Salads, sandwiches, shakes and their specialty, chicken tenders, with an array of sauce options.
Fort Lauderdale’s first gluten-free restaurant specializes in vegetarian dishes – excellent salads plus Portobello and raw lentil burgers – but it also offers a tuna melt and a BLT (with turkey bacon) on house-made waffle bread. Save room for delicious quinoa cupcakes topped with seasonal fruit jam and goat cheese icing.
This restaurant in the Marriott Renaissance Hotel serves up an assortment of American and French-inspired items. Early arrivers can indulge in omelets, French toast, and interesting offerings like alligator eggs Benedict with blackened alligator medallions and orange hollandaise sauce. Small plates like shredded pork sliders with pineapple barbecue and chicken lettuce wraps with sesame ginger dressing are served as midday snacks. For dinner, it’s all about the filet with port wine cherry reduction. For dessert, there’s warm bread pudding with vanilla and caramel or the Florida Key lime pie with chopped fruit and orange Grand Marnier sauce.
Valentino’s cheaper cousin (and occupying its former space), this warm, neighborhood place offers an array of pizzas (including prosciutto with shaved Parmesan and arugula) as well as other tempting Italian dishes. The eggplant sliced thin, fried and layered like lasagna is a popular item.
Chef Stefan cooks up chicken Marsala with spätzle, wiener rostbraten, Hungarian goulash and Holstein schnitzel. With the warm décor, and the music, it always feels like Oktoberfest inside. The large, attractive bar next to the dining room is a cozy place to sit with a mug of German beer.
Anthony Bruno, of Runway 84, opened this pizza joint in 2002 because he couldn’t find the “well done” pizzas of his native New York here in Fort Lauderdale. The flagship location has since become a nationwide chain. Ashy flavor permeates the crust of pies like the “Paul & Young Ron,” piled with meatballs, sausage, ricotta, and hot or sweet peppers. Oven-roasted chicken wings and salads round out the menu, and beer and wine are served.
Local pizza joint with fast delivery.
Arrive by boat or auto at this seafood mecca tucked inside Lauderdale Marina to experience breathtaking views of the 17th Street Causeway drawbridge. Seafood dominates here, from shrimp ‘n’ grits with trugole cheese and applewood-smoked bacon to wild blue crab cakes with double mustard cream, scallions, tropical slaw, and yuzu tobiko. Waterfront cocktails are a major draw here, but don’t leave the kids at home – they can help feed the tarpon that crowd the dock while you order another round of margaritas.
The first thing you receive, after the warm welcome, is a basket of warm bread and a small bowl of garlicky chimichurri sauce to dip it into. Run by Salvadorans, the restaurant has a cozy elegance and serves generous portions of everything, including ceviche, mariscada soup and churrasco.
Owners Sean and Blaise McMackin revamped the former Brownie’s Bar location with this eco-friendly gastropub known for American craft beer, bourbon, and artisanal burgers. Many unique dishes are offered, such as tuna-watermelon sashimi with jalapeno and lime, and Berkshire crispy pork belly with huckleberry jam and farro. Burgers come with surprising toppings like fried green tomatoes, beets, Bibb lettuce, apples, and Rogue River blue cheese.
After a long four-year process, Bar Rita has finally opened its doors. The two-story, 5,500-square-foot restaurant serves up modern Mexican food with an eclectic margarita menu. You can enjoy rooftop city views alongside menu items such as build-your-own bodega bowls and a selection of tacos including truffle barbacoa and carne asada cheesesteak. Vegetarian and vegan options are also available.
Made-to-order subs, salads and sandwiches.
Toss Up Salads brings flavor without sacrificing health. That means hormone-free chicken or organic fresh produce (no added preservatives) with a side of freshly squeezed juices. The vast menu features dips, soups, acai bowls, energy shots, wraps, smoothies, grain bowls and, of course, salads.
A unique 50s-style restaurant that has been around for over 40 years. Be sure to try their infamous 14oz coffee cup if you need a quick pick-me-up!
Family-run bagel shop also offering sandwiches, salads and wraps.
A juice bar modeled after Brazilian “sucos.” Serving acai bowls, superfood smoothies and healthy snacks.
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.
Press Gourmet Sandwiches is more than just your average sandwich shop. Founders Christopher DelPrete and Rand Carswell, who first started out with Miami Press Food Truck in 2012, bring 15 years of culinary experience with them and a knack for chef-inspired gourmet fare. The name was born out of wordplay – all the sandwiches are pressed – but DelPrete and Carswell decided to give each sandwich a newspaper-themed name. And thus, a theme was born.
Seasonal cuisine and an award-winning international wine list make this casual-chic chain at the Galleria a consistent draw for locals and out-of-towners. Nothing on the menu tops 475 calories, kept down either by portion control or careful ingredient selection. Flatbreads are popular, such as spicy chipotle shrimp with grilled pineapple, feta, and roasted poblano chilies, as are vibrant entrees like caramelized sea scallops, wood-fired pork tenderloin, and roasted artichoke-stuffed shrimp. Chef’s tables are available with an amuse bouche and a five-course meal with wine pairings for each course, as is private dining for special, intimate occasions. For dessert, go with guilt-free mini-indulgences – shot glass-sized sweet treats, such as Key lime pie, old-fashioned carrot cake, and chocolate peanut butter mousse.
A local place to gather at the table and enjoy modern American dining. The Rusty Hook tavern boasts local brew and craft cocktails with a causal atmosphere. See their website for great deals at 50% off specials during the week.
The founder of Anthony’s Runway 84 and Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza, Anthony Bruno teamed up with restauranteur Michelangelo Mozzicato to open a casual restaurant with a Santa Maria-style grill as the centerpiece. The menu consists of American classics with a Florida twist – appropriate for a place in the old Dirty Ernie’s building.
Located at the Harbor Shops, serving American dishes like burgers and ribs.
Sister restaurant to locals’ favorite The Mason Jar Café, this pub has all the comfort food you would expect. They’ve got wings, ribs, sandwiches and more bar-style eats. However, don’t get too comfortable because there are daily chef specials worth checking out. Notable menu items include the Poblano Chicken Milanese (on ciabatta with smashed beans, lettuce, tomato, avocado, Monterey jack cheese and poblano mayo) and the short rib burrito (with yellow rice, black beans, cheddar cheese and spicy kimchi aioli).
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.
Flagler Village is adding another modern dining concept to its already thriving community. Henry’s Sandwich Station’s name is a nod to Henry Flagler, the 19th-century gazillionaire railroad builder whose tracks run behind the café and for whom the neighborhood is named. The shop offers small batch, artisanal purveyors, and house-smoked and cured meats. Menu items include the Montreal style smoked meat on Zak The Baker Jewish rye and slow-roasted prime rib with a homemade horseradish cream, to name a few.
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.
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.
Chef Oliver Saucy and general manager Darrel Broek have earned this restaurant distinction as one of the nation’s best, with a menu updated daily featuring the best local ingredients. Dishes include: duck confit phyllo purses with raspberry-glazed beets, pearl onions and chives; and three-peppercorn filet mignon with three-cheese potato au gratin and shallot-thyme butter.
A family-owned restaurant serving upscale comfort food from chicken potpie to pigs in a blanket to Janice’s meatloaf and fried green tomatoes. And yes, drinks are served in Mason jars.
Shrimp N’ Grits, chicken n’ waffles and pulled pork sandwiches are coming to Fort Lauderdale. Batch is bringing Southern comfort food to Flagler Village. Serving a farm-to-table menu, the kitchen gets its products from local farmers. Reservations are required for a taste of Southern, but delivery, take-out, and catering are also available.
White tablecloths, dark wood accents, and landscape and portrait paintings adorning dark red and brown dining room walls give this chain in the Galleria Mall a classic, sophisticated ambience, as do the food and lengthy wine and spirits list. Appetizers like Wagyu beef carpaccio with wasabi arugula and the cold shellfish platter with fresh lobster, jumbo shrimp, and oysters are perfect for kicking off any VIP dinner. Entrees like the Kona coffee-crusted, dry-aged bone-in sirloin with shallot butter and porcini-rubbed Delmonico with 12-year-aged balsamic further stamp the feeling of luxury. Seafood lovers should try the seared citrus-glazed salmon with haricot verts, asparagus, and roasted cipollini onions with a side of decadent lobster mac and cheese. For dessert, try coconut cream pie, flourless chocolate espresso cake, or the trio of house-made ice creams.
THIS INCREASINGLY POPULAR chain recently brought its brand of bird preparation to Fort Lauderdale. Chicken Kitchen prides itself in providing a fresh and healthy menu. Try their world famous “Chop-Chop” by choosing a combination on the menu or creating your own. Chicken Kitchen offers take-out, dine-in and delivery. You can even get them to cater an event.
Flagler Village’s newest addition comes in the shape of healthy smoothies, fruit bowls and avocado toasts. The beautifully Instagramable location is complimented by the healthy, organic fresh food served. JB&C also offers a modifiable menu with vegetarian and vegan options.
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.
