Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
GHOST TOWN IS NOW A FUNKY TOWN
Every morning, architect Marco Ruiz and his 10-month-old dachshund, Chorizo, stroll two blocks from his Flagler Village loft to Bean to Brew, an arty cafe offering views of a flourishing neighborhood.
For the past year, the area around Bean to Brew has bustled with construction cranes and youthful urban energy. Gone are many derelict homes and empty sidewalks spanning the hipster-friendly FAT Village and MASS art districts, replaced by midrise condo rentals and 20-somethings walking dogs. Nightlife has bloomed in this neighborhood north of downtown: Recent art murals bearing the faces of Jimi Hendrix, Marilyn Monroe and
“Aladdin Sane”-era David Bowie are splashed across the Hive warehouses, a plaza of coffee shops, art galleries and an arcade bar behind Searstown. Down the street, where Andrews Avenue meets the railroad tracks, Flagler Village’s first brewery and two cocktail bars have opened.
Welcome to the revival of Flagler Village.
“A few years ago, we’d be standing in an empty warehouse with the homeless on the doorstep,” Ruiz says over espresso inside Bean to Brew, which is decorated in murals of Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat. “My wife and I feel safe to walk here. You have things that remind you Flagler is still in transition, but it suddenly has this fun, funky Brooklyn vibe.”
Much of the activity is confined to the neighborhood’s two cultural hubs, FAT Village and MASS District, which are separated by five blocks. Drawing young entrepreneurs attracted by new apartments, fresh paint and a budding nightlife scene, Flagler Village is in the midst of a renaissance, visitors and business owners say. Developers who recall when the 10-year-old FAT Village Art District was the area’s only cultural hub now claim the entire neighborhood — from FAT Village east to Federal Highway — is thriving. And visitors who avoided the large population of homeless in Flagler say they now feel safe to stroll here at night, especially during art walks that draw thousands of patrons every month.
The eclectic vibe is what drew George Mora to pick the MASS District, a warren of mural-covered warehouses, for his veganfriendly restaurant, Tula’s Bistro and Garden. Opened in February, Mora’s bistro serves both vegan and “heathen” fare (think Wagyu beef sliders and pappardelle Bolognese), and shares space with a co-op called the Great Project FTL, where 10 art vendors run mini gallery workspaces. All of the 200-square-foot workspaces are occupied, and there’s a waiting list, Mora says.
“It’s kind of like a mini Wynwood,” Mora says from inside Tula on a recent Friday as his 13-year-old daughter, Sophie, works the register. “The new businesses in Flagler are all young, collaborative and hungry. We all stick together, and don’t see each other as competition.”
Sharing that spirit of collaboration is Marc Falsetto, CEO of JEY Hospitality Group, which operates downtown restaurants Pizzacraft and ROK:BRGR. Falsetto’s company inked a deal in March to buy a vacant warehouse next door to Tula’s Bistro. The plan is to turn that forlorn space into a 4,000-square-foot, Wynwood Yard-style entertainment hub with live bands and restaurants in shipping containers.
“It was the sheer amount of growth in the area that attracted my eye,” says Falsetto, whose JEY Hospitality also operates FAT Village’s first restaurant, Henry’s Sandwich Station. “All the major cities have their pockets of nightlife outside downtown now, like Austin and Nashville. Flagler Village didn’t used to be this walkable. After 4 p.m., it used to be a ghost town. People are now walking their dogs down Sistrunk.”
Falsetto and other developers say all that desirable foot traffic stems from Flagler’s recent glut of midrise residential loft buildings. Those attract younger, hipper urban pioneers charmed by the proximity to downtown, he says.
“A friend of mine who works downtown says that he subsists every day on Jimmy John’s,” Falsetto says. “People who work downtown are looking for better options instead of the chain restaurants.”
For the past several years, Tim Petrillo, president of the Restaurant People, has with developer Alan Hooper built a series of residential lofts along the spine of North Andrews Avenue, north of Broward Boulevard. Sometime in 2019, the Restaurant People, which owns bars and nightclubs such as S3 and YOLO, plans to open a two-story food, housing and entertainment complex in the FAT Village space once occupied by Irish pub Maguires Hill 16. Petrillo and Hooper bought the bar for $4.2 million, according to Broward County records.
If there’s any downside to the Flagler Village revival, it’s the obvious signs of gentrification, Petrillo says. As new residences rose, so did chain restaurants on Federal Highway — the eastern edge of Flagler Village — such as Mellow Mushroom and the Brass Tap. But those chains aren’t snapping up warehouses behind Searstown, he says.
“The chains won’t take that kind of risk,” Petrillo says. “They don’t have that kind of market insight. They’re not connected to the consumer as tightly as a local business owner who lives here.”
Not so for Flagler Village’s first brewery, Invasive Species, opened last July by a team of local craft-beer experts, including Chris and Jordan Bellus of funky Flagler bar Laser Wolf. Invasive Species brewmaster Phil Gillis found an unlikely street for the brewery along Northeast Second Avenue, which is “not quite in FAT Village and not quite in MASS District,” he says.
“We don’t fit in, either, but rent here is still on the cheaper end,” says Gillis, of Fort Lauderdale, whose brewery is across the street from the Girls’ Club art gallery. “I love our location, but we’re on a dimly lit street with lots of warehouses.”
What Flagler Village is missing, Gillis says, are more “cool, fun food options” such as Tula’s Bistro and Henry’s Sandwich Station.
“The neighborhood needs to establish itself, and figure out what it wants to be,” says Gillis, who says hosting beer festivals is key to drawing more foot traffic to his block.
Artist Phoenix Niewidok, who operates the fabric-art shop Skirtzophrenic in the Great Project FTL artist spaces, also wonders whether Flagler Village has a branding problem.
“Instead of FAT Village and MASS District, why not just say Flagler Village?” Niewidok says. “It’s all happening here. My artist friends said it was a poor move to come here last August. Now I say, ‘The poor move’s on you.’ ”
The nightlife scene in the neighborhood north of downtown Fort Lauderdale has surged in popularity over the past year. Following are nine bars, restaurants and cafes that make up Flagler Village’s new class.
27 Bar and Lounge
835 NE Third Ave., Fort Lauderdale; 954-257-0026 or TwentySevenBar.com
A trendy gastropub behind Laser Wolf in Flagler Village, 27 is the brainchild of Coral Springs natives Cory Blank and Tayler Scharg, whose lounge includes an Astroturf garden and craft cocktails. The bar’s ceiling is decorated in photographs of musicians who died at age 27, such as Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse, and offers cocktails such as In Bloom and Amy’s Tea.
Glitch Bar
905 NE Fifth Ave., Fort Lauderdale; 954-616-5762 or GlitchBar.com
Pac-Man and a pint, anyone? Co-owners Dwight Slamp and Chris Guevara moved their video-game bar from Himmarshee Village to Flagler last fall, lured there by cheaper rents. The arcade bar, which is more nightclub than geek den, slings video game-themed cocktails and offers more than a dozen retro arcade machines.
Invasive Species Brewing
726 NE Second Ave., Fort Lauderdale; 754-666-2687 or InvasiveSpeciesBrewing.com
Brewers Phil Gillis and Josh Levitt teamed up with Laser Wolf owners Chris and Jordan Bellus to open this brewery last fall, which nods to Gillis’ pastime, hunting Florida game. Bartenders serve animalthemed craft beers beneath mounted taxidermy, including alligator, hogs, deer and fish.
Beer Punx
920 N. Flagler Drive, Fort Lauderdale; BeerPunx.com
Craft-beer hangout Beer Punx is located in the Hive, a honeycomb of mural-covered warehouses behind Searstown on the northeastern tip of Flagler Village.
Arts and Crafts Social Club
902 N. Flagler Drive, Fort Lauderdale; 954-278-9703 or ArtsandCraftsSocialClub.com
Part studio and art gallery, the social club features bring-your-own paint and wine parties. Visitors who pay a flat fee (and bring snacks) are supplied with brushes, paints and canvases. The venue also offers “meditation painting” and painting classes.
Bean to Brew
900 N. Flagler Drive, Fort Lauderdale; 754-200-6883 or BeantoBrewCoffee.com
Bean to Brew, which offers single-origin coffees, teas and espressos and live music on the weekends, is one of several new cafes to debut in Flagler Village since last year. The cafe, owned by Stefan Banach, is covered in pop-art murals of Andy Warhol and JeanMichel Basquiat.
Henry’s Sandwich Station
545 NW First Ave., Fort Lauderdale; 954-616-5538 or HenrysSandwich.com
The newly renamed Henry's Sandwich Station, which opened Feb. 14 in the FAT Village art district of Flagler Village, features fresh-baked pies and delistyle sandwiches such as the Cubano, with pork shoulder, and a Montrealstyle smoked meat on Zak the Baker rye bread.
Tula Bistro and Garden
818 NE Fourth Ave., Fort Lauderdale; 954-507-0104 or Facebook.com/TulaBistro
Tula Bistro and Garden offers a vegan-friendly menu of soups and salads, but also “heathen” options for meat eaters. Attached to Tula is the Great Project, owner George Mora’s collective of 10 artist workspaces.
JB&C Juice Bar and Cafe
924 N. Flagler Drive, Fort Lauderdale; 954-368-2718 or JBCFlorida.com
JB&C Juice Bar and Cafe, which opened in early February, serves vegan-friendly juices, smoothies and avocado toast.