TooJay's

Critic's Review

I was in Plantation and everything up there is a chain or franchise; I'd never been to Too Jays so I figured I'd get a late breakfast.

Parking is easy; they're in the "Fountains" section which is sort of a walkable, outside mall. A 90yo women parked at a 35 degree angle right next to me but the spots are wider in Plantation, so it seemed safe to stay.

They have a specials blackboard at the entrance; nothing very intuitive here. Recipes from the 70s. I dislike places that address their customers like they're morons who are used to eating TV Dinners.

TooJay's Specials

TooJays interior is a rat's maze, you have to walk through a hallway and then past the deli to get to the opening to the dining room, where you wait for a dude to seat people one by one. The deli up front give the impression that this might be a real deli.

Toojay's Plantation

They have short booths here; no privacy and you can see all of the people at the next booth. Worse than that, the common back allows you to feel every movement of the people sitting behind you. In my case, a woman with a young boy was moving around alot. If you've ever been on a plane and sat in front of a kicker, you know what I mean.

TooJay's Plantation Inside

Still with the wood theme from the 20th century, but tastefully done. My idea for breakfast was shot down by the fact that they only serve breakfast until 11am. Another sign that there's nothing authentic about this place.

I ordered iced tea with extra lemon; she threw this down as she ran by to deal with the very needy table behind me (you know, people complaining about stuff so they'll take something off of the bill).

TooJay's Tea

One wedge is not extra lemon.

I didn't want a sandwich, so I decided to try a couple of the "specialties"; a bowl of chili and the stuffed cabbage appetizer. I reminded my server about the lemon.

A bit of frustrating waiting, made much worse by the fact that I couldn't get LTE or 4G service and their wireless didn't work. So I had no cell phone to occupy myself. Taylor Swift and Bonnie Rait filled the air.

It took 10 minutes for the food to come out; it came out together. I still hadn't gotten any extra lemon, so I reminded her again.

TooJay's Chili

They put the onions and cheese in the soup; it's nice to get the onions and cheese on the side so you can put in as much as you prefer. (both are optional). This was a lot looser than I'd hoped for; more like a soup. The cabbage looked ok, but it didn't look hot. Cold tomato sauce has a certain look to it.

TooJay's Stuffed Cabbage

I started on the chili; I counted 3 beans in the bowl. The onions were a rough dice; some of the chunks were pretty large. Even Hooters give you a tight dice.

TooJay's Chili Onions

The cabbage was, as expected, luke warm. The sauce was disgustingly sweet. Not quite as bad as Fresh Market's version, but bad. The filling was a tasteless blob; the dish is a complete failure.

TooJay's Cabbage

I finally got my extra lemon and even a refill, but it shouldn't be that difficult. I got my check and found my way through the maze out the door, never to return.

Conclusion

TooJays is not a real Jewish Deli; no pickles or cole slaw; the "National" branded mustard. From the food I had I can guess that whoever is cooking here doesn't have what it takes. They seem to push a lot of 80s type recipes; this is more of a diner than a Jewish Deli. And not a very good Diner. Servers are jaded. Their clientele can't live forever.