The Florida Foodie
The Office – Prime Burgers and Craft Beers on the Avenue
By Saucy Sarah
Summertime is a great time to visit Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach for a nice weekend dinner. The crowds are less and you can actually find parking too! You’ll find many enjoying a stroll along Atlantic Ave, window shopping at the many eclectic boutiques and interesting shops or stopping at the various pubs, bars, restaurants, and eateries for a drink and a bite. It is a family-friendly atmosphere and worth the thirty minute drive south for a fun outing. One restaurant in particular deserves the drive for an unpretentious, relaxing, and delicious dining experience. The Office is a classic American watering hole boasting big burgers, an extensive wine and beer list, and classic bistro fare. Sit inside in the modern, sleek dark-wood bistro or dine outside along the street. For me, a crisp white linen table cloth always helps make the night more festive. The Office knows how to give you a good time.
We were a large party of hungry gals the night we went and so we aimed to try as many dishes as we could. With such a wide array 
of tasting opportunities, we had few issues or complaints. For starters we chose the Fried Green Tomatoes ($14), the Tomato Mozzarella ($16), and the Crispy Bread & Butter Pickles ($6). The green tomatoes are pan fried to perfection with luscious bits of tender shrimp on top. The tomatoes mozzarella was a wonder. Burrata is a method of spooning fresh un-kneaded mozzarella into a thin sheet of worked mozzarella so when you cut it open, gooey, milky fresh curds come oozing out. Paired with heirloom mini tomatoes and a syrupy balsamic, this dish is enough reason to come to Delray. The bread & butter fried pickles are a unique twist on the fried pickle fad. There is a sweet & sour quality to them which is addictive.
For our entrée choices we selected the CEO Burger ($18), the Pulled Pork Sandwich ($15), The Natural Roasted Chicken ($23), the Office Steak ($34), and the Grilled Skirt Steak ($29). The CEO Burger come with a tomato comfit, blue cheese and gruyere and is big and impressive with a nice soft bun. I chose the “grown up tater tots” to accompany the burger and they were homemade and full of green onion, bacon and cheese—maybe a bit too salty. The pulled pork is very interesting with exotic spices in the sauce and a generous dollop of slaw on top. The roasted chicken is meaty and juicy and roasted perfectly and comes with vegetable medley and mashed potatoes. The steaks were beefy and tender. I also enjoyed the fat slices of roasted potato that made a bed for the steak. The Skirt steak comes with a robust chimichuri sauce that packs a punch!
The Office also boasts an impressive array of homemade desserts that we could not resist. The menu 
changes often, so there are always new sweets to try. The night of our dinner we chose the S’mores Calzone, the Bananas Fosters Cheesecake, and the Brownie Sundae. All were yummy and sinful and you can tell that someone in the kitchen had prepared them. I am always impressed with restaurants that don’t bring in desserts, but take the time to make them on site.
The Office is a great reason to head south and visit Atlantic Avenue for the evening. I suggest you go and try The Office before season arrives and the laid-back enjoyable summer pace speeds up.
In her previous life, Sarah, a Palm Beach County Native, spent ten years working in various high-end eating establishments around South Florida. She is currently a fiction thesis candidate in the MFA program at Florida International University where she also teaches creative writing and rhetoric. If that is not enough, Sarah is also the owner of Cakes by Sarah, a local custom cake shop. Sarah lives in Lake Worth with her husband and two beautiful boys. “Food, fiction, and family are my life.”