New York City’s beloved Rocco’s Sports & Rec has set its sights on South Florida and recently opened their bold flagship concept Sports & Rec at the new Nora District in downtown West Palm Beach.
Joining an ever-growing list of buzz-worthy restaurants at Nora, Sports & Rec officially opened on Tuesday, June 16 and is the creation of Adam Fulton and Gavin Moseley, creative director and CEO, respectively, of The Garret Group. The new restaurant takes the sports bar idea to an entirely new level with a gorgeous interior, elevated menu, cocktails and an incredible game-watching experience.
The genesis of this next level sports bar venture began several years ago via the question: “Where should I go for the game?” that was regularly posed to Fulton and Moseley.
Based in New York City and more involved with traditional, cocktail-forward concepts at that time, Fulton said “we never really had a good answer.”
Solution. Create one. From there Rocco’s Sports & Rec was conceptualized and opened in 2023 on West Third Street in New York City.
Though the new West Palm Beach location is same concept as their New York City and Boston locations (which opened earlier this year), Rocco’s Sports & Rec will go by just ‘Sports & Rec’ at the Nora District.
Fulton moved from New York City to Miami a few years ago and is well aware (and a fan) of Rocco’s Tacos & Tequila Bar. He said that altering their name for the West Palm Beach location was done both out of respect for Rocco’s Tacos and also as a way to delineate themselves and not confuse people.
“In West Palm the concept is just Sports & Rec,” he said. “It’s a slightly more elevated concept… a bit more food forward.”
Fulton and Moseley said that the Boston menu is an evolution of their New York City menu and that the new West Palm Beach location will be the “most forward” so far.
Designed by chef Nicole Votano, the menu maintains its sports bar cred with classics like chicken wings, tenders, burgers and sandwiches. Those classics do, however, get a bit more ‘churched up’ at Sports & Rec. For their wings and tenders sauces include brown butter Buffalo, chili crisp teriyaki, dry mole, General Tso’s and more and their burgers feature a 7-ounce house-blend patty.
Fulton heaped praise on Votano saying “She’s been great” and added that the menu and the entire restaurant is “… built around being an all day bar for everyone.”
Crafted for much more than just a bunch of lugs screaming at televisions over pitchers of beer, the menu includes plenty of lighter and refined fare like the Brown Butter Buffalo Chicken Paillard featuring seared chicken, arugula and iceberg lettuce with blue cheese dressing, pickled celery and carrot, the Elote Caesar made with romaine lettuce, charred corn, cotija cheese, spiced tortilla gremolata pickled pink onion and lime and much more.
As far as watching games and matches, Sports & Rec is strategically designed to not have a bad seat in the house.
It features 27 big-screen televisions that include several 75-inch, custom-made beauties they refer to as “jumbotrons”
Taking the name from the massive screens at most NFL stadiums, they are suspended from the ceiling. “It gives a stadium environment and identity to the build,” Fulton said. The goal is making sure “…every seat in the house has a strong view of the key screens.”
Fulton said that Sports & Rec is a sports bar and that they will absolutely “play game sound when it’s a core event and everybody’s locked in.”
Though they definitely have New York City and Boston roots (Fulton is from New York and Moseley from Boston), Fulton said “We’re not going to be a banner bar.”
When asked just where their allegiance would lie in terms of sports, Fulton laughed and said “We try to be a bit agnostic when it comes to sports. We let the crowd dictate.” He added that it’s less about a particular team and more “a celebration of sporting culture.”
Though the new restaurant is pushing the envelope in terms of design, menu and overall ambiance, they are built for everyone.
“We say elevated, but we still always want to be the local bar as well… it’s certainly not a place that’s exclusive or that you can’t get into.”
“Giving customers something that they’re used to… but the bar has been raised everywhere.”
Sports & Rec, West Palm Beach
Where: 1035 North Railroad Ave., West Palm Beach
When: Official grand opening Tuesday, June 16
Hours: 3 p.m. to midnight Sunday and Thursday; noon to midnight Monday, Tuesday and Saturday; 2 p.m. to midnight Wednesday and Friday
Information: gotoroccos.com
Eddie Ritz is a journalist at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at eritz@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Wildly popular New York restaurant opens West Palm Beach location
Reporting by Eddie Ritz, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Eddie Ritz, Palm Beach Post | USA TODAY Network
