Amid all that is new and upcoming on downtown West Palm Beach’s restaurant scene, here’s a neighborhood go-to spot that has remade itself. Popular for its Mexican street foods, Rivales Taquería recently unveiled the results of its makeover.
A muralist from Mexico is giving the off-Clematis space the final brushstrokes that will complete the renovation project at the Olive Avenue restaurant once known as JimmyChangas.
“We relocated the bar from the back to the front, and opened up the space,” co-owner Jimmy Rivas told me this week.
But more than cosmetic touches, Rivas and his brother/restaurant partner Alberto Valdivia brought in a new chef with Food Network shine to elevate the menu, add new dishes and consult on their other restaurant projects.
She is chef Guily Booth, a Miami chef who has competed on Food Network’s “Cutthroat Kitchen” and “Chef Wanted”’ reality series. Booth has worked at an eclectic batch of Miami restaurants (from tapas to seafood to Brazilian to Latino-Caribbean to Miami-style fusion).