below.

NOTE: All restaurants and food trucks listed below have been sorted by city. Those without physical addresses on their Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation inspection reports have been trimmed from the list. Food and drink concessionaires, professional caterers, HOA clubhouses, event planners — any purveyor that’s not a public restaurant, food truck, flea market stall or food hall vendor — are also excluded from the roundup.

If your city isn’t listed, either no restaurants there were inspected that month, or none earned a perfect score.