Random Taste for Thursday 4/27/17

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

 here's the SIXTEENTH of FIFTY tastes of FLORIDA 

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

Establishment:  Dairy Belle 
Location:  Dania Beach
Meal:  Dinner
Drink:  can of CocaCola
Appetizer:  n/a
Main:  Hamburger Steak
(with gravy, grilled onions and fries)
Side(s):  Poutine (and coleslaw)
(REAL WHITE Curd Cheese and REAL brown poutine gravy from Quebec)
Dessert:  Banana Split
(vanilla ice cream, topped with hot fudge, strawberry and pineapple [with] whipped cream, peanuts and three cherries)
Server:   Counter Service (so order taker's name not gotten)
Website:  http://dairybelleicecream.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Dairy-Belle-Ice-Cream-143611982333390/

The first time I had Gazebo Room dressing (a Greek style condiment homemade in central PA), I was so enamored, that I drank it from the bottom of my salad and had to be stopped from taking a swig right out the bottle ... to see why that's relevant for this particular eatery "as seen locally on 'Check Please'" (so you just know it HAS to be good) and to see how that might have been a factor in the overall calculation of the Troy-score, read below:

AMBIANCE:   9/10 (somehow I didn't capture any pictures of the area, but luckily you can see some on their own website ... to be clear, it is exactly as it appears -- an eating establishment that catches your eye as you drive past that might remind you of an old fashioned drive in/drive up place where you'd take the family for ice cream at the end of a hot summer day ... and then the Canadian flags come into view, and you start to wonder what Canadian ice cream might taste like ... it's all picnic tables around the counter, but with a special covered patio area in the back for those tricky afternoon thunderstorms ... what was going to be a point deduction because we had to clean off our own table gets wiped out because there WAS a lady out cleaning up who was working in the back and we were eating around the side so she just didn't get to us in time ... BUT then there's another point being deducted because they had Delilah playing on the radio ... and although it's a story for another time and another place, "she" and I don't get along any more)

FOOD:           9/10 (was I happy that my little can of coke cost $1.75? -- no ... was the main dish's hamburger a little salisbury-steak-esque? -- yes ... could there have been fewer onions mixed in? -- sure ... did I care though once I got a taste of that rich brown gravy that covered everything [including the fries and the perfectly textured cheese curds] which served an additional purpose of keeping everything piping hot until the last bite? -- absolutely NOT ... let me put it this way -- I was finished with my meal and I wanted to take the container home because I didn't want to miss a single drop of that gravy ... and since I couldn't do that, I checked to make sure that no one was looking and I picked up the bowl and drank every single bit of that deliciousness ... heck, I might have even taken a scoop of that gravy instead of the strawberry topping on the old fashioned full size banana split ... so why the point deduction? -- because my tablemate got what was purported to be a Chicago dog, and as former Chicagoans, the lack of bright green relish was a slap in our faces)

SERVICE:      9/10 (it's a counter service type of place, where you order and they call your ticket number to go claim your food so there's not too much interaction with employees ... but the order taker was efficient and the aforementioned lady-of-the-tables stepped in when I approached a condiment station with a worried look on my face because I didn't know how to use the plastic utensil dispenser ... just a point lost because no one directed me around the corner to that area [although it could be that they have so many regulars that they just assumed everyone is already "in the know" about the layout])

BACON:         7/10 (for a dollar, the menu lets you add bacon to anything ... but with only one dish for which it was the main thing [a BLT, naturally], it's just not right to give too high a score in this particular category ... although if they find a way to "bacon up" those poutine choices [bacon gravy anyone?], then I am more than willing to retroactively raise the score in this category)

BONUS:         10/10 (+3 for hearing the accents on the customers that serve as an endorsement of the authenticity of the dishes, +3 for having Galvaude and Guidelle on the menu [not that I knew what they were, but all signs point to them being very authentic Quebecian dishes], +3 for us having the perfect timing to arrive when there weren't any long lines and to get in to order the banana split after the meal before a family of a dozen got out of their cars and +1 for being a place to which we will most definitely return, with visitors in tow, because EVERYONE should have a taste of that gravy)

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

Random Taste for Thursday 6/2/16

[My ongoing series for 2016 continues ... with the TWENTY-FIRST of FIFTY tastes of FLORIDA (coming to you on sequential Thursdays.  All.  Year.  Long.)!]

HONORABLE MENTION BEST OF 2016 FOR SERVICE

Establishment:  Grampa's Bakery and Restaurant
Location:  Dania Beach
Meal:  Sunday Brunch
Drink:  Coke (in a can) that turned into Barq's Root Beer (in a can) instead
Appetizer:  "Heaven on a plate"
complimentary pastry
Main:  French Toast
Side(s):  Bacon
Dessert:  Homemade Oreo Cookie Cheesecake
Server:  Annie
Website:  http://www.grampasbakery.com/
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/grampasbakery/?ref=page_internal

For starters, let's just say that this is yet another place that was featured on 'Diners, Drive-ins and Dives' and that it comes Guy Fieri approved (which I think has now happened thrice in this series).  For in-betweens, let's just say that it was a restaurant that instantly felt like home because it automatically reminded me of a place where family members would fit in perfectly -- as employees.  For finishers, here's how this high score was earned:

AMBIANCE:   10/10 (it's a diner ... and it feels like one in every best sense of the word ... despite a line on a Sunday afternoon, it was a line placed by the baked goods counters [which got people excited] and a line that moved super-fast ... plus there were bonus rooms fully in use and staff running everywhere [but not in a too-rushed way] ... also everyone, including us, got a great tan because of the reflection off the bright red awning at the time of day we visited ... and as much as I want to deduct a point for the Maserati driver out front who couldn't figure out how to back into the space right outside the window, I decided it's not Grampa's fault that someone douchey came to eat at the same time as our party)
FOOD:            9/10 (the meal starts with a homemade pastry, and, when asked what it was, Annie said "heaven on a plate", which was a description that was on point ["warm cinnamon danish" would have also been accepted] ... then the french toast arrived and it was hot and fresh and plentiful and somehow soaked up all the syrup without getting soggy [I'm not the type of guy who normally takes home a doggie bag {unless it's actual bones for the doggies}, and even I couldn't finish it all] ... then there's bacon [see separate category] ... and a scrumptious hunk of cheesecake that also was taken home [and eaten over two nights] ... just a point lost for being a place that served the cola that shan't be named [and despite the fact that she *thought* she had a can of the good stuff {Coke} but could only find a can of root beer])
SERVICE:      9/10 ("hey guys" was the greeting by the kind of waitress you expected to see at a place named Grampa's ... personable and professional and so much on her game that she seemed to float past the tables in her section passing out things that you didn't even know you needed yet while she was infecting folks with smiles and her good attitude ... just a point lost because the busboys, who admittedly had a lot to do to keep the tables turning, were seen being rude to a family arriving at a table [rolling their eyes while pushing their cart and announcing "we're back here" in a less than friendly way])
BACON:         10/10 (after a few weeks in this series of eating establishments without any reference to bacon on the menus ... this was the opposite ... including a single "side" of bacon that was ordered by someone else at our table that arrived on the plate as seen in the photo -- putting to shame any place that considers a "side" of bacon to be a strip or two!)
BONUS:         10/10 (+3 for "accidentally" getting two sets of "heaven on a plate", +3 for server Annie taking the whole order in her head (and for finishing our sentences because she sensed what we were ordering), +3 for having a jelly container that included apple, orange, grape AND strawberry choices and +1 for being a place to which we'll for sure return to take the puppies' grandparents when they come to visit next year)

TroyScore:  48 out of 50 -- aka 96, the third time that highest score (so far) has been given