Delray online shopping search

Delray - BingNovice

Delray Update: 2024

“We’re booming.”

That’s how Anthea Gianniotes described Delray Beach during a late-July interview. She ought to know.

Gianniotes runs the city’s development services department. Through it come all building applications. These days, the staff has trouble keeping up. From East Atlantic Avenue near the ocean to Congress Avenue, major and minor projects are forming the newest phase of Delray Beach’s transformation that emerged from the early 1990s recession. There is new housing. There is new office space. There are new entertainment options.

Like the rest of South Florida, Delray Beach is benefiting from the pandemic-influenced surge of residents and businesses from the Northeast and Midwest. But the city remains uniquely attractive on its own to investors.

Private money, however, isn’t going throughout the city evenly. Many of the minority-heavy northwest and southwest neighborhoods, despite some investments, still await their full transformation, like areas east of Swinton Avenue. As happened three decades ago with the Decade of Excellence bonds, Delray Beach is using public money—most of it from the community redevelopment agency—to prime the pump in those areas.

If all that wasn’t enough, Delray Beach soon will start spending $120 million from two construction bonds that voters approved last…

Where to Eat, Play, and Stay, in Delray Beach, Florida

You're in a coastal town, so waterfront dining is mandatory. Deck 84 sits on the intracoastal with views of the drawbridge and passing boats with fare like smoked fish dip and burgers. For a meal with fewer frills, Sandwiches by the Sea serves up hearty subs worthy of a beach picnic.

Dinnertime calls for something more elevated—nothing in Delray is ever too fussy, however—like the glitzy Elisabetta’s which counts brick oven-baked wild mushroom pizza and fried bread with ricotta and prosciutto among the standout options. Even in the heat, Delray mainstay Dada, offers respite in its eclectic dining room within in a 1920s house. Outside, a sprawling patio graced by a stately banyan tree makes an ideal spot to enjoy jalapeño agave-glazed salmon alongside a fruity mojito (start with the strawberry basil). 

Delray may be even more lively at night thanks to music venues such as Tin Roof and Johnnie Brown’s, where you’ll hear anything from Mo Town classics to classic rock. The Arts Garage, located within the Pineapple Grove Arts District, has comedy performances in addition to live music. And ending the night with a scoop of stracciatella at Gelato & Co. is always a good choice.