Caribbean zest rules at this restaurant located right next to Funky Buddha Brewery. This food spot offers huge portions with a Haitian twist on dishes such as oxtail, fried fish and curry goat. Wash down your plate of spiced meats, red beans and rice, sweet plantains and a salad with the restaurant’s Haitian Martini for the full Caribbean experience, and enjoy your meal while watching a game or two on their giant projector TV.
Known for its wood-fired dishes, J. Alexander’s serves classic cuisine in a sophisticated setting. Enjoy Tuscan steak, grilled fish with mango papaya salsa, chicken Milanese and seafood czarina. Pair your meal with wine from the full-service bar.
Sometimes you just crave a plate piled with plantains and black beans and rice. The original restaurant opened in Hollywood in 1984; today there are a dozen scattered around South Florida. People come not just for the Cuban sandwiches and the ropa vieja but for the homey atmosphere.
Moksha is an Indian restaurant offering a contemporary dining experience featuring 70 South Asian selections composed of traditional flavors with a twist. The 85-seat indoor restaurant’s menu includes signature specialties such as the MOKSHA Feast with chicken tikka malai kabab, tandoori prawns, tulsi kabab, lamb chops, rosemary naan and black lentils.
An Asian fusion restaurant specializing in Japanese-Thai tapas, sushi and food that is just as beautiful to look at as it is to eat. Dishes like the Pineapple Fried with shrimp, chicken, chunks of sweet pineapple, cashew nuts and raisins and the Rising Sun Roll with pears, apples, mango and loaded bake seafood will have you begging for more.
This chic, casual dining spot on Wilton Drive offers outside seating so people can enjoy a meal in true Greek village style. Big and small plates include starters from falafel, pork belly and stuffed grape leaves with hand-rolled rice and fresh herbs drizzled with lemon sauce. And if you want to go big and meaty, you came to the right place with dishes like the Greek platter for two – two lamb chops, grilled chicken, gyro, grilled kefte, pork tenderloin, rice and potatoes. Top it off with a Greek dessert such as Galakto-Fantastico, a warm custard wrapped in phyllo dough, topped with cinnamon and honey. And it wouldn’t be a Wilton Drive dining experience without a signature cocktail or two from the excellent bar.
It’s hard for Fort Lauderdale locals to imagine a summer without taking a dip in the water…well, what about their bagels? Known for a 14-step water filtration process that goes into its authentic Brooklyn-style bagels and coffee, Brooklyn Water Bagel Co. has officially opened its second Fort Lauderdale location. In addition to bagels and coffee, menu items include breakfast and deli sandwiches, baked goods, omelets and “baninis” – bagel paninis, naturally.
Shake Shack, known for its 100-percent all-natural Angus burgers, fresh-made frozen custard and crinkle-cut fries, has finally opened in Fort Lauderdale. The East Coast rival of West Coast icon In-N-Out Burger also serves chicken sandwiches and griddled flat-top dogs (which have no hormones or antibiotics). Keeping things local, they offer brews from Wynwood Brewing Co., Due South Brewing Co. and Funky Buddha Brewery. Lucky for us, this location includes a collection of frozen custards exclusive to Fort Lauderdale: Pie OH My, S’more and Caramel Crumble (in addition to the classics).
The restaurant’s name gives a clue as to two of its specialties – champagne and oysters. But if that sounds a bit fancy, the place’s local-art-and-beach-bar vibe and décor should put people at ease. With its long bar of seats and close, cozy tables, the place offers what seems like a Florida version of the Asian concept of communal dining.
The family-style eatery prides itself on serving Vietnamese home comfort food. Flavorful dishes pull from traditional recipes, some commonly known and other
passed on by Nguyen’s mother who he says taught him “every trick there is.” But What The Pho is about more than just pho, known to some as the “King of Desserts,” the menu boasts twists on the classic Thai donuts with “Pho You” and “Pho Me.”
This small, warm restaurant named for the artist Frida Kahlo enhances the typical Mexican menu with some harder-to-find dishes like chochinita pibil (roasted Mayan pork leg marinated in achiote citrus juice), fish Veracruz style and shrimp mole verde. The tortillas, like the guacamole, are homemade.
With 25 years of Italian culinary experience, Chef Walter Hernandez brings authentic Italian cuisine to the table. Classic Italian menu items include shrimp scampi, Frutti Di Mare, Veal Frascati sautéed in a lemon white wine sauce with spinach, capers, artichoke hearts, and roasted red peppers with spaghetti, pizza and more.
This family-owned restaurant specializes in German-American food, including seven types of schnitzel, two types of calf’s liver, bratwurst and sauerbraten. For more American meals, there are baby back ribs, steaks, and surf and turf.
Internationally inspired fare meticulously prepared by Chef Hector Lopez is complemented by an extensive wine bar that will have gourmands and foodistas raving. Doubling as a purveyor of gourmet yacht provisions, this restaurant boasts refined elegance in its 55-seat dining area. Dishes like pan-seared foie gras with truffle strawberry carpaccio, cherry gastrique and blinis, and grilled hanger steak with crushed rutabaga, asparagus, and red wine demi-glace make every bite memorable.
Thai and Japanese dishes plus a “build your own burrito” option.
Mastro’s is well-known nationally as a high-end steakhouse chain that also features a line in seafood. Their new location in Fort Lauderdale sits on the Intracoastal near Oakland Park Boulevard, an area that’s quickly becoming a go-to dining locale. Executive Chef Rocco Nankervis aims to give customers plenty of options with a menu that, alongside prime cuts of beef, offers all sorts of seafood and even a sushi menu.
Open seven days a week since it debuted in 1989, Zuckerello’s still has its original owner and chefs in place pumping out home-style Italian. Expect to find traditional dishes like zuppa di clams, fried calamari, and house-made meatballs, along with pasta such as penne alla vodka, crab ravioli, lasagna, and linguine with clam sauce. Large booths can accommodate family-size parties, and the casual-elegant vibe will keep you lounging long after you finish eating. Red and dark gray walls adorned with lively paintings are complemented by glossy wood tabletops and chairs in a contrasting shade of wood. House specialties like veal Marsala, chicken Milanese, and panko-breaded eggplant Parmesan are affordable and come in shareable portions. Fish lovers should try the herb-crusted salmon in orange beurre blanc sauce.
A menu based around fries? Trust us on this one. This restaurant takes you on a tour of inspired alternatives to and takes on the humble fry. Their French fries come in all shapes and sizes, as well as different root vegetables. Try yucca fries, truffle fries, ropa vieja poutine and churrasco frites. Oh, and wash it down with a craft cocktail from a speakeasy-style menu.
The healthy fast casual concept stays true to its local supply chain philosophy by sourcing much of its produce from J&J Family of Farms in Loxahatchee and herbs from Harvest Sensations in Miami. The name’s a bit of a misnomer; Just Salad also does wraps, smoothies, “warm bowls” featuring dishes like shawarma and umami, and soups.
Opened in 1969, this is one of the last of the area’s corned beef-and-pastrami lunch places. Order The New Yorker and you’ll get both meats with Swiss cheese and Russian dressing, and a crisp half-sour pickle on the side. There’s also chopped liver, creamed herring, lox and bagels and, for dessert, coffee cake and rugelach.
The new location in Southport Shopping Center on 17th Street offers what customers have come to love from the first location on North Federal Highway. The Mexican restaurant is inspired by the food originating from the Baja Coast Peninsula, to be specific. They strive to bring light and fresh Mexican food that can be eaten every day to South Florida.