Random Taste for Thursday 3/30/17

And so it continues ... a brand new set of tastes for 2017 ...

 here's the TWELFTH of FIFTY tastes of FLORIDA 

(coming to you on sequential Thursdays.  All.  Year.  Long.)!

REDEMPTION ROUND!

Establishment:  Miller's Ale House 
Location:  Ft. Lauderdale
Meal:  Dinner
Drink:  Dr. Pepper (still no Coke :(  )
Appetizer:  Soup of the day (oops -- I forgot the name but it was basically Clam Chowder with a kick)
Main:  Ossobuco
(Marinated pork shank slow cooked until fabulously tender)
Side(s):  Baked Potato and Broccoli
Dessert:  n/a
Server:   Lucas
Website:  https://millersalehouse.com/
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/Millers-Ale-House-181208372285760/
Original Taste:  https://50tastesofflorida.blogspot.com/2016/09/random-taste-for-thursday-9816.html

With excitement, we bring you the FIRST of four special tastes for 2017 -- what we're calling our "redemption round".  Each quarter, we'll return to an eating establishment that was reviewed in 2016 -- and that scored then in the 70's (the lowest set of scores we've offered to date).  Perhaps we'll discover that the low score was well-earned ... or perhaps we'll find out that it was just an off day and the rating should have been higher.  Good news -- the FIRST of these four ended up *improving* their Troy-score, as detailed below:

AMBIANCE:   9/10 (the first time, the score was a 9 and the point lost was because there were more TVs than customers at lunch [although it *was* lunch on Labor Day, so that might have been a partial explanation] ... this time, the expectations of what it would be like inside were known, but the score still ended up as a 9 ... with a point lost on this visit because we were seated in a booth [yay!] too close to a pool game that was underway [oops!] and we were asked to move and we ended up directly behind a family of screaming kids [boo!])

FOOD:           7/10 (the first time, the score was a 6 with penalties for zingless "zingers" [their signature product], fries not cooked all the way, a bad ratio of zinger to fry and the lack of Coke products ... this time, we went for another one of their featured pics and everything was amazing -- that pork shank was tender and juicy and plentiful [and perfectly presented], with a healthy portion of broccoli and an unhealthy portion of a baked potato ['cause they let me load it ALL the way up -- with a big ole bucket of butter to put on it] ... and the soup of the day was extra special as it was basically a clam chowder with a kick ... the point deductions come from a baked potato skin that was a touch too well done [and this guy eats the skin 'cause that's where all the nutrients are], the need for more of that delicious sauce at the base of the shank and the fact that they still don't have Coca-Cola)

SERVICE:      9/10 (the first time, the score was a 9 and the point was lost because the server free-refilled my Dr Pepper with a Pepsi [which, as a Coke drinker in the first place, is an egregious act] ... this time, it's still a 9, but not for the fact that everyone tried hard to make our experience enjoyable [with random employees stopping by to inquire about the success of our meal] but because we waited too long for the check to arrive after the meal was clearly over)

BACON:         9/10 (the first time, the score was a 9 and the point was lost because there weren't enough crumbles on the dish that was ordered ... this time, it's also a 9 because, let's be honest -- that baked potato could have used a bit more bacon)

BONUS:         10/10 (the first time, the score here was just a 6 ... this time, it's a +3 for providing so much food that I couldn't eat it all on site [something that is rare for me], +3 for the prime rib special of the night [as pictured], +3 for having a Batman game next to the Golden Tee [as pictured, although not a great photo], and +1 for being a place to which we will return [although not on Tuesdays 'cause that's kid's night] primarily because they successfully redeemed themselves -- and because the dessert options look great should I ever have room for one of them)

TroyScore:  44 out of 50 -- aka 88, a B

Random Taste for Thursday 3/23/17

And so it continues ... a brand new set of tastes for 2017 ...

 here's the ELEVENTH of FIFTY tastes of FLORIDA 

(coming to you on sequential Thursdays.  All.  Year.  Long.)!

Establishment:  Everglades Gator Grill 
Location:  Homestead
Meal:  Snack
Drink:  can of Coke
Appetizer:  n/a
Main:  Gator Bites
(5.5 oz of gator tenderloins with homemade sauces)
Side(s):  Plantains
Dessert:  n/a
Server:   order taker at counter
Website:  n/a
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/Everglades-Gator-Grill-1486203718372225/

The first time I had gator, it was on a stick and at the Taste of Chicago back when we lived in the windy city.  The second time I had gator was just last year, and it was an appetizer of BBQ Gator Ribs at a location featured in the 2016 version of this series (just google gator on the blog to find that review).  The third time I had gator was at this cute little roadside eating establishment when family were visiting and the menfolk spent the day touring the Everglades National Park.  The main difference this third time -- we had literally just seen a whole gaggle of gators (the extra pic that is posted) minutes before we pulled in for a snack of Gator Bites.  See how this place got its Troy-score below:

AMBIANCE:   9/10 (to be fair, it's a bit of a wooden shack ... but it's a wooden shack that has been freshly painted and has been expanded upon with an outdoor seating pavilion in addition to the shelf type barstool level area that lines the walls of the room with the main counter and kitchen ... it has lots of parking for all the cars that pull in on impulse from all of the signage on the way in or out of the Everglades National Park down the road ... just a point deduction because of the row of menu item pictures taped to the counter ... admittedly, they might be presented that way in order to communicate with international travelers who might be making a day of it at the park, but surely there's a better way to highlight the options)

FOOD:           9/10 (unless you're a gator connoisseur, chances are that your experience would be just like you'd expect -- that is, it's going to taste like chicken ... the good news is that this chicken [er ... gator] was well seasoned and juicy -- but it was those homemade sauces [one orange-ish and one green-ish] that kicked things up a notch ... the point deduction here comes from the side dish of plantains, which were a little dark for my taste)

SERVICE:      9/10 (it's a counter service kind of place and the ordering experience was conducted by an employee who was efficient and friendly ... but we also showed up in the middle of a bit of an afternoon rush, so we were kind of "just a number" as they hurried and scurried to push out the food quickly, which explains the point lost)

BACON:         8/10 (it's a limited menu, but the good news is that bacon appears four times on it -- to be added to burgers, to be put on a BLT or to be served on two different breakfast sandwiches [so two points per menu reference] ... it does beg the question why the bacon can't be paired with the main dish of gator)

BONUS:         7/10 (+3 for its location as the first food place you see after leaving all the *live* gators in the national park, +3 for all the non-food photos and clippings you can view while you're waiting for the food to be prepared and +1 for being a place to which we will return the next time we're headed in or out of the Park ... 'cause tradition)

TroyScore:  42 out of 50 -- aka 84, a B

Random Taste for Thursday 3/16/17

And so it continues ... a brand new set of tastes for 2017 ...

 here's the TENTH of FIFTY tastes of FLORIDA 

(coming to you on sequential Thursdays.  All.  Year.  Long.)!

Establishment:  Farmers' Market Restaurant 
Location:  Florida City
Meal:  Lunch
Drink:  (Pitcher!) of Coca-Cola Classic
Appetizer:  Fried Zucchini
Main:  Fried Fish Fingers
(Fresh catch ... which that day was dolphin fish)
Side(s):  Steak Fries and Cole Slaw
Dessert:  n/a
Server:   Karlene
Website:  n/a
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/floridacityfarmersmarketrestaurant/

This year, we are well on our way to beating last year's record number of diners in this series, and I'm happy to say that tonight I get to feature the highest scoring diner of the four so far this year, and the second highest of the ten diners since we started the very first taste so many months ago.  It might have been because family was in town ... or maybe it was excitement over the experience of the excursion at the national park from which we had just taken a break for lunch ... or maybe it was all because of Karlene ... but see how the Troy-score of only the second A so far this year came together below: 

AMBIANCE:   9/10 (I mean this in the best way possible ... but it didn't take me long to think of this place as the location in a Stephen King movie where all the surviving townfolk would gather to unite to fight whatever "big bad" was threatening them -- and they'd be damn sure fed well while they were there ... it was a big open room with lots of individual tables with various colored checkerboard tablecloths and it had a high ceiling with a natural light that came in through a row of windows, lighting up the wall mural of the cow driving the tractor ... the only point being taken off is for the public bathrooms that are right next to the restaurant with nonstop traffic and a bit of a public restroom smell that you had to navigate before you could have lunch)

FOOD:           9/10 (when you learned that the fish was swimming that morning and that the vegetables came from the farmers' market next door, it was no surprise that the taste of something as basic as dolphin fingers and fried zucchini was bumped up a notch ... and, from previous reviews in this series, know I wasn't going to pass up that fried zucchini, particularly when served as medallions ... and you can see from the photo that those steak fries were giant pillows of goodness, crunchy on the outside and practically mashed potatoes on the inside ... just a half a point off because the fries were missing salt and another half a point off for the homemade coleslaw, which was missing the tang that I prefer in that type of slaw)

SERVICE:      10/10 (I'm pretty sure that there may have been other employees working that day, but we were lucky enough to get Karlene -- and yes, she did make me think that she might have been related to the Jan Hooks character Carlene from 'Designing Women' and yes, we wish her service on every customer that comes through the door ... she had many talents, but I think the one that won me over was her ability to engage in an actual conversation without it feeling forced in any way -- she made it seem like she should have been in the other seat at the table as part of our party ... and the story was priceless about her having to explain to not-so-savvy customers that dolphin is a fish and not the actual dolphin and so an order of dolphin fingers did not mean that there were fingerless Flippers out there)

BACON:         7/10 (although none of my choices included bacon, it was indeed all over the menu in the breakfast and lunch sections ... it disappear from the dinner options, though, so we'll award 2/3 of the points in this category)

BONUS:         10/10 (+3 for all the delicious crunchies at the bottom of that basket of friend zucchini, +3 for Karlene [enough said], +3 for her not being afraid to bring over a whole pitcher of pop at the outset instead of just a glass 'cause she correctly guessed that I'd be drinking a refill or two and +1 for being a place to which we will return the next time we end up on the edge of Everglades National Park -- maybe even on all you can eat Wednesdays -- although then we'd probably skip the park and just hang out in the restaurant all day)

TroyScore:  45 out of 50 -- aka 90, an A

Random Taste for Thursday 3/9/17

And so it continues ... a brand new set of tastes for 2017 ...

 here's the NINTH of FIFTY tastes of FLORIDA 

(coming to you on sequential Thursdays.  All.  Year.  Long.)!

Establishment:  Chuck's Steak House 
Location:  Ft Lauderdale
Meal:  (Annual Birthday Steak) Dinner
Drink:  Whiskey Sour
Appetizer:  Salad from the Salad Bar
Main:  New York Strip with Garlic Butter Sauteed MushroomsAngus beef, tender with great flavor.....10 oz
Side(s):  Baked Potato
Dessert:  Homemade Mud Pie
Server:   Mr. Surly at first, who then thankfully passed us off to Kim
Website:  http://www.chucksflorida.com/
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/chucksflorida/

"Happy Birthday to ME!" for over a dozen years has meant a dinner out at a steakhouse -- and the majority of them recently have included members of my Indiana family.  Prior to the big move from Chicago to Florida, we were making our way through all of the great Chitown steakhouses, and that tradition continues down here in a place where the surf side of surf-n-turf usually reigns supreme.  That does mean that there's likely to be only one steakhouse per year in this series.  The good news -- this place is better than last year's selection.  The bad news -- a bit of surliness can bring your Troy-score down, even if we swoon over your salad bar option (see all the numbers below):

AMBIANCE:   9/10 (I like big booths and I cannot lie ... and we were seated in one that comfortably fit five, as this evening out happened when family was in town visiting, and that was in a back corner and close to the salad bar ... we got a nice view of the whole place and it wasn't diminished when the lights dimmed shortly after being seated [although that dimness did affect a picture or two accompanying this post] ... the only point deduction is because we recommend some enhanced signage related to how to find the restrooms, as we got to see a few folks wandering around lost from our vantage point in the corner booth near the restroom entrance nook)

FOOD:           8/10 (you go to the steakhouse for a steak ... and a baked potato ... and, if you're lucky, a salad from the salad bar ... and I had no problems with any of those basics -- the steak was juicy and flavorful, the potato was a little small but enhanced by being able to load it up with goodies from the salad bar and the salad was made precisely to my liking ['cause I was the one who made it] ...by the way, I was talking about that homemade mud pie all the way back to my own home ... the disappointments were in the add on garlic butter sauteed mushrooms that came on the side and were good, not great and didn't amp up my steak like I wanted them to [a point lost] and in the fact that I couldn't get a side of creamed spinach at a steak house, which I thought was a mandatory offering from all my time spent in Chicago [the second point deduction])

SERVICE:      7/10 (kudos to Kim for salvaging this scenario ... because the initial impressions made by a hostess who simply didn't listen as we tried to engage her in conversation [explaining that a birthday steak house excursion was our family tradition] and the gentleman whose name we didn't get [a bigger bald guy] who took our order without a smile and oozing surliness from every pore left us with a bad taste in our mouth before any actual food arrived ... I don't know if it was a "captain server" style set up or what, but luckily we didn't see our order taker again for the rest of the evening and his replacement was sweet, personable and friendly as well as being efficient ... that being said, it's a point off for the hostess, and double points off for captain surly)

BACON:         6/10 (on one hand, there's only one reference to bacon on the official menu [served atop a southwest chicken dish] ... but on the other hand, there's a salad bar with unlimited bacon crumbles on it that you can add to just about anything [I chose to do so on my baked potato] ... so let's split the difference and give one point more than half in this category)

BONUS:         10/10 (+3 for that damn salad bar making us feel all Ponderosa-y [in a good way], +3 for the presentation of the dessert menu on that bottle [as pictured], +3 for a mysterious light switch in our booth that no one knew what it turned off or on but that kept our nephew entertained throughout the meal and +1 for being a place to which we will likely return because we do so love us a salad bar)

TroyScore:  40 out of 50 -- aka 80, a B

Random Taste for Thursday 3/2/17

And so it continues ... a brand new set of tastes for 2017 ...

 here's the EIGHTH of FIFTY tastes of FLORIDA 

(coming to you on sequential Thursdays.  All.  Year.  Long.)!

Establishment:  Maggiano's Little Italy 
Location:  Boca Raton
Meal:  Dinner
Drink:  Coca-Cola
Appetizer:  Warm Rolls (and half a plate of butter)
Main:  Steak and Ravioli
Beef medallions and mushroom ravioli al forno
Side(s):  Grilled Asparagus and Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Dessert:  n/a
Server:   Sarah
Website:  http://www.maggianos.com/
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/MLIBoca/

The one who makes the rules is also the one who gets to break the rules (and don't worry ... this isn't a political post).  When this series kicked off at the beginning of 2016, the rules were "one NEW place (at which I've never before eaten) each week (each year)".  Moving here from Chicago as we did, it is true that there was at least one other time when we dined at a place named Maggiano's (in Skokie) ... and it's also true that we were very familiar with the Lettuce Entertain You culinary empire (as anyone who has eaten out in Chicago must be).  What we didn't appreciate was how far across the country they had expanded ... so when we were the lucky recipients of a gift card from someone with a Chicago connection and we went looking as to where we could use it down here, we were surprised to see an option for Maggiano's up in Boca.  Long story short ... we're going to get a "dispensation" from the rules and we're going to qualify it for this series and we're going to document how it earned the Troy-score below (and how it became the highest scoring Italian establishment so far in this series):

AMBIANCE:   8/10 (without a doubt, it's a great big beautiful space, with a stylish bar directly in the center and several well appointed spaces/rooms all around it -- and we got there at the beginning of the dinner rush, so by the time we left the place was packed with a good number of large sized groups [living up to the Italian family stereotype] ... the problem [and the reason for the docking of *double* the points] was the loud table of young ladies taking a break from working the streets [or so it seemed by their appearance] that was gathered two spaces behind us as seen in the background of the accompanying photo -- and although it's not the restaurant's job to control their rowdy customers [especially those with a cackling "look at me" hyena laugh], all signs pointed to those noise-violators as being family members of the staff OR staff members themselves because the servers were hanging there instead of serving)

FOOD:           9/10 (I always love me a dining experience that starts with an overflowing basket of warm bread and when it came to the main meal, everything was delicious that I ordered -- from the steak medallions with the crunchy onions on top to those creamy ravioli "baked in the oven" [aka al forno] ... the point lost is directly linked to the four pats of butter served with the rolls [and captured in that photo] as I was unaware of any butter ration and we had five people in our party to devour that pile of scrumptious warm bread so four little pats were definitely not sufficient)

SERVICE:      8/10 (I felt a little sorry for our server Sarah, because any friendly expertise she was exhibiting was overshadowed by two rude food deliverers, for whom dropping off the meals at our table of five was clearly a task in which they wished to no longer be involved, and by the table at which we were seated being without a pepper mill, for which we went on a mission to claim it from another spot)

BACON:         9/10 (just because the special I ordered didn't include bacon doesn't mean there weren't plenty of opportunities to have it featured in many different ways on the menu [and for those of you who get caught up in double negatives, that means bacon was everywhere] ... and it wasn't just any bacon but an "imported"-from-Wisconsin Nueske's bacon that could have been wrapped around shrimp or served on a bruschetta or added to the carbonara ... all that said, it was disappointing that the crispy pancetta "flakes" on a salad ordered by another person in our party were either too crispy or too tiny as we were all but convinced they were artificial, which explains the deduction of one point in this category)

BONUS:         10/10 (+3 for us arriving there and getting a parking spot just a few minutes before they closed down the lot for valet only parking, +3 for an interesting bogo concept where you could order two pasta dishes -- one to eat at the meal and a second complete one to take home for lunch the next day, +3 for using the asparagus as a dam to separate the steak sauce from the ravioli sauce on my plate, which warmed my heart as I don't always like things touching and +1 for being a place to which we will most definitely return so long as we are up in that area so that I can order more menu items that come with that bacon)

TroyScore:  44 out of 50 -- aka 88, a B