by Strawberry Jam | Apr 18, 2011 | Local Business
By Strawberry Jam
Despite reading a majority of negative Yelp reviews complaining of the new Taco Beach Shack in Hollywood, their website’s mouthwatering descriptions are enough to warrant a trip for any decent taco-enthusiast. Almost all of the complaints dealt with the joint’s slow service but we figure that’s not that bad and what better time to risk it than Taco Tuesday? Well, we soon learned that “Taco Tuesday” was in fact limited to only chicken or beef tacos, subjecting us to the not-so-shack-like prices on the rest of the menu. We mulled over the menu for a while at the bar and waited for a table to open up. There seemed to be no seating or serving arrangements and after finally sitting about 15 minutes, our waiter hurriedly greeted us “So sorry. I promise not to ignore you guys anymore. Pllllease make it quick.” A sign of the night to come, perhaps.
We placed our order: one chicken taco, one beef taco, and a baja fish taco combo platter. Almost 40 minutes went by until our server came and apologized for the wait, offering some chips and guac on the house (normally $4 for a basket and small 4 ounce cup of the green stuff). The guacamole tasted light and fresh and seemed like an appropriately nice gesture by a new restaurant. In all fairness, there was a somewhat large party that ordered before us (5 or 6 people) but it seemed very much like two servers and one cook were taking care of the whole place, which was actually almost completely full.
While we waited we observed the decor of Taco Beach Shack. Is it a taco shack? Is it striving to be a swanky outdoor restaurant on South Beach? Alas, it is both. A shack built upon a luxurious blanket of white sand, with neon signs and expensive-looking wicker furniture, ping pong tables and white drapes. Oh and of course a fire pit.
by Miguel Bravo | Apr 14, 2011 | Art, Music
We’re anticipating another explosion of goodness this weekend in Broward County. Here are some choice cuts for the next four days:
Thursday
Tonight, Ft Lauderdale’s weekly indie music soiree Digital Love hosts Chicago-based mash-up mistros The Hood Internet. Unfamiliar with the DJ duo? Just peruse blog aggregator Hypem or the pair’s website to listen to one of their numerous mixes. Think Girl Talk, but edgier. Cover is $10, PBRs and shots of Jack will still be on special, $2 and $5 respectively.
Friday
The hottest new franchise in town, the Fort Lauderdale Strikers, play their second home game at Lockhart Stadium against the notoriously dirty NSC Minnesota Stars. We had an insane amount of fun last Saturday for the opening game, and we’re expecting the same tomorrow night. Kickoff is at 8:30, but try and show up 6pm to tailgate with the Miami Ultras and South Florida United. Tickets are cheap ($15 at the box office, but look out for high school kids selling tickets for half off). DEFEND THE FORT!
Being called “Fort Lauderdale’s newest craze” by its organizers (hardly a new craze in our opinion, but who cares), the FTL Bus Loop is back for another installment. This time the trolley route takes you around the north end of FTL Beach (Blue Martini, The Parrot Lounge, McSorley’s, etc). 20 bucks if you prepay, 25 bones the day of. Check-in begins at 5:30 at either the Galleria Mall or Shooters/Bootlegger. The proceeds go to a number of worthy charities. Check out the FTLC’s bus loop post from back in the day.
One more option for your Friday evening: Dr. Dog at Culture Room . Tickets are $18. Check out Beached Miami’s interview with the bassist.
Saturday
South Florida has way too much stuff going on Saturday, but we’re going to try and navigate from event to event. Radio-Active Records headlines this busy day with their Record Store Day celebration. The record store really outdid themselves this time for RSD: Brooklyn’s Blank Dogs and Jacuzzi Boys headline, with additional performances by Miami band Axe & Oak, Tampa-based Merchandise, and DJ sets by Esoteric, Kems, Lance-O, and Urodub Soundsystem. Come out early and take advantage of all the vinyl specials and limited releases. Click for set times and some RSD exclusives.
After watching the Heat beat up the Sixers, make your way to Huizenga Plaza (the park across from the Art Museum) and join the Crohn’s Disease Walk to help find a cure for this annoying digestive disease that affects 1 our of every 200 Americans. Festivities begin at 6pm, the walk starts at 8pm. If you can’t be there in person, you can make a donation on their Ft Lauderdale website.
Although not the official after party for Radio-Active’s RSD festivities, we feel that the Spred The Dub show at divey 1921 is a perfect way to cap off a hectic but fun Saturday. Doors open at 10pm and there’s a $5 cover. Every time I’ve seen this band live, I’ve had a good time.
Sunday
A collective of South Florida EDM DJ’s will be spinning electronic music all day at North Beach Park in Hollywood to raise money for victims of the Japan earthquake. This event called Red Dot Relief is free, but the organizers are asking for donations through their Crowdrise site or directly to the America Red Cross site. Instead of spending the day at Ft Lauderdale Beach like every other weekend, try something different and head a few miles south to Hollywood Beach for this fun event. The music starts at 1pm and goes till 11:30pm.
Less charitable but probably just as fun is Poorhouse’s BBQ dubbed Hootenanny. The entertaining lineup consists of Viva le Vox, The Sawyer Family, Joe Buck Yourself, Heavy Boots, and Boise Bob. The event is free and there will be delicious barbeque for sale. It begins at 5pm.
by Strawberry Jam | Apr 13, 2011 | Fort Lauderdale
By Strawberry Jam
This past Saturday, Red Bull hosted their first Candola competition in Fort Lauderdale’s New River. Despite the scorching heat, hundreds turned out to watch the homemade boats launch into the water and race toward the end of the 1/3 mile route and see if they can or can’t-dola. Here are a few of the ones we caught:
photos by Strawberry Jam
by Fat Hand | Apr 12, 2011 | Local Business, News
by Fat Hand
This past weekend after having just arrived at FTL beach, I caught wind of an unfortunate rumor: the Pirate Bar had closed down. I went to see for myself and indeed, the wooden pirates stationed along the alley were gone and the doors, or openings, or whatever you want to call them, were shuttered. Pirate vacation, perhaps. Temporarily closed by health inspectors, seemed likely. But a quick check of their website confirmed the worst: Pirate Bar on FTL beach is gone. Cue the violins. Leave a bouquet of black lilies. A bar that seemed more Ft. Lauderdale than Ft. Lauderdale itself often seems, is no more.
Now, there are a couple pieces of information that may provide some silver lining:
First, as you know, and as the website linked above points out, there is another version of the pirate bar located in the old Shirttail Charlies location downtown on the south bank of the New River. It’s a good bar, has a full menu, tons of space, a pool, and outdoor picnic tables right on the dock. But the vibe is more Shirttail Charlies than it is Pirate Bar on FTL beach. It can never compete with the grungy, laid back, rock & roll feel of the original. For this blogger, it will never replace wasting away late afternoons at the beach, alternating between sake bombs and buckets of Polar beer, dangerously playing that ring game across a public alley, listening to rock music turned up a little too loud.
Second piece of info: I stopped in the pirate gift shop next door and asked the young lass working the counter what she knew of the situation. She says the landlord is taking over the bar and is currently working on renovations. The bar (or some bar) will supposedly re-open in the future.
We shall see how closely the new bar will resemble the Pirate Bar, if at all. Maybe it will re-open, seem exactly the same, and we will forget the original ever closed. Maybe. But no matter what opens in that location, be sure to go back at least one time, order a couple sake bombs if they are available, and pour one out for your old pirate friends.
