Janis FontaineThe city, aiming to establish ‘foodie’ reputation, is home to more than 100 places to dine.
Are you hungry?
Greenacres leaders want you to know it has more than 120 restaurants that are eager to serve you.
The city in central Palm Beach County is leading a promotion called “Dine Local. Savor Greenacres.” The goal is to lure new diners — residents, visitors and tourists — and position Greenacres as a foodie destination.
“When we realized that we had such major diversity, so many different countries represented, we were really excited about it,” City Manager Andrea McCue said. “What a great opportunity for us to showcase them. When people see ‘restaurant’ in a plaza or a strip center, sometimes they don’t realize what’s behind the door.”
The city decided to show them.
“I’m hopeful people will see a side of Greenacres that they otherwise wouldn’t see,” McCue said.
The promotion features a Facebook post on the city’s website with photos and videos. The focus is on family-owned and operated restaurants, but city eateries of all types and sizes (except national chains) are welcome.
MORI Asian Cuisine’s sushi and more
The promo kicked off in August with a profile of MORI Asian Cuisine at 6806 Forest Hill Blvd.
Brothers Michael and Ken Zhad held the grand opening in January after remodeling the former Peking Tokyo.
“We are super excited to be the first featured restaurant,” Michael Zhad said. “It is an honor to be working with the city.”
Blending traditional Chinese, Japanese and Thai with modern flavors, MORI serves specialties like Peking duck, sizzling beef and mapo tofu alongside the freshest sushi which features their special MORI roll.
MORI’s offers three lunch specials served from 11:30 am to 3 pm Monday-Friday.
- The Sushi Lunch comes with miso soup or salad and your choice of any two rolls for $12, any three for $17, a chef selection with five pieces of sushi and a California roll for $14.95 and a sushi and sashimi lunch combo for $18.95.
- The Kitchen Lunch features the most popular entrees served with miso soup or salad, white rice or fried rice. About a dozen entrees are offered including chicken with broccoli ($11.95), beef with broccoli ($12.95), sweet & sour chicken ($11.95) or shrimp lo mein ($12.95).
- A Thai Curry Lunch with a choice of red or yellow curry is $12-$15, depending on the protein.
Decorated with life-size anime and Asian art, greenery and subdued lighting, the open dining room is relaxed and inviting. The presentation of their food is art.
“Getting support from the city is the best feeling as a local restaurant,” Michael Zhad said. “It means a lot that the city of Greenacres praises it.”
It’s apparently working. “We definitely have noticed business going up after the Facebook post. We saw the amount of love and support from everyone, and in everyone’s shares. We are so glad that many people are discovering us.”
That’s the goal, McCue said. “Let’s spotlight them in a way to make people stop here. Let’s bring to light the diverse range of food so close. Don’t drive by; stop and pick up something on the way home.”
Curry Tabanca’s staying power
Curry Tabanca is the second restaurant highlighted.
Brenda Bernardo has owned the only Trinidadian restaurant in Greenacres for 10 years using the culinary skills she learned from her mother who ran a restaurant in Trinidad.
“Everything is made fresh, by hand, every day,” Bernardo said.
The authentic flavors come from the curries and cumin she imports from her native country. “It’s more adapted to the Caribbean taste. Trinidad is a very multinational, multicultural country, where every creed finds an expression. Everyone partakes in our celebrations, so we learn to cook all kinds of food.”
Those flavors blend deliciously in her kitchen. Familiar favorites include aloo pie, a mix of kicked-up mashed potatoes fried in pastry, macaroni pie, a spicy kind of mac and cheese made with a long pasta, seasoned and baked, and the calalu, a creamy spinach soup, which is one of Trinidad’s national dishes.
Always popular are the doubles — chickpeas in a thin dough that takes just seconds to fry in the oil. You’ll find it on the table for breakfast, lunch or dinner, and it’s a vegan snack.
Lunch specials ($9) are served Tuesday-Saturday and feature favorites like stew chicken, crab and dumplings and Trini Chinese fried rice.
Bernardo works in her restaurant at 4657 Lake Worth Road alongside her husband, son, daughter and son-in-law. Her granddaughter helps when she’s not in school. The eatery has casual indoor seating and outdoor dining.
Bernardo said being chosen for Dine Local was a blessing. “I was elated. I’m excited to showcase the business and bring more traffic to Curry Tabanca.”
The promotion is getting attention, McCue said. “We’re getting a lot of likes and shares. The comments we’ve received are like ‘we’re so lucky to have them here.’”
Greenacres lore
Greenacres turns 100 years old in 2026. Only 6 square miles wedged between Lake Worth Beach and Palm Springs to the east and Wellington to the west, it has a bowling alley, an ice skating rink and a movie theater. It’s home to almost 45,000 people in 16,000 households. And it’s a young city, demographically, with a median age of 38 and a significant population under the age of 25.
“We have a lot of people who like supporting family-owned small businesses,” McCue said. “And we found these businesses go that extra mile.”
