RESTAURANT DESIGN TOUR: Elisabetta's Ristorante West Palm Beach

The sprawling new waterfront restaurant is the second location for the popular Italian dining concept from Big Time Restaurant Group.

words by Sherri Balefsky Hanson

photos courtesy of Elisabetta's

Earlier this year, West Palm Beach celebrated the much-anticipated opening of Elisabetta’s Ristorante, Bar and Pizzeria. It is the second outpost for Big Time Culinary Director Lisabet Summa’s namesake Italian dining concept, whose original location opened in July 2019 on Delray Beach’s Atlantic Avenue.

Corporate Culinary Director Lisabet Summa and Elisabetta’s Executive Chef Andris Salmanis, joined by Salvatore Ferragamo at the opening of the WPB outpost

The 300-seat, 10,000-square-foot space was designed in collaboration with interior designer Karen Hanlon of KH Design, Inc. and Big Time Restaurant Group co-owner Todd Herbst. “For years, I have been studying and photographing some of the greatest restaurants in the world,” says Herbst. “The space is meant to evoke a resort restaurant on the coast in the Mediterranean.”

It’s easy for diners to feel as though they’ve been transported to Europe, thanks to the restaurant’s prime location facing the intracoastal. The sprawling awning-covered patio also offers unique Italian-inspired design elements like a 25-foot fireplace, four vintage gazebos, a 19th-century gelato cart and a regulation-size bocce ball court.

patio dining at Elisabetta's West Palm Beach

A cluster of custom glass pendants adds to the charm of the interiors.

The central indoor-outdoor bar features a pewter countertop lined with custom red leather bar stools studded with brass nailheads. The area seamlessly transitions from the patio into the main dining room, which is highlighted by rustic elements like wood-beamed ceilings and exposed brick walls.

interior bar at Elisabetta's West Palm Beach

On the other end of the dining room is the Calacatta marble salumi bar (where the restaurant cures its own salumi on-site) and two gilded beehive-shaped pizza ovens imported from Naples, Italy.

seating alongside the marble-clad salumi bar

Vintage photographs are scattered throughout the restaurant, which Herbst says were placed to “evoke a time, place and feeling that we want you to experience when you visit.”

glass-enclosed private dining room

Whether you opt to dine inside or out, you can expect nothing less than exceptional culinary options. Like its sister restaurant Louie Bossi, Elisabetta’s notably makes all of its pasta, bread, sauce, gelato and desserts from scratch. The menu also includes many of Louie Bossi’s signature pizza and pasta dishes, along with expanded seafood, chicken and salad options. The seemingly endless food choices are complemented by a 400-bottle wine list.

Elisabetta’s Ristorante, Bar and Pizzeria is located at 185 Banyan Blvd., West Palm Beach. It is open for dinner nightly, lunch Monday through Friday, and brunch Saturday and Sunday (complete with $16 unlimited mimosas, Aperol spritzes, bloody marys and frosé).

For more information or for reservations, visit elisabettas.com

Sherri Balefsky Hanson is a Miami-based writer, editor and graphic designer with more than a decade of experience working with luxury lifestyle publications. She enjoys spending her free time with her husband, Jeremy, and their adorable (yet utterly spoiled) Maltese, Joey.