These iconic Palm Beach County restaurants are truly classics

Age alone doesn’t earn classic status. Old time-y longevity, while admirable, is not the same thing as identity.

What we’re after here is something more specific. These are restaurants that feel inseparable from Palm Beach County itself. Places shaped by the light, the pace, the clientele, the social codes. Restaurants that make immediate sense here and would feel slightly off, if not entirely misplaced, anywhere else.

That’s why Howley’s belongs on this list. It is unmistakably of its surroundings.

Others, even those with decades under their belts and plenty of accolades, do not. A restaurant can be excellent, influential and 40 years old yet still feel like it could exist comfortably in any affluent suburb with a valet stand.

In this context, classic is about instinct and atmosphere as much as menus. These are the iconic dining rooms locals name without hesitation when asked what defines eating out in Palm Beach County — not because they’re nostalgic, but because they’re quintessential.

Café L’Europe, Palm Beach

Cafe L'Europe, which has tables inside and out, begins offering its summertime specials on Tuesday.

Café L’Europe is Palm Beach ritual dining. Jackets, wait captains, hushed rooms and patrons who linger for hours. Opened in 1980, it reflects the island’s old-guard cadence, where service is ceremony and regulars expect things done a certain way, every time, without explanation. Quietly unchanged, confident, unmistakably of the island.

Havana, West Palm Beach

Havana belongs to West Palm Beach’s daily life. Open late, rooted in Cuban tradition and sustained by generations of regulars, it’s where cafecito, community and ritual converge since 1993. The 24-hour walk-up window alone makes it feel inseparable from this place.

Max's Grille, Boca Raton

Outside Max's Grille in Mizner Park in Boca Raton.

A top‑tier restaurant, ranking eighth on TripAdvisor out of more than 700 in town, Max’s Grille might as well be Boca Raton's living room. Business lunches, first dates, charity dinners, late‑night martinis all happen here. Since 1991, it grew up in tandem with Mizner Park and helped shape how locals do dinner.

Howley's, West Palm Beach

Opened in 1950, this restaurant practically is West Palm Beach. Generations of patrons have enjoyed breakfast, lunch and dinner where "cooked in sight, must be right" is more than a motto. Whether digging into stacks of amazing pancakes, lunch and dinner options like their club sandwich, Big Mouth burger, or popular TV Dinner, served in a TV dinner-style tray, this restaurant rocks from early morning until late night.

Benny's on the Beach at Lake Worth Casino

Palm Beach County has an amazing lineup of waterfront dining options. There's only one, however, that literally puts you over the water and that's Benny's on the Beach on the William O. Lockhart Pier in Lake Worth Beach. Whether you're enjoying a classic breakfast with a mimosa or bellini while watching the surfers, or evening cocktails with ahi tuna tostada, local grouper or whole snapper, this is the quintessential waterfront dining experience.

Dune Dog in Jupiter

Dune Dog, which opened in 1994 in Jupiter, is known for its combo platters, fish sandwiches, seafood dinners and hot dogs.

Dune Dog is Jupiter in shorthand. A beach‑shack institution where teenagers, surfers, families and retirees happily overlap, it runs on flip‑flops, picnic tables and post‑beach hunger. Casual, sun‑washed, and unchanged at heart, it makes sense only steps from the sand.

Guanabanas in Jupiter

Guanabanas, opened in 2008, is on the Loxahatchee River in Jupiter.

Set along the Intracoastal Waterway, this 100% open‑air island‑themed bar and restaurant feels like a tropical hideaway. Opened by Jupiter surfers in 2004, it’s known for tiki huts, banyan trees, pastel Adirondack chairs, live reggae on weekends and a seafood‑leaning menu with solid land options.

Okeechobee Steakhouse, West Palm Beach

Florida’s oldest steakhouse feels inseparable from Palm Beach County’s civic life. Family‑run, proudly unfussy and quietly authoritative, Okeechobee attracts judges, politicians, celebs, regulars and first‑timers alike. Its sense of permanence and hospitality makes it feel less like a restaurant and more like an institution.

Green's Pharmacy in Palm Beach

The luncheonette at Green's Pharmacy remains popular for daytime dining in Palm Beach.

Tucked inside a working pharmacy, this luncheonette is pure Palm Beach shorthand. Counter seats, grilled classics and other diner fare fuel everyone from schoolkids to retirees. Granted unofficial local landmark status by Southern Living magazine in 2025, it endures not as nostalgia, but as daily life, unchanged and essential.

Waterway Cafe in Palm Beach Gardens

Waterway Cafe reopened January 2025 with a chic new look. The restaurant underwent a multi-multi-million $ remodeling starting August 2023.

After an 18‑month, multi‑million‑dollar overhaul, Waterway Cafe reopened January 2025 with its iconic waterfront spirit intact. Open since 1986, the Palm Beach Gardens anchor returned with a rebuilt seawall, a safer floating bar, refreshed interiors and more, reaffirming its role as a multigenerational gathering place for boaters and landlubbers alike.

Diana Biederman and Eddie Ritz are journalists at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. Reach us at [email protected] and [email protected]. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.