Fort Lauderdale restaurants
 

Looking for ideas for mid priced, good value,non chain restaurants in this area. We've been to 3030 and Mark's but were not impressed with either because of how high the cost was. We did like 15th Street because of the great view and we liked Cap's Place.
This trip, we want to try to find more local places like Cap's Place. We are also interested in Greek food and wonder if anyone has experience with the several Greek restaurants that lie north on AIA.
Thanks in advance!!

Fort Lauderdale Dining

1) Bravo Italiano 1515 S.E. 17th St. (954) 523-9441http://www.bravoitaliano.com

From Lago Mar, go back out to 17th St.. Take a left and go over the bridge. After going over the bridge, Bravo is located in a shopping plaza on your right side between the first and second traffic lights. There is a sign for Bravo on the side of the road.

2) Sage French Café 2378 N. Federal Hwy. (954) 565-2299 http://www.sagecafe.net

From Lago Mar, go back to 17th St. and take a right. 17th St. will turn into A1A which goes along the beach. Follow A1A to Sunrise Blvd. which will be several miles, turn left onto Sunrise. Take Sunrise to RT.1which is N. Federal Hwy. Take a right on N. Federal Hwy. Sage will be in a shopping plaza on you right. The shopping plaza is shortly after you come to several large car dealers and has a Planters Bank located in front of it. It is also easy to get to and from this restaurant using 17th St. to Rt.1 then going all the way down Rt.1 to Sage. Well worth the drive.

3) Shirttail Charlies 400 S.W. 3rd Ave. (954) 463-3474 http://www.shirttailcahrlies.com

From Lago Mar, go back to 17th St. and take a right. 17th St. turns into A1A which goes along the beach. Take A1A to Las Olas Blvd. and take a left onto Las Olas. Take Las Olas all the way to the end and take a left onto Andrews Ave. Go over the bridge on Andrews Ave. and soon after take a right onto S.W. 5thSt.. Go about 3 blocks on S.W. 5th and take a right onto S.W. 3rd Ave.. Down the end of S.W. 3rd. there will be a parking lot on your right and restaurant is right at end of street. Hard to see restaurant and parking doesn’t look like it belongs to restaurant, but it does. This place also offers a boat ride along the river after dinner and you should take advantage of that. This place can be difficult to find, but these directions should work out OK.

4) Aruba Beach Café 1 Commercial Blvd. (954) 776-0001 http://www.restaurant.com/arubabeach

From Lago Mar, go back to 17th St. and take a right. 17th St. turns into A1A. Follow A1A to Commercial Blvd. and take a right on Commercial. The restaurant is located right on the beach. It is actually located in Lauderdale-By-The-Sea and is maybe a 10-15 minute drive.

5) IslaMorada Fish Co. Off Griffin Road http://www.IslamoradaFishCo.com

From Lago Mar, go back to 17th St. and take a left. Go over the bridge and go up to Rt.1 (Federal Hwy.)Take a left on Rt.1 going back towards the airport. You will go past the airport and take a right onto Griffin Road. After Griffin goes under I-95 you will be taking a left at the traffic light after you go over the railroad tracks. You will see a sign for Outdoor World on your left. Turn into this driveway and follow it around to Isalmorada Fish Co.. You will go around a small commuter railway station on this driveway also.

6) Shooters Café 3033 N.E. 32nd Ave. (954) 566-2855 http://www.shooterscafe.com

From Lago Mar go back to 17th St. and take a right. This turns into A1A which you will follow to N.E. 30th Court which is just before you get to Oakland Park Blvd.. Take N.E. 30th to N.E. 32nd Ave..There is a public parking garage on your right just before you get to N.E. 32nd which is the easiest place to park. Shooters only has valet parking.

7) Casablanca Café 3049 Alahambra St. (954) 764-3500

From Lago Mar go back to 17th St. and take a right. This turns into A1A which you will follow to Alahambra St.. You will see the restaurant on your left after passing Las Olas Blvd. but will have to go beyond it and turn heading back along A1A to get to it. This area of A1A is where it splits into north and south bound sides. The parking is down at the end of Alahambra St. and costs around $3 for patrons of the restaurant. There is little or no on street parking in this area but you might be lucky and find an open meter on the street.

8) Ambry Restaurant 3016 E. Commercial Blvd. (954) 771-7342 http://www.ambryrestaurant.com/
Very good German food. Don’t be fooled by the exterior of the building which isn’t impressive. Very nice inside with great food and staff.


Just for reference, 17th St., Las Olas Blvd., Sunrise Blvd., Oakland Park Blvd. and Commercial Blvd. are the only streets that go over the Intercoastal Waterway between A1A and RT.1 (Federal Highway)

Harry R...thank you for your very thorough reply. Last time in Ft. Laud we ate at Old Heidelberg which was "OK" so we will try Ambry this time.
Any experience with the Greek choices on AIA?
Thanks!

Emily - We definitely prefer Ambry over Old Heidelberg. Another place we like a lot is Cafe Seville
2768 E. Oakland Park Blvd., Fort Lauderdale
954-565-1148

As far as Greek places go we haven't tried any ourselves but have heard quite a few people recommend
Taverna Opa - Fort Lauderdale
3051 N.E. 32nd Ave., Fort Lauderdale
954-567-1630

Another worth a look is
Bimini Boatyard
1555 SE 17th Street Causeway, Quay Plaza, Fort Lauderdale
954-525-7400

Sage is our overall favorite in Fort Lauderdael, it is the one place we always visit on each visit. We are in FLL at least once a year. The directions in the other posting are from Lago Mar because it is where we usually stay and the list is one I made for someone else who was staying there.

Whenever we visit Fort Luaderdale we make sure to go to Himmarshee:
Himmarshee Bar & Grill
(954) 524-1818
(954) 524-1813
210 SW 2nd St
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301

We love the food there.

I'll second Himmarshee. Also, there's a Brazilian steak restaurant on Las Olas away from all of the shops and restaurants, towards the beach. I can't remember the name but we really enjoyed it. I'll do some research.

I found it. Chima Brazilian Steakhouse.

Catfish Deweys' on Andrews. Il Mulino on Sunrise. Taverna Opa was decent. Mangoes on Las Olas... good food at reasonable prices.. Big City Grill on Las Olas.

Hey thanks everyone! Anyone tried the polynesian restaurant that has the show....called Mai Kai Polynesian?

The food at Mai Kai is average at best, and prices high. The show may make it worthwhile.

Wonderful restaurant for authentic Creole cuisine: Creolina's - across the street from Himmarshee Bar & Grill
on 2nd Street. Also, if you're going with ladies, Himmarshee Bar & Grill has a Ladies Nite on Wednesdays, all entrees and liquor/wine is 1/2 off. It's definitely a bargain 'cause the food and service are wonderful.

I second Mangos on Las Olas.

Has anyone been to Bimini Boatyard recently? My husband and I have fond memories of Bimini bread and sitting outside by the docks. Will be staying at Lago Mar with kids in April and thpught about returning to Bimini.

Harry R thanks for all of the other suggestions with directions from Lago Mar too!

EmilyC, we like Athena by the Sea in Lauderdale by the Sea. It's at the corner of Commercial Blvd and Ocean Dr (A1A). Their jumbo baked shrimp are really jumbo and delicious. On the weekends they have entertainment. Prices are reasonable, and portions are large.

Is Athena by the Sea a Greek restaurant - can't quite tell by the name? It looks like we are adding Bimini Boatyard , Hammarshee Grill and Islamorada Fish Co to the list and removing Mai Kai!
Also, we will try Ambrys- now that I have seen Zweibelrostbraten on their menu...!!

If you liked 15th st. Fisheries, you may also like the Sea Watch. We have always had a good meal there, and it's located directly on the beach in LBTS.
http://www.seawatchfl.com/index.html
Athena's is Greek, but we have never tried it.

Emily, yes, Athena by the Sea is a Greek restaurant. Here is their website:
http://www.floridarestaurantguide.com/broward/athena/

Be careful of the Ambry. I know it's been there a long time, but a lot of people have gotten sick after eating there.

Some of the others have mentioned Aruba, Sage, Casablanca and Bimini (although I haven't eaten at Casa. or Bimini in a long time). There's Charley's Crab on the Intercoastal on Oakland Park Blvd. and A1A. There's also Piranha Pat's; there a couple of these here, but there aren't any outside of the area. In Deerfield, there's Whale's Rib and the Cove, which are casual and seafood. The Cove is on the Intercoastal, and you can eat inside or outside. There's almost always a wait at Whale's Rib. I also like Bonefish Mac's in Lighthouse Point, which is seafood/sports bar nicer than a normal sports bar; plus, there are families there so it's not just a bar.

Not sure if these are mid-priced, but there's Blue Moon Fish Co. in LBS and the River House on the New River in downtown Ft. Laud.

Sea Watch is good and on the ocean but I prefer lunch there over dinner.

Hope this helps.

Thank you to all of the posters, especially Harry R - great advice on restaurants.
We enjoyed Ambry - very good value and excellent German food. We have both spent time in Germany and we love it when we find places like Ambry!
Bravo Italiano was excellent - apparently popular with locals.
We went to Shirtail Charlie's and there were signs that the upstairs dining was closed off. The place looked a bit beat up and we didn't stay...no one was eating
Loved Islamorada Fish company - got good Bimini Bread here!
Had a lunch at Bimini Boatyard and it was pretty good.Tried to go for dinner but we left after we saw the menu - very few choices.
We also tried Chuck's Steakhouse one night. We had good steaks and they have a nice salad bar.It's a bit dumpy inside though.
We went to SeaWatch on Saturday nite and found it to be very crowded. We certainly couldn't see the sea from our seats near the kitchen! Would not go back here, food was just OK

Emily - Glad to hear that you enjoyed a few of the places we have enjoyed. I wasn't aware of Shirttail Charlies being renovated or whatever. Ambry has become one of our musts on our trips to Fort Lauderdale. If you visit again be sure to try Cafe Seville as I'm sure you would like it as well.