2023 Top Picks For West Palm Eateries Via Southern Living Magazine & Tropical Smokehouse Is Best BBQ

“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” –Hippocrates

WEST PALM BEACH, FL – Lisa Cericola, author of the food article in Southern Living, shares she was born and raised in West Palm Beach, and returns for visits.

“At Southern Living, we celebrate the food, homes, and places that define our region. We seek out the best of the South in everything we do, and we find endless inspiration in Southern culture and traditions…Join us in celebrating the people, places, and communities that make our home more vibrant than ever. Here are the South’s must-visit destinations, as voted on by our readers.”

The following are the selections:

• Grato
• Grandview Public Market
• Bud’s Chicken and Seafood
• Havana Restaurant
• Hive Bakery & Cafe
• The Restaurant at the Norton
• West Palm Beach Greenmarket

South’s Best BBQ

“This year’s readers’ picks for the South’s best barbecue joints reflect the current state of Southern barbecue, offering a blend of continuity and change. Half the restaurants on this year’s list are repeat winners from the 2022 poll, but the other half are new…Surprisingly, though, a great many of our readers’ picks represent the older, more traditional styles of their respective regions.”

In a Southern Living article by Robert Moss, Tropical Smokehouse in West Palm Beach made it into The South’s Best Barbecue Joint In Every State for 2023.

“A remarkable barbecue revival is underway in the Sunshine State, as a new generation of cooks put unique local spins on traditional barbecue. This year sees a relatively new player land at the top of the Florida list. Owner/pitmaster Rick Mace opened Tropical Smokehouse in 2021 with the explicit goal of creating a distinctive Florida style of barbecue. That means turning to the sea and to Caribbean flavors, too, with spicy smoked wahoo dip, mojo-laced pulled pork, brisket-stuffed empanadas, and slabs of splendidly flaky smoked salmon, all cooked on a big Primitive Pits offset smoker.”

“As I ate the oysters with their strong taste of the sea and their faint metallic taste that the cold white wine washed away, leaving only the sea taste and the succulent texture, and as I drank their cold liquid from each shell and washed it down with the crisp taste of the wine, I lost the empty feeling and began to be happy and to make plans.” –Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast

Reader and eater, what’s your favorite restaurant in West Palm Beach? Make sure you thank the chef and the staff when you experience a delightful meal.