Celebrity chef Todd English closes Lake Worth Beach restaurant

Jun 5
3 min read

Updated: Jun 7

The shuttered Lula's by Todd English at 8 p.m. on June 5, 2025. (JOE CAPOZZI)

AFTER JUST SEVEN months, celebrity chef Todd English has closed his downtown Lake Worth Beach restaurant, the latest Lake Avenue eatery to shutter.

Lula’s by Todd English opened in late October at 717 Lake Ave., offering traditional Italian food and hopes for becoming a downtown destination. But the restaurant never gained momentum. It served its finals meals last weekend.

The good news for locals: The 4,600-square-foot restaurant space at the corner of Lake Avenue and South J Street won’t stay empty for too long.

Alexandra Dupuis, co-owner of Ravish Off Ocean in Lantana, said she plans to open a sister restaurant called Pomona at the old Todd English spot this summer. It will feature a menu by Chef Johnny DeMartini, a local popular South Florida chef.

Two blocks west of Lula’s, Not So Bizaare Ave Cafe at 921 Lake Ave. closed last month. And at 604 Lake Ave., Cantina Americana recently closed.

Derrick McCray of McCray’s Backyard BBQ told a city staffer earlier this week he was exploring moving into the former Cantina space.

McCray could not be reached. A McCray’s food truck was parked near the alley behind the building this week.

City officials had high hopes for Lula’s. They thought customers would flock downtown to dine at a restaurant operated by a four-time James Beard Award winner.

“Todd has a wonderful reputation. His name brings great elevation. This is another step in the revitalization of our city,’’ Mayor Betty Resch said at a VIP soft opening Oct. 25.

The “Lula’s” name — shorthand for Lake and Lucerne, the two main downtown roads — was a gesture of English’s enthusiasm for taking a chance on Lake Worth Beach.

“Restaurants … are about community,’’ English said in remarks to 200 guests at the opening. “We want you to feel like this is your local place.’’

Reached for comment on June 5, the mayor said she did not know why English pulled the plug.

"I'm said to see a restaurant close,'' she said. "I hope that the next endeavor in that building is more successful.''

English and his partner, Bhavin Shah of Oak Lane Partners, which owns the building, did not return messages seeking comment.

In November, English received a social media shout out from Rob Van Winkle, a Wellington resident known as rapper Vanilla Ice.

Van Winkle is partnering with Shah on a multi-million dollar rehabilitation project at 1000 Lake Ave., just west of City Hall. Plans call for a brewery and pop culture museum. In August 2022, Van Winkle told The Palm Beach Post “we’re going to get it done in six months.’’ Work is still in progress,

The Lula’s building endured a period of frequent turnover before English arrived last fall.

For 33 years, it was occupied by L'Anjou, a French restaurant that closed in 2012. Callaro’s Steak House moved in for a successful run before closing during the pandemic. Los Panchos Taco and Tequila Bar closed in the summer of 2022. El Diablo Tequila and Taco Bar didn’t last long, either.

“This location has had a very storied past,’’ Shah said to guests Oct. 25 at the VIP opening. “Now finally we think we have something here that will make Lake Worth Beach proud.’’

Lula's was not English's first go-round in Palm Beach County.

In 2019, he opened Todd’s in the EmKo building on Dixie Highway in West Palm Beach, but that closed a year later. His other since-closed eateries include his wood-fired oven pizzeria Figs inside the Gardens Mall in Palm Beach Gardens and the Mediterranean-influenced Wild Olives in Boca Raton.

The closing of Lula’s comes as English faces a lawsuit filed in New York in September 2024 by a woman who accuses him of sexually assaulting her in 2015.

(This story was updated at 8:57 p.m. June 6, 2025.)

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About the author

Joe Capozzi is an award-winning reporter based in Lake Worth Beach. He spent more than 30 years writing for newspapers, mostly at The Palm Beach Post, where he wrote about the opioid scourge, invasive pythons, the birth of the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches and Palm Beach County government. For 15 years, he covered the Miami Marlins baseball team. Joe left The Post in December 2020. View all posts by Joe Capozzi.