Critic's Review
I like going out to breakfast on weekends, but usually the crowds keep me from doing it. The buffets are good choices if you don't care about the quality of the food; but I felt like something good this morning. I was up early, so I headed up to Plantation for an early morning feast.
At 7:55 the place was about half full; no wait and no-one eating outside. I decided to eat inside, even though I'm not crazy about the small tables. They have a mixture of different sized booths, and apparently they used to take S&H Green Stamps, if you're old enough to remember such things.
They have professional servers here that have likely been here for many years; the runners are young people who do a good job; unlike the servers on Las Olas who are more interested in their next tattoo than they are in providing you with quality service.
As mentioned, the tables are kinda tight.
They had Eggs Benedict on special for $8.49; I ordered a side of sausage links for $2.99.
A nice load of potatoes, but the hash browns here are better. These were just plain diced potatoes. They have the good sausages and they cook them fresh; this was a substantial breakfast. Good Hollandaise, competently poached eggs. Coffee was refilled regularly (a dude walks around with 2 pots).
The bill for all of this: $13.81. This would cost over $20 at Tap 42 (another consideration) except I'd have to wait until 11am and it wouldn't be nearly as good.
One of the better diners in Broward County.
Review 10/6/12
I recently heard about this place; it's less than 7 miles from Downtown Fort Lauderdale and on a Saturday it's really not much further than some other choices, so I thought I'd continue my Saturday Breakfast/Brunch series. I got there about 11:45am, and I was surprised to see quite a few people waiting. I don't usually wait for breakfast; luckily they were all waiting for booths so I got a table right away.
The place is a lot bigger than I expected; it's not really a diner; it's a big room with 2 sections and a variety of seating; booths, big tables, small tables and bench seating with tables.
They have 2 big TVs on either side of the restaurant, and a big blackboard along the side wall with the specials for the day.
After a few minutes a server came by and asked if I wanted a beverage, I asked for coffee and started to look over the menu. A runner asked what I was drinking and I told him the server was getting me coffee; after a few minutes he gave me the coffee when she didn't show up with it.
I was seated at a small table which would have been pretty tight for 2 people. There's a lot of stuff on the tables.
They have the old type creamer pitchers that I haven't seen in a long time. It's a lot easier to cream your coffee than with the plastic containers. They have both half and half and skim milk on the table.
They have some interesting menu items, including a low-carb offering which is 3 eggs and meat (and I guess no potatoes or toast). As usually, I pondered a few things, and then went with 2 eggs with sausage, hash browns and Rye Toast.
The eggs were cooked in an 8" skillet which isn't ideal, but they weren't overdone. They have the good sausage, and this was the first time in a while that I've gotten sausage that were freshly grilled rather than having been previously cooked and just heated up. The hash browns were fine; not as good as IHOP's, and the Rye Bread was sort of a wheat/Rye; it had a different texture. I thought they made a mistake, but it definitely had rye seeds.
The best news is that the entire deal cost $7.46, which pretty much explains why the place is so crowded. You wonder why anyone would go to Tap 42 and pay $12 for an omelet when they could come here?