Hi fellow fodorites!

I'm heading to Florida to visit my Mom in a couple of weeks. I'm planning to take her out to dinner, as she never goes out to dinner and I want to find a special place for her (plus it's my birthday). It's been years since I lived there and don't know anything about restaurants. Looking for something nice for steaks or seafood with an average entree price of $22-24. She lives in Royal Palm beach near Wellington (15 miles inland from Palm Beach).

Recommendations are appreciated while I surf these pages and other sites.

Monica

Why don't you take her to the Palm Beach Grill on Palm Beach? Excellent steaks, seafood, and desserts, especially the lemon chiffon pie. I also love the grilled artichoke appetizer.

It's a chic but casual atmosphere - honey-colored woods with an open kitchen and big windows facing the intracoastal. It's also right in your price range. Very few, if any, entrees over $25. But make reservations quickly - even in the off season they book up fast.

You could make an afternoon of it. Have tea at the Breakers or Chesterfield and then, in the late afternoon after the rains, down to Worth Avenue to window shop before dinner. Or if tea is not your thing (it's not mine), you could visit the Flagler Museum, Henry Flagler's home.

hills27,

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll call them tomorrow to make dinner reservations. I like the idea of a musuem; however, Mom is still recovering from chemo/radiation treatments for lung cancer (thank God it's completely gone) and is still pretty weak. She tires very easily, so I don't want to plan too much. Maybe a short walk along Worth Ave before dinner. Or I could plan a visit to the museum for another afternoon.

Thanks again,

Monica

The museum is probably a better idea then. Not that far to walk and all air-conditioned. The heat while walking on Worth Avenue would probably take a lot out of her.

You might also want to see if there's a matinee show at the Kravis Center.

Good point about the a/c in the museum.

A friend recommended another place: Bimini Twist

Have you been to this place?

Monica

Never heard of it, but I looked it up on Zagat's and found out it's a less expensive sister to Kee Grill, one of my parents' favorites. However, according to the review, they don't take reservations so the wait can be very long. Sounds like you have to wait outside on the veranda.

Thanks for checking your book. Is Charley's Crab in your book? That was mentioned to me by a friend. I'll most likely will stick with the Palm Beach Grill.

Monica

Charley's Crab was one of my faves when I was a little girl. But it's awful now. Only the tourists keep it alive.

Thanks for the info on charley's crabs. Will call the Grill tonight to make reservations. Hopefully they'll have a table for us on the day we want to go.

Monica

If not, let me know and I can make some other recs.

I'll take any recs you might have. Love the idea of the Grill but would be nice to have other options just in case we can't get in.

Thanks!!

Monica

screw palm beach. Take her to Boca Raton. it is the same distance and there are 10 times as many good restaurants. Bova, Max's, Mark's New York Prime, Mortons, Ruth's Chris, Abe and Louies, Seasons 52, Opus 5 etc. The lisr goes on

Wellington to Palm Beach is 15 miles. Boca is 30 miles. Not to mention, most of those restaurants are outside her budget.

Monica, to answer your question...

I also love Seasons 52 (there's one in Palm Beach Gardens), but I don't think what you want. It's not a steak and seafood restaurant.

La Sirena is a great italian restaurant in West Palm Beach. While most of the entrees are in your budget, there are a few (veal chops, filet) that are much higher.

If you like french, there's Cafe Boulud on Palm Beach. I haven't been but have heard good things.

There is a Morton's in West Palm Beach and Ruth Chris in Palm Beach Gardens. You don't have to drive to Boca if you want a traditional steakhouse, bt I don't think that is what you are looking for. There's also a Mark's at Cityplace, but I think his restaurants are past their prime nowadays.

Part of the problem is that there's not a lot of good, upscale, moderately priced steak and seafood restaurants in the middle of the county. Truth be told, most of the the good restaurants in the county are either cheap hole-in-the-wall types or extremely expensive.

Anyway, I hope you got into Palm Beach Grill. I think you'll really like it. Everyone in my family (even the picky New Yorkers) really does.

I was going through my old posting and realized I didn't write any comments about the Palm Beach Grill. This is what I posted on Trip Advisor:

My Mother and I dined at the Palm Beach Grill last night (July 21st 2007) and we both enjoyed the excellent food and service. We shared a starter: The Home smoked salmon with chef's dressing and toast. The portion of the salmon was huge and could have been a meal in itself. My guess is that it was about 7-8 oz portion and was quite moist and tender. The sauce was made with dill and added to the flavors of the salmon. For our entree we both ordered the aged prime rib on the bone, which came with mashed potatoes with green onions and celery. Loved the "crunch" of the potatoes. The prime rib was also huge, about 16 oz. We both ordered it rare and it was perfect. Service was great - Jennifer, our waitress, was all smiles, as were the other waiters in the restaurant. The only downfall of the place was the noise level. It was difficult to talk to each other and had to almost yell, which doesn't make for a special dinner (my birthday). However, the food certainly made up for it and we'll enjoy our leftovers tonight. Would I return? Definitely!


Monica