Adactio via Flickr Creative Commons

Not a Yankees fan? You're still invited to the table.

​If you're still riding high on NY pride after the Giants' big victory in Sunday's Super Bowl, you may want to give a look at the newest steak house to hit Broward County. The recently unveiled $150 million expansion of Seminole Casino in Coconut Creek includes the first Florida location of high-end steak house NYY Steak. More >>

Grafitto South

Grafitto South's Kobe skirt steak with truffle potato purée ($37).

​Grafitto South has just opened in Wellington's International Equestrian Village in the former White Horse Tavern. The restaurant, which features cuisine with an Italian slant and homemade breads, is the first South Florida endeavor for Milwaukee-based restaurant group SURG.

SURG Restaurant Group currently owns six restaurants in the Milwaukee area, including the original Grafitto.  SURG's co-owners, Omar Shaikh and Mike Polaski, have been wanting to expand to South Florida for some time.  Polaski, a resident of Wellington for 18 years and an avid equestrian, decided Wellington would be a natural fit for their expansion.


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Tacos in time for the big game!

​Rocco's Tacos is opening their fourth location in Palm Beach Gardens tonight after much planning and speculation.

Clean Plate Charlie announced the planned northernmost location of this taco mini-chain back in March, 2011.  The restaurant, located on PGA Boulevard in the former Ouzo Blue spot, was slated for a summer opening.  There were a few teases, but now the doors are opening wide.

Better late than never, though. The menu is the same as the three other Rocco's Tacos, so expect lots of tacos (ala carte from $2.95 to $4.25 each), combo platters (we like the Chi Hua Hua platter that offers a Cochanitas pork tamale, skirt steak taco, and a taco carne molida for $15), and lots of tequila.


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Trader Joe's: Is cheap wine worth renaming a city over?

​Trader Joe's, the quirky grocery chain that people love more than their pets and children, is expanding to the Sunshine State.

The Trader Joe's website lists Naples as the first Florida location for the chain that features Three Buck Chuck wine (yes, it sells for $3 a bottle, and no, it doesn't suck) and other healthy food items.

West Palm Beach officials, however, want Trader Joe's to come to their neck of the woods -- and it seems they'll do just about anything to get their way. Including renaming West Palm Beach. New name? Trader Joe's, Florida!


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​Unlike Miami -- which saw a record number of big-name restaurant openings, like Jean Georges Vongerichten's J & G Grill; Bar Tanaka, Blue Collar, and the Federal -- around here postholiday has been relatively quiet. Michelle Bernstein's departure from the Omphoy is the biggest news, followed by the new digs for chef Josef Shibanetz at Josef's Table in Boca and a sibling to Coconuts in the form of G&B Oyster Bar.

Splashier news in January has been chef changes at PL8, Kapow!, and SpoonFed, specifically. After the jump, this month's openings, closings, and on deck, such as Due South Brewing Co., slated to open next month.

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​Happy 2012! Inspired by Harper's Index, here reads our restaurant trends for the past year.

Restaurants to open in Fort Lauderdale: 23

Burger restaurants to open in Broward/Palm Beach: 6

Restaurants to open in Boca Raton: 10

Taco shops to open in Broward /Palm Beach, not counting Chipotle: 4

Restaurants to open in Palm Beach Gardens: 7

Pizza restaurants to open in Broward/Palm Beach: 8

Coal-fired pizza restaurants: 3

Beercentric restaurants in Broward/Palm Beach: 4

Restaurants to open in Delray Beach: 17

Restaurants to open in West Palm Beach: 6

Farm to Table concepts: 2

Noodle houses: 1

After the jump, take a perusal of noteworthy restaurant openings for 2011 in Broward/ Palm Beach.

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Photo: Misha Grosvenor

​Chef Jorge Fernandez brings the tastes, sights, and sounds of the Iberian Peninsula to South Florida with the debut of his new restaurant, the Spaniard Tapas Bar and Café. The restaurant, located in Boca Raton, adjacent to Royal Palm Place, serves traditional  tapas items like cured meats and cheeses as well as a variety of specialty paellas, like the Paella del Monte -- rabbit, land snails, and chicken with peppers and artichokes with a saffron broth.
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Breathe Restaurant and Ultra Lounge

​Despite the holiday rush, December saw no abatement in restaurant openings. Nice weather, tourism, and delayed fall debuts were the incentives. Most new restaurants fill a niche: The Wine Dive, Havana's, Le Macaron, or Brooklyn Water Bagel, for example.

January and February will feature more anticipated openings, with projections for Tropical Acres reopening, B&G Oysters, and the Rebel House in Boca Raton. After the jump, this year's restaurant news. As usual, fill us in on what we've missed in the comments.  
 
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Varin Tsai via Flickr Creative Commons

No need to let your glass get this dangerously close to empty.

​The newest World of Beer to hit South Florida quietly opened in mid-November in Wellington.

This Saturday, the new bar will celebrate with a grand-opening block party with official hoopla including a ribbon-cutting, live bands, food from local eateries like Dean Anthony's and DeVine Bistro, and of course, beer. Lots and lots of beer. One might even say a veritable world of beer.
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Breathe via Facebook

Breathe Restaurant and Ultra Lounge features a weekday happy hour at the bar.

​Breathe, a new restaurant and ultra lounge has opened on Delray's Atlantic Avenue. The restaurant touts itself as featuring a "funky new twist on Mediterranean region fare in a chic, stylish and intimate atmosphere."

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