6/22 Cafe Vico

Although I had been here for dinner many years ago, I was unaware that Cafe Vico, 1125 N. Federal Hwy, Ftl, was even open for lunch until a friend recommended it today. It is a little bit more money then I normally spend for lunch, but the food was quite good.

I had a mixed green salad topped with grilled shrimp and char-grilled calamari. $14.95 Although it could have been a little bigger, overall it was an excellent salad and the shrimp and calamari were very fresh and cooked nicely. My friend was a little adventurous today and ordered the beef carpaccio (raw thin sliced filet) served over arugula. $13.95 It was excellent though was more of an appetizer to be shared rather then an entree.

Although I normally don't have the time to spend nor the money on a lunch like this, it's an excellent choice for a nice, long lunch once in a while. 8.5/10

6/18 Giorgio's

I went back to the always solid and reliable Giorgio's on 17th St. Causeway, 1499 SE 17th St, Fort Lauderdale. I just started doing the P90X exercise program so I am trying to eat a little healthier, at least for the time being. We'll see how long that lasts. Anyway, I got the Oak Grilled Chicken Salad today. It comes with a plentiful amount of grilled chicken, fresh tomatoes, olives, and Gorgonzola cheese over mixed greens. They have an excellent thick balsamic vinaigrette dressing. Also, the rolls and hummus dip are great. They have a full lunch menu featuring many different sandwiches, salads, pizzas and pasta dishes and almost everything I've ever ordered here has been solid. 8.5/10

6/19 IKEA Cafeteria

I made a very rare trip out west to the Sunrise/Weston area on Saturday and stopped by the mammoth Ikea store to do some shopping. They have a cafeteria inside and I've heard about their famous Swedish meatballs, so I decided to give them a try. Although the plate was a great value at $4.99 for 15 mini meatballs, mashed potato, and ligonberry jelly, the meatballs where nothing special. They weren't bad by any means, but nothing to go out of the way for. I'm happy I tried them though. 6.0/10

6/21 Whale's Rib, Deerfield Beach

I'm back after a long time off and I'll try to have daily updates going forward (albeit short and brief ones sometimes)

I was up in the Deerfield area so I decided to make a trip out to the beach and try the famous Key West Dolphin Sandwich at the Whales Rib, 2031 NE Second St., Deerfield Beach.

I had heard a lot about this place and the sandwich as it was featured on Diners, Drive-ins, & Dives. It did not disappoint.

One note, the parking situation is fairly tough, which is understandable due to the beach location, but I drove around the block a few times and eventually found a spot.

The Key West Dolphin Sandwich features a fresh grilled piece of Mahi topped with cole slaw, Swiss cheese and thousand island. Certainly not the healthiest fish sandwich, but it does taste great. The Whales rib also features in house cooked potato chips called whale fries that are served with a mayo based honey mustardy sauce called whale juice that is outstanding.

This is a really good sandwich and the place is definately worth checking out when in the area. 8.5/10

COMING BACK SOON

I kind of lost interest in this blog for about 3 months, but I am planning a comeback.
Email any Fort Lauderdale area restaurant suggestions to danbermanlaw@gmail.com
I should have some new posts up in the coming days.

Coming soon

Coming in the next few days, new trips to Anthony's Runway 84, Trulucks, Ferdo's Grill, Gilberts 17th St. Grill, My Market. Since I've run out of new lunches places for the time being, I'll be doing some dinner places as well.

2/17 update

I've been pretty busy at work since returning from Denver and haven't really been to any new lunch places over the past week, but I hope to have some new posts up in the coming days. Thanks to everyone who reads this blog and please continue to post any comments or suggestions.

Tarpon Bend

I'm back from a short trip to Denver. BTW, if ever in Denver, be sure to try the hamburger at the Cherry Cricket. It was fantastic. www.cherrycricket.com

Today, we went to the Tarpon Bend, http://www.tarponbend.com/ Although people think of this place mainly as a bar, they do serve very good food and have at least 3 fresh fish selections daily. Today I got the Cobia sandwich with Tabbouleh Salad as a side $11.95. The Cobia was very fresh, cut nicely and cooked just right. The sandwich came with Tarpon Bends Key lime mayo, which is a great topping on the fish. Overall an excellent fish sandwich and the tabbouleh salad was a nice change. It is amazing how few places there are in the area where you can get a fresh piece of fish for lunch and not spend a fortune. Tarpon Bend is definately one of those places. Another person in my party got the crab cake sandwich, which he said was excellent. 8.5/10.

El Tamarindo Coal Fired Pizza 2/3

El Tamarindo Coal Fired Pizza is located at 712 Atlantic Shores Blvd, Hallandale Beach FL 33009 Btwn N Federal Hwy & NE 8th Ave.) I was down that way for business so I decided to check this place out. The same people who own the fantastic El Tamarindo on SR 84 in Fort Lauderdale across from Lesters Diner opened this outpost in Hollywood/Hallandale that serves Coal Fired Pizza's in addition to their regular El Salvadorian menu. The pizza is an obvious attempt to copy Anthony's coal fired pizza as well as their salad and wings and they do a really good job of accomplishing this. We got the large pizza with half pepperoni and half sausage. Although the sausage was crumbled as apposed to chunks or bite sizes as I prefer, it was still an excellent pizza for those that enjoy this coal fired style. The wings were also very good and compared favorably to Anthonys. The only drawbacks to this place was that 90% of the people dining there were over the age of 75 ( (I guess that is common giving the neighborhood and large portions at reasonable prices) and the service was a little slow compared to their main location. Still gets 8.0/10 for the food though.

Pollo Tropical 2/4

Just a quick, boring lunch at Pollo Tropical on Federal Hwy today. I got the Chicken with yellow rice and vegetables trop-a-chop, which is basically chopped up grilled chicken served over yellow rice with mixed vegetables. A decent, quick, and simple lunch. The curry mustard sauce on top is a necessity and probably turns an otherwise healthly lunch into an unhealthy one, but it does taste pretty good. 6.5/10

11th St. Annex

Back to the 11th St. Annex today. Reviewed a few weeks ago. Such a great place for a nice, freshly prepared sandwich in a relaxed atmosphere. Today I had the tilapia sandwich with olive tapanad and feta cheese. Very solid. Everyone in the courthouse area needs to check this place out from time to time. 8.0/10.

Silver Pond 1/29

I was up in the Lauderhill area today and wanted to check out Saigon Cafe, which come highly recommended, but when I arrived, they had a sign in the window that they were closed until Feb 26 for kitchen renovations. We then went to Silver Pond Chinese Restaurant, which is right next door. This place has been around forever. Their menu has all the traditional Chinese Fare. I ordered the General Tso's Chicken, which came with wanton soup and pork fried rice. Very solid.

Outback Steakhouse 1/28

I was told the Outback Steakhouse off of 17th st. is now open weekdays for lunch so we decided to give it a try. I was a little skeptical since I used to really enjoy the outback many years ago, but over the last few years I've found that they expanded their menu to much and the quality of all their food has suffered. For lunch they have a special that includes 1/2 a sandwich, either prime rib, steak or 1/2 a chicken quesadila and your choice of 3 different salads or soup and fries for $8. They also have a "bottomless" soup and salad deal for $8.75 that sounded good.

I got the 1/2 of steak sandwich with fries and the pecan blue cheese chopped salad. It was quite good and the service was very fast and efficient. I'll definitely be adding the Outback to my list of lunch places that I'll visit regularly. 7.75/10.

Taqueria Dona Raquel 1/26

I was up in Pompano today so I stopped by my favorite authentic Mexican Taco shop today. Taqueria Dona Raquel is located at 793 S. Dixie Hwy., Pompano Beach, 954-946-4490. Previously reviewed. Today I got 3 different meats in the taco's. All were excellent. I got 1 Al pastor, which is pork, one pulled rib meat, and 1 carne asada (Not pictured). Each taco is $1.99 and comes with fantastic chips and 2 spicy sauces. The tacos are truly authentic Mexican style and just come with a double flour tortilla, meat, cilantro, and onions. These also had some pineapple on top. A great lunch at a great price. Definitely a place to check out if you are in the area around Dixie Hwy in Pompano. 8.5/10

Kelly's Landing 1/22

Kelly's Landing is a Northeastern/Boston style seafood restaurant located just off 17th St. in Fort Lauderdale, http://www.kellyslandingseafood.com/

They have a fairly large menu, mostly fried items like Ipswich clams, scrod, haddock, and shrimp. Not surprisingly they also make an excellent clam chowda. Today, I wasn't feeling the fried items, so I went with a grilled Mahi Sandwich. My only complaint about this place is that all of their northeastern fish items like scrod and the haddock only come fried. Mahi isn't my favorite fish, but for some reason it appealed to me today. The sandwich was a decent size and came with a fairly good cole slaw and excellent Boston style baked beans. $9. My friend had the Ipswich clam roll, which was about 10 Ipswich belly clams on a New England Style hot dog roll. $13. I've had these before and they are excellent, but a little pricey.

I've also heard that Kelly's makes and excellent hamburger, but I've yet to try it.

Although I could do without all the Red Sox paraphernalia all over the walls, Kelly's is a quality lunch spot if you are looking for fried seafood or chowder. 7.0/10

Marina Deli 1/22

Ventured back to the Marina Deli today, 1453 SE 17th St, Fort Lauderdale, FL , previously reviewed. I got the Pastrami and Corned Beef combo on rye. A good sandwich but a little light on the meat today. I remember the sandwiches being a little bigger in previous visits. 7.0/10

15th St. Fisheries, 1/20

Since it was a beautiful day today, we decided to sit outside on the dock at 15th St. Fisheries Dockside Cafe. www.15streetfisheries.com
I didn't get my usual, the crab cake sandwich. Instead I ordered the Tuna Salad sandwich with steak fries, $8. The fries were great as always but the tuna was rather tasteless. Not awful, but just bland and plain. Pictured below is 1/2 the sandwich. Next time I'm going back to the crab cake sandwich for sure. Great weather and atmosphere made the lunch worthwhile though. 6.0/10 for today.

Gilbert's 17th Grill 1/19

I went back to Gilbert's 17th St. http://www.gilberts17thstgrill.com/ in the Harbour Shoppes today. (Previously reviewed). I had heard they have some really good hamburgers, so I had one today. I got the Cheeseburger, medium rare, with sweet potato fries. $8.50. The burger came out a perfect medium rare, which was great because so many places are afraid to serve it that way. It was very juicy and not one of these thin little patties like is served at so many places today, like 5 guys. The sweet potato fries were also quite good, though they needed some kind of dipping sauce other then ketchup. Overall, a very good and juicy burger, served just the way I prefer them. 8.0/10.

Maguires Hill 16, 1/15

I stopped in for a quick lunch at Maguires Hill 16 on Friday. A well know happy hour place with the courthouse crowd 535 North Andrews Ave.Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301. They have an extensive menu with many quality items. Today I was looking for something a little lighter so I went with the Maguires Salad, which is a tradition Chef's salad with ham, turkey, cheese, hard boiled eggs, onions, and cucumbers over mixed greens. They make their own salad dressings. I had the honey dijon, which was quite good. Overall a quality salad. I've had a number of their other menu items in the past. As I recall, I didn't care for their corned beef, but their other traditional Irish Bar/Pub items were fairly good. 7.5/10.

Waxy O'Connors 1/14

I went back to the always solid Waxy O'Connor's today. 1095 SE 17th St, Fort Lauderdale.

Yes, it is more then just a bar. They have a really nice menu with plenty of choices including all the traditional Irish Pub fare and a number of sandwiches and salads.

Today I was feeling like eating particularly unhealthily, so I went with the traditional Fish and Chips, pictured below. It comes with excellent fries (chips), and fresh green peas. Although the meal was extremely greasy as expected, it was also very tasty. The fish was battered and cooked nicely and not overdone as is often the case with fish and chips. Overall a nice, but heavy lunch. I'll be eating something light for dinner tonight for sure to balance this out. 7.5/10