Known as the ‘sailfish capital of the world’, Stuart is located along Florida’s Treasure Coast, just north of Palm Beach County. The historical city offers beautiful beaches, water sports and a famed pedestrian-friendly downtown with live music concerts and a farmers market. An assortment of dining options line the downtown streets and people enjoy dining in an open-air French bistro style atmosphere. Below are our top picks for dining in one of Florida’s most beautiful cities.
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Ellie’s Downtown Deli
Ellie’s Downtown Deli is centrally located in downtown Stuart inside a Victorian-style-house-turned-restaurant offering daily meal specials. Chef Mark Muller’s focus is to provide customers with the best tasting and freshest sandwiches, subs, wrapitos, salads and soups on Florida’s Treasure Coast. Ellie’s Downtown Deli has an excellent selection for lunch, with products that are sourced and produced locally. From the menu, order the mason-dixon sandwich, which consists of honey-glazed ham, muenster cheese, mayo and mustard on a hoagie.
District Table & Bar
District Table & Bar offers a southern-inspired menu driven by seasonal ingredients garnered from local farmers and fishermen. Once inside the restaurant, diners experience a collaborative kitchen where chefs interact with guests. Chefs take whatever ingredients are fresh and available day-to-day and transform them into delicious menu items. What the restaurant doesn’t use immediately, is swiftly preserved, pickled, smoked and saved. From the menu, try the small plates of lamb meatballs, double bacon brussels sprouts and candied beets. For dessert, homemade ice creams, sorbet and cinnamon sugar donuts will do the trick.
Key West Style Crab House
A little off-the-beaten-track, Key West Style Crab House offers a laid-back atmosphere with live music on Thursday and Friday night. The unpretentious crab shack offers copious amounts of crab legs that are cracked and ingested as soon as they’re served. Paper cloth lines tables with shared tin buckets placed in the middle for the shell remains. From the menu, try the crabby platter, which consists of snow crab and Alaskan king crabs. The grouper cheeks, cracked conch, soft shell crab sandwich all go well with the white sangria. Be sure to make a reservation, as this is a very popular local spot.
The Osceola Street Café
The Osceola Street Café is a casual café, great for watching people browse shops along the streets of historical downtown Stuart, and offering an all-American breakfast, light lunch and dinner. Sandwiches, salads and daily specials are served in both an indoors and out. The café is famous for its eggs Benedict breakfast and for lunch, start off with a bowl of rustic spinach and polenta soup with parmesan cheese before moving to the pastrami reuben or grilled chicken panini wrap.
Southern Pig & Cattle
Southern Pig & Cattle offers hand-cut steaks, ribs, BBQ pork and more. For over 40 years, the owners and operators, the Tomlinson and Nolan families, have been known for award-winning barbecue. With large portions at a reasonable price Southern Pig & Cattle is a great option for a filling family meal. From the menu, order the baby back ribs with a potato and a side of macaroni and cheese, or the pulled pork sandwich with a side of green beans and garlic bread.
Basil Garden Thai
Basil Garden Thai is a hole in the wall Thai joint offering authentic Thai food from a family who owns and operates the business. Patrons will feel completely at home, dining on delicious noodles, seafood and soups served in a quaint, old-house with a covered patio, walking distance from downtown Stuart’s Riverfront. Begin with a Thai salad dressed in peanut sauce, followed by the Tom Kha soup and Pad See Ew. After the meal, a complementary fried banana dessert is presented to the table with a sweet dipping sauce.
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Sailor’s Return
Sailor’s Return is one of South Florida’s premier waterfront locations. Located on the St. Lucie River, the restaurant offers 930 feet of courtesy docking for large and small boats. A great spot for a business dinner or lunch, the casual yet elegant atmosphere offers a delectable menu in its one-of-a-kind tropical harbor setting. With 8000 square foot for dining, the 220-seat restaurant boasts two bars that are nestled on Sunset Bay Harbor and Marina with nightly live events. From the menu order the fresh grilled salmon Florentine, pistachio and sesame mahi, or the grilled filet mignon. From the co*cktail menu, check out the nightly drink specials.
Noodle World
Noodle World stands out among the other buildings and restaurants along Osceola Street in downtown Stuart. Located inside a teal blue Art Deco building with a fluorescent ‘Pho’ sign in the window, Noodle World offers an excellent extra spicy khee mao (drunken noodles) with veggies and chow fun noodles (wide rice noodles), each with a salad and peanut dressing. The restaurant offers specialty soups ranging from Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese and Japanese, making Noodle World a one-stop shop to satiate all Pan-Asian noodle carvings.
Riverwalk Café & Oyster Bar
Riverwalk Café & Oyster Bar offers creative cuisine, featuring USDA prime center cut steak and fresh seafood and oysters. With over 120 types of wine and more than 50 of those available by the glass, the River Walk Café is an elegant option for breathtaking views of the St. Lucie River. Brick walls lead to Tiffany lamps hanging from the ceiling of the restaurant. Tables consist of fresh white tablecloths and glowing candles, both indoors and outdoors along the river walk. Say yes to oysters romanoff, ahi tuna nachos, pan seared Atlantic scallops, or the fried oyster po’ boy.
