Worth Avenue's Department Store Block Is Being Rebuilt Around Dinner Tables

"I think we're going to do something very, very special here," Stephen Starr told the Palm Beach Town Council on Sept. 9, as reported by the Palm Beach Daily News. He was talking about the former Neiman Marcus building at 151 Worth Ave. Its doors have been closed since 2020.

Directly across the street, The Esplanade at 150 Worth Ave. has filed plans for a 270-seat Casa Tua, two private clubs and a London bakery. For decades the ocean block of Worth Avenue was held down at both ends by big department stores. Both of those buildings are now being redesigned around restaurants and members' rooms. The block that greets you when you turn off South Ocean Boulevard is going to become a place to eat dinner. That change is a few seasons away, and how it unfolds shapes what the 100 block looks like this winter.

Two Big Boxes Facing Each Other

The two projects sit on opposite sides of the same block. They are at very different points in the approval process.

Add the two anchor restaurants together and you get 435 proposed seats on one block, all in buildings that used to sell clothing and handbags.

What Each Plan Puts on the Ground Floor

Starr's concept is easier to picture, so start there. The Daily News reported that Room Service will be his first restaurant in Palm Beach. He describes it as loosely a steakhouse, mixed with comfort food. The dishes he mentioned include lobster mac and cheese, meatloaf, burgers, and Peking duck as a Sunday special. Ken Fulk is expected to design the interiors. TZ Capital called the design "timeless and an homage to the gilded 1920s."

Starr told the council he wants a neighborhood place where Palm Beach residents keep coming back, rather than one that depends on diners from off the island. His group runs Le Diplomate in Washington and Le Coucou in New York, and it was also expected to open Pastis at the new Nora Hotel in West Palm Beach this fall. On the island, he is pitching something people walk to.

Across the street, the plans for The Esplanade are more layered. The Daily News reported that the filing would rename the center Burlington Arcade at Palm Beach. The name comes from the 1819 Mayfair arcade in London that Reuben Brothers have owned since 2018. The proposed tenants include:

• Casa Tua: a 6,500-square-foot first-floor restaurant with 270 seats, connected to a 4,855-square-foot second-floor private club of up to 300 members. Casa Tua already operates in Miami Beach, Aspen, New York, Capri and Paris.
• A club led by Robin Birley: 12,291 square feet on the second floor for 300 members. Town records say it would serve Palm Beach residents as well as "hotel guests."
• Birley Bakery: about 520 square feet on the east side of the first floor. The other locations are in Chelsea in London and on Manhattan's Upper East Side.
• A lifestyle and wellness center: a 5,325-square-foot day spa and a 2,000-square-foot boutique upstairs.
• A luxury store: 7,800 square feet on the first floor's west side, in the space Saks Fifth Avenue used to fill.

The architects are Fairfax & Sammons. Their letter to the town describes the program as supporting "the continuing vitality of Worth Avenue as Palm Beach's premier pedestrian-oriented commercial district." The plans add new facades, awnings, walkways and terraces across the eastern half of the two-story center.

Where the Calendar Actually Stands

Room Service is well ahead of its neighbor. The Town Council conditionally approved the restaurant's special exceptions and granted a parking variance 4-1. The approval still depends on a declaration-of-use agreement. A planned third-floor addition for back-of-house space also needs Architectural Commission review. Construction on the building is already underway. Ownership has said the restaurant could open as early as December 2027. That makes this winter and next its last two seasons behind construction fencing, if the schedule holds.

Burlington Arcade is at the start of the process. The developers first have to answer Town Hall staff comments. Then the plans go to both the Architectural Commission and the Town Council, and October was the earliest that could happen under town records. The application asks for a set of special exceptions: a restaurant, outdoor cafe seating, shared on-site parking, a store larger than 4,000 square feet, take-away food and drink, and membership clubs. Almost every item on that list is about food, gathering or membership. The Town of Palm Beach calendar lists Architectural Commission meetings for anyone who wants to follow the project.

This is also not the first time Reuben Brothers have bought on the island. They bought the ground floor of the Tiffany & Co. building at 259 Worth Ave. in 2020. They also own The Vineta Hotel on Cocoanut Row, which reopened in February after a renovation of nearly three years. A club that expects hotel guests makes more sense once you know the same company owns a hotel a short walk away. We covered The Vineta's reopening in our summer look at Palm Beach.

The Rest of the Avenue Is Reshuffling, Too

While the ocean block waits, storefronts farther west have changed hands this year. Rent is part of why.

The Daily News reported that The Silver Fund left 330 Worth Ave. when its lease ended, rather than accept a new rent more than twice what it had been paying. It had been there since late 2013. Vineyard Vines expects to open a 2,700-square-foot store in that space the first week of November. Its earlier shop at 305 Worth Ave. closed in April 2024, and that space now belongs to the Italian menswear house Isaia. The new storefront and interior work were approved administratively. An awning was left out and would need its own trip to the Architectural Commission.

Other moves over the past year:

• Cavalier Galleries moved to 313½ Worth Ave. in Via Bice, and Van Cleef & Arpels expanded into the gallery's former space.
• Achille Salvagni Atelier, the Italian interior design firm, opened a Worth Avenue showroom earlier this year.
• Louis Vuitton opened a two-story boutique at 222 Worth Ave. in November 2025, two years after it left The Esplanade.

Some long-time names have moved on. Kapsiki closed its shop at 235 B Worth Ave. on May 31 after 35 years, the Palm Beach Post reported, and plans to reopen somewhere else on the island.

The move toward dining reaches past the Avenue itself. One block away, at 380 S. County Road, the former Le Bar à Vin building is planned as George x Avenue 31, an 87-seat Mediterranean-themed restaurant and nightclub. The Town Council voted 4-1 to allow a 236-square-foot upstairs seating expansion, on the condition that at least 24 seats stay upstairs and a declaration-of-use agreement is signed, according to the Palm Beach Post. The Post reported no opening date for the restaurant.

This Season on the 100 Block

The restaurants are still a couple of seasons out. The Worth Avenue Association's calendar already uses the block:

• Historical Walking Tours start Wednesday, Nov. 4, and run every Wednesday through May 5, 2027.
• Vineyard Vines is expected to open at 330 Worth Ave. the first week of November.
• Holidays On Worth is Tuesday, Dec. 1, from 6:10 to 8 p.m. Santa's parade starts on the 100 block at 6:10, and the tree is lit at 6:25.

This year the parade lines up beside the construction at 151 Worth Ave., across from an Esplanade whose plans are still waiting on town review.

Lemore follows the ocean block from one hearing to the next because what opens there decides where dinner on the south end of the island will happen in a few seasons. If you want to talk about Palm Beach as these projects take shape, Lemore Zausner would be glad to walk the Avenue with you. Book an Appointment, or browse our Palm Beach neighborhood guide first.