☀️ GOOD MORNING, HOLLYWOOD!
Good morning, Hollywood - and happy Friday. Small milestone on our end: this is edition #050. Fifty mornings of your scoop from Hollywood, Hollywood Beach, Hallandale Beach, and Dania Beach, and we’re just getting warmed up. Thank you for reading. Today: our World Cup farewell, a national love letter to our beach, a Dania Beach legend on PBS, a hidden speakeasy, and a month of deals. Let’s get into it.

📰 IN TODAY’S BLEND
⚽ South Florida’s last World Cup match is Saturday
🏖️ Hollywood Beach is having a national moment
📽️ A Dania Beach legend lands on PBS
🍸 A hidden speakeasy is coming to Harrison Street
🍽️ 26 restaurants, 15 countries, one deal
🎟️ Spotlight - National Tequila Day at Margaritaville

📅 WHAT’S HAPPENING - July 17-20

Friday, July 17 - Today!
🎬 ArtsPark Movie Night: “The Legend of Ochi” (downtown Hollywood) - 8 PM, free, bring a blanket
🛍️ Night Market Friday at Dania Pointe - artisan vendors + bites, from 6 PM
🏕️ Guided Sea Turtle Walk at Mizell-Johnson State Park (Dania Beach) - 9 PM, reservations required
🏆 Live thoroughbred racing at Gulfstream Park (Hallandale) - Royal Palm Meet, first post 12:50 PM

Saturday, July 18
⚽ World Cup Bronze Final: France vs England at Hard Rock Stadium, 5 PM
🎟️ Colombia Independence Celebration at ArtsPark (downtown Hollywood) - 4-11 PM, free
🎭 Downtown Hollywood ArtWalk - 6-10 PM, free
🎧 Beautiful Loser (Bob Seger tribute) at The Casino @ Dania Beach - 8 PM
🍽️ Yellow Green Farmers Market (Hollywood) - 200+ vendors, 10 AM-6:30 PM

Sunday, July 19
⚽ World Cup Final Watch Party: Argentina vs Spain, Downtown Hollywood - gates noon, kickoff 3 PM
🏕️ “The Garden of We” COVID Memorial dedication at Bob Butterworth Park
🍽️ Yellow Green Farmers Market (Hollywood) - 200+ vendors, 10 AM-6:30 PM
🏆 Live thoroughbred racing at Gulfstream Park (Hallandale) - first post 12:50 PM

Monday, July 20
🎬 $1 Summer Movies at Regal Dania Pointe, from 11 AM
🍽️ Hallandale Eats: prix-fixe menus at 26 restaurants (through Aug 20)

COMING UP
🖼️ “Force of Nature: Hurricanes and Hollywood” opens at the ArtsPark Gallery - Wed July 22
🍸 National Tequila Day Tasting at Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort - Fri July 24 (see Spotlight)
🎧 Lionel Richie and Earth, Wind & Fire at Hard Rock Live - Fri July 24
🎧 Disturbed at Hard Rock Live - Sat July 25
♠️ Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open - July 28-Aug 11
🍽️ Common Room + the Brooklyn Room coming to 2032 Harrison St, Hollywood

🌡️ High: ~95° | Feels like 105-110° | Hot, hazy, near-record heat
We’re flirting with the record books. Highs push the mid 90s with feels-like readings into the triple digits, and Miami’s record high for the date - 95°, set back in 1976 - is in play. Saharan dust is still parked overhead, suppressing the afternoon storms that usually cool things off, though an isolated shower could sneak in after 4 p.m. Hydrate, take midday breaks in the shade, never leave kids or pets in a parked car, and check on older neighbors.

Source: National Weather Service / CBS Miami

⚽ South Florida’s World Cup Send-Off Is Saturday

It’s been quite a summer, and Saturday is our last dance. France vs England kicks off at 5 p.m. at Hard Rock Stadium - renamed Miami Stadium for the tournament - in the World Cup’s Bronze Final. It’s the seventh and final match South Florida hosts this World Cup.

Neither team planned on being here. France was outclassed by Spain in the semifinals, and England watched Argentina complete a stunning comeback. So two of the sport’s giants meet for third place - and for the right to fly home with something.

Fair warning if you’re tempted: this is not a cheap ticket. Bronze Final seats were starting around $4,200 Thursday morning. The good news is the party doesn’t end there - Sunday brings the Final itself, Argentina vs Spain, and Downtown Hollywood’s giant-screen watch party (gates at noon, kickoff at 3 p.m.). Soak it up. It’ll be a while before the World Cup is in our backyard again.

Source: FIFA / Hard Rock Stadium

🏖️ The Country Just Noticed What We Already Knew

Parade magazine has discovered Hollywood Beach, calling it the South Florida “slow-burn shore that’s finally having its big moment.” Coming from a national travel desk, that’s a nice thing to read over coffee.

The piece frames our beach as the smarter alternative to the intensity of Miami and Fort Lauderdale - the 2.5-mile Broadwalk, the old-Florida charm, the fact that people actually live here. It follows a Tripadvisor nod naming Hollywood among its 2026 Best of the Best U.S. beaches.

It also lands in the middle of a serious glow-up. Hollywood Beach is in the middle of a roughly $1 billion transformation, with more than $2 billion in private investment and 3,500-plus residential units in the city’s pipeline. The Signia by Hilton Diplomat Beach Resort debuted May 1 after an $80 million redo of its public spaces and restaurants. The trick now, of course, is keeping what made the place worth writing about.

Source: Parade / City of Hollywood

📽️ A Dania Beach Institution Gets Its Close-Up

South Florida PBS has a new documentary coming - “Legacy on a Plate: The Restaurants That Built South Florida” - and one of our own made the cut. Jaxson’s Ice Cream Parlor & Restaurant in Dania Beach is among the eight iconic family-owned spots featured, and the only Broward pick on the list.

The doc is hosted by Michelle Bernstein, the James Beard award winner and “Check, Please! South Florida” host, who tours the restaurants that shaped the region’s food scene. Jaxson’s shares the bill with Joe’s Stone Crab, Knaus Berry Farm, Okeechobee Steakhouse, Arbetter’s Hot Dogs, Islas Canarias, Clive’s Café, and Jackson Soul Food. Good company.

If you’ve lived here five minutes you know Jaxson’s: open since 1956, when Monroe Udell set up shop on Federal Highway just north of Stirling, still churning its ice cream on the premises 70 years later, still serving the gloriously absurd Kitchen Sink sundae. Udell’s daughter, Linda Zakheim Udell, runs it now. Good news - the documentary is already out: all 57 minutes are streaming free at pbs.org.

Source: South Florida PBS

🍸 A Speakeasy Is Hiding Behind Harrison Street

Downtown Hollywood’s dining run continues, and this one comes with a secret. Common Room is headed to 2032 Harrison Street from BOL Hospitality Group, serving American comfort classics alongside cocktails inspired by the classic supper clubs.

Executive Chef Tanya Evans is leading the kitchen, with a menu built around things people actually want to eat: lobster rolls, fried chicken, French dip sandwiches, and slow-braised short rib.

Here’s the fun part. Tucked behind the main dining room is the Brooklyn Room - an invitation-only speakeasy reached through a discreet alley entrance. BOL is the same group bringing Zhō to Dania Pointe later this year, so they’ve clearly got plans for us. Start working on your invitation.

Source: Business Debut / BOL Hospitality

🍽️ 26 Restaurants, 15 Countries, One Very Good Month

If you’ve been meaning to eat your way around Hallandale Beach, this is your window. Hallandale Eats - “Savor the City” - is running now through August 20, with 26 restaurants serving prix-fixe menus, chef-curated dishes, and specials designed to get you in the door.

Now in its fifth year, it’s run by the Hallandale Beach CRA as part of its Be Local campaign, and the range is the whole point: 26 restaurants spanning 15 countries. Think Murano by Ferraro, Piola, See Thai, Touch of Cuba, Chapultepec, Ceviche Avenue, Moises Bakery, and Wapo Tacos - plus Signor Sassi, the London import we told you about back in #047.

It’s a genuinely good deal and a low-risk way to break out of your usual rotation. The full participating list and details are at belocalhb.com.

Source: Hallandale Beach CRA / BE Local

🎟️ Raise a Glass: National Tequila Day on the Beach

National Tequila Day falls on Friday, July 24, and Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort is marking it the right way - with an actual tasting, not just a discounted shot.

The National Tequila Day Tasting runs 4 to 5 p.m. at the resort at 1111 N. Ocean Drive: a ticketed, guided, one-hour session pouring Espolòn Añejo and Extra Añejo. It’s an intimate format, so it’s a real tasting rather than a crowd scene - the kind of thing where you come out actually knowing the difference between añejo and extra añejo.

Tickets are required and space is limited. Grab yours through Margaritaville Hollywood Live, and consider making a night of it - the resort has free live music most nights of the week.

Source: Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort