Here is the thing nobody tells you about Del Mar. Walk in on a weekday between 4:00 and 5:30, order a single entree off the Early Dining menu, and the starter and the dessert both come off the bill. Hummus with warm house made pita to open. Pistachio walnut baklava with ice cream, or the olive oil cake, to close. That is two free courses at a room where the ribeye is $71. It is not a coupon or a grand opening promo either, it is a standing menu printed on their own site right next to the dinner menu. It is the single best reason to drive 30 minutes up I-95 from Boca right now.

Del Mar sits at 1015 N Railroad Ave in West Palm Beach's NORA District, and it is genuinely big. Roughly 12,000 square feet, with a fully open kitchen, three private dining rooms, two bars, and a courtyard terrace that seats close to 100 people on its own. The menu follows the Mediterranean coastline from Greece and Southern Spain through Morocco, France, Italy and Turkey, it is made from scratch, and it rotates with the season.

What to Actually Order

The showpiece is the Open Fire Roasted Shellfish Platter, $75 for the small and $145 for the large. South African lobster tail, scallops, prawns, clams and mussels, all finished with garlic and lemon. It is built for the middle of the table, so this is the one you bring people for, not the one you order alone on a Tuesday.

The lobster spaghetti is $64 and it is the plate that ends up on everyone's phone, tossed in a sweet garlic tomato sauce with parmigiano reggiano and calabrian chili. On the fish side, the branzino is $59 with olive oil crushed potatoes, radicchio, frisee and a lemon caper vinaigrette, and the sea bass is $62 in an heirloom tomato broth with fennel confit. The lamb rack is $65 with roasted squash, green olives, pine nuts and preserved lemon jus. If you want to stay under fifty, the half roasted chicken with curried carrots and za'atar is $39 and the truffle agnolotti with fresh shaved truffles is $38.

Start with the dips regardless. Hummus is $8, tzatziki is $8, and the spicy feta is $9, all of them served with the house made pita. The loaded hummus with pomegranate braised lamb and green tahini is $27 and eats more like a small plate than a dip. The charred octopus is $29 and the Turkish flatbreads run $15 to $19.

Come on a weekend morning instead and brunch runs 11 AM to 3 PM Saturday and Sunday, and the kitchen does not close after it. Dinner picks up at 3 and runs straight through, so a Saturday you can walk in any time between 11 AM and 10 PM. The lobster scramble is $32, the shakshuka with two harissa stewed eggs and feta is $21, the Turkish eggs with labneh and serrano ham are $19, and the cinnamon orange French toast is $18. Worth flagging if it matters to you: the menu marks several of these gluten-free friendly on request, but it also says plainly that the kitchen is not fully gluten free, so ask your server rather than assuming.

The Insider Move

There are two ways to eat here without the full damage. The Early Dining menu is the bigger one, and the window is narrow: weekdays only, 4:00 to 5:30, so it does not apply on Saturday or Sunday. Order the $39 half roasted chicken with curried carrots and za'atar, add the free hummus and the free baklava, and you have a three course dinner for the price of one entree. Two things to know before you book: a 20% gratuity is added automatically for parties of 6 or more, and corkage is $30 a bottle with a two bottle limit.

The other is happy hour, Monday through Friday from 4 to 6 PM. It is $5 off signature cocktails, $4 off dips and flatbreads, and $3 off select wines by the glass. The catch is that it runs in the bar area only, so do not let the host walk you to a dining room table if the discount is the reason you came. Say bar when you arrive. Valet out front is $5, which beats circling NORA, and since the neighborhood is walkable you can stack the afternoon with H&H Bagels or Juliana's Pizza a few minutes away on foot.

What People Are Saying

The praise clusters hard around the room, the service and brunch. Diners keep naming the same three things at brunch: the lobster scramble, the French toast and the olive oil cake. Service gets its own mentions too, with people repeatedly noting how smoothly a room this size runs, which tracks for a group on its fourth Del Mar.

It is not unanimous and we would rather tell you. One OpenTable diner went in for the lobster pasta and the branzino and came away unimpressed with both, sent back an overcooked calamari, and felt the olives were heavy across the board, while still praising the drinks and the atmosphere. Read that as a broad menu that is stronger in some corners than others. Stick to the shellfish platter, the lamb rack and the dips and you are on the safest ground.

Quick Context

Del Mar has been open in NORA since April, and it is Cameron Mitchell Restaurants' first Palm Beach County room and the fourth Del Mar, after Naples, Columbus and Fort Lauderdale. Practically, that means the service runs like a group that has done this before, and it means the prices are set accordingly. Go in expecting a splurge dinner rather than a casual weeknight.

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