Critic's Review
This place opened on Monday and there haven't been many worthwhile openings lately, so on a cool, clear sunny day I hit 95 and headed up the Glades Rd. It actually takes me less time to get up to Boca than it does to go 5 miles in Fort Lauderdale with all of the traffic and lights. A 20 minute trip from downtown.
The first thing I noticed was the outside patio; in this remote location it's a very pleasant space, unlike the small area in the Fort Lauderdale location. Note that this location is not the same owner as the Fort Lauderdale Tilted Kilt.
They have one big bar here; with one side an indoor-outdoor section and the other section inside, with high tops all around.
Another note is that the TVs are big here everywhere, and viewing a game from the bar would be a much better experience than in Fort Lauderdale; they don't have a mega screen TV, but the rooms are smaller and the TVs are situated in good places.
The main event of course is the girls; the first week they're open they have corporate management helping them (part of the franchise deal) and there are a lot of extra girls around. There weren't many customers, so there were just a lot of girls in kilts hanging around.
A server came over and I ordered an iced tea; it came out with 2 small lemon pieces and I asked for some more, and ordered the fish and chips. You can get them with potato chips or fries; I wanted to check out the fries that came with it normally.
At this point my server dumped me and I was introduced to another girl. When then introduce themselves they put a coaster on the table with their name on it, which is helpful in remembering it.
Apparently they do their own artwork on the coasters, and it's always good to know if your server has good handwriting.
Music here isn't too loud. Fiorella came by with a blonde friend to "chat", which is different from other restaurants. They told me that the Fish and Chips were "Amazing", and I suggested that they might be raising my expectations a bit too much. They were pretty nice although I probably would have rather read about the hockey game last night.
She brought out the food and it looked decent.
I'd prefer thicker cut fries, but the fish batter looked light and airy. Fiorella asked how everything was but I hadn't yet finished taking pictures; she sat down and we talked a bit about Irish Pubs. She'd never been to any of the real Irish Pubs in the area.
The Kilt uses cod, which is the correct fish for this dish. The fish remained very moist; overcooking is a typical problem with these. The tartar sauce needed more relish; it was too close to plain mayo.
I'm not sure if it was coincidence or timing, but towards the end the fish got very oily; maybe it broke down as it cooled. I just picked at the fries. I couldn't wait to hit the Men's room, so I shot over before asking for the check.
When I returned, my table was completely clear; I'd left a mound of fries and 1/3 glass of tea. I looked over to the servers and just threw my hands up. A blonde woman who was clearly a trainer got that look on her face; "did they clear your table?", she asked. Apparently. I felt bad for the young busboys, forced to wear kilts, getting scolded by the chick in the skimpy outfit. They were very apologetic but I was actually done eating, so no real harm done. They got me a To Go iced tea, so I paid the bill and headed home.
Conclusion
I wonder how well they'll do in this location, where they won't get any free advertising from the street; you can't even see the place from the street. It is, however, a nicer setting than the Fort Lauderdale location. "Boca" girls are also a plus; the further north you go, the less hardened the women, and most of the girls working here seem like Mall girls who are deciding to try something else.
I asked Fiorella if she was comfortable with the outfit, and she said that after a few days she was; although some of the girls seemed not to be. With football over, they're going to have trouble getting rolling; Boca Raton isn't exactly a big sports town.
