GREENACRES — The city’s iconic CocoCabana restaurant is finally returning to its glory days before the pandemic, owner Johnny Abreu says. Most weekends, tables are packed with families, the kitchen is busy and the live salsa and bachata shows have brought back people to the dance floor.
Abreu said he tried everything to revive the restaurant that he bought in 2022. He offered prix-fixe meals for events, hired a DJ to host karaoke nights and reached into his pockets to renew the live performances the Latin restaurant had become known for.
Now, a new set of rules by the City of Greenacres meant to regulate live entertainment threatens to change how the venue — and others like it across town — has entertained its guests for the last 15 years.
“With the high costs of food, we depend on night-live entertainment to survive,” said Abreu, a native of the Dominican Republic. “Even if they approve two or three of the new ordinances, I would probably have to give up the restaurant because we would go bankrupt.”
Greenacres restaurant owners received a letter two weeks ago from the city stating there would be new regulations for places offering live entertainment and those that didn’t comply would be fined and considered nightclubs, which are not allowed in the city.
City planners say the new laws are meant to clarify rules the City Council approved in 2022 to crack down on venues illegally operating as nightclubs. The language of the ordinances mirrors the language of similar ones in neighboring Wellington and Royal Palm Beach.
But those standards might not translate in Greenacres, whose Hispanic population has surged in the past 30 years and where even casual eateries host local musicians and clients can dance next to their tables.
Greenacres residents and restaurant owners filled City Hall on April 21 to voice their opposition to the new rules saying they would strip away the culture of the eateries that have become crucial spaces for Hispanic families.
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“It would devastate our restaurants,” said Alan Cassarubias, who manages El Rey del Taco on Lake Worth Road with his dad. “We are not a nightclub. It’s in our culture to have a good meal, have a dance or two and go home.”
Katherine Mendez, a Greenacres resident, said she has hosted school fundraisers, held community meetings and celebrated all of her daughter’s birthdays at Sabor Latino on Jog Road, where patrons can dance after their meal.
“Please do not close the dance floors in our community,” Mendez said. “This is not just about dancing or music. This is about identity.”
“We are Latinos. We are merengue, salsa and bachata,” Mendez said. “It’s not just a dance floor. You are taking away a space where we celebrate, connect and spread joy because that’s who we are. We dance when we are happy and when we are sad.”
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Enrique Cassarubias, owner of El Rey del Taco on Lake Worth Road, says the restaurant can’t survive on food sales without live entertainment the casual joint has become known for.
The City Council postponed its second vote on the regulations for live entertainment. Members said they wanted more time to review the concerns raised by residents and small-business owners.
Council members announced the city will host a workshop with local restaurant owners to revise some of the proposed rules and understand how it would affect them. No date for the meeting has been set.
Gionni Gallier, the city’s planning assistant, said the ordinances would create definitions and standards for rules adopted in 2022. He added the rules are also meant to address public safety concerns about restaurants operating past the city’s 2 a.m. operations limit.
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Under the new regulations, restaurants, bars, and lounges must obtain an annual permit from the city for any indoor and outdoor live entertainment. They would also need a special-events permit for larger gatherings.
To secure the permit, restaurants will also be required to submit a detailed summary of the proposed live entertainment, including the days and hours, a description of the event and a layout of the areas. The application also will cover the number of entertainers, a noise-control plan and photos of the setup.
Without a permit, restaurants that have a dance floor or allow space for dancing would be fined up to $5,000, according to the proposed ordinance.
CopaCabana Bar & Grill opened 15 years ago on Jog Road in Greenacres. The Latin restaurant has become an icon for its live performances and family friendly environment.
The proposed regulations also set the criteria to decide if the venue is operating as a nightclub: If it is open between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m., has a dance floor or “other open area used by patrons” for dancing and a combination of four or more of the following elements without a permit:
It charges a cover charge or door charge or has a minimum drink requirement.
It serves alcohol on the premises.
It advertises live entertainment events online or in flyers.
It features a platform, musical staging area, or other open area for performances or entertainment.
It forbids persons under the age of 21 to patronize the venue between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.
The presence of security personnel hired specifically for ticket sales and crowd control.
“We are recognizing the cultural nuances that we do have in the city,” Gionni said. “The point of this was really for just clarification on the current regulations, not to further restrict something.”
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Abreu bought CocoCabana after years of frequenting the venue as a client.
He said he knew the food business was tough, but he knew people gravitated to CocoCabana for more than meals. They sought the experience of being immersed in the flavors and rhythms of Latin America and the Caribbean.
“CocoCabana is a staple,” Abreu said. “It’s a place to foster our culture where the adults can go with their families to enjoy the music and ambiance that characterize us Latinos.”
He said the restaurant would lose between 40% and 50% of its revenue without the ability to host live performances. His clients would choose to go to Palm Springs, Lake Worth Beach and West Palm Beach.
“COVID hit us and it took three years to recover and now, the city hits me again? We won’t survive,” Abreu said.
Enrique Casarrubias, the owner of El Rey del Taco, worried when he read the new rules proposed by the city. His casual taco joint could be considered a nightclub: It has a bar, live music, and an improvised dancefloor.
El Rey del Taco often has mariachis and local Mexican singers who serenade clients as they walk between tables. Unlike nightclubs, late-night restaurants in Greenacres are brightly lit, serve clients with sit-down menus and offer an atmosphere that welcomes parents with babies, children, and grandparents.
The Mexican restaurant can’t survive only on food sales, Casarrubias said. The entertainment is what brings people in and makes them stay to enjoy more tacos and margaritas.
The Casarrubias had filed plans with the city to expand the Lake Worth Road location to add more tables, a dance floor and a central stage. But their plans were denied because, under the new rules, they would be considered a nightclub due to the size of their stage.
“If it were to go through, we are stuck,” Alan said. “We would be left with your hands up in the air, without knowing what to do and paying for rent that we couldn’t afford.”
Players from the Houston Astros enjoy lunch at El Chico Liniero, a Dominican restaurant that opened on November 2024 at Green Tree Plaza in Greenacres. A new city ordinance could force the restaurant to register as a nightclub.
Six months ago, Mike Melendez’s family opened El Chivo Linero in Greenacres’ Green Tree Plaza, a battered strip mall along 10th Avenue North. The Dominican restaurant has helped revive the plaza and is frequented by families for dinner and to enjoy live music during the weekend.
Melendez decided to open in Greenacres because he saw how the Hispanic community had grown and that the area lacked places where families could be entertained without leaving the city. If people are not allowed to dance, Melendez said, he doubts the restaurant will stay open for long.
“Even without a dance floor, the people just stand up and dance,” Melendez said. “Food costs are extremely high and we depend on people coming to eat, have fun and dance.”
Valentina Palm covers Royal Palm Beach, Wellington, Greenacres, Palm Springs and other western communities in Palm Beach County for The Palm Beach Post. Email her at vpalm@pbpost.com and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @ValenPalmB. Support local journalism: Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Hispanic restaurants near West Palm fight new rules on music, dance