Nicole Danna| Special to the Palm Beach Post
A beloved bar and restaurant in Boca Raton's Mizner Park has been revamped, reopening recently as a quaint eatery specializing in Southern-inspired cuisine with a soulful New Orleans-style twist.
Well-known South Florida-based hospitality group Sub-Culture quietly opened the doors to its eighth Palm Beach County establishment on June 15, a move that follows the recent opening of El Segundo in West Palm Beach, with still more concepts set to come online in the coming months.
Dubbed Penelope, the restaurant — located in the space formerly occupied by the original Kapow! Noodle Bar at 431 Plaza Real — is now open for dinner daily, with plans to expand hours with lunch and weekend brunch in the coming weeks.
Conceived by South Florida restaurateurs Vaughan Dugan and Sub-Culture Group founder Rodney Mayo — who are partnered in El Segundo — the duo say Penelope aims to fill the void of approachable New Orleans-style fare in South Florida.
Mayo tells the Palm Beach Post he is continually inspired by the spirit of New Orleans, one of the nation's few remaining cities able to offer a glimpse into the zeitgeist of the Southern-American culture of the 1800's.
"We knew we wanted to focus on Southern cuisine, but slightly different than what you might find at our sister establishment, Sassafras," says Mayo.
According to Dugan, the menu offers a number of familiar dishes that range from appetizers and salads to sandwiches and classic staples, most given a decided Creole and Cajun flare.
Think small plate starters like from-scratch biscuits and honey butter, gumbo, bone marrow-roasted escargots, baked or raw oysters, and Cajun-style mussels ($11-$40). Filed under "handhelds," a trio of sandwiches include the quintessential oyster po' boy and a muffaletta, an antipasti sandwich of sorts that marries capicola, salami, mortadella, provolone topped with chopped olives and peppers ($15-$22). Several salads, priced $10-$17, provide lighter fare.
Several entrée-style dishes touch on meat, seafood, and vegetarian options. A daily catch or butcher's cut serves to spotlight rotating specials alongside classics like shrimp and grits; a seafood stew prepared with prawns, mussels, and local catch en croûte; and buttermilk fried chicken served with the house-made biscuits ($25-$33).
A solitary dessert option nods to one of New Orleans most infamous sweet endings, the beignet — here served hot from the fryer with a dusting of powdered sugar and a coffee crème anglaise for dipping.
Penelope's cozy new interior offers limited table seating, but street-side tables and a courtyard patio presents plenty of outdoor options. Like the original Kapow!, which relocated to a larger space in October 2022, the high-energy indoor/outdoor bar remains the heart of the space.
The co*cktail program, curated by co-owner Angela Dugan, offers a short list of co*cktails that will expand over the coming months with a focus on house-made ingredients, vibrant botanical infusions, a variety of zero-proof libations, and varied selection of global wines available by the glass.
Future restaurants, coffee shop openings by Sub-Culture throughout Palm Beach County
Moving forward, expect to see a flurry of openings across Palm Beach County from Mayo, who plans to open a number of food and beverage concepts ranging from his Sub-Culture branded coffee shop to an indoor food hall in downtown West Palm Beach in the coming months.
Upcoming openings include the fifth Sub-Culture Coffee shop set to open later next month at 302 NE Sixth Avenue in Delray Beach. In Lake Worth Beach, Mayo will also breathe new life into the former C.W.S. Bar & Kitchen space at 522 Lucerne Avenue with an all-new concept dubbed Man Ray. An opening is slated for early fall.
Later this year, Mayo also hopes to welcome Shaker & Pie in Boca Raton, another collaboration alongside Dugan with a focus on pizza and shareable Italian small plates. It will operate in the space formerly occupied by Dubliner Irish Pub and adjacent to Penelope in Mizner Park.
Further north, Mayo will introduce his first food hall concept dubbed The Hacienda. The 6,400 square-foot space located at 522 Clematis Street is just steps from several of Mayo's other establishments including Kapow! Noodle Bar, Hullabaloo, Sub-Culture Coffee, Voltaire's Lair, and the longtime live music venue Respectable Street.
Penelope restaurant in Boca Raton's Mizner Park
Location: Mizner Park at 431 Plaza Real, Boca Raton, 5
Hours: 4 to 11 p.m. daily with late-night bar open Friday and Saturday until 1 a.m.
More info: 561-896-1038; penelopeofboca.com.
