A new deli has taken over the corner spot at 3400 Aviation Boulevard near Vero Beach Regional Airport, dishing out omelets, burgers, cheesesteaks and specialty sandwiches to a corridor that's seeing more foot traffic than ever. Broogie's is the work of owner Brian Abel, who grew up in Brooklyn, New York, before bringing his deli background south to the Treasure Coast.
The restaurant's menu spans hot and cold specialty sandwiches, omelets, burgers, cheesesteaks, soups and salads, according to Treasure Coast Newspapers. Abel previously owned delis in the Northeast before relocating to Florida, and the Vero Beach menu leans into that heritage with dishes like Rutigliano's Meatballs, made from a family recipe supplied by his wife, per Broogie's own site.
A Signalized Corner With Airport Traffic Built In
The site at 3400 Aviation Boulevard previously housed Olivia's, an Italian-American takeout spot that filed for voluntary corporate dissolution in April 2024, according to state records on Sunbiz.org. Real estate listings on LoopNet describe the address as sitting at a signalized intersection on a busy corner adjacent to Vero Beach Regional Airport, the kind of access that tends to draw higher commercial vehicle traffic.
Broogie's holds an active seating food service license from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, numbered SEA4105494 and valid through April 1, 2027. The deli keeps early hours geared toward the morning and midday crowd: Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., with Sundays off, according to the restaurant's website.
Betting On Airport Growth During A Slow Season
Vero Beach Regional Airport has been adding passenger options throughout 2026, with Breeze Airways, JetBlue and American Airlines now all operating out of the terminal, per airport information cited by TCPalm. Breeze Airways has expanded its route map from Vero Beach to more than 10 destinations this year, including New Haven, Hartford and Providence, with a new Salt Lake City route set to launch next month.
That growth arrives just as Broogie's opens during what regional culinary reporters at Treasure Coast Foodie describe as the traditionally slow season for Treasure Coast restaurants, when new summer openings in Indian River County lean heavily on steady local worker traffic to get through the lull. Ahead of its opening, Broogie's posted job listings for kitchen staff, sandwich makers and prep cooks with starting wages from $15 an hour, according to a listing on BeBee.
Part Of A Broader Shift In Vero Beach Dining
The airport-adjacent opening lands amid a wider round of turnover in Vero Beach's restaurant scene. Hoodline previously reported that the airport sits roughly five minutes from downtown's historic 14th Avenue dining district, where several long-standing venues have undergone concept changes this year, including the closure of the city's first Irish pub in favor of a sports bar.
Broogie's now joins that evolving map, positioned to catch both airport travelers and the municipal and airport workers who pass through Aviation Boulevard each day. Whether the deli's early hours and family recipes are enough to carry it through a slow summer remains to be seen, but the corner it occupies is busier than it's been in years.
