Develop Your Culinary IQ in Hallandale Beach

Cuisine is one of the most treasured aspects of modern culture. It’s more than a national pastime: it’s a means for spending valuable family time, dating, social experiences with friends, and conducting business. If you can improve your culinary IQ, you can also improve the quality of these experiences by introducing your guests to things they will appreciate. Some restaurants are good for romance while others are good for fun. Some restaurants are better for stimulating discussions while others are more suited to quietude and relaxation.

“Everything from fine dining to fast food and truly boutique restaurants are in our city limits,” says Dr. Jeremy Earle, City Manager and Executive Director of the Hallandale Beach Community Redevelopment Agency. “Hallandale Beach is an ideal city for anyone who wants to learn about food on an international scope.”

When you exit I-95 at Hallandale Beach Blvd., kick it off with the best in Jamaican fare with Dunns River Island Café. Once you walk in, you will feel like you are in the Caribbean with the relaxing ambiance of Jamaica and Reggae backbeat. If Cuban food is your weakness Don Lolo’s Restaurant offers a wide variety of both Cuban and Mexican dishes. You can go lighter with Moises Bakery, which offers some of the finest Venezuelan bakery treats in all of Florida. Sample the delicious Empanadas from Venezuela, Chilé and Argentina. There is also Judy’s Bakery and Pastry shop, which is also a terrific family-style eatery where you can sit down and casually dine on Columbian-style fare. If you seek vegetarian, try the Krazy Vegan – a 100% plant-based gourmet burger joint that offers a variety of handcrafted burgers, sandwiches, and wings topped with their signature sauces.

You don’t have to stay on the Blvd. Nestled just off it on NW 2nd Avenue is Chapultepec Mexican Bar & Restaurant, which has an amazing selection of homemade, fresh tacos, excellent Margaritas and more! For an American Classic: The Flashback Diner, which features a full, New York Style menu of sandwiches, entrees, salads, and desserts.  Tucked away in an enclave in the shopping complex just off 14th Avenue is Il Mercato Cafe & Wine Bar, a European-style restaurant with a small, cozy, and intimate feel. Directly off the Blvd. you will also spot See Thai and Japanese Cuisine Restaurant where you can enjoy sushi and traditional Thai entrees with a variety of exotic sauces.

As you head eastward, you will spot the Diplomat Mall Shopping Complex, which contains many superb restaurants. El Tayta Restaurant offers authentic Peruvian cuisine, Las Vegas Restaurant provides a full Cuban dining experience, Cilantro Asian Bistro is a fascinating blend of Thai and Japanese fare, and Piola serves up a complete pizza assortment. At the far east of the complex, don’t miss Matteo’s Restaurant and Bar for a true-to-form Italian fine dining experience.

For a dining experience that includes the excitement of the racetrack, casinos, and shopping one can visit restaurants in Gulfstream Park. These include Ten Palms, Christine Lee's, Yard house, Upper Deck Ale, Bellyfish, and Pastry is Art. Hallandale Beach’s world-famous Pegasus statue provides a fitting entrance to this complete experience. If that doesn’t suit you, one can easily spend an entire week having breakfast, lunch, and dinner in Atlantic Village. From Argentinian to Israeli, Peruvian to Italian, Venezuelan to Asian, Burgers to Vegan, and Cigars to Juice Bars – it’s all here in one thoughtfully designed complex. No matter where you park your car in the lot, everything is right in front of you. Restaurants here include La Estancia Argentina, Holi Vegan Kitchen, Jaffa Israeli Kitchen, Crudos Fusion Art, The Blues Burgers, Doggi’s Arepa Bar, and 1st Place winner of the 2022 Hallandale Food and Groove Festival, Dr. Limon’s Ceviche Bar. At the far eastern side of the City, as you crossover the Intracoastal and reach the ocean’s edge, you will find Etaru Restaurant and Bar, which features contemporary Japanese robatayaki grill cuisine. The beach bar offers a more relaxed ambience with service directly to the beach.

“But it doesn’t end there,” says Dr. Earle. “Some of the most exciting restaurants are scheduled to open later this year in the City’s burgeoning Food, Fashion, Art and Design District (FFADD) along NE 1st Avenue. These will include GoBistro, Kao Sushi Bar & Grill (the county’s first restaurant fashioned from shipping containers), Yosoy Marketplace, and a microbrewery. This collection of experiences will add to two already well-established restaurants: Icebox, EV Boost Juice Bar, and Ceviche Avenue.”

Dr. Earle also noted that the City will be offering a free electric mini-cart transport (“FreeBee”) service that will circulate people throughout the FFADD to several pick-up points including two new parking lots which are being developed at this time. Such will provide an all-inclusive dining circuit for residents and tourists alike.

“Our restaurants are the gems of this City,” says Dr. Earle. “They provide the foundation for the exciting future that awaits Hallandale Beach – as a place where people not only enjoy themselves but gain exposure to tastes, aromas, and sights of international cuisine and culture.”