Elevated experience: Rooftop restaurants, bars in Palm Beach County offer drinks with a view

If you’re feeling like “a room without a roof,” here’s a constellation of local rooftop bars to match your mood.  

This Post: Elevated experience: Rooftop restaurants, bars in Palm Beach County offer drinks with a view

Jupiter

Topside at the Beacon

This rooftop bar gives you that postcard-from-paradise view from above. And that view is punctuated by the iconic Jupiter Lighthouse and its surrounding Inlet waters. Topside at the Beacon is part of the year-old, Joe Namath-backed restaurant complex known as Charlie and Joe’s at Love Street. Loungey and dotted with fun hanging-basket chairs, Topside is appointed with lush greenery that allows for cozy, open-air conversation nooks. The bites are festive and tapas-size. (Think Spanish cheeses and cured meats, wood-roasted local fish dip and dessert churros.) The drinks are glammed-up tiki. 

• Topside at the Beacon: 1116 Love St., Jupiter, 561-532-3270, TopsideJupiter.com 

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West Palm Beach

Spruzzo

Take in the most sweeping, sparkling view on the downtown West Palm Beach waterfront from this rooftop bar. Peer out from Spruzzo, the bar located atop the 2-year-old boutique hotel The Ben, and you’ll see the ever-expanding metropolis as well as glimmers of stately Palm Beach island. Spruzzo is the place for enjoying tweaked-classic cocktails like the Smoky Negroni (High West American Prairie whiskey, Aperol, Antica Formula vermouth, chocolate bitters) and Mediterranean-inspired small plates like octopus carpaccio, lamb merguez kebab and Marguerita pizzetas. Grab a seat at the 360-degree bar or a spot at any of the loungey areas on the deck – which is scattered with more traditional tables as well – and watch the boats drift along the Intracoastal waterway below. Take a sip, slurp an oyster and welcome to the fab, new West Palm Beach. 

• Atop The Ben hotel, 251 N. Narcissus Ave., West Palm Beach, 561-655-4001, TheBenWestPalm.com. Reservations are not accepted, walk-ins are welcome.   

Treehouse

Take in panoramic views of downtown West Palm Beach at this bar, which sits atop the Canopy by Hilton boutique hotel, which opened in May 2020. The 13th-floor spot is the highest rooftop bar in the area. But there are more than views to be had here. The focused, but well-varied menu is no afterthought. Appetizer offerings range from tostones al pastor to tuna poké tacos to roasted mushroom flatbreads. Main plates include burgers and lobster rolls. And for dessert, there’s mango crème brûlée and Nutella pizza. As for drinks, expect a decent range of specialty and classic cocktails, wines and bottle service.

• At the Canopy hotel, 380 Trinity Pl., West Palm Beach, 561-693-1556, TreehouseWPB.com 

RH Rooftop

Take the elevator to the top of the mansion-like Restoration Hardware showroom on Okeechobee Boulevard and, if you’ve never been, prepare to be transported to a dreamscape of sorts. At the upscale RH Rooftop bistro and bar, al fresco tables set amid foliage around a shimmering fountain, beneath chandeliers that reflect the natural light. There’s a rooftop courtyard, side seating areas and a loungey terrace that surrounds it all. Grab a drink from the central café counter and find a spot along the terrace for splendid city views. Or settle into a table for full-dining service. The menu is up-market American grill fare, well prepared and stylishly served: a prosciutto and Délice de Bourgogne board with warm baguette and strawberry preserves, crispy artichokes with rosemary aioli, shaved rib-eye on charred garlic bread served au jus, lobster roll, roasted half chicken. A relatively extensive wine list that includes pricey wines by the glass is offered as well as specialty coffees and brunch cocktails. 

• Atop the Restoration Hardware building, 560 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach, 561-804-6826, RH.com/westpalm/restaurant

Roxy’s Rooftop

This party-hearty rooftop bar is a Clematis Street mainstay. With three full bars, deejay-spun music and copious amounts of youthful energy, Roxy’s is open into the wee hours. 

• 309 Clematis St., West Palm Beach, 561-296-7699, RoxysPub.com

Banko Cantina

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A young, party crowd fills the various floors of this Tex-Mex cantina, where the casual rooftop bar offers city views, nighttime dance music and boozy Sunday brunch. Banko Cantina made its 2016 debut in the revamped site of the historic building once occupied by the old American National Bank on Olive Avenue. The place quickly found a niche in the Clematis Street-area nightlife scene.

• 114 S. Olive Ave., West Palm Beach, 561-355-1399, BankoCantina.com 

Delray Beach

Rosewater Rooftop

Located atop Pineapple Grove’s 5-month-old boutique hotel, The Ray, this bar and lounge shares the rooftop deck with the hotel’s pool and offers both indoor and outdoor seating. Expect a casual vibe, a limited and straightforward menu (salads, avocado toast, beef and vegan burgers, steak frites) and a batch of creative cocktails (like the Watermelon Sugar, which combines Don Julio blanco, watermelon, sunflower syrup, lime juice and cucumber slices). In addition to lunch and dinner, breakfast is served from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. from Wednesday through Sunday. Despite the relaxed ambiance at Rosewater Rooftop, tables are often reserved and seating is handled by the bar’s hostess/host.

• At The Ray hotel, 233 NE 2nd Ave., Delray Beach, 561-739-1706, RosewaterDelray.com

The Reef Pool Bar

This rooftop bar, which crowns the Courtyard by Marriott Delray Beach hotel, offers panoramic views of the city’s eastern edges and plenty of ocean breezes. That’s the main attraction. Expect simple bar bites (wings, tenders, pretzels), slightly tweaked, straightforward cocktails (Caribbean Coladas, Strawberry Jalapeño Margaritas) and a daily happy hour that runs from 4 to 7 p.m.

• 135 SE 6th Ave., Delray Beach, 561-926-5833