Ten Best Late-Night Eats in Palm Beach County

Like most any place, South Florida takes on a completely different look and feel late at night. In cities like West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, and Delray Beach, it's generally after the bustling happy hours have given way to dancing and drinks or when the snowbirds turn in after early bird dinners. It's late night -- when the streets are filled with hungry patrons looking for a place to sit, tuck a napkin into their shirts, and find some grub to soak up all the booze.

The best options always seem to be the ethnic spots, tiny pizza joints, retro diners, or hipster dives. Occasionally, it's a sit-down restaurant touting a special after-hours menu -- or that thing of beauty, the reverse happy hour. Need help finding a spot near you? Here, Clean Plate Charlie presents Palm Beach County's best late-night dining spots.

See Also: The Ten Best Late Night Eats in Broward County

10. Rachel's

Sure, Rachel's is a classy strip joint. But it's also a five-star steak house. Here, you can get some of the best prime rib, filet mignon, pork chops, steak, and seafood in town. Not to mention the best show of fresh meat around too. Looking for a good cigar bar where you can order a bottle of the best bubbly to go along with your meal? Here, the selection for pretty much everything is top-notch. Bottom line: If you're looking to splurge late-night, this is one of the best spots in Palm Beach County to do it.

See also: Ten Best Tacos in Broward and Palm Beach Counties

9. The Blue Boar Tavern

If you've ever been to the Blue Boar Tavern in West Palm Beach, then you probably already know it's the type of place you go for three things: (1) a cheap drink, (2) a good time after all the other places have shut down, or (3) good food past 2 a.m. It's all these reasons (and more) that keep a lot of people coming back for more. Blue Boar purveys homemade chicken noodle soup, beef quesadillas, char-grilled cheeseburgers, fries, and a full lineup of classic greasy bar bites until the wee hours of the morning. Try comfort food at its finest with AJ's Super Grilled Cheese, a gooey amalgamation that sports three kinds of cheese (mozzarella, American, and cheddar), bacon, tomato, and sautéed onions. The Blue Boar Tavern serves food until 4:30 a.m. seven days a week.

See also: Ten Best Juice Bars in Broward and Palm Beach Counties

8. Kabuki Sushi Thai and Tapas

At this Clematis Street restaurant, you can get sushi rolls for just $5, including a California, JB, spicy tuna, spicy krab, shrimp tempura, and lava drop (krab, cream cheese, mayo, and eel sauce in a flash fried) roll. Then, wash it all down with a cocktail like their own wasabi martini lycheetini. White and red wines are $4 each, and Changi beer from Thailand is $2.50. Good deal? It repeats late-night, when the reverse happy hour goes into effect from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. Thursday through Saturday.

See Also: Ten Best Mac & Cheese in Broward and Palm Beach

7. Tacos Al Carbon

They recently got the top spot for our list of Ten Best Tacos in Broward and Palm Beach, but Tacos Al Carbon also deserves a spot on this list mainly because it's one of the best spots to get good grub late at night. Although the main restaurant at the corner of Military Trail and Lake Worth Avenue closes around midnight, the food truck stays open 24 hours, serving all manner of Tex-Mex fare, from soft corn tortilla tacos to burritos, enchiladas, and one heck of a torta sandwich.

See also: Ten Best Restaurants in Hollywood

6. Havana

West Palm Beach's late-night scene includes Havana, the Cuban-style restaurant where the walk-up counter is open until the early-morning hours. There's no need to schlep all the way down to Miami to get authentic Cuban sandwiches -- ham, marinated pork, Swiss cheese, and pickles between two slabs of fresh-baked Cuban bread. Pair with one of the natural fruit milk shakes or juices made from papaya or mango, then end your pig-out session with steaming cups of café cubano, cortaditas -- or café con leches and a jiggly serving of caramel or coconut flan. Havana's main, two-story dining room isn't open after hours, but the 24-hour walk-up window is open all day, every day, for those of you who get the craving after midnight. We know there's nothing like feeding that 3 a.m. Cuban craving with a steaming box of smoky croquetas, vaca frita, and sweet plantains.

See also: Five Most Outrageous Burgers in Palm Beach County

5. Pizza Rustica

There are tons of late-night pizza spots from Boca Raton to West Palm Beach, but with numerous locations across the U.S. -- even Europe -- Palm Beach County is lucky to count the Delray Beach's Pizza Rustica as one of its late-night pizza establishments for good food at a good price almost any time of day. Here, you can nab a slice after the bars and clubs have shut down, and it's been that way since founder and owner Pino Piroso opened his first shop in 1996. One of 17 Pizza Rustica locations throughout the world, this Delray location mirrors the same qualities of the flagship Pizza Rustica of Miami Beach that got the whole ball of dough rolling in the first place. Serving classic square, Roman-style pizza at decent prices, Pizza Rustica has the late-night pub-crawl crowd cornered. Slices run under $5, and the joint stays open until 2 a.m. Generous toppings include traditional chicken Parmesan, mini meatballs, smoked ham and bacon, and nontraditional items like sweet corn and goat cheese. Pizza Rustica serves food until 3 a.m. Monday through Sunday.

See also: Ten Best Bars for Cocktails in Palm Beach County

4. Grease Burger Bar

A Big Time Restaurant Group joint, Grease Burger Bar in West Palm Beach serves a huge menu of delicious burgers, all until 2 a.m. or later. While any 24-hour McDonald's drive-through will do late at night, if you want a truly amazing burger -- paired with a strong drink or craft beer -- Grease is the way to go. Worried others might have the same idea? Don't fear! The 3,500-square-foot bar is one of the longest in the downtown Clematis area, dozens of seats all under a plethora of flat-screens tuned to sports. The big draw here is the late hours: Grease Burger Bar serves food until 2 a.m. Thursday through Saturday.

See also: Ten Best French Restaurants in Palm Beach and Broward Counties

3. Dada

While most places open their doors late are serving the type of food you can hold in one hand and drive with the other (we aren't condoning this, of course), Delray Beach standby Dada serves sit-down diners until 2 a.m. Monday through Sunday. That means you can get a full plate of some of the best food from one of the area's greatest chefs, Bruce Feingold, winner of the Delray Beach Garlic Festival the past two years running -- even past midnight. We're suckers for new menu items like his bacon-wrapped dates and the Cointreau-glazed roast duck.

See also: Ten Best Romantic Restaurants in Broward and Palm Beach Counties

2. Howley's

A classic American diner -- but with a digital jukebox, flat-screen TVs, a full liquor bar, and live music, Howley's has been open in the same West Palm Beach location for half a century. Known for attracting the late-night bar crowds -- as well as the servers and bartenders that work the late-night shifts -- Howley's has a colorful clientele in the early-morning hours. Diner fare includes homemade mashed potatoes and meat loaf, Philly cheese steak with fat steak fries or onion rings, daily turkey dinner with all the trimmings, New York strip steaks, caesar salads, Reuben sandwiches, crab cakes, sides of Brussels sprouts or spinach, and the welcome addition of martinis and bloody marys -- all at reasonable prices. Howley's is open until 2 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and 5 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.

See also: Ten Best Seafood Restaurants in Broward and Palm Beach Counties

1. La Perrada Del Gordo

La Perrada Del Gordo sits in the back corner of a secluded shopping center off Military Trail in West Palm Beach, near invisible save for neon glowing signs hovering above the door and in the window. It's how you'll find it late at night, when -- after a night of drinking and dancing out on the town -- you're craving Colombian fast food. Here, you'll find the Perro Huevon, quite possibly the area's most intriguing hot dog. La Perrada Del Gordo is among the most authentic establishments of its kind, a local approach to the colorful street food fare of Colombia. Like its litter-mates at La Moon -- the Colombian-American joint in the Little Havana district of Miami made famous by the Travel Channel's Man vs. Food -- the dogs served here are the real deal, where more toppings equals more hype. In the States, these types of places are everywhere there is a big Colombian population, because it is traditional type of food for -- say -- chowing down after a night of clubbing and bar-hopping. In other words, Colombian fast food at its finest -- and also at its most gaudyily dressed. At first glance, the menu's biggest, baddest specialty perro caliente (that's hot dog in Spanish to you gringos) appears garishly overdone. With an amalgam of ten colorful toppings, it screams indigestion and heartburn ($6). We love the burgers, chicken, or beef patties topped with a haystack of -- more, and shredded -- chicken or beef, then a colorful finish of mayo, pink sauce, pineapple purée, potato chips, and chopped bacon. La Perrada Del Gordo has two locations in West Palm Beach and Boca Raton and is open from 11 a.m. to 5 a.m. on Thursday and 6 a.m. of Friday.

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