Photography by Carlos Amoedo
Many Winter Parkers consider New Smyrna Beach their very own Hamptons—a swift getaway for a weekend with coastal beauty (Smyrna Dunes Park!), a touch of Old Florida (Canal Street!), a taste of culture (Arts on Douglas!), delicious dining (name your favorite!), and an IYKYK (If You Know, You Know) subtlety.
Locals have had their favorite dining spots for years, and they’re mostly still there, including Spanish River Grill, The Baker’s Table, Mon Delice, Norwood’s Restaurant & Treehouse Bar, JB’s Fish Camp and The Garlic. But we overnighted at the historic Riverview Hotel & Spa and spent some time sleuthing to come up with some new best bites for your summer getaway. Dig in!
Pickett’s Seafood
Commercial fisherman Matt Pickett took a former roadside seafood market and opened this gem last November, just across the street from the popular Garlic (owned by his in-laws, Jeff and Paige Gehris). It’s hard to miss Pickett’s bright blue building where fans line up for the fresh catch in the seafood case or grab a seat at the bar or one of seven tables.
We loved the golden tilefish, served old-school style—a thick, white filet perfectly golden in a light batter with hot fries and crispy cole slaw. (Matt told us that the tilefish was caught the day before.) Diners can also choose any fish from the market case and ask the kitchen to prepare it grilled, blackened or fried. If you’re lucky, you’ll find fried grouper collars—the succulent delicacy with tender meat and crispy skin—on the menu.
Matt was born and raised in Woodstock, Vermont, spent time on fishing boats in New Hampshire and graduated from the Maine Maritime Academy. He worked for more than a decade in the fishing industry, including four years in Alaska, before switching careers and moving to Pompano Beach with his own commercial fishing boat.
His wife, Samantha, who also grew up in Vermont, was living in New Smyrna Beach. They reconnected to begin a new chapter, now with two young sons and a third child on the way. “I had my own swordfish boat but wanted a way to spend less time fishing and more time with my family,” says Matt.
The harvester-turned-restauranter is sourcing as much locally as possible for Pickett’s—red grouper, swordfish, shrimp, tilefish, stone crab—a bounty indeed mostly from right off the boat. With everything from smoked fish dip to crab cakes and clam chowdah, it doesn’t get any fresher.
601 East 3rd Avenue, New Smyrna Beach, 386-753-3474, pickettsseafood.com
Bar Leona
A sudden afternoon thunderstorm sent us dashing for cover, and we chanced upon lovely Bar Leona on Canal Street, where a gracious server held the door open and beckoned us inside.
We encamped at the bar and ordered steamed mussels and a crisp Albariño to sip while we watched the rain. Brothers Steve and Greg Miller opened the chic space in early 2025—and it’s certainly a stretch from the town’s divey beach bars. (In fact, you might feel like dressing up just a bit.)
As for those steamed mussels, they’re a brothy pot of goodness with housemade seafood stock, white wine, fresh garlic, fennel, basil and parsley, and a dollop of chili paste. Use the accompanying crusty bread slices for sopping up the rich broth. Bar Leona also has a solid wine list and a small menu that leans into pastas, including spicy vodka and mahi and shrimp piccata.
The brothers grew up in nearby Bethune Beach; a third brother, Joey, is a professional fisherman who brings his bounty to the restaurant’s back door. Their parents were in the restaurant business (remember Pepino’s?).
Later, Steve and Greg opened Prima, just around the corner from Bar Leona. The two places are night and day, but when you’re in New Smyrna Beach, you should check out both of them—which we did, as you’ll see in the next section.
111 Canal Street, New Smyrna Beach, @barleona.nsb.
Prima
At Chef Greg Miller’s urging we visited Prima after polishing off the mussels at Bar Leona. (It was just steps away, after all). Once inside, we couldn’t resist a superlative slice of the Bee Line pizza—a crisp crust topped with fresh mozzarella, salami picante, Calabrian chili, hot honey and basil. Beyond.
Prima has the vibe of an old-fashioned pizza place in Brooklyn and has been a mainstay in downtown New Smyrna Beach since opening in 2018. Greg says they serve 150 pizzas a day in the humble storefront, which contains a handful of tables and a few seats at the bar where you can order a slice or the whole pie.
Karla Bonilla has been in the kitchen since opening day, making all the sauces, breads, dressings and dough from scratch. Sidelines include hefty sandwiches, salads, meatballs and spicy rigatoni. But the star of the show remains the pizza—and any neighborhood would be lucky to have Prima.
112 Sams Avenue, New Smyrna Beach, 386-847-8556, primansb.com
Paco Submarine
This unassuming sandwich shop on Dixie Freeway was our biggest New Smyrna Beach surprise. We heard that Chef Brian Cieslak smokes all his meats in a smoker behind the restaurant and that we had to order the pastrami.
That sandwich, it turned out, was a revelation—tender slices of pastrami with the requisite fattiness for flavor, stuffed between two soft slices of seeded rye, Swiss cheese oozing from the center, briny sauerkraut and creamy mustard—all in perfect proportion. It couldn’t have been any better at Katz and Carnegie delis in New York City.
Construction workers line up at lunchtime for Brian’s sandwiches and hand-cut beef tallow fries to dip in his signature malt vinegar aioli. They don’t know (or care) that their hearty lunch was prepared by a chef who had trained and worked with a superstar culinary team for eight years at Preserve, a nationally acclaimed eatery in Annapolis, Maryland.
But rather than chasing a high-profile fine-dining career, Brian and his wife, Sommer—a former ballerina and Level 2 sommelier with whom he had worked in Annapolis—moved to New Smyrna Beach and opened Paco Submarine, a quirky sandwich shop in a 1950s building on a busy highway.
Two-year-old daughter Finley is the main reason. “We don’t want to live in a restaurant, or have our daughter grow up in a restaurant,” says Brian. He adds that “not everyone wants fussy or expensive.” On any given weekday, he notes, Paco hosts “kids on spring break, retirees and construction guys. That was the goal.”
We recommend that pastrami, but Brian always goes for the Paco Burger—a single or double smash patty with cheddar, sub sauce, pickles and shredded lettuce. Specials are more highbrow, like a shredded lamb and ginger wrap or grouper collars that are dry brined and smoked.
Many regulars rave about the local catch cornmeal-tempura fried fish sandwich, or the fried chicken sando with house-smoked bacon and tarragon ranch. Ditto the pineapple-sesame barbecue wings. Brian sources all fish locally and nothing comes frozen or out of a box. “We smoke meats and fish, and confit lamb and duck legs in the smoker,” he explains.
“Paco,” by the way, was Brian’s childhood nickname. Fans of Wes Anderson’s The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou will love the reference to Paco de Lucía, the legendary Spanish flamenco guitarist whose music highlights the soundtrack of the comedy-adventure film—which prominently features an aging submarine.
515 North Dixie Freeway, New Smyrna Beach, 386-402-7436, pacosubmarine.com
Spanish River Grill
We’ve followed Chefs Henry and Michele Salgado for more than 25 years, when Henry was named a James Beard semifinalist (twice) and Spanish River Grill was in a humble strip mall on the road to the beach.
That location was open from 1999 until 2016, when the Salgados packed up for new adventures in Orlando (Txokos Basque Kitchen) and then on to Nashville. But New Smyrna Beach was beckoning Henry, a fourth generation Floridian who was ready to return to his roots.
Henry and Michele’s 2.0 version of Spanish River Grill opened in 2023 on an incongruous stretch of Dixie Freeway—but walk through the front door and you’re instantly transported to an intimate tapas bar like one you might find in Barcelona or San Sebastián, with Michele warmly greeting every guest.
“Longtime fans say they feel at home here,” she says. “It’s not pretentious, but very warm, romantic and hip.” And there’s always a new taste, as the menu changes with Florida’s growing seasons and available seafood. But you’ll always find Spanish pintxos (small, bite-sized snacks) like crisp patatas bravas, jamón croquetas and pan con tomate.
Tinned fish is having a moment, and our current favorite is the simple conserva board—an artisanal selection of imported goodies such as tuna belly in warm Galician butter, pulpo and spiced mackerel or razor clams, served with warm grilled tomato conserva and garlic aioli. It gives off a “girl dinner” vibe with Portuguese flair.
You’ll love enjoying Henry’s small plates with a great glass of Spanish wine or a cocktail but also consider sharing a generous pan of paella—Spain’s most iconic rice dish—or the crispy chicken a la plancha with hot cherry pepper jus. There are no wrong choices.
1518 South Dixie Freeway, New Smyrna Beach, 386-957-4788, spanishrivergrill.com
The Local Pearl
Chefs Henry and Michele Salgado—the Spanish River Grill team, you’ll recall—first opened The Local Pearl in April 2018, then shuttered the business in 2020 when they headed to Nashville. Now the oyster bar is back—but with an expanded dining concept that includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Henry reconnected with longtime friend Jeffrey Randazzo, and they are partnering in the new space, which opened last June on Canal Street.
Says Henry: “There’s a raw bar with as much local seafood as possible, but we’re also serving fried chicken with collard greens and a St. Johns River catfish Cuban sandwich.”
Other offerings include a basic breakfast or more generous rise-and-shine plates like huevos rancheros with Carolina Gold rice. An intriguing selection is the “Chef’s Hangover Breakfast,” which includes fried eggs, chorizo, yellow rice and plantains.
Oysters, however, still take center stage, with local bivalves coming from New Smyrna Beach’s SharkBite Oysters. But The Local Pearl also is sourcing the best oysters—as well as fresh mussels—from the East and West coasts and Prince Edward Island.
They’re also upping their game with caviar service from California’s Passmore Caviar. We tried the SharkBite oysters with Henry’s cucumber fennel mignonette and polished off a dozen—nothing better than those briny, just-cracked-open local oysters with a dip in the bright sauce. Look for the Salgados’ adjacent seafood market to open later this summer.
124 Canal Street, New Smyrna Beach, @thelocalpearl
Third Wave Café & Wine Bar
Third Wave Café & Wine Bar isn’t exactly new. The award-winning little restaurant opened in 2014 but closed in 2025 for renovations. It then reopened only to pause operations again following a fire this past February.
Good news—the restaurant is back in business for summertime with a more refined dining room, more covered outdoor seating and the enchanting garden patio where you’ll hear Mr. Bean, the resident rooster, crowing while you enjoy breakfast—the meal we’re recommending.
Yes, Third Wave has an impressive wine and cocktail list that has garnered awards from Wine Spectator. It’s also a member of both the James Beard Foundation Smart Catch and Monterey Bay Seafood Watch programs. Nearly everyone has a favorite on the lunch or dinner menu.
But be first in line at 9 a.m. for the Brisket Hash, a hefty bowl of wood-fired roasted potatoes, caramelized onion, roasted red pepper, sweet corn, house-made mozzarella, generous bits of beef brisket, a drizzle of red pepper coulis and a flourish of beet sprouts topped by two over-easy eggs.
You might want to share this one. And pair it with a signature Bloody Mary with a splash of pickle juice. “We have diehard breakfast and diehard dinner guests,” says Chef Dave Moscoso, who’s been with Third Wave for 10 years. “For me, breakfast is like an empty canvas—and we’re always having fun coming up with new ideas.”
204 Flagler Avenue, New Smyrna Beach, 386-402-7864, thirdwavensb.com
TW Smokehouse
With a walk-up window and picnic tables alongside busy Orange Street, Third Wave’s Chef Dave Moscoso—with whom we just visited—considers this new “artisan barbecue” an extension of Flagler Avenue’s Third Wave.
TW Smokehouse opened in February, and sizzling barbecue scents the air as folks line up for smoked meats and sides like corn pudding with local honey, baked beans with bits of smoked brisket, hot Cheeto mac ‘n’ cheese, tender collards and banana pudding. Sausage, turkey, beef and pork all share space in the smoker, along with candied smoked salmon and fish dip for Third Wave.
Dave spent time cooking in Texas and fell in love with authentic barbecue, like the heritage-breed Duroc ribs that we recommend—rich and juicy, the gold standard for pork. And these ribs aren’t sticky and falling off the bone; they’re robust, with a smoky-sweet crust that gives way to tender meat.
“We’re not a barbecue restaurant, but a smokehouse,” explains Dave. “We’re cooking overnight, low and slow, with hickory and post oak.” No matter what you order, don’t skip those ribs—or get just one as a side for $3 to pair with the beef brisket or a slice of smoked lamb shoulder. Just do it.
218 North Orange Street, New Smyrna Beach, @tw_smokehouse
PamBrandon, Winter Park Magazine’s nationally acclaimed food writer, has written 29 cookbooks for The Walt Disney Company (several of them bestsellers), and has just begun a new cookbook for Penguin Random House that will mark the 100th anniversary of our old buddy Mickey Mouse. Her most recent work is Orlando’s Kitchens, a book that explores eclectic local neighborhoods through stories and recipes. That project was undertaken for Visit Orlando, the official tourism association for Orange County. Brandon, whose career as a journalist focused mostly on food and travel spans more than 30 years, is also on executive board of directors of the Emeril Lagasse Foundation Kitchen House & Culinary Garden in College Park, and on the board of Get Cooking, a non-profit program designed to teach low-income families how to prepare healthy dinners.