Tucker Duke's Boca Raton Announces Opening Date

We could all use a little more burger and beer in our lives, especially up in Palm Beach County. Luckily, Tucker Duke's Lunchbox is coming to the rescue when the restaurant's second location opens in Boca Raton later this month.

Last November, South Florida restaurant partners Jay Oakes and John Cortes shared plans to bring chef-founder Brian Cartenuto's craft beer and burger eatery north to Palm Beach County. The restaurant is best-known for its burgers, each named after Cartenuto's friends' dogs.

In addition to the signature Tucker Duke (fried onions rings, American cheese, Tucker sauce, lettuce, and tomato), there are favorites like the Bash's Steakhouse. The burger — topped with roasted mushrooms, house-made steak sauce, Muenster cheese, and caramelized onions — is named after Cartenuto's best friend, Kim. The first meal they had together: a steak.

The Woody's Hell Ya is another popular order, a burger paired with a pile of eight-hour-smoked pork, onion, and hoisin barbecue sauce. It's named after one of Cartenuto's former colleague's dog, who used to accompany the chef to an after-hours spot where an old man would shout "hell yeah" to advertise his cheap burgers topped with pulled pork.

Serving up these burgers and more, the Boca Raton Tucker Duke's is slated to open at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, April 30, in the Fifth Avenue Shops plaza, located at 1658 N. Federal Highway.

The 3,200-square-foot space — formerly Italio — will be the second South Florida Tucker Duke's Lunchbox restaurant following the opening of the west Deerfield Beach restaurant in 2014 and the original Niceville, Florida, restaurant Cartenuto opened in 2011. 

"We chose this location because we felt Boca Raton was a natural progression for our company, and we hope to be a welcome addition to the community," says Cortes. "We love this area of Boca Raton and think Tucker Duke's is the perfect fit for the area."

Open for  lunch and dinner, the space will include a bar serving wine and beer by the bottle and draft. A total of 24 taps will be pouring an impressive assortment of local, state, and national craft brews on opening day.

Cortes says the new location will follow the same Southern-comfort-food model as the Deerfield restaurant, featuring all of the most beloved signature items, including appetizers like the PB&J bonbons and burgers like the Tucker Duke.

If you're a Tucker Duke's regular, however, expect some never-before-seen additions at the new Tucker Duke's Boca Raton, including a series of unusual appetizers and blue-plate specials. 

That includes an all new section titled "Snacks From the Water," a short list of seafood-based small plates including a house-smoked fish dip, conch fritters served with a pineapple mustard, an albacore tune poke with edamame and a soy dressing, and one pound's worth of peel-and-eat Gulf shrimp.

And keep an eye out for the new cast-iron snapper; filed under blue-plate specials, the butter-basted whole snapper is served with charred Fresno chilies, orange segments, roasted potatoes, and grilled rosemary and lemon.

Tucker Duke's Lunchbox Boca Raton will open at 10:30 a.m.  Saturday, April 30. The restaurant is located at 1658 N. Federal Highway, Boca Raton. Call 561-717-8153, or visit tuckerdukeslunchbox.com.

Nicole Danna is a food writer covering Broward and Palm Beach counties. To get the latest in food and drink news in South Florida, follow her @SoFloNicole or find her latest food pics on the BPB New Times Food & Drink Instagram.