The retail momentum in the Clematis District continues to flourish as new retailers and restaurants continue to open. Two significant new businesses, LiveIT Academy and Munoz Photography, and four new dining and nightlife destinations, Taverna Yiasou, Rotelli, Café Med and Mai Thai & Martini, have opened in Downtown West Palm Beach.
Recognized as the only IT school between Orlando and Ft. Lauderdale, LiveIT Academy, an approximately 7,000-sq.-ft. computer training school, has opened recently at 315 S. Dixie Highway. Computer-certified trainers Donald Maxwell and Johnny Garchelin, who have more than 10 years teaching experience, opened the school to provide students the perfect mix of hands-on training with theory in state-of-the-art classrooms. At LiveIT Academy, business employees learn critical computer skills to enhance their skill sets and help their companies operate more efficiently. The school also enables students to gain industry-recognized certifications and helps the local workforce acquire the technology skills necessary to advance in their careers, or discover a new one!
LiveIT Academy students can opt to take one course, such as how to use Microsoft Word, Quickbooks, Ethical Hacking, Computer Security, and Introduction to Information Technology. Students can also register for an entire program, such as Wide Area Network System Engineer, Office System Management, Web Design Technology, Wireless Network Administrator and P.C. Support Technician, among others. The owners, who created the programs, have formed strategic partnerships with regional technology training companies to assist with course facilitation.
“We are focused on providing valuable hands-on computer training to help South Florida businesses and its workforce thrive in this technology-dependant era,” Maxwell said. “We instantly recognized Downtown West Palm Beach as the most logical location for our first Academy. It’s such a thriving, growing urban marketplace filled with businesses that need the latest technology and resources at their fingertips.”
LiveIT Academy offers day, evening and weekend classes. Courses start at $2,000, while programs, which include a personal laptop or desktop with the registration fee, range from $5,000 to $18,900. For more information, please visit www.liveitacademy.com or call 561-832-4268.
Mario Munoz knows photography. Nearly 100 years after his ancestors opened a small photography shop in Cuba, Munoz has opened the second location of his Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.-based studio Munoz Photography at 319 Clematis St. Munoz, who learned the skills and passion of photography from his father and grandfather, now works with a team of 15 employees, including his wife, Joann; four sons, Tom, Mario Jr., Marceliano and Armando; and one daughter-in-law, Tom’s wife, Erika. Munoz’s photographers specialize in in-studio portraits or on-location photography to capture all of life’s dearest moments, from weddings, quinces and bar and bat mitzvahs, to family, children and maternity portraits. Munoz specializes in innovative, fresh-looking photography, emphasizing the emotions behind the shot. The company recently won three prestigious awards for wedding photography at the Southeastern Professional Photographers of America (SEPPA) annual meeting. The company was awarded first place in three categories: wedding album, wedding portrait, and best of show in the wedding category for photography shot at a wedding at The Breakers.
For more information or to learn more about their services, please visit www.munozphoto.net or call 561-655-6150.
On the restaurant front, Taverna Yiasou, the 2,200-sq.-ft. eatery located at 221 Datura St., is tantalizing taste buds with its wide array of homemade Greek cuisine, suitable for the most discriminating palettes. Menu items include saganaki, a smokin’ hot flambé cheese appetizer; hummus and pita; grape leaves; Greek salads; gyro sandwiches and platters; kebabs with chicken, beef or lamb; traditional moussaka; authentic Greek desserts, and even Cuban sandwiches. Owner Odis Giakas, who has more than 40 years of restaurant experience, previously owned iterations of the same restaurant in Delray and Greenacres, but has since sold the spaces so he could open Taverna Yiasou in Downtown West Palm Beach. The restaurant, which also features a display case filled with prepared Greek foods and raw groceries that patrons can cook at home, has become a new neighborhood favorite since it opened in January. Patrons also love the belly dancers, who shake their hips Thursday through Saturday, with shows at 7:00 p.m. and 8:45 p.m.
Open Monday through Saturday from 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., the typical lunch tab is less than $10, and dinner entrees, which include soup or salad, range from $11.95 to $22.95. For more information, please visit www.tavernayiasou.com or call 561-531-5416.
When Joe Cotromano, Jeff Smith and Jim Exline were looking for a location to open their second Rotelli franchise, they knew immediately that Downtown West Palm Beach was the place they was searching for. The restaurant, which prides itself on delicious, yet affordable Italian dishes, has become an instant hit with Downtown employees and residents since opening in January. A chain restaurant that feels like your local neighborhood Italian eatery, Rotelli has more than 45 outposts throughout the country, although most are based in South Florida. The trio’s West Palm Beach location, just like their Boca Raton location at Yamato Road and Congress Blvd., boasts the restaurant’s signature “world famous lunch special” – a half sandwich, a salad or cup of soup and a slice of pizza for just $6.78. The kitchen also dishes up an expansive array of options including soups; healthy salads like the pecan-encrusted chicken salad; sandwiches and wraps; calzones; stromboli; and personal or family-size gourmet pizzas, ranging from the Hawaiian or buffalo chicken pie, to a meat-and-vegetable-loaded Napoletana pie. Entrees include veal and chicken dishes prepared parmigiana, francese or marsala style; grilled mahi-mahi; and a Rotelli sampler, a pasta dish complete with meatballs, sausage, eggplant, rolatine, ravioli and a veal cannelloni baked in tomato sauce and topped with marinara sauce.
Located on the first floor of the Esperante Building at 222 Lakeview Ave., the 4,018-sq.-ft. Rotelli also offers a daily two-for-one happy hour from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., and features live entertainment on Fridays, starting at 4:00 p.m. The restaurant is open Monday through Saturday, 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., and Sundays, 12:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Take-out and delivery are available in a limited area. Rotelli also offers a full catering menu. For more information, please call 561-296-0881 or visit www.rotellipizzapasta.com.
Café Med, located at 301 Clematis St., quickly has become the go-to location Downtown for delicious, healthy and affordable food… served fast! Until last year, the 1,500-sq.-ft. restaurant was known as Casey’s Cheesesteaks, but after hearing constant feedback from women wanting more figure-friendly fare, owners Serena Kaytmaz, Gino Alper and Yujel Akdeniz decided to create a healthier incarnation of their original concept. Just three months later, business is steadily growing, with women now making 60 percent of purchases. The menu still features Casey’s favorites – cheesesteaks, all-beef skinless hotdogs and French fries – but the menu is now laden with healthy, lighter fare. Options include a create-your-own salad bar with more than 50 fruit, vegetable and meat toppings; hot and cold subs; wraps and sandwiches; giant slices of thin-crust pizza; or the option to create your own gourmet pie. With big windows opening the restaurant to the hustle and bustle of Clematis Street, both the indoor and outdoor seating areas are prime locations for people-watching.
Café Med is open Monday through Wednesday, 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., Thursday through Saturday, 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m., and is closed on Sunday. Free delivery is available in the Downtown area. For more information, please call 561-833-1900.
Mai Thai & Martini is a new, open-air hotspot and restaurant taking up 2,500 sq. ft. at 330 Clematis St. Just as the name says, this new venue boasts an impressive martini list, with distinctive varieties including a watermelon-cucumber, blueberry and apple-infused. Mai Thai & Martini also boasts one of Florida’s best infused mojitios, a refreshing combination of citrus rum, pure sugar cane, lime and chopped mint. An outdoor fountain and tiki torches set the laid-back atmosphere, especially with the storefront left wide open to those passing by. While food is not yet being served, owner Frank Garcia is finalizing plans to menu options from a favorite local restaurant to his location.
For more information, please call 561-514-0523.
In the last year, the DDA has announced that 24 new restaurants, retailers and nightspots either opened or are coming soon, including the celebrity-laden Clematis Street Live, a multi-venue restaurant and entertainment complex in the 200 block of Clematis Street. Four celebs have a stake in the project: Motley Crue’s Vince Neil, Washington Redskins Todd Wade and former UF quarterback Bob Hewko will open Dr. Feelgood’s Rock Bar & Grill; and Bravo! Network’s “Top Chef” star and Palm Beach County, Fla.-native, Stephen Asprinio, will open Forté di Asprinio. In addition to the building’s current tenant, Sushi Rok, two other new projects will open in the complex: Lost Weekends and Rebar. All projects are scheduled for completion this summer.
Additional new dining and nightlife options to the Clematis District are Roxy’s, Nobles, Corina’s in the City, Fire Rock Grill, Sprinkles Downtown Cafe, The Underground, Ken’s Steakhouse, The Lounge and Phat Sandwiches. Other new merchants include Soho Living, a Brandon’s Furniture concept; Sole Estate; East Coast Boardroom; and Gruv clothing and apparel. Nearly all the new restaurants and stores are open, or expected to be open by the summer.
For more information about Downtown West Palm Beach, please contact the DDA at (561) 833-8873.
