[My ongoing series for 2016 continues ... with the THIRTY-THIRD of FIFTY tastes of FLORIDA (coming to you on sequential Thursdays. All. Year. Long.)!]
WINNER BEST OF 2016 FOR SERVICE
Establishment: The Floridian
Location: Ft. Lauderdale
Meal: Brunch
Drink: A Poinsettia and a Coke
split of champagne to mix with cranberry juice
Appetizer: n/a
Main: 222 Special
two eggs, two pancakes & sausage or bacon
Side(s): Bacon (once as a side to supplement the main, and once again because of an unforeseen bacon accident [see below])
Dessert: n/a
Server: Linda
Website: http://thefloridiandiner.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Floridian/122004887809606
This establishment is a Ft. Lauderdale landmark ... and so it was only a matter of time before we ended up there (actually, it was *almost* taste #28, until a last minute change of plans that night). And full disclosure, the fact that I spilled not one but TWO drinks ... and that I had to defend my bacon against the fork of the other person in my party such that a piece ended up on the floor ... will barely play a role in this review. To see why it ended up being the typical diner (not bad ... but not great), here are the score-components:
AMBIANCE: 7/10 (mirror walls make a place seem bigger than it is, and since this place is long but not wide [a few rooms side by side but none too deep], that trick worked ... with chandeliers and art of celebrities along the top of the walls, it gave off a diner "plus" kind of vibe ... a point lost because the celebrities weren't celebrities pictured eating at the diner, a second point lost because all the advertisements have an artistic rendering of the store front with white chairs lined up outside -- all of which seem to have been replaced by new tables that turned that area into outside eating instead of classic outside seating, and a final point lost because the flash of the camera taking a picture of the lost bacon [see below] disclosed a pretty dirty floor)
FOOD: 7/10 (let's start with the things at brunch that make me happy [besides bacon, which has its own category] -- butter that is spreadable and not frozen, and jam/jelly choices of more than just two ... plus super fluffy scrambled eggs and yuuuuge pancakes ... and cheers for selling coke instead of pepsi ... other than that, it was diner food [so not bad ... but not great] ... a point lost for serving it on a plate where my syrup ran into those scrambled eggs [in my humble opinion, pancakes and waffles and such deserve their own dish], a point lost for naming a meal the 2-2-2 and then making you choose bacon OR sausage [it should have been BOTH meats, instead of making me order one as a side, because that's what two means] and a final point lost because those yuuuuge pancakes were a little heavy by the time it got to the last bite)
SERVICE: 9/10 (similar to the experience about which I raved at Bonefish Mac's earlier this month, the server was excellent at her job, making every stop at the table seem like we all were just picking up a multi part conversation ... and, in many ways, we were, as we got to talk to her about her frequent trips to Chicago and other recent fun of hers ... just a point lost for waiting a touch too long for our check at the end of the meal)
BACON: 8/10 (a place that has 35 references to it on their menu ... and that even uses it to add some extra goodness to a classic diner dish [liver and onions AND bacon, says the menu] is going to score all the points ... EXCEPT for the fact that one of my pieces ended up on the floor [my fault] and that, as we left, we saw more bacon abuse outside on the sidewalk [not my fault], so a point has to be docked for each in memory of those lost pieces)
BONUS: 9/10 (+3 for the fancy office chairs at the "executive" table [see picture below], +3 for an alcoholic brunch drink I had not heard of before [mimosa, I knew ... poinsettia was new to me] and +3 for the aforementioned mirrors, because we caught the teenage busser checking himself out in them as he passed a few times)
TroyScore: 40 out of 50 -- aka 80, a low B
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