130075 Sat Mar 23 10:35:41 -0800 2002 11 10 Florida 0 703901 I'm taking a trip to Lauderdale in April, but am a fan of laid back places, particulary seafood. If you've ever been to the Conch House in St. Augustine, that's one of my all time faves and I'm making a special stop there on my way down! Any suggestions for quirky places with good food? Tacky decor, friendly service, good beer selection, and great food. That's me! On the water (not necessarily ocean) is a plus. Sat Mar 23 10:35:41 -0800 2002 0 gruvyman 1 703902 Here are some dinning suggestions in Fort Lauderdale: Cafe La Bonne Crepe, 815 East Las Olas Blvd., 761-1515, International, moderate pricing & great breakfast or dinner. Jackson Steakhouse, 450 East Las Olas Blvd., 522-4450, Steak & Seafood & can be a tad expensive. Rustic Inn, 100 North State Road 7, 584 1637, Steak & Seafood & moderate pricing. Mark's Las Olas, 1032 East Las Olas Blvd., 463-1000, fine dinning, International & expensive. Louie Louie, 1103 East Las Olas Blvd., 524-5200, Italian & inexpensive. California Cafe, 2301 South East 17th St., 728-3500, casual American dinning. Casa d' Angelo, 1201 North Federal Highway, 564-1234, Italian & expensive. Burt & Jack's, Berth 23, Port Everglades, 522-5225, Steak & Seafood & expensive. Shirttail Charlie's, 400 South West 3rd Avenue, 403-3474, Steak & Seafood & inexpensive. Old Florida Seafood House, 1414 North East 24th St., 566-1044, Wilton Manors shopping center, moderate pricing. Aruba Beach Cafe, One East Commercial Blvd., 763-0001, Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Steak & Seafood & moderate pricing. Sat Mar 23 12:30:47 -0800 2002 703901 0 Amy 2 703904 Hi Amy, That's a great list! Have you been to all of these places? One of the great things about Chowhound is that we can get first-person reports about restaurants from savvy people who have actually been there, as opposed to PR hype from a Web site or starred entries in a food guide. Your thoughts on some or all of these places would be much appreciated. Does one have a great appetizer? Which has a great view? Crummy service? My aunt lives in the Plantation area, so I might be trying some of these out soon. Thanks! Denise Sat Mar 23 18:52:14 -0800 2002 703902 0 Covert Ops 3 703908 Near Plantation are some other great places including a wonderful Italian place that has great food at very reasonable prices - Mario's. Its on University between Sunrise and Oakland Park Blvd. Go there! Order their pizza thin and very well done - its wonderful. Excellent chicken parm, shrimp scampi, pork chops pizzola, etc. I've posted many times about this place and many have responded that they loved it, too. Its a chain, but what a chain - JP Alexanders in Plantation on West Broward - wonderful place - Go there! Great, great place. As good as Houstons and that's saying something. Real good Chinese place on Flamingo Road in Pembroke Pines -not too far from Plantation. The China Seas in Publix shopping center - Again, reasonable and very, very good. Sat Mar 23 23:00:25 -0800 2002 703904 0 Chuck 4 703911 Or is that next week? :-) Sun Mar 24 16:44:45 -0800 2002 703908 0 Covert Ops 5 703914 Friends coming with the bagels on Saturday - Manhattan Bagels from Sarasota over to Ormond Beach. The white fish salad and lox are our responsiblity - no problem with these - available at Sams. Incidently, we make our own white fish salad. It's very easy to make from scratch - Get the whole smoked white fish at Sam's or even Publix near the meat section. Its a little tough removing all the bones, but just take your time - nothing worse than eating white fish salad with those little bones. You do have to hope you don't get one that has too much salt cure but its usually fine. If not, soak it in a little milk and drain well before continuing. Leave the pieces of white fish pretty big and chop up celery and add mayo to your liking - its great and yields a ton of it - as good as any deli that charges $16 to $20 per lb for the same thing. The lox from Sam's is another story - can be iffy, but at times its pretty good for $10.00 a pound. The lighter the color of the lox, the better - You want the light color because it indicates a higher fat content and that's the difference between good and so so smoked salmon. The best I've ever seen on tv is Wolfgang's stuff. That dude knows great smoked salmon! he's also the absolute best cook on that station hands down. I hope to try Bizzaros at the Mobil station off 1-95 in early April upon returning from Ft. Lauderale. Can't wait - all hounds seem to love it!! Sun Mar 24 17:55:18 -0800 2002 703911 0 Chuck 5 703950 Covert Ops - The bagels were great! I was very impressed. I am going to try to reach Manhattan Bagel executives again... Perhaps a refrain from the 80's hit "Please Come To Ormond For The Spring Time" Interestingly, we're getting one of the hottest bakery chains in the country, Pantera (?), to open here in Ormond Beach this July so the area has some potential. But for the present, we need somebody to rescue us from Einstein's "Rolls With Holes" now!!! We're dying here!! Sun Mar 31 14:24:20 -0800 2002 703911 0 Chuck 6 704010 Awesome! (Disregard my question about bagels under the pizza thread.) What flavors did you have? Did you get to try their lunch sandwiches too? I wish ours was open past 3 p.m., though I know that's not always feasible for a bagel place. What I need is a 24-hour bagel place that is NOT Dunkin' Donuts!! Sheesh, the places around here are so square, the diners don't even serve breakfast all day! Not a good thing when you work nights and wake up at 11:30 craving grits. (What have these Southerners done to my poor NJ tastebuds?!??) Denny is SO not an option. *sigh* The search continues. . .:-) Denise Fri Apr 05 22:57:17 -0800 2002 703950 0 Covert Ops 7 704013 Ops - Just stuck to the basics...Sesame and well, well done! We lucked out and got a great package of smoked salmon this time from Sam's - had bagels and lox for two days!! I know what you mean about diners - In NJ, the land of both the best diners and the best hot dogs in the country, the diners serve BK all day - fat, thick sausages, great home fries, well done, of course, and some of the best cream pies and big Chinese cookies in the world. they spead the butter on your toast in the kitchen and not throw you some hard butter pats! Going back to the homeland next month and will eat at several diners and hot dog place - I'll report back and make your mouths (you and the baby) water. Never was much of a grits fan but I do know the difference between a fresh ground grit from NC and the packaged stuff. North Carolina has wonderful corn meals and grits. But, for me, I still like the NJ home fries best. Sat Apr 06 10:55:49 -0800 2002 704010 0 Chuck 2 703907 The Old Florida Fishouse in Wilton Manors is excellent - fantastic fried shrimp as big as your fist. Big portions of quality seafood - they have been doing it for many years. They are the original and only Old Florida Fishhouse The other excellent and reasonable seafood place with a more interesting atmosphere is The Rustic Inn on Griffin Road. they too have excellent fried shrimp but crabs are their speciality. The Golden Crabs are great. Try the shrimp and the crabs if you can and make sure you wear jeans and bring ear plugs. don't want to give away anymore info.... Incidently, neither of these places is a singles joint, but rather places where people who know seafood go to. Sat Mar 23 22:50:58 -0800 2002 703902 0 Chuck 1 703905 Not exactly seafood, not exactly cheap, but you might try Dan Marino's Town Tavern on the second floor of Las Olas Riverfront (954-522-1313). Think Hard Rock Cafe decor but only Marino memorabilia. Extensive menus, with steaks, flatbread, salads. Raucous bar, from what I remember. Riverfront, if you've been there, is like a big outdoor mall with designer shops, restaurants and movie theaters. Again, not quite a dive, but an enjoyable meal nonetheless. Link: http://www.danmarinostowntavern.com Sat Mar 23 19:03:40 -0800 2002 703901 0 Covert Ops 2 703909 Any of the Flanigan's places between West Palm Beach and Pembroke Pines have great grilled tuna and dolphin. They are a locally owned chain that only serves local seafood. Good food reasonably priced that you don't find anywhere but S. Fla. Full bar, draft selection and package store at most of 'em. Keep your eyes open, you'll find one. Sun Mar 24 02:03:56 -0800 2002 703905 0 flavrmeistr