Benny’s $500,000 renovation aims to make Oceanwalk the coolest spot in town
The main Benny’s on the Beach at the Lake Worth Pier will remain open while its sister restaurant in the casino building closes until early November to replace a faulty AC system.
BENNY’S ON THE BEACH, the scenic restaurant on the Lake Worth Pier popular with tourists, locals and celebrities, is one of the hottest spots in Lake Worth Beach.
Its sister restaurant, Benny’s Oceanwalk, in the casino building a few hundred yards northwest of the pier, hopes to soon be known as one of the coolest spots in town.
Benny’s Oceanwalk will temporarily close on Labor Day to launch a roughly $500,000 renovation, including a long-overdue replacement of an air conditioning system that hasn’t properly pumped cool air in years.
The work is expected to last nine weeks. The restaurant plans to reopen in early November with a new AC system, larger air ducts and an upgraded kitchen hood.
The main Benny’s location on the Lake Worth Pier remains open and will employ most of the Oceanwalk staff during the renovations.
Since roughly $337,000 in work will result in direct improvements to the city-owned casino building, Benny’s will not have to pay rent for September and October.
In approving the roughly $57,000 rent abatement Aug. 5, city commissioners also extended the restaurant’s 10-year lease by two months.
Although some residents and one commissioner think Benny’s is getting preferential treatment from the city, Vice Mayor Sarah Malega and Commissioner Anthony Segrich said it’s a fair deal because Benny’s is essentially paying for work the city eventually would have had to do with public money.
“They are replacing two 8-ton HVAC systems. All ductwork is being resized because it was done wrong when that casino complex was originally constructed,’’ Segrich said.
“Thank you to Benny’s,’’ he said, “for fixing what’s wrong with that building in their space.’’.’’
Benny’s opened Oceanwalk in 2021 after taking over the lease for Mulligan’s Beachhouse Bar and Grill, which closed during the pandemic.
“They did not ask the city to put a penny into the building. During covid, that building could have sat empty,’’ Malega said.
Granting the abatement request is the right thing to do, she said. “They’re one of our largest employers. They are improving our building,’’ she said.
Three large oscillating fans on Oceanwalk’s walls offered minimal relief, not enough to make diners and workers feel comfortable in the South Florida heat.
“We are looking forward to re-opening after making these improvements,’’ Benny’s manager Dylan Lipton said in an interview, adding that Oceanwalk may also unveil a new menu in November.
“We think we’re going to be able to offer something really special at this place,’’ he said. “We appreciate everyone’s input and the commission’s support and due diligence.’’
The abatement approval comes two years after the city approved a new 10-year lease with Benny’s, a contentious process that sparked a “Save Benny’s grassroots campaign when some commissioners balked at an initial lease draft that they considered a sweetheart deal for the restaurant.
Led by then-Commissioner Kim Stokes, commissioners in 2023 eventually settled on a lease that will give the city $1.5 million more than the initial proposal.
At the Aug. 5 meeting, Stokes, who was defeated in 2024 by Mimi May, offered comments criticizing the commission for granting the abatement. She pointed out that Benny’s owner Lee Lipton contributed $5,000 to a state-registered political committee that supported May and Malega, who was re-elected in 2024.
“It shows the familiarity and pull they have with the commissioners they helped get elected by contributing to a PAC,’’ Stoke said in comments read by the city clerk on Aug. 5.
May and Malega said their respective campaigns had no ties to the PAC.
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