S. Florida restaurants

Benihana opens restaurant in Boca Raton

Learn about new places to eat in all three counties.

Winner winner, free chicken lunch (not dinner). Spatch Grilled Peri-Peri Chicken will open its second location in Fort Lauderdale on Thursday, and will celebrate by giving away meals to the first 100 customers on each of the first three days (May 31-June 2). The restaurant opens at 11 a.m., and a drink purchase is required for the promotion.

The new location of Spatch will open at 468 N. Federal Highway, in the same shopping plaza as Doc B’s Fresh Kitchen, on the U.S. 1 corridor near Flagler Village. Spatch, hatched last year by the Restaurant People of Fort Lauderdale, features chicken in all forms (platters, sandwiches, salads, and bowls) spiced with an African pepper. In other restaurant opening news:

Benihana, the popular Japanese teppanyaki grill restaurant chain, opened a new Boca Raton location on Wednesday at 9918 Glades Road. The restaurant marked the occasion with marching bands and by making a donation to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School victims’ fund.

Red Door Asian Bistro opened this month at 625 E. Las Olas Blvd., at the former site of Johnny V. The restaurant features a fusion menu of Chinese, Japanese and Thai dishes, including sushi and hibachi-grilled items. It is part of a new wave of Las Olas Boulevard restaurants, including New Orleans-themed the Balcony from Kim Bokamper’s group and the renovated Mangos.

The Fish Grill recently was reborn in Dania Beach, at 75 N. Federal Highway, not far from its former home on East Dania Beach Boulevard, which was razed for a high-rise development that was never built. After an absence of more than a decade, original owner Joe Maggi relaunched the seafood restaurant in the space formerly occupied by Land Crab Lounge and short-lived Runway 75 North.

Etaru, an upscale Asian restaurant from the team behind Zuma, will soon open its second location, at the new Icon Las Olas tower, 500 E. Las Olas Blvd. The first Etaru opened in August 2017 in Hallandale Beach, near the Hyde Resort. The operators project an early summer opening. Last but not least, acclaimed chef Thomas

Keller (the French Laundry in Napa Valley, Per Se in New York) has announced a July opening for the Surf Club Restaurant, his much-anticipated project at the restored Surf Club, 9101 Collins Ave., in Surfside. A press release states, “Chef Keller will honor the decades of leisure time and grand parties the property saw through his classic Continental cuisine.” The restaurant is now hiring, and those interested can call 305-768-9440 to apply. It is Keller’s first restaurant in South Florida, but not his first brush with the region. Keller graduated from Lake Worth High.

SPATCH GRILLED PERI-PERI CHICKEN/COURTESY Spatch Grilled Peri-Peri Chicken, from the Restaurant People, features fresh grilled chicken sandwiches, salads, platters and bowls, spiced with an African pepper.

The Eat Beat