New restaurant-bar American Social adds distinctive energy to Boca Raton’s Mizner Park

Boca Raton, just in time for our collective Miami Heat-Florida Panthers freakout, your new favorite watch-party spot is here. On Tuesday you can officially say hello to American Social Bar & Kitchen in Mizner Park.

When the first American Social opened in 2012 (during the Heat’s first LeBron-era run to the NBA title), it reset expectations for a night out on Fort Lauderdale’s staid Las Olas Boulevard — its elevated sports-pub menu and modern energy attracting late-night crowds that still pour onto the sidewalk in youthful zeal.

Not surprisingly, the vibe was contagious, and American Social added locations in such hotspots as Miami’s Brickell district, Tampa’s Harbour Island and on Restaurant Row in Orlando’s luxe Dr. Phillips area.

On Tuesday, the eatery known to time-pressed hashtaggers as AmSo will open in Mizner Park, the revitalized open-air dining and strolling destination that has been bubbling with extra vigor in the last 24 months.

It feels like a perfect fit.

“We’ve been trying to bring a location there for I can’t tell you how many years,” says Paul Greenberg, a Boca Raton resident and a managing partner at the restaurant, along with Rick and Tony Mijares. “Mizner Park has done a great job of bringing in a multitude of amazing tenants that all complement each other. Boca Raton needs this.”

After finally clearing the typical post-pandemic construction and permitting hurdles, the new American Social is opening in the former Truluck’s space on the west side of Plaza Real. At 9,100 square feet it will be the second largest of the five AmSo restaurants (after Tampa).

The interior is bright and homey, with warm wood and bricks, and distinctively curved banquettes in AmSo’s signature red-white-and-blue palette. In the Boca Raton context, the colors feel like a nod to FAU’s fighting Owls. (Greenberg attended FAU.)

TVs are ubiquitous but not overwhelming, and a lunch crowd or family gathering should feel right at home. A large interior wall beckons Instagrammers with a neon-illuminated message: “Never compromise on drinks or company.”

Like its predecessors, the Boca Raton AmSo will keep late hours, staying open until 1 a.m. Monday through Wednesday and until 2 a.m. Thursday through Saturday.

It sits at one of the most dynamic dining and drinking intersections in the area, with two of Mizner Park’s most buzzed-about new indoor-outdoor nightspots — Kapow Noodle Bar and Calaveras Cantina — just steps away.

The recent opening of a Brightline station a short walk away has also added to the energy of the area.

“Mizner Park is evolving in the right way,” Greenberg says. “We’re excited to be here.”

With the opening comes a menu with more than two dozen new items created by the restaurant group’s corporate chef, Ryan Leonard. The executive chef at the Boca Raton AmSo is Paul Pincus.

“We have really elevated our game,” Greenberg says.

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New items include the sharable starter Key West Shrimp Cakes ($16.25), an 8-ounce steak filet entree partnered with loaded potato gratin ($44.50) and myriad handhelds, such as the Crispy Truffleshroom Burger, with two beef patties topped by truffle Boursin, mushrooms and crispy leeks ($19.25).

Saturday-Sunday Brunch service will begin this weekend. Be on the lookout for Fruity Pebbles Chicken and Waffles, if you dare. It layers a Southern fried chicken breast on Fruity Pebbles waffles topped with maple mascarpone, habanero-strawberry jam, maple syrup and powdered sugar.

If this is not your idea of a typical sports bar, Greenberg agrees with you. He says AmSo is a restaurant that treats sports as part of the local conversation, especially these days.

“American Social is a place to get together to eat, drink, to be social, to celebrate life,” he says.

American Social Bar & Kitchen is at 351 W. Plaza Real, Boca Raton. Hours: 11:30 a.m.-1 a.m. Monday-Wednesday; 11:30 a.m.-2 a.m. Thursday-Friday; 10:30 a.m.-2 a.m. Saturday; 10:30 a.m.-midnight Sunday. Brunch is served 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. Call 561-710-7272 or visit AmericanSocialBar.com.

Staff writer Ben Crandell can be reached at bcrandell@sunsentinel.com. Follow on Instagram @BenCrandell and Twitter @BenCrandell.

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