West Palm Beach May 2026

M AY 2 0 2 6 | W E S T PA L M B E A C H 19 I n 1989, after years of toiling under the critical eye of a famous relative at a renowned upper Manhattan restaurant, an obsessive pizza maker decided to finally strike out on his own. And after a seemingly endless search, he fell in love with an empty, broken- down former hardware store located within a long-ago thriving— but now desolate and sketchy—section of Brooklyn waterfront. On a shoestring budget, he and his business-minded spouse breathed new life into this homely, single-story “taxpayer” in a forgotten Borough. Within months, their vision of an old school, neighborhood pizza parlor was transformed into a “must visit” destination for virtually every pie-loving New Yorker. Thirty-five years later, this formerly neglected slice of real estate, bordered by historic Brooklyn Heights and art and tech hub, DUMBO, has become one of the most sought-after places to live, work, and dine. And that now iconic building at 19 Old Fulton Street, directly under the Brooklyn Bridge, is still churning out coal oven-fired pies to throngs of visitors from around the world while continuing to grace virtually every list of the “best of the best.” Why does this matter, one might ask? One simple but delicious reason: that humble but award-winning pizza emporium, known as Juliana’s®, has just opened its only location outside of Brooklyn, in the new NORA District of West Palm Beach—and the parallels are not unremarkable. TRANSFORMATION UNDERWAY NORA (named for its eponymous main street, North Railroad Avenue), is a 40-acre, phased and adaptive reuse project just blocks from the heart of a newly surging downtown whose developers have preserved and modernized a corridor of historic buildings dating to the early 20th century while revitalizing this formerly blighted stretch of industrial warehouses into a vibrant, experience-driven, mixed-use community featuring local and regional dining concepts, curated retailers, salons, an art gallery, a soon-to-be opened boutique hotel and a near-term plan for luxury and affordable multi-family housing. A SEASONED NEWCOMER ARRIVES Early during NORA’s evolution, the owners of Juliana’s were struck by the similarities of these neighborhood origin stories— not to mention a dearth of comparable pizza options nearby— and so they decided to bring their pizza (named No. 1 in the USA by travel site, Tripadvisor) to Palm Beach County. Co-founded by NYC pizza legend Patsy Grimaldi and close friend and former investment banker Matthew Grogan, the duo embarked on a journey to replicate the look and feel of their Brooklyn flagship location and, more importantly, the taste of their beloved coal- fired pies. Since opening late last year, Juliana’s has been serving up its acclaimed pizza within the NORA District as its first full- service dining destination. Juliana’s is located at 875 North Railroad Avenue, West Palm Beach. https://www.julianaspizza.com Famed Pizza Emporium Arrives in South Florida A TALE OF TWO COASTAL CITIES, 1200 MILES APART, WITH EVOLVING LIFESTYLE, CULTURAL, AND BUSINESS CONNECTIONS, NOW INEXTRICABLY LINKED BY THE WORLD’S MOST POPULAR CUISINE. – By Justin Stevens – COMMUNITY