Food, restaurants, dining in Indian River, St. Lucie, Martin counties
Ethel D. Webb June 8, 2021
Treasure Coast foodies: If you’re hungry, you’ve come to the right place.
Whether you’re looking for a sit-down fancy restaurant, a quick spot to grab chicken wings or the best chocolate made in Indian River, St. Lucie and Martin counties, you can find it here.
Here are TCPalm’s latest stories about dining and food:
- Restaurant staff, service, wait times could return to normal soon: The June 26 end of federal unemployment supplements to Florida workers affected by the coronavirus pandemic may mean relief for restaurants facing staff shortages. That may decrease wait times and ease tensions between overworked employees and unhappy customers across the Treasure Coast.
- 7 restaurants, food businesses opening or reopening in downtown Fort Pierce: A new ice cream shop has opened. A new organic grocery store and a new juice bar are opening soon. Two popular restaurants are reopening. And two beloved restaurants that have been closed may get a second chance.
- New soul food restaurant adds Bahamian twist to Southern food: Sugar & Spice Soul Food Restaurant serves typical soul food and popular Southern dishes, such as fried chicken, smothered pork chops, oxtails, candied yams and fried fish, as well as desserts, including sweet potato pie and red velvet cake. But it also offers some Bahamian favorites, including conch fritters with seasoned rice and fried conch with sweet plantains.
- Stringers Tavern & Oyster Bar honors Stuart’s boatbuilding history: Martin County native Frederic “Fritz” Ayres strives to capture local history in his restaurants. And he has done the same with his latest venture. Stringers Tavern & Oyster Bar serves as a tribute to the area’s history of custom sportfishing boat manufacturing, said Ayres, the 37-year-old owner of Conchy Joe’s Seafood and Dolphin Bar and Shrimp House, both in Jensen Beach.
- Millennial business owners bring new energy to downtown Fort Pierce: You can almost feel a buzz in the air. Just go to downtown Fort Pierce any Friday night or Saturday morning. Friends cross street corners from drinking local beer at Sailfish Brewing Co. to throwing axes at Hard Axe Lounge. Families dining at the expanding Sunrise City Cafe overflow into curbside seating. Vehicles circle Second Street looking for parking. There’s new excitement in this historic section of the Treasure Coast.
- Fort Pierce Trader’s Market brings organic grocery, cafe, yoga to downtown: A new grocery store inspired by Trader Joe’s, The Fresh Market and Whole Foods Market will open this summer in downtown Fort Pierce. The Fort Pierce Trader’s Market, at 111 Orange Ave. in the historic One Eleven Building on the corner of Indian River Drive, will include a cafe; focus on local, organic and healthy food; and eventually be an activity hub.
- Irish pubs serving Irish grub on the Treasure Coast: Corned beef and cabbage. Bangers and mash. Irish nachos. While the Treasure Coast has plenty of Irish pubs and bars, only a handful of restaurants serve Irish food — but some serve it only on St. Patrick’s Day.
- New restaurant serves craft coffee, Parisian street crepes: A new micro coffee roastery that serves Parisian street crepes pays homage to Fort Pierce’s oldest building downtown. Old Florida Coffee Co. at P.P. Cobb General Store opened in February in the iconic, two-story, white-and-green building at Avenue A and Indian River Drive.
- Over 200 outdoor dining restaurants on the Treasure Coast: Because of the warm weather here, many Treasure Coast restaurants already had outdoor dining. Because of COVID-19, many more found ways to add it.
- $1 million turns gas station on A1A into Piehole Wood Pizza: Ryan Evans drove by the old, abandoned gas station near his South Hutchinson Island home almost every day. The building, nestled among the mangroves lining State Road A1A between Fort Pierce and Stuart, has been vacant for about 30 years. After discussing ideas over beers, Evans and friend and neighbor Mark “Otis” Humphrey in 2018 bought the property, which is about a mile from their homes. They decided to turn “the ugliest building in Fort Pierce” into a pizza joint, and the name “Piehole” was born.
- New Bagel Boyz food truck opens with New York bagels, wood-fired oven pizza: Bagel Boyz, based in Jupiter for the past 15 years, has expanded by opening a food truck in Stuart. The food truck features a custom, wood-fired oven. The bagels are made from scratch, kettle-boiled like a New York bagel and baked at over 1,000 degrees. Then, the bagels are served plain or with spreads, or they’re made into breakfast and lunch sandwiches. During lunch, the oven is used to prepare hand-tossed wood-fired pizzas, chicken wings and sides, along with salads. The pizza dough and sauces also are made from scratch.
- 32 fine dining restaurants to try for date night: The Treasure Coast isn’t exactly known for its fine dining. But that doesn’t mean gourmet food can’t be found in Martin, Indian River and St. Lucie counties. Formal dining restaurants have upscale service and settings and feature unique and often richer menu options.
- These five chocolate-makers create their own sweets on the Treasure Coast: It’s about quality, not quantity, when it comes to chocolate made on the Treasure Coast. While many stores and shops sell chocolates, only a handful of businesses in St. Lucie, Martin and Indian River counties actually make the sweet treat themselves.
- Chomp on the best local chicken wings: The secret’s in the sauce. The key to finger-lickin’-good chicken wings is what goes on them, according to some of the best local wing spots on the Treasure Coast. (It’s also why chicken wings are the only food typically served with moist towelettes.)
- Find vegan, vegetarian, organic, healthy food at these 15 restaurants: While Treasure Coast restaurants often have healthy and even organic choices, few are strictly vegan (no animal products) or vegetarian (no meat). Only a handful in Martin, Indian River and St. Lucie counties are even vegan or vegetarian friendly.
Laurie K. Blandford is TCPalm’s entertainment reporter and columnist dedicated to finding the best things to do on the Treasure Coast. Follow her on Twitter at@TCPalmLaurie or Facebook atfaceboook.com/TCPalmLaurie.
