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• 1. Where to Stay
• 2. Where to Eat
• 3. What to Do
• 4. Insider’s Tip
• 5. An Oddball Day

Palm Beach Grill   (Photo: Courtesy of Palm Beach Grill)

Located just a few feet from the upscale shops on Worth Avenue, Bice Ristorante has been ne plus ultra for Palm Beach pretty people since the nineties. The scene heats up at lunch, especially on the bougainvillea-lined patio, crammed with diamond-dripping locals and their lapdogs. Show up before 1 p.m. or risk getting banished to an inside table, stashed behind the French doors.

With wood shutters, potted palm trees, soft lighting, and cozy booths, the Palm Beach Grill (340 Royal Poinciana Way; 561-835-1077) is a low-key alternative to many of the see-and-be-seen restaurants around town. Make sure to try the kosher hot-dog entrée—it’s served on a silver tray with a side of deviled eggs and French fries.

Everything at the hole-in-the-wall Rhythm Café is made from scratch, from the tableside flaming saganaki to the Earl Grey–flavored ice cream. The café is housed in an old drugstore and decorated in fifties Florida chic, meaning Christmas lights and lots of Formica. The menu is far more forward-looking, with creative entrées like osso-buco-style short ribs served with black-eyed-pea corn salsa.

Friendly, knickknack-filled Belle and Maxwell’s (3700 S. Dixie Hwy.; 561-832-4449) is a popular pit stop for decorators and their clients, who review their Antique Row purchases over chicken curry salads and iced lattes. The menu focuses on in-season produce and diet-busting desserts like the espresso-flavored truffle cake.

Published on March 7, 2007 as a web exclusive.