How long does it take a restaurant to open at Town Center at Boca Raton? For Limani Grille, the answer so far is three years and counting. In September 2023, Boca Magazine announced the Greek seafood restaurant with an opening date of "next spring." As of mid-October 2026, Simon's directory still lists it as coming soon.
That delay matters to anyone who lives a short drive up Military Trail, on the west side of the road north of Glades. The mall is rebuilding itself around food and gathering space, starting at its main entrance. A much larger version of the same plan is now filed for the empty Sears building. The restaurants show the order in which the change is happening, and they also show how far announcements tend to run ahead of open doors.
The Main Entrance Was Redesigned for Restaurants
The groundwork was laid two years ago. In September 2024, Boca Daily News reported that the city's planning board had approved a plan to create and expand an outdoor dining area at the mall to seat more people at two new restaurants. The city planner who presented the item explained why the mall needed new amenities:
"The mall has seen a decrease in traffic caused by the Covid-19 outbreak in 2020 and the Sears store being closed."
The city linked the dining expansion directly to the closed Sears store. The entrance patio was the mall's first answer to that empty anchor. The redevelopment plan filed this year is the second and much larger one.
The main entrance already has an outdoor anchor. Simon lists True Food Kitchen outside next to the main entrance, with outdoor seating. Elsewhere in the building, CVI.CHE 105 sits near Nordstrom, Maggie McFly's is in the Nordstrom wing, and La Boulangerie Boul'Mich is near Saks Fifth Avenue. All three are listed with outdoor dining. The new restaurants will join that lineup rather than create it.
Three Years of "Next Spring"
Limani Grille's timeline is the best guide to how these openings tend to go.
| Date | What was reported |
|---|---|
| September 22, 2023 | Boca Magazine announces Limani Grille and Madame Tang's, both expected "next spring" |
| September 9, 2024 | Boca Daily News reports planning board approval of expanded outdoor dining for two new restaurants |
| August 17, 2026 | Boca Magazine reports Limani, delayed by construction, will now open "this fall" |
| September 10, 2026 | Palm Beach Post reports no specific opening date for Limani or Felice |
| October 12, 2026 | Simon's directory still lists Limani Grille and Felice as "Coming Soon" |
In its August update, Boca Magazine described the plan in some detail. Limani will grill a rotating selection of fresh seafood over charcoal in the Greek tradition. Ingredients will come from local suppliers and from fishers and farmers around the Mediterranean. Diners can sit in an interior inspired by the Aegean coast or on an expansive patio. Simon places it on the main level near the main entrance, which is the same frontage the 2024 outdoor-dining approval covered.
The other restaurant in the 2023 announcement shows how uncertain these timelines can be. Boca Magazine described Madame Tang's as a Chinese and sushi concept, and like Limani, it was billed as the brand's first Florida location. By September 2024, Boca Daily News was giving an opening window of December 2024 or January 2025. Madame Tang's no longer appears in Simon's current store directory. The public record doesn't say what happened.
Felice Brings a Proven Formula
The second restaurant now on its way is a later addition with more history behind it. Felice is a Tuscan restaurant and wine bar that started on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Boca Magazine reported on September 3 that the Town Center location will join the brand's Brickell and West Palm Beach locations.
The details from that report:
- Menu: Tuscan dishes and handmade pastas
- Wine: a list shaped by founder Jacopo Giustiniani's family history of Tuscan winemaking
- Size: 150 seats across the dining room, bar and patio
- Design: Bonetti/Kozerski Architecture, the firm behind Felice Flatiron in New York City
- Timing: expected "this fall or winter"
Simon lists Felice on the main level and calls it family-owned, with an ingredient-led menu and a curated wine program. In the Palm Beach Post's September 10 report, both Limani Grille and Felice were listed as "coming soon" at 6000 Glades Road, "with specific opening dates still to be announced."
Once both open, the main level will gain two more restaurants with patio seating, joining True Food Kitchen's patio by the entrance. The mall is putting longer, sit-down meals near its front door to bring back the traffic that department stores no longer deliver.
The Sears Plan Is Far Larger
On the Sears parcel, Simon is applying the same idea at the scale of a small district. The Real Deal reported that the development plan was filed in May. Here is what the filings and coverage describe:
- An eight-story hotel with 197 rooms
- A seven-story apartment building with 374 units
- Eight retail buildings along a landscaped "main street"
- A 639-space parking garage
The reported size of the retail and restaurant space varies by source. The city's June 9 Planning Advisory Review agenda lists about 140,000 square feet. The Real Deal and Commercial Observer both cite about 157,000 square feet. The Real Deal names Perkins Eastman, DLR Group and MSA Architects as the design team. According to Commercial Observer, Simon describes the planned shops and restaurants as luxury, premium and "first to market," but no tenant has been named.
"First to market" is the same language used for Limani Grille and Madame Tang's in 2023, when each was billed as its brand's first Florida location. One of those two restaurants is still waiting to open, and the other is no longer in the directory. Any timeline for the Sears district will likely run longer than the press release suggests.
Where the Sears Approvals Stand in October 2026
The next step is demolition, and it is still under review. On July 28, 2026, the city's Planning Advisory Review agenda listed a separate request for site plan approval to remove about 167,564 square feet of commercial space at 5900 West Glades Road, the former Sears site, from the Town Center Mall master site plan. The agenda records a request, not a vote.
As of mid-August, the larger mixed-use plan was still under city review and had not been approved. A formal hearing date, the final square footage, and any construction schedule were all unsettled. A local development tracker still lists the Sears demolition as proposed, with approval pending.
Limani Grille is due this fall and Felice this fall or winter. The Sears building will stay as it is until the city rules on the demolition request.
Redevelopment hearings, delayed openings and anchor turnover at a nearby mall can all affect how buyers see a neighborhood like Boca Bath & Tennis. Noah Heller tracks these filings as they move through city review. If you'd like a confidential read on how Town Center's plans fit your own timeline, ask for VIP access.
