The Best Places in West Palm Beach
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The best places in West Palm Beach, according to the experts: the Michelin Guide and the James Beard Awards have both weighed in, and their honors are what rank this list. Emelina comes out on top.
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Aioli and Palm Beach Meats hold the next two places. The Michelin Guide shows up on more of this list than any other guide, with the James Beard Awards next.
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Rank 1. Emelina
Modern Cuban
A handful of counter seats face an open kitchen where the team is quietly asking what Cuban food could be if it kept its roots and borrowed ideas from everywhere else. The Michelin-starred result is a tasting-counter experience that feels personal rather than performative, with most ingredients coming from South Florida farms and ranches. Expect refined, composed cooking: familiar flavors refracted just enough to stop you mid-bite.
The awards
- Michelin Guide Michelin Guide: 1 Star
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Rank 2. Aioli
Bakery
An all-day bakery and café on South Dixie where the in-house bread pulls double duty, appearing in the breakfast sandwiches, alongside the soups at lunch, and leaving with you by the loaf on the way out. The menu shifts often, which keeps the regulars from coasting. Dinner options exist, though they're the take-home-and-reheat variety, which is either very convenient or very honest about how evenings in West Palm go. It holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand.
The awards
- Michelin Guide Michelin Guide: Bib Gourmand
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Rank 2. Palm Beach Meats
Steakhouse
Half gourmet butcher shop, half casual wagyu restaurant, this West Palm spot earns a Michelin Bib Gourmand by applying one ingredient to almost every item on the menu, including the Nutella brownie. Japanese, Australian, and American wagyu shows up in a breakfast sandwich, a burger, lumpia, and a burrito with tots. The room is wood tables and caramel leather, relaxed enough that the "Nice to Meat You" sign lands without embarrassment.
The awards
- Michelin Guide Michelin Guide: Bib Gourmand
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The beer list is the twist: this omakase bar inside the Hilton West Palm Beach was opened by a Chicago brewer, and the pairings lean into craft ales the way a traditional house leans into sake. The sushi itself tilts Western, with garnishes, sauces, and a Floridian looseness that keeps things from feeling reverent. Dark, intimate, and priced accordingly. The kind of room where wagyu hand rolls arrive with croutons fried in beef tallow, and somehow that makes complete sense.
The awards
- Michelin Guide Michelin Guide: Selected Restaurant
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Every room has a private balcony overlooking Lake Mangonia, which sets the tone pretty quickly at this British Caribbean-inflected resort about ten minutes from Palm Beach. The spa runs a private saltwater pool and eucalyptus steam rooms alongside something called vibroacoustic relaxation therapy, which sounds made-up until you're lying in it. Guests can also access a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course, the first new private links in the area in decades.
The awards
- Michelin Guide Michelin Guide: Selected Hotels
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A Michelin Selected hotel on West Palm Beach's waterfront, The Ben takes its name from an old estate whose original guest list ran to Vanderbilts and presidents. Rooms lean into early Florida's tropical mood through rich textures and quality linens without turning the whole thing into a theme park. A rooftop restaurant sits above the city for Mediterranean plates and cocktails, while the ground-floor spot reworks American classics with local produce.
The awards
- Michelin Guide Michelin Guide: Selected Hotels
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The awards
- James Beard Awards James Beard Awards: 2024 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: South · Clay Conley
- James Beard Awards James Beard Awards: 2022 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: South · Clay Conley
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: South · Clay Conley
- James Beard Awards 2022 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: South · Clay Conley
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Rank 8. Queen of Sheeba
Ethiopian
The awards
- James Beard Awards James Beard Awards: 2023 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: South · Lojo Washington
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Rank 8. Tropical Smokehouse
Florida Barbecue
The awards
- James Beard Awards James Beard Awards: 2023 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: South · Rick Mace