[My ongoing series for 2016 continues ... with the THIRTY-SIXTH of FIFTY tastes of FLORIDA (coming to you on sequential Thursdays. All. Year. Long.)!]
HONORABLE MENTION BEST OF 2016 FOR APPETIZER
Establishment: Primanti Bros.
Location: Wilton Manors
Meal: Dinner
Drink: (Bottomless) Coke
Appetizers: Fried Half Moon Mozarella, Two Spicy Meatballs with Marinara Sauce and Fried Zucchini Planks
Main: Chicken Parmesan
Primanti style breaded chicken breast baked with tomato sauce and cheese
Side(s): Salad (with Balsamic Dressing), Butter Bread and Pasta with Sauce
Dessert: n/a
Server: Eric
Website: https://www.primantibros.com/locations/wilton-manors/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Primanti-Brothers-Pizza-Grill-of-Wilton-Manors/113491555350976
For two weeks in a row, I'm taking advantage of a loophole of sorts to stay true to this concept. Primanti Brothers, based in Pittsburgh but apparently being franchised all over the country (a concept that drew complaints from some of my PA based FB friends when I checked in on social media), also has a pizza stand here in the FTL at the beach ... and once, while on vacation (aka drinking), I'm pretty sure that I stopped by for a slice or two of pizza. But I had never set foot inside one of their bigger restaurant locations until this particular taste, so this feast will be allowed to count for this series. And to see how that feast scored, see what follows:
AMBIANCE: 8/10 (it's a pizzeria ... that looks like a pizzeria -- so that's a good thing ... and this spot has a bar area, family tables AND booths so it's got a little bit of everything for everyone ... a few TVs help pull off the sports bar vibe ... and you can watch the food as it's being made [or just watch the guy working the pizza ovens all night long] ... it's a Pittsburgh based company, so the picture of QB Ben R on the wall makes sense, but a point has to be deducted for each of those sexual assault charges of his that are implicitly endorsed by featuring his photo)
FOOD: 7/10 (the more you feast, the more food you try, so the more likely you'll experience some variety in the quality ... starting at the high end of that continuum, there are the meatballs [so tasty and somehow so light and airy], the zucchini planks [planks I say!] and the homemade bread ... more middling were the deep fried mozarella moons that were good enough, but about which I was expecting a gooey full half-a-cheese-ball instead of what arrived [so a point lost] and the chicken parmesan dinner, which seemed to contain chicken pieces about the same size as the chicken parm hoagie would have had [so another point lost as I expected *more* being a dinner portion ] -- plus a final point lost because the butter pads weren't spreadable [an established pet peeve of mine])
SERVICE: 8/10 (the server was friendly and kept very busy, making a point to stop by the table every time he passed, and the best part of the evening may have been when the other server dropped off some of the food and said, "you guys eat like I do" -- which I think meant that we ordered a LOT of food -- but there is a point lost for the timing of the delivery of all that food [I would have liked to have finished my salad before the apps arrived] and a second one lost due to the policy of charging $.75 for extra dressing [really? are the customers *really* abusing requests for condiments and putting the business at risk?])
BACON: 8/10 (somehow none of the dishes on which we feasted included bacon, but it was listed on the menu a few times in a few ways [on salads, fries, sandwiches AND as a pizza topping], which means that there are points to be awarded in this category for sure)
BONUS: 10/10 (+3 for putting those zucchinis in planks [I've had sticks and circles and fries ... but never planks!], +3 for being the type of place where we almost expected to be referred to as 'you'uns', +3 for those meatballs [they *would* go out of business if they ever turned those into an all-you-can-eat special] and +1 for being a place to which we will definitely return [so as to taste the PA style hoagies if nothing else!])
TroyScore: 41 out of 50 -- aka 82, a low B
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