Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
El Camino restaurant coming to Las Olas
El Camino in Delray Beach has been a hit with Mexican food lovers for more than four years. The popular restaurant and tequila bar will soon arrive on Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale, with the opening of its second outpost scheduled for February.
The new El Camino will be at 817 E. Las Olas Blvd., former site of Voodka and Grill Republic, and not far from similarly themed Rocco’s Tacos. It is part of a wave of new Mexican eateries in Fort Lauderdale that includes beachfront newcomers Lona from acclaimed Mexican chef Pablo Salas in the Westin Fort Lauderdale and El Vez from James Beard Award-winning restaurateur Stephen Starr in the W Hotel.
“With the ongoing development of the Las Olas area, we thought El Camino is a perfect fit,” Brandon Belluscio, co-founder of Modern Restaurant Group, says in a press release.
The owners say they are pouring more than $3 million into the redevelopment of the 6,000-square-foot space, restoring the 1950s building to its original warehouse style. It will have 20-foot ceilings, skylights and 12-foot glass garage doors. It will also feature an open kitchen, an indoor-outdoor bar seating 60, a 200-seat dining room and outdoor seating for 50. Like the Delray Beach location, the Fort Lauderdale restaurant will feature a mural by artist Ruben Ubiera.
The first El Camino opened in late 2013 and earned praise from former Sun Sentinel dining critic John Tanasychuk.
“This is no ordinary Mexican food,” Tanasychuk wrote in his 3 review. “Belluscio and his partners, Brian Albe and Anthony Pizzo, who also own Cut 432 and Park Tavern in Delray Beach, have created not just a restaurant but a destination.”
The Fort Lauderdale location will feature similar menu items and promotions as the Delray Beach original, including midnight-2 a.m. happy hours with $2 tacos, $5 margaritas and half-priced tequilas and mescals, $2 Taco Tuesdays and weekend brunches with unlimited mimosas, beer and sangria.