With three other South Florida locations already proving successful, this trendy Mexican restaurant chain is trying Fort Lauderdale. They serve tacos, burritos, bowls and brunch. Menu favorites include the Phili Burrito (grilled rib eye steak, Mexican rice, Oaxaca cheese, rajas, black bean refrito, potato sticks and red chili crema) and the Late-Night Burrito (guajillo braised short rib, roasted pork, roasted chicken, Mexican rice, black bean refrito, Oaxaca cheese, mariquita sticks and salsa rosada).
Dockside dining is just one attraction at this eatery perched on the Intracoastal just south of Oakland Park Boulevard near A1A. The vibe is Florida-casual, and you can expect to see men in Hawaiian shirts disembarking from boats and strutting inside. Traditional bar bites, Floribbean fare, and international offerings comprise the menu, including crabcakes, fried calamari, coconut shrimp, seared ahi, and conch fritters. You can also order half-pound beef burgers, overstuffed wraps, and out-of-the-ordinary takes on fish, like the blackened mahi Reuben sandwich. Cocktails run the gamut, including fruity martinis, thick frozen margarita-like concoctions, and enormous fish bowls filled with fizzy, vodka-based drinks.
As the first Fort Lauderdale outpost by James Beard-nominated chef Jose Mendin, Rivertail delivers an incredible culinary experience. The seafood restaurant features outdoor seating with a covered patio overlooking the New River as well as a raw bar and Caribbean décor throughout. Menu items include Bahia-style Brazilian Stew (cod, shrimp, mussels, clams, calamari, dende oil and cashews, served with coconut milk, citrus and cilantro) and Curry Striped Bass (green curry, red curry and aromatic herb salad).
Traditional pub fair as well as seafood (Guinness barbecued shrimp) served indoors and out, though most people love sitting on the outside terrace filled with nautical paraphernalia. You can watch the traffic on the New River, as well as whatever games are playing on the TVs, and, at night, enjoy the live music. Water accessible.
Not to be confused with Tex-Mex, a taqueria primarily focuses on tacos themselves. Short rib, prime rib-eye carne asada and other premium cuts of meat are brined, smoked and braised then stuffed into homemade corn masa tortillas for an upscale version of Mexican staples. Did we mention there’d be tequila? TacoCraft has a collection of more than 100 varieties of tequilas — blancos, reposados, anejos, and super anejos — ranging from $8 to $100 per shot.
At this modern-day Mexican restaurant located in the heart of downtown, the menu includes everything you want to see on a Mexican eatery menu plus a barbecue pulled quesadilla, a buffalo chicken burrito and – wait for it – Nutella tacos (with strawberries and banana). They also serve up some tasty margaritas and craft cocktails.
Owners of the Pirate Shop and Pirate Bar on Fort Lauderdale Beach, Roberto and Claudia Guerios jumped at the opportunity to pillage, er, purchase the dilapidated property a few years back and have since transformed it into a full-scale pirate’s lair draped with skull-and-crossbones flags and decked out in a decor reminiscent of wooden pirate ships. You’ll find an array of seafood specialties, including sweet and sour shrimp, conch fritters, and herbed chardonnay-shallot mussels.
A lively place to kick back along the New River, the historic Downtowner is a casual bar-restaurant offering live music Thursday and Saturday nights and during Sunday’s blues brunch. This watering hole with a view dishes up wings, burgers, salads, and sandwiches. Specials like Monday’s “rib night” and Tuesday’s “tacos and trivia” attract fun-loving locals aplenty. Wine bottles typically max out at around $30, and there are ample brews available in bottles or on tap.
Pizzeria serving wood-fried pies with a patio and a speakeasy attached.
Yet another stylish and sophisticated restaurant has landed on the Boulevard and is right at home with its equally compelling neighbors. Seafood and steak dishes are paired with wines and cocktails. Menu items include South African lobster (two tails broiled, drawn butter), bacon wrapped filets “Oscar” style with king crab (with grilled asparagus and béarnaise) and sides like crab fried rice with mushrooms and scallions.
Located west of the Himmarshee bars, this is the place to go for a rustic breakfast, featuring the best pancakes you can find in town. Made with buttermilk, organic flour, sour cream and fresh, free-range eggs, these pancakes come served in a cast-iron pan with Vermont maple syrup. Try the “Mexican Ship Wreck,” a play on huevos rancheros served with oven-roasted yukon gold potatoes or scrumptious cheese grits.
The popular sushi spot has multiple Miami-Dade locations; now they’re laying down roots on the Boulevard. And they’ve brought fan favorites with them. These include the Fifty (shrimp tempura, crab salad – MSC certified Alaskan pollock, masago cream cheese, avocado, chili-lime mayo, eel sauce and crispy shallots) and Might Shroom Roll (multigrain rice, spinach, shiitake mushroom teriyaki, avocado, radish sprouts and sriracha mayo).
Perfect for on-the-go professionals who need a quick pick-me-up throughout the day, Java and Jam sits on Las Olas Boulevard and offers a quick way to get your food fix. Their grab-and-go counter contains pastries, overnight oats, granola and more. For those who have time to dine in, all-day breakfast begins at 7 a.m. and lunch at 11 a.m. Menu items include Taco Eggs (white corn tortilla, two sunny-side-up eggs, bacon, avocado, roasted salsa verde, queso fresco and spatch peri-peri sauce), omelets, pancakes, salads, sandwiches and more.
Fresh-faced 26-year-old executive chef Stanton Bundy helms the kitchen within this pork-centric powerhouse in the former Samba Room space. An open kitchen with a rotisserie pumps out plates of brown sugar-brined jerk chicken wings, pulled duck nachos, and grilled free-range turkey meatballs. Poultry aside, this place is all about pork, so go for the rotisserie ribs or barbecued pulled pork sliders with fried pickles, cheddar, spicy mustard, and cabbage slaw. For those craving “lighter” fare, try the warm spinach salad with balsamic bacon vinaigrette, candied walnuts, and Shropshire blue cheese.
Sushi has been available on Las Olas for over two decades now, but Thai food is relatively new. Here the menu mixes Japanese and Thai favorites – gyoza and spicy beef salad, miso soup and tom ka kai – and then throws in some twists, like filet mignon green curry. There are over three dozen basic and specialty rolls to choose from.
This snazzy downtown hotspot is routinely packed for lunch and dinner, offering contemporary American dining in a casual-elegant setting. The menu revolves around a wood-burning grill that imparts signature earthy flavor into dishes like grilled artichokes with lemon aioli and grilled grouper with coconut-conch stew and crispy yucca. Meat-lovers will be enchanted by the “forever-braised” short ribs, served with creamy potato risotto, roasted carrots, and crispy shallots.
Walking along the Riverwalk, or perhaps sailing down the New River, you may have noticed a new addition to the waterfront standing downhill from the Broward Center for the Performing Arts. The two-story Huizenga Pavilion is part of the center’s $58 million expansion. A private reception area occupies the top floor, while Marti’s New River Bistro fills the ground floor.
This Las Olas pizzeria allows you to be your own master chef and create your own pizza (or pick an item from the menu if you’re not feeling that ambitious). Options include Spicy Hawaiian Pizza (classic red sauce, shredded mozzarella, ham, bacon, pineapple, jalapenos and crushed red pepper) and Creamy Parmesan and Shrimp Pizza (creamy parmesan, shredded mozzarella, shrimp, black olives, broccoli and diced tomatoes).
A swanky restaurant at the office end of main street with a chef, Eric Baker, who has a Superior Diploma in French cuisine. The emphasis is on seafood, though there are steaks (filet mignon, NY strip, rib eye) as well as eight different types of fish served whole. The live lobsters, “steamed and cracked,” weigh in at two, three and four pounds.
Big red wines, martinis, bone-in steaks, and juicy chops combine with Chicago Supper Club sophistication at this high-end Italian-style steakhouse in the heart of downtown. Live music is performed at 7:30 p.m. every Tuesday through Thursday in Timpano’s Starlight Lounge, providing a backdrop for aged beef, savory flatbreads, and classics like calamari fritto misto and osso bucco.
Breakfast deli featuring sandwiches, hot dogs, salads, soups and more.
Located just 50 yards from the fishing pier, 101 Ocean takes advantage of beach breezes with an open bar that spans inside and out. It’s rare to see those bar stools empty, occupied by both tourists and locals. The menu offers a mélange of international offerings in a classy-yet-casual setting. Find a bit of everything, including pizza, pasta, flatbread, sandwiches, steaks, salads, seafood, and chops. There’s also a decadent raw bar with shrimp, mussels, oysters, and lobster tail.
A libation-lover’s paradise, this gastropub produces American-style grub and serves up frosty pints of craft beer, more brews from frozen “pour-it-yourself” beer taps, and spirits infused with sweet fruits. The decor incorporates old gas lanterns and Chicago bricks with an array of historic Life magazines. Flatbreads with barbecue chicken and marinated pork and snacks like parmesan-truffle fries and short rib sliders with bacon-onion jam pair well with darker, bold-bodied brews, while the arugula shrimp salad with toasted pecans, cranberries, and goat cheese works with lighter Belgian white beers including Hoegaarden.
This tapas-style restaurant is more casual than its sister restaurants in the growing Angelo Elia empire, but it still provides first-class elegance and healthy portions of both light and hearty Italian fare. Tapas range from familiar to exotic: buffalo mozzarella with prosciutto di Parma, tempura zucchini flowers with mozzarella, and grilled provolone over radicchio. Escarole and beans with roasted sweet Italian sausage is full of flavor, and every pizza is delicate and thin-crusted, just like you’d find in Napoli. Try the basilico bruschetta, served in traditional style with diced tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil, and pair it with a bold bottle of red Tuscan wine.
A part of the Ocean Manor Beach Resort, this casual spot serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. There’s brunch on Sunday, followed by a late-afternoon Caribbean pig roast buffet. Mondays are dedicated to Italian food, and parties are held whenever the moon is full.
Enjoy the ocean view at this A1A legend.
For the better part of a decade, the bar and restaurant has been one of the go-to spots at the northeast corner of the Galleria Mall – the bit of the shopping center that’s been redeveloped into an upscale dining and nightlife hub. It’s a little spot mostly given over to upmarket national chains – Capitol Grille, Seasons 52, P.F. Chang’s. (Blue Martini is headquartered in South Florida, which is also where four of its six locations are.)
Then there’s the weekly fun, such as Wednesday-night ladies night – a fairly recent addition that includes half-off cocktails all night, $5 Tito cocktails all night for everybody and complimentary cocktails and champagne from 9 to 11 p.m.
If your place is called the Brass Tap, you’ve first got to make sure your beers pass muster. Here, they definitely do. Knowledgeable bartenders and servers discuss and offer sips of a selection of beers that can be head-spinning – even before you sample a few. Of the 80 or so beers on draught at any given time, only seven to 10 are permanent while about six will be brewed on premises in the small upstairs brewery. For non-beer-drinkers, they also do a creative cocktails menu, including a couple cocktails on tap.
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.
The brewery’s Oakland Park taproom recently launched its Craft Food Counter and Kitchen. Chef Jeff Vincent has come up with a menu that mixes down home with uptown – it’s bar food, but not as you might know it. Perfect-with-beer dishes include the Mighty Tatanka (a bison/pork belly blend with sweet onions and buffalo mozzarella), Craft Brat or Main Street Pork Sandwich.
A lively place to kick back along the New River, the historic Downtowner is a casual bar-restaurant offering live music Thursday and Saturday nights and during Sunday’s blues brunch. This watering hole with a view dishes up wings, burgers, salads, and sandwiches. Specials like Monday’s “rib night” and Tuesday’s “tacos and trivia” attract fun-loving locals aplenty. Wine bottles typically max out at around $30, and there are ample brews available in bottles or on tap.
Mexican food gets an upscale makeover at owner and Chef Eduardo Pria’s award-winning eatery. Featured in Bon Appetit, Gourmet Magazine, and on the Food Network, Pria denounces typical tacos and boring burritos for more authentic fare such as guajillo chile-spiced black bean soup, pan-seared Florida Keys yellowtail crusted in toasted almonds and thyme, and achiote-rubbed pork loin with honey-pasilla chile glaze. And it’s not always offered, but if Pria is making his cilantro soup when you visit, be sure to order a bowl.
A local favorite, Fishtales offers an indoor / outdoor full liquir bar. the patio offer a great view of 33rd street. Live entertainment and dinner specials are offered every night of the week. Come enjoy the food, fun and friends at “Fishtales on 33rd.”
Enjoy wine, craft beer or maybe a killer martini in this sleek and sophisticated bar.
Festive Latin restaurant serving the essentials plus Spanish specialties.
This authentic Mexican restaurant will quench your hunger and satisfy your beer taste buds. It offers handcrafted Mexican delicacies such as burritos, fish tacos, shrimp ceviche tostadas and more. Their menu also features 22 different beers with local brews and happy hour starting at 3 p.m. If that’s not enough, once a month Quvo Tacos hosts a “craft beer bottle share” event where everyone’s invited to bring your own craft beer to share with others.
This extremely popular Las Olas bar and restaurant offers traditional favorites: tamales, chimichangas, enchiladas and of course tacos. Guacamole is prepared table side, and 225 varieties of tequila are waiting to be tasted.
Drink specials go on all day – including 2-for-1 margaritas – with an eclectic menu and oceanfront views.
Big servings, friendly staff, raucous bar – especially popular for Sunday brunch.
Fresh-faced 26-year-old executive chef Stanton Bundy helms the kitchen within this pork-centric powerhouse in the former Samba Room space. An open kitchen with a rotisserie pumps out plates of brown sugar-brined jerk chicken wings, pulled duck nachos, and grilled free-range turkey meatballs. Poultry aside, this place is all about pork, so go for the rotisserie ribs or barbecued pulled pork sliders with fried pickles, cheddar, spicy mustard, and cabbage slaw. For those craving “lighter” fare, try the warm spinach salad with balsamic bacon vinaigrette, candied walnuts, and Shropshire blue cheese.
Fresh Mexican and Spanish cuisine with a side of sangria or bucket of international beer.
