Ask a longtime Delray Beach resident where to eat and the answer usually unspools east along Atlantic Avenue toward the water. Deck 84 for the dock and dine. City Oyster for the raw bar. Maybe a turn into Pineapple Grove for Akira Back or Rose's Daughter. That's the mental map most people carry, and it's the one visitors get handed too.
This August, that map is missing a whole section. The most talked-about restaurant openings in Delray Beach right now aren't scattered around downtown the way they usually are. They're concentrated inside one seven-acre development at the corner of Atlantic and Swinton, a site plenty of residents have driven past a hundred times without ever parking the car.
The compound most residents have only seen from the outside
That development is Sundy Village, a mixed-use campus developed by Pebb Capital and designed by the architecture firm Gensler. Phase One reached completion in September 2025, when the project received its Temporary Certificate of Occupancy, delivering 100,000 square feet of Class A office space, 30,000 square feet of retail and dining, and 268 below-grade parking spaces, with leasing already at 88 percent of the space when that milestone was announced, according to Florida YIMBY's coverage of the certificate of occupancy.
The dining lineup signed for the site includes:
- Barcelona Wine Bar
- Van Leeuwen Ice Cream
- Double Knot
- Drinking Pig BBQ
- Maman
- Delray Beach Craft Brewing
That's six food and drink concepts inside one property line, which is a different pattern than the block-by-block way new restaurants usually land in this city. Pebb Capital co-founder Todd Rosenberg framed the leasing pace this way when Phase One wrapped:
"Completing this phase with the majority of the campus leased affirms the strategy we envisioned from the outset."
The strategy, in plain terms, is that Sundy Village was built to function as its own gravity well inside downtown Delray rather than as one more storefront filling in a gap on Atlantic Avenue.
What's actually open, and what's still behind a construction fence
Barcelona Wine Bar was the first full-service restaurant to open at Sundy Village, arriving on Jan. 17, 2026, according to a Yahoo Travel feature on where to eat in Delray Beach. Executive chef Javier Narváez, who previously ran the brand's Miami location, prints a new menu daily rather than sticking to one fixed lineup, though staples like jamón and Manchego croquetas and several paellas stay in rotation. The wine list runs more than 400 bottles, with roughly 40 available by the glass, which is an unusually deep pour list for a restaurant that's been open seven months.
Drinking Pig BBQ, a barbecue operator with roots in Miami, is next in line. The same Yahoo Travel piece reported the restaurant was working toward a September opening at Sundy Village, bringing smoked meats with Caribbean and Asian influence, including jerk-spiced brisket, to a corner of downtown that hasn't had a dedicated barbecue restaurant before.
Double Knot is the more uncertain timeline. Chef Michael Schulson, known for the concept's Philadelphia flagship and its Wynwood location, filed permit applications for a Delray Beach outpost, but as of this past spring the restaurant group hadn't announced an opening date, per Hoodline's reporting on the permit filings. Maman, the French bakery brand with a cult following in New York, has also signed a lease at Sundy Village but hasn't locked in a specific opening month either.
Delray Beach Craft Brewing has the most distinct address of the group. It's slated to open inside the restored Cathcart House, one of the historic homes on Swinton Avenue that Pebb Capital preserved rather than demolished when it took over the site. The full campus, including the reopening of the restored 1902 Sundy House at its center, is expected to be finished by the end of 2026 or early 2027, according to reporting from the dining news outlet What Now.
So the honest status update, seven months into the year, is one restaurant fully open and building a following, one aiming for a specific month, and two more still waiting on a date.
The rest of downtown kept its own calendar
None of this paused what was already happening east of Swinton. The 12th Annual Summer GreenMarket ran every Saturday from May 30 through July 25, 2026, at Old School Square, and it wrapped for the season before August even started, according to the Delray Beach Community Redevelopment Agency. If Saturday mornings at the GreenMarket were part of your routine, that particular ritual is on pause until the winter season picks back up.
What hasn't ended yet is the free parking. Every Wednesday, day and night, the city's downtown garages and surface lots have been free to use, a perk that runs June 3 through Aug. 26, per the Downtown Delray Beach Local Lens blog. That leaves three more free Wednesdays this month, on Aug. 12, 19, and 26, which is worth knowing whether you're headed to an old favorite on Atlantic or trying one of the new tables west of Swinton for the first time.
The same source notes that Delray Beach Municipal Beach has earned its Blue Flag designation for the fourth year in a row, an international certification awarded only to beaches meeting a strict set of environmental criteria.
Old School Square isn't going quiet either. As part of the #LoveDelray Feel Good Summer programming that runs through Aug. 31, the calendar for the back half of the month includes:
- Aug. 22: Delray's Hottest Party, a women's wellness celebration, from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Vintage Gym at Old School Square
- Aug. 27: Sounds of The Set, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Libby Wesley Plaza
- Aug. 28: "Party in Paradise," a tribute night to Jimmy Buffett, from 5 to 10 p.m. at Old School Square
That schedule comes from Downtown Delray Beach's own event listings, which track programming across the district week to week.
Two centers, one downtown
The point isn't that Sundy Village is replacing anything. Old School Square is still hosting concerts most weeks. The beach still has its Blue Flag. The free Wednesday parking is still running through the end of the month. What's changed is that downtown Delray now has two places pulling foot traffic instead of one, and the newer one happens to sit on a corner most residents have only ever seen through a windshield.
If you haven't crossed Swinton yet to see what's actually built there, this is a reasonable month to do it. Barcelona has had time to settle into a rhythm, Drinking Pig BBQ should be lighting its smokers within weeks, and the rest of the lineup will keep filling in through the fall.
If you're the kind of person who likes knowing what's actually happening in your own neighborhood before it shows up in a listing description somewhere, that's the sort of thing I try to track for clients and neighbors alike. I'm Sarah Gandrey, and I'd love to connect if you ever want a second set of eyes on what's changing in Delray Beach, whether that's a new restaurant or a new listing down the block.
