by Fat Hand | Jul 1, 2010 | Local Business
by Fat Hand
- Rothstein partner Russ Adler dining at Bluejay’s Cafe with recognizable but unnamed companion.
Update: Bluejay’s is closed as of May 2011 : (
The Himmarshee district of downtown Fort Lauderdale offers plenty of bars, but precious few restaurants. In the two years since Creolina’s tragically closed its doors, the only real options have been Himmarshee Bar & Grill (which is fantastic but way too expensive for a default go-to option), Tarpon Bend (which makes an acceptable burger but is certainly nothing special), and Briny’s (whose food is interesting only in that it is fun when you find something edible on the menu). But thankfully we have a new option: Bluejay’s Cafe which opened last week on Himmarshee Street, just across the alley from Fat Cats.
Serving breakfast on the weekends and lunch and dinner every day except Monday at extremely reasonable prices, a place like Bluejay’s has been sorely needed in the neighborhood. Having eaten at Bluejay’s three times in the last week despite the short-sighted refusal of the FTLC editorial board to provide a food stipend, yet encouraged by New Times blogger Bill Citara’s inspirational post about amateur food critics, I say !#$%& Bill Citara and offer my take on Bluejay’s.
But before we get to the review, Bluejay’s is already attracting local pseudo-celebrities of certain notoriety as evidenced by the above picture taken last night. On the left is Russ Adler, the former name partner in Scott Rothstein’s law firm, dining with another gentleman I recognize from obsessive reading of Bob Norman’s blog, but cannot quite place…another Rothstein attorney? A local restauranteur? Anybody recognize the man on the right in my blurry picture? (Sorry, I’m a lover, not a photographer). But I digress…to the review!
The alcohol situation:
Bluejay’s does not have a liquor license. There is a yellow sign on the front of the restaurant notifying the public about an upcoming hearing regarding this license, and while I am sure that a liquor license is great and necessary for a restaurant, for patrons this short unlicensed period offers an opportunity to bring your own beer or wine (which the wait staff is more than happy to open and serve) and save a bundle on a great meal. Good luck Bluejay’s on the liquor license and I promise I will not show up at that meeting to oppose it.
Food that is amazing:
Shrimp & Crawfish Flatbread for 10 bills off the appetizer menu. Truly inspired. The ample crawfish chunks, along with shrimp, corn, scallions, red peppers and cotija cheese makes this a Southern U.S./Tex-Mex delicacy.
The Spanish rice accompanying the half-chicken entree. Infused with jalapeno, along with corn, tomato, and green and white onions, this rice offers a kick that is rare in a rice dish. Seriously, one of my best rice dishes yet eaten.
Food that is very good:
The filet. For 25 bucks you get a very good cut of meat, well prepared, served with mashed potatos. My only suggestion is that it would be nice to have a vegetable along with the meat and potatos, but what are you gonna do?
Half-chicken entree. Good seasoning, but I must say, I can’t stop thinking about the rice.
Food that is also good:
Skirt Steak Tacos, Fish Tacos. Both meals are just seven dollars for three tacos which are served in soft corn tortillas with filling of tomatoes, corn, onions, lettuce and cheese. The sizable tacos are certainly better than your average taco, and the grouper in the fish tacos tasted great; plus it was refreshing to see a restaurant not claim that every chunk of fish in every taco is dolphin…because come on, we all know that there is not an unlimited supply of mahi every season at every restaurant.
Roast Beef Sandwich. It’s a roast beef sandwich. Get it with the tasty sweet potato fries.
Bluejay’s: the best of luck. You seem well-situated for your market and serve very good food…much better than I was expecting from a brand-new establishment. The restaurant business is tough, but you have a passionate supporter in Fat Hand and, I can only imagine, Russ Adler. And Russ, the best of luck to you too sir.
by Fat Hand | Jun 21, 2010 | Fort Lauderdale
James Bond once said Christmas only comes once a year. Not true in Ft. Lauderdale where our holiest of days is quarterly. Friday, June 18 was the summer Bus Loop, or as it’s known to many of us in South Florida, Yom KipBusloop. Friday’s route focused on the 17th Street Causeway. 18 bones for a card and free transportation and you are set for an evening of beer and revelry. A good thing about Bus Loop is that it takes you to places where you do not normally hang out. A bad thing about Bus Loop is that there is probably a reason you do not normally hang out at those places. Bus Loop featured nine bars (and one ice cream shop!). As this space and my memory are limited, I will not try to write about all nine stops (not counting the ice cream shop!). So here are my thoughts on a few of the locations:
Duffy’s Sports Grill
Duffy’s is new to its Cordova Road location and new to Bus Loop. Therefore, Duffy’s did not realize that Bus Loop bars limit the type of free drinks they will serve, such as a horrible raspberry concoction (the only beverage YOLO served during the spring Bus Loop), or that old keg of Schaeffer that was never tapped. Duffy’s ignorance was to our benefit. A guy next to me ordered a Patron and pineapple…well done, guy next to me. Duffy’s did, however, fall into a common trap of Bus Loop: being completely unprepared for the throng of thirsty Bus Loopers. They had their standard three bartenders and getting the attention of any of them was a frustrating experience. Duffy’s bar is so huge that you might not have a bartender within 15 feet for ten minutes at a time. Get it together Bus Loop locations!
Embassy Suites
That’s right, Embassy Suites. Or more specifically, the E Spot at Embassy Suites (I guess the E stands for Embassy?). Walking into the hotel, I had to choose between Bus Loop and the Scott Family Reunion. I am not convinced I made the right decision. Sorry to repeat myself, but the E Spot was seriously under-staffed. A couple friends of mine were there for more than 20 minutes and never got their free drink. Unacceptable. This is why it is so damn hard to complete the Bus Loop, because you have logjams at ridiculous places like E Spot at Embassy Suites. They did bring out a free pizza for the Bus Loopers at one point…that lasted less than 10 seconds. The E Spot actually seems ok for a hotel bar, but I have a hard time imagining the situation in which I will return. I cannot be sure, but this was likely one of the largest crowds they have had at E Spot, and they did not handle it gracefully.
Coldstone Creamery
I was in Friday night Bus Loop drinking mode and did not feel like taking an ice cream break. But friends who did said there was as much free ice cream as you could eat, and no wait. Well done Coldstone Creamery! I wish you sold rum & root beer floats.
Taza Mediterranean Kitchen
Taza features a cool decor and serves acceptable Mediterranean food, but it was also the scene of one of the more unexpected moments of the evening. Again, standard bus loop rules apply: long wait for a beer. But then! After finally ordering three free Bus Loop Yuenglings for myself and companions, it happened. The bartender produced three half-full pint glasses. After a non-confrontational “What gives?” from your author, the bartender mumbled something about how the pint glasses were bigger than the glasses they were using earlier and walked away. Seriously Taza? You make us wait that long for a half-full beer? Who serves half-full beers anyway? I felt like Vizzini in Princess Bride: inconceivable!
And this brings us to a larger issue with Bus Loop. The establishments themselves choose to participate…it is not as if Leonardo DiCaprio is in some warehouse in France printing and distributing Bus Loop cards himself and tons of people unexpectedly descend on a bar demanding free drinks. Yet the bartenders inevitably act annoyed, a majority of the locations are not prepared for the crowds, and they treat Bus Loopers like second-class citizens. But that is a reminder of what this holiest of Ft. Lauderdale days is all about. Through the ages, my people (irresponsible drinkers) have been shunned and treated by society as the “Other”. Bus Loop is our quarterly reminder that we are unrepentant, we are not really atoning for anything, and we will happily endure mistreatment at the hands of saloon keepers for free(ish) cocktails.
by Fat Hand | Jun 3, 2010 | Fort Lauderdale
What has happened to Dennis Rodman? Assuming you are the type of person that likes to hang out in bars from time to time, a couple of years ago it seemed impossible NOT to see our local basketball/alternative-lifestyle legend partying it up, singing Pearl Jam songs with whichever of our fine city’s ubiquitous cover bands happened to be playing in your favorite watering hole, classing it up with the entourage at the Blue Martini, rubbing up on girls at Exit 66, you get the idea. But no more.
Of course, there was the unfortunate domestic violence incident in Las Vegas, after which he had the standard response of telling the press he would go to rehab. But locally it was assumed he was telling us in the FTL an inside joke: that he’d be hanging out at his own Rodman’s Rehab lounge attached to Voodoo. But no, he really seems to have disappeared. Sure, there were the reality show appearances, but that cannot account for two solid years. Maybe he has forsaken Dicey Riley’s for the more luxurious surroundings of South Beach. Maybe he is finally feeling some age and has been hitting the Boca restaurant circuit instead. Maybe the rehab stuck and he has gone the way of fellow Ft. Lauderdale legend and former teammate Scottie Pippen and is now living the straight life. I really do not know. Do you? Seriously, if you have seen the Worm, please let us know about it in the comments. Because we miss him.
by Fat Hand | Jun 1, 2010 | Fort Lauderdale
Lawyer
The first thing I noticed while walking through the crowd at Ft. Lauderdale’s Tea Party rally the afternoon of April 15, 2010, was the absence of alcohol. Living in Ft. Lauderdale one becomes accustomed to the inevitable drinking at virtually every event, even those for the older sets (Jazz Brunch, Fiddler on the Roof at the Broward Center, School Board Meetings, etc.). I guess this really was going to be a “tea party”, much to my disappointment.
The second thing I noticed is that the crowd was not as large as I expected. I had read earlier in the day that 10,000 people were expected, but shortly after 4:00 p.m. the crowd on Broward Boulevard was only several hundred. Upon returning a couple hours later after having retreated to my ivory tower, the crowd had grown to probably around 1,200. I do not know who has the job of official crowd-size predictor in Ft. Lauderdale, but that person is, to put it nicely, unreliable. Our New Years Eve block party is yearly promoted as 75,000 celebrants flocking to downtown Ft. Lauderdale, but those of us that live in the real world know it is more like 5,000-8,000 tops. I like to imagine this person’s job interview. Question: How many crowds would you say you have predicted in your life? Answer: 40 to 45 thousand.
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