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Last Update: Apr 13th, 2017
Park and Ocean Restaurant

Park And Ocean

3109 E Sunrise Blvd
Fort Lauderdale FL, 33304
Overall Rating
2.5
Ambiance
Value
Last Review
03/09/2017

Details

Hours: 9am-6pm
Parking: Street Metered
CC: Yes
Alcohol: Full Bar
Outside Dining: Entirely
Delivery: No

Pros

Nicer than it was Before

Cons

Not really a restaurant
Fake Advertising
It's in the Woods

Critic's Review

A reader sent me a flyer from this place, and I hadn't heard anything about it. Poking around a little bit, I found that it's in the Birch State Park, a place I've never set foot in once. There's a restaurant in the park? The ads promise much.

Parkocean ad

I had to go to Publix so maybe I'd swing by and grab a bite to eat. I found the restaurant on the map and it's located right near the A1A entrance to the park, so I wouldn't have to drive through the woods.

The first thing to say is that the City of Fort Lauderdale has really botched this A1A project. They've created a nightmare. The traffic in this area is disastrous. They put this fancy center isle and you can't make a U-Turn at any of the intersections. So you have to go halfway to Oakland Park Blvd before you can turn around and get to the other side. And of course the road isn't wide enough to make an actual U-turn.

Then you get to join a mile of cars, because 1 lane isn't enough for all of the traffic.

A1a traffic

Some dopey old ladies on segways came up with this idea. Plenty of room for bikes, but not enough for cars.

The good news is that there are plenty of spaces because nobody wants to pay $1.75/hour to park here to go to the beach. So I got a spot right by the entrance.

Parkocean entrance

Up the ramp and I saw what looked like an old rest stop; a bunch of picnic tables and a covered concrete slab. This couldn't be the restaurant. Was there another building?

Park and Ocean looks like a rest stop

But no, this was it.

Park And Ocean Interior

Basically, it's a snack bar in the woods. No way I'm wasting any money in this place. Back to the car I passed a bunch of dudes at a picnic table with plastic cups with beer. Very classy.

Conclusion

As it turns out, this used to be called BG Coco's Cafe, one of the many park concessions run by Bobby Genovese's BG Capital. They partnered with the old Solita People to try to fool people to come here. Calling this "The Ultimate Dining Experience" should be a criminal offense.

If you're at the beach or in the park, I suppose this is a decent watering hole. But you don't want to go out of your way to come here and risk getting a tick.

This place is a good illustration of how screwed up Florida's Liquor laws are. This place has over 150 seats? I guess picnic tables seat 10, right? Caffe Europa can't get a liquor license, but a concession stand in the woods can? What a tragedy.

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Jason
Reply
The best thing about this place is that it keeps the people who go here away from the places that I might be at

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