New Restaurants on Clematis Street: What's Next in West Palm Beach

Three downtown West Palm Beach nightspots have closed or announced their closing since July, all within a short walk of the corner of Clematis Street and Narcissus Avenue. Over the same months, a few blocks west, the stretch of Clematis around Respectable Street has been getting ready for a bagel shop, a food hall with a rooftop bar, and a renovated version of the club that has held that block since 1986.

These are two separate events on two separate blocks. The closures are near the water. The additions are going up around the street's oldest nightlife address, and most of them serve food during the day.

The exits clustered near Narcissus

Grease Burger Bar closed in July after 17 years on Clematis. In August, Mystic Table at 218 Clematis closed after just six months, on the same block and around the corner from Camelot. Camelot has operated on Narcissus Avenue just south of Clematis since 2014. On Sept. 15 it announced that the coming weekend would be its last, with an official closing party set for Saturday, Sept. 19.

The Camelot building at 114 S. Narcissus Ave. had changed hands months before that. Palm Beach County property records show it sold in April for $3 million to two entities. One is affiliated with real estate investor Scott Diament. The other is owned by Angelo Abbenante of Lynora's Italian restaurants. None of the reporting so far has named what comes next for the Camelot, Grease or Mystic Table spaces.

Over two decades, Clematis has turned over this way before. When shopping moved west to suburban centers late in the 20th century, the street rebuilt itself around restaurants, bars and nightclubs. In a Sept. 1 look at the street, Alexandra Clough of The Palm Beach Post described Clematis as having more restaurants than bars, with office workers, residents and tourists keeping businesses busy through the day instead of only at night.

What the new arrivals are built for

The Palm Beach Post reported that daytime traffic comes largely from office towers. Kelly Smallridge, president of the county's Business Development Board, told the Post that more than 250 financial services firms have opened offices in Palm Beach County since 2020. Many are at CityPlace or along Flagler Drive. Others have chosen smaller buildings closer to Clematis, and Banyan & Olive is one of them. It pairs a new tower with a restored Art Moderne building about 90 years old. Dycom Industries moved its headquarters there from Palm Beach Gardens. Alvarez & Marsal, the law firm Taft and a full floor of Edward Jones at 111 Olive are also tenants.

The complex's ground floor is filling with food. Kyma, the New York Greek restaurant, uses ground-floor and alley space between 300 Banyan and 111 Olive, plus a rooftop bar on 300 Banyan. Pubbelly Sushi recently opened on the ground floor of 111 Olive.

The next two are coming from Danny and Vilexis Cruz. Taquerías Carnalito, a taco restaurant, will take the former Nico's Pizza space at 301 Clematis. Inside it will be Tragos Amargos, a speakeasy. Andrew Dance of Brand Atlantic Real Estate Partners, one of the property's owners, told the Post that "Carnalito addresses the growing need for high-quality fast-casual food in downtown." Both places are expected in late 2026 or the first quarter of 2027. The Cruzes already have a Clematis restaurant: Tacos del Cartel at 533 Clematis, which they opened in mid-2025 as their first location outside Louisiana.

That address puts them on the 500 block.

The 500 block is adding hours around a 40-year-old club

Respectable Street at 518 Clematis opened in 1986. That was before the street's mid-1990s revival, and the club is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. Rodney Mayo bought the building in his 20s and planted the large olive tree that still stands on the back patio in the early 1980s. Stet News reported in September that the club is closed for renovations until Halloween.

Mayo's SubCulture Group is next door, building The Hacienda at 522 Clematis. He bought the building in November 2024. The food hall covers 13,000 square feet and seats about 600, with rooftop seating and an outdoor patio. Mayo estimates the buildout at $2.5 million, and roughly half of that went into reinforcing the structure so it could hold the rooftop bar. "I couldn't afford it," he told Stet on a tour. "I splurged."

The plan Stet described on its tour:

• Food stations along both sides of the first floor: Jamaican jerk, New Age sushi, burgers, pizza, Trinidadian vegan street food, and a ramen bar offering 30 flavors
• Yellow and gray mobile kiosks styled after French bakery trucks, with vendors selling food from mini-kitchens or selling artwork
• A giant mechanical black cat and mechanical eyeballs, one of which will look out over Clematis from the roof
• TVs showing sporting events, the first time any Mayo venue has done so
• A multicolored square back bar that opens onto the patio behind Respectable Street, with four more food trucks, a stage and seating for 130

That last item is the design choice that matters most for the block. Stet reported that the shared patio is meant to let nightclub guests mix with food-hall guests. The club and the food hall will be two doors onto one outdoor space, with food service on one side and the club on the other.

The dates are still moving. A Sept. 3 report gave Sept. 16 as the opening date. Stet's Sept. 11 story said it was scheduled to open before the end of September, and a Sept. 15 update still called it "soon-to-open." Neither report confirmed an opening day.

It matters who is behind this. On Sept. 3 the Post reported Mayo describing a "three-month plan to retire and work with dogs exclusively." A week later he gave Stet a narrower version. He wants a less hands-on role so he can fund a sanctuary for dogs that are never adopted. He would sell one of his restaurant buildings only if the restaurant could stay as a tenant, and he is not selling out. The building he has offered is 517 Clematis, home to Hullabaloo and Shanghai'd. A contract on it fell through.

Here is the block, address by address:

212 Bagel Co. comes from owners Max Ayoub and Gus Lange. The Post reported in late August that they plan to open in November. A January report from WhatNow gave the address as 527 Clematis and targeted summer 2026, a date that has since slipped. Tacos del Cartel's website lists West Palm Beach hours from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, until 10 p.m. Friday, and from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday.

Put those schedules together and the block runs from bagels in the morning to tacos at lunch, the food hall into the evening, and a club that has been there for four decades after dark. The 200 block lost three late-night businesses in one summer. The 500 block kept its late-night anchor and is adding the daytime hours on either side of it.

Thursdays on the Great Lawn through November

At the east end of the street, the city's free Clematis by Night concerts run every Thursday from 6 to 9 p.m. at Centennial Square and the Great Lawn, 100 N. Clematis St. The fall lineup:

1. Oct. 8: The Goodnicks, playing rock, pop and country
2. Oct. 15: 56 Ace, modern country rock
3. Oct. 22: Dee Dee Wilde Band, R&B and Top 40
4. Oct. 29: Clematis by FRIGHT with Uncle Morty's Rhythm Cream
5. Nov. 5: Cover to Cover
6. Nov. 12: Terry Hanck
7. Nov. 19: Big Al & the Heavyweights
8. Nov. 26: No concert for Thanksgiving

Clematis by FRIGHT on Oct. 29 falls in the same week Respectable Street is due to finish its renovations, so the Halloween weekend could have something happening at both ends of Clematis. The Saturday market is also back. The GreenMarket began its 32nd season on Oct. 3 at 100 N. Clematis and runs through May 22, 2027.

On the 500 block, a few dates are still unannounced: a confirmed opening day for The Hacienda, a reopening date for Respectable Street, and the day 212 Bagel Co. starts serving at 527 Clematis.

If you're keeping an eye on how downtown West Palm Beach is changing, or thinking about what these blocks could mean for your own plans, Lynda Molina is glad to talk it through, from the Clematis storefronts to the streets around them. Let's Connect.