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Carousel Can Can Café owner Karim El Sherif has included fanciful Parisian décor in his new CityPlace restaurant. Dancers in traditional cancan costume will be on a stage every night. Meghan McCarthy, The Post
Call it CityPlace à la Francaise.
The popular downtown West Palm Beach dining and shopping complex got a major new addition this past week when Carousel Can Can Café (700 S. Rosemary Ave., Suite 228; 561-833-6001; carouselfl.com) opened its doors. The 8,000-square-foot eatery, which seats up to 300 indoors and outdoors, is the latest venture from restaurateur Karim El Sherif, who was behind the now-closed French bistro Metronome in Palm Beach Gardens.
With Carousel, Sherif is tapping some of the same casual French menu options he offered at Metronome, but he’s considerably upping the fun factor. As its name implies, the elaborately decorated restaurant, which has private dining areas and bars galore, is built around the themes of carousels and cancan entertainment. Dancers in traditional costume will be on a stage in front of the kitchen every night to show off their mastery of the high-kicking art form.
So, is Carousel the French equivalent of the Greek-themed Taverna Opa, the CityPlace restaurant where belly dancers are as much the stars as the grilled fish and lamb shanks?
“You could say that,” responds Sharif.
Carousel Can Can Café is designed around, well, carousels and cancan. Meghan McCarthy, The Post
At the same time, the restaurateur is going for a contemporary “lounge” vibe with a backdrop of recorded music he describes as “a modern version of bossa nova.” He also says he’s paying lots of attention to the menu, which features French classics (coq au vin, steak frites, ratatouille, onion soup) alongside contemporary American and European fare.
Sherif says he’ll put the restaurant’s wood-fired pizzas up against anyone’s. We admit the reasonably priced pies ($12.50 to $14.50), with toppings that include duck confit and truffle oil, do sound intriguing. (The restaurant’s pricing for entrees — $16.50 to $25 — is also relatively modest.)
There’s a fun wine list, too. Instead of categorizing bottles by red or white, Sherif breaks them down as “brunettes” and “blondes.” (And sparkling wines are referred to as “bubbly girls.”) An extensive tapas menu is offered at the bar from 3 to 11 p.m. — for $18, you can have your pick of up to four small plates of everything from lamb sliders to duck spring rolls (individual plates are $4.50 to $6). And cocktail choices include the Marie Antoinette (made with the French liqueur Chambord, $10) and the French Maid (made with blue Curacao, $9.50).
Carousel Can Can Café fits into a larger CityPlace strategy of combining food and entertainment. Taverna Opa was the first example. Still to come: B.B. King’s Blues Club (in the old Legal Sea Foods spot).
Sherif says he’s happy to be aboard at CityPlace. “You can see there’s energy in this place,” he says. But he also hopes to take the Carousel Can Can Café concept national, particularly in locales where high-energy theme dining is very popular (think Vegas).
In the meanwhile, Carousel at CityPlace is already packing them in, especially on the weekends. Sherif is also hosting two preview events, with free food and drinks — one is Wednesday at 5 to 7 and the other is on Aug. 27 from 5 to 7 p.m. And, yes, the cancan girls will be on hand for both.
Wining and dining bargain at Boca’s Mizner Park
Heading to Mizner Park (miznerpark. com) anytime soon? You might want to take advantage of a special dining promotion. From now through Oct. 31, select restaurants at the popular Boca Raton destination — Max’s Grille, Truluck’s, ZED451, Pranzo, The Dubliner, Soba Sushi and Villagio — will be selling the Tastemakers at Mizner Park VIP Card for $25.
It entitles patrons to discounts at all those eateries during that time period. Plus, it also serves as admission to a progressive Tastemakers party on Sept. 15 or Sept. 16 (you pick the date you want to attend), where you can enjoy complimentary tastings and cocktails at the same restaurants. A portion of all VIP card sales will benefit the Kids in Distress organization.
Terrible place. No air conditioning. What’s with the fake can can dancers. Makes no sense. My dinner was better when I was in the army! Save yourself the trip and got to Mickey D’s
This place is terrible with terrible service. We sat for 30 min. before getting bread and butter. Then waited 15 min. for the silverware. Then 2 hours for the food. The order was messed up with repeated foods and missing food items. The ladies restroom was flooded. The waitresses just care about showing their breasts. They are flakes. Don’t eat here!
Not good. Not many people there yet they took awfully long to bring our food. The food was VERY bland. Just not a fun place to go out to.
This is a very sexy restaurant & club and the food is fantastic… the cocktail specials are delicious also. I really had a great time at this place and will definitely go back! I loved the can can show and the music was awesome!
Carousel is SO MUCH FUN! I went here for my bachelorette party and I had an AMAZING time. It was fun, it was interactive, I can’t say enough… The food was great too, it wasn’t 5 Star restaurant quality but it was pretty freaking good! The atmosphere is pumped up, fun, crazy, and energetic. The can can show is so much fun. I would definitely say this is one place you have to go at least ONCE in your life then you will be addicted.
Carousel Can Can was visited on Sunday for the Brunch Menu. First of all, they have no idea how to cook. The chef(s) were not attentive even to put the right cheese on the salad and a friend ordered the same salad and got NO cheese. This place might be okay for drinks and fun, but fuggetabout the food…..IT STINKS!!!! The waitresses have no idea what they are doing either………..stay away if you want good food!
this place is a fucking joke,where do they get these people!!!!!!!!!!!!
Really bad. Really, really bad. We went on “ladies night” and asked the waiter what that included, to which he replied free house wines and well drinks. 3 of us asked around the table, and his reply was the same. So, 8 girls started ordering drinks with our dinner. When the bill came, there were NO discounts. Being waitresses ourselves, we were polite and asked him if there had been a mistake, and he ran into the backroom and sent out the manager who was nasty and said we had to pay and was incredibly rude. We did, but the tip drastically dwindled and we have told everyone not to go back. The waiter should have taken responsibility for his words.
The waitresses are hilarious in those little outits trying to make the place feel like a nightclub though :)
We went to Carousel last Friday after a recommendation from a friend in West Palm Beach. My wife and I had an excellent meal here. We were greeted by very friendly manager . Food was excellent, and the atmosphere is charming. Also, prices are very reasonable. We will be returning
This is such a perfect bistro. The menu provides excellent variety and I was also glad to see that the dishes are not the “super rich French” fare that I don’t always like, but instead more American with French influences…or something, JUST KNOW the menu offers a large selection of delicious, and moderately priced dishes to choose from- also, the outdoor patio is so nice and romantic. I oculd go on and on, but instead– you try it =) I will be back- live jazz briunch, prix fix menus, more vino, Monsieur!!
This restaurant if it can be called that, its the worst place I’ve visited ever. Don’t have not one good thing to say about it, and from the reviews on this website I guess I am not the only one with that opinion. You can also clearly see that CAROUSEL posted the four positive reviews, on two different dates minutes apart.
I suggest they spend that time fixing their restaurant.
Horrible experience. New Years eve. They cancelled our reservaton because their employee transposed our telephone number incorrectly. After a 2 hr wait, they gave us a table outside while all of the party was indoors. Matire’d “Andy” admitted their error but seemed put out by our not being thrilled by his solution.