Little Ruby's, the all-day cafe that's been serving up Australian-style brunch in New York since 2002, is set to open a location at CityPlace in West Palm Beach in 2027. The brand is known for its Bronte Burger, taste-driven pastas and a brunch menu built around ricotta hotcakes, and it will mark the cafe's first foray into South Florida.
From Nolita to Downtown West Palm Beach
According to Markets of Tomorrow, Little Ruby's will open at CityPlace in West Palm Beach in 2027, giving the all-day cafe from Wish You Were Here hospitality group its latest outpost outside New York. The brand's roots trace back to Australian expats Nick Mathers and Lincoln Pilcher, who opened the first Ruby's Cafe at 219 Mulberry Street in Nolita in 2002, modeling it on the beach cafes of northern Sydney, per the same report. That beachy lineage lives on in the menu's name-sake dish, the Bronte Burger, named for the Sydney beach, the outlet notes.
Little Ruby's has since brought that Australian cafe culture across New York, with rubyscafe.com describing a menu built around the signature Bronte Burger, taste-driven pasta, bowls and salads, and brunch classics like ricotta hotcakes, served seven days a week for brekkie, lunch and dinner. The cafe currently operates in SoHo, Murray Hill, the East Village, the West Village and Williamsburg, with its West Village spot sitting at the corner of West 4th Street and Seventh Avenue, according to Markets of Tomorrow.
A Dallas Outpost Offers a Preview
Until now, Little Ruby's only location outside New York has been in Dallas, where the cafe operates at 23Springs in Uptown and blends laid-back coastal culture with New York City energy, per Markets of Tomorrow's reporting. That Dallas menu includes spicy vodka pasta, ricotta hotcakes, chicken schnitzel and avocado toast, alongside Australian touches like vegemite toast and an Aussie lager, the outlet reports. Wish You Were Here Group describes its broader portfolio as responsible for some of the most beloved restaurants, cafes and bars across the country, according to wishyouwereheregroup.com, which lists Little Ruby's locations spanning SoHo, Murray Hill, the East Village, the West Village, Williamsburg and Dallas.
Why New York Brands Keep Landing in Palm Beach County
Little Ruby's arrival fits a broader pattern now reshaping the local dining scene. A growing number of New York-based restaurants are expanding into Palm Beach County, drawn by the area's rising number of Northeast transplants, according to The Palm Beach Post. The county is increasingly attracting the restaurants, hospitality groups and dining concepts that define where those residents ate before moving south, the paper reports. Among the other names following that trail: Los Mochis, the London-based restaurant known for Japanese-Mexican cuisine, which plans its U.S. debut at Phillips Point in fall 2027 as an 11,500-square-foot space for 280 guests with a terrace overlooking the Intracoastal Waterway, and Tutto Caffe, a planned 3,500-square-foot indoor-outdoor cafe at South Flagler House on South Flagler Drive.
CityPlace itself already carries a roster of transplanted New York names. Harry's, Maman, Fuku and Felice are just a few brands on CityPlace's marquee, the Palm Beach Post notes, alongside Eataly, which occupies more than 23,000 square feet of food, culture and theatrical flair in Harriet Himmel Hall, per CityPlace's own listing of the district's more than 30 restaurants, cafes and bars. CityPlace has also continued adding fresh concepts such as Ela Curry & Cocktails from chef Pushkar Marathe, according to the center's dining page.
Festival Energy and a Growing Office Footprint
The timing lines up with CityPlace's push to position West Palm Beach as a culinary destination. The district hosted Taste of West Palm Beach on October 16, a citywide culinary festival that brought more than 30 restaurants onto the streets, according to a CityPlace press release announcing the event, which described West Palm Beach as one of Florida's fastest-growing culinary destinations.
That dining growth is unfolding alongside a major office build-out nearby. Related Ross is developing twin CityPlace office towers, 15 CityPlace and 10 CityPlace, totaling nearly 960,000 square feet of new office space, with delivery targeted for 2027, per Discover South Florida. A Curio Collection by Hilton hotel with 18 stories and 400 rooms is expected to rise beside the towers around 2029, Markets of Tomorrow reports, adding more foot traffic to a district already betting that West Palm Beach can become a premier culinary capital.
