How to get your seat at 1,300-foot table for South Florida’s longest, kookiest dinner party in Delray Beach – Sun Sentinel

You might think it would be easy to reserve a seat at a dinner table a quarter-mile long — but you would be wrong.

A dozen popular downtown Delray Beach restaurants will start taking first reservations on Wednesday, Feb. 1, for the 2023 edition of Savor the Avenue, South Florida’s longest and kookiest dinner party.

Do not dillydally: Reservations are likely to be gone in a day.

Taking place Monday, March 27, a four-course meal will be served on tables pushed next to each other along the yellow traffic stripes running down the center of Atlantic Avenue. The al fresco dining room, with family-style seating for 1,000, will stretch for five blocks, more than 1,300 feet, from Swinton Avenue to southbound Federal Highway.

Where else but downtown Delray Beach?

“We have the best street for an event like this,” says Laura Simon, executive director of the Delray Beach Downtown Development Authority. “It’s intimate, it’s fresh and has a lot of character, which lends itself to a beautiful venue for events, especially a dining event. It creates that cool Atlantic Avenue-Delray Beach vibe that everybody knows.”

Seats for Savor the Avenue are only available by reservation, which must be made with individual participating restaurants. To make a reservation and see menus for each restaurant, visit DowntownDelrayBeach.com/SavorTheAvenue.

Among those taking part: Avalon Steak & Seafood, Rose’s Daughter, Cabana El Rey, Caffe Luna Rosa, City Oyster & Sushi Bar, Costa by OK&M, Elisabetta’s Ristorante, Lionfish Modern Coastal Cuisine, Rocco’s Tacos & Tequila Bar, Salt7, Racks Fish House & Oyster Bar and Gary Rack’s Farmhouse Kitchen.

If this year’s event follows history, Simon says there will be 5,000 requests for the 1,000 seats at the table, and reservations will likely be gone in a day.

Each restaurant has its own designated number of seats — Elisabetta’s, for instance, has 100 spots — so shop around if you get shut out at your first choice.

Simon also recommends checking with participating restaurants about a waitlist, which often yields last-minute seating opportunities. Restaurants also will take reservations for nearby patio seating.

Prices for Savor the Avenue tend to range from $140 to $220 per person, depending on the restaurant. The dinner, which begins at 5:30 p.m. with a reception and toast, includes a wine/cocktail pairing. A DJ will provide light mood music on the street.

A portion of the proceeds from this 14th annual edition of Savor the Avenue will benefit local nonprofit Achievement Centers for Children & Families.

For the ninth year, Savor the Avenue restaurants will vie for Best in Show table decor, each restaurant staging a unique setting to showcase a special style or cuisine. A panel of judges will award three top prizes.

Simon describes Savor the Avenue as a metaphor for the cohesiveness and camaraderie of independent restaurateurs who have driven the renaissance of downtown Delray Beach.

“They’re individual restaurants, and to see them all working together to make this beautiful event happen is priceless. It’s not a competition. They just love working together. They’re out there high-fiving each other. It’s really neat to see,” Simon says.

With so much demand for seats at Savor the Avenue, why not keep adding to the table? It stops and then picks up again on either side of the Brightline tracks, and could similarly jump Federal Highway and go all the way to the Intracoastal. That might add another 1,000 seats.

“We have thought about that. Federal Highway does break it up a little bit. We’ve also thought about going down side streets, maybe take it up Second Avenue. We need more sponsors,” Simon says, laughing.

WHAT: Savor the Avenue,

WHEN: 5:30 pm Monday, March 27

WHERE: Atlantic Avenue, from Swinton Avenue to southbound Federal Highway, Delray Beach

COST: $140-$220 per person, depending on the restaurant.

INFORMATION: DowntownDelrayBeach.com/SavorTheAvenue

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