New: Iconic restaurant turns 22, celebrates with 22-cent mojitos in Palm Beach County

Liz Balmaseda, Palm Beach Post
·2 min read
A majestic banyan tree anchors the front yard of Dada restaurant in Delray Beach.
A majestic banyan tree anchors the front yard of Dada restaurant in Delray Beach.

Happy birthday to a restaurant that combines vintage and hipster, romance and surrealism, all in a setting that twinkles by night beneath a splendid banyan tree.

Dada turns 22 today, Oct. 22. The funky restaurant, which inhabits Delray Beach’s 1920s-era Tarrimore house, will celebrate with 22-cent mojitos Saturday night (9 to 11 p.m.) and $22 entrees all day.

Dada, which gets its name from the satirical art movement of the early 1920s, has become a local favorite on Swinton Avenue. Earlier this year, it made the list for Yelp’s “Top 100 Places to Eat in the U.S.”

In 2019, Dada earned a spot on Yelp’s “Top 100 Most Romantic Restaurants” in the country. The romantic-ambiance honor came despite (or maybe because of) Dada’s decor, which depicts surrealist, Dali-esque ants crawling on a wall.

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In addition to the setting and vibe, regulars love the restaurant’s trusty menu items. Some of those dishes were on the restaurant’s original menu in 2000, says Dada partner Scott Frielich of the Sub-Culture restaurant group. He cites Dada’s mezze board, the grilled Brie platter and the jumbo lump crab cake appetizers as examples.

At Dada, the best-selling appetizer is the Dada Dates.
At Dada, the best-selling appetizer is the Dada Dates.

The restaurant’s best-selling appetizer, the Dada Dates, stuffed with goat cheese, chorizo and Manchego and wrapped in black-pepper bacon, was added in 2002, he says.

“We also brought back our butternut squash ravioli recently,” says Frielich of an original dish that had been on the opening menu and was reintroduced with a twist. “We changed it to a vegan version with roasted garlic cashew cream.”

Saturday’s celebration includes a magic show by entertainer Karl Koppertop, a performance by impersonator Thai Elvis (8 p.m.) and a show by the alt-rock group The Haunt (10 p.m.).

Dada: 52 N. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach, 561-330-3232, Subculture.org

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Dada restaurant hosts birthday in Delray Beach with 22-cent drinks