595 Tap and Tavern

Hey all,

595 Tap and Tavern's "Cowboy Burger"

So last Friday, the guys and I decided to stick with the burger theme but we wanted our craft beers.  We heard of this place in Davie, FL called "595 Tap and Tavern".  It is located in a busy plaza and it is actually a new restaurant that took over a previous restaurant, "Lefty's".  Parking was plaza style and we got parking right away.  We walked in and sat at the high tops near the bar.  They had a different atmosphere, to say the least.  Inside was a fully stocked bar with over 30 draught craft beers, high tops around the bar, regular tabling around the rest of the restaurant, a separate party room, and a DJ booth.
The night we went, they had their DJ playing "top 40" music and it wasn't that loud.  They also had a sports memorabilia auction going on in the separate room.  They have 2 menus; one for drinks and one for food.  It was apparently happy hour when we walked in, well at least that's what the hostess said.  We looked at the menu and it said happy hour was Monday through Thursday.  With it being a Friday, I questioned the waitress to reaffirm that we would get discounted drinks.  She confirmed and we ordered some beers to start.

I ordered their "Founders Breakfast Stout" which is a dark craft beer made in Michigan.  I love stouts as you all know and I had to try this.  By far, this became an instant classic once I took a sip.  It reminded me of the "Russian Stout" from "Hollywood Organic Brewery"  Very rich and it had a big coffee taste.   I enjoyed it and ordered a second with the craft draught beers being $2 off during happy hour.  We then placed our food order and I ordered their "cowboy burger" which is one of their specialties.  It has bacon, cheddar cheese, fried onion rings, and BBQ pork as the meat.  The food came out within 15 minutes and it was good.  Nothing amazing, but overall a good taste to it.  It had their logo branded on the top of the bun to show off their name.  They had at least 20 HDTV's and a couple large screen projectors around the restaurant showing sports games and the atmosphere seemed pretty "chill".

Founders Breakfast Stout from Michigan.

The overall experience was great until we got the check.  It had the regular price for the craft draught beers which was not a high price at $5 for a pint, but still no discount of $2.  My friends had the same issue on their check.  We told the waitress and she got the manager to come over.  The manager explained that there is no happy hour on Friday's.  We politely told her that we had 2 employees tell us that it was still okay.  She then made a shocked face and went to change the bill.  She came back with the corrected bills for us and we paid and left.  The manager didn't seem happy with us and she kind of made us feel like we were causing a burden on her.  595 Tap and Tavern would have been a great hang out place for us but we were left unsure and I don't know if I'll be back soon.

Bobby's Burger Palace

Hey all,

So this blog is going to be a little different than previous blogs in the way of focusing a little more on the food.  Don't get me wrong, I still ordered a beer for tradition but the selection of beer was not a good amount.

Store Front of Bobby's Burger Palace

So on Saturday, I went with a group of friends to the Kendall area, around Dadeland Mall to be specific.  We walked on over to the mall because we heard of a place called "Bobby's Burger Palace".  We heard they have really good burgers and many different choices to customize your burger.  With the owner of the chain being a world famous chef, Bobby Flay, we new we had to try it. 

"Bobby Blue Burger"

After carefully looking over the menu and trying to go with a "healthy" alternative, I chose the chicken breast burger with swiss cheese.  You can either get angus beef, ground turkey, or chicken breast as your burger.  They also have a big thing to get your burger "crunchified" and they put their own potato chips on the burger.  Cool concept, but I was trying to keep it simple on my behalf.  

You order from the front counter when you walk in and they have runners that deliver the food to your table.  I ordered a Sierra Pale Ale as my beer which is different because as my readers know, I like dark beers (See introduction).  My beer came out to my table within 2 minutes and we all had our burgers within 10 minutes of placing our order.  The burger was very filling and extremely juicy.  I noticed a friend of mine had his burger "crunchified"  They have all different kinds of sauces at the table and I loved their hot sauce.  We also ordered sweet potato fries and they were delicious.  

Overall good experience, but I feel like they need something else to differentiate them from all the burger joints.  The market is so "tapped" and they need to stand out.  Maybe a beer battered burger?  Pricing was average to high with our bill totaling about $27 for 2 burgers, a beer, and an order of sweet potato fries.  If I'm in the area, I could see myself going again, but I would not make a special trip to Bobby's Burger Palace.  

The Tipsy Boar

Hey all,

So my girlfriend and I were looking for a place after valentine's day to grab a drink and some good food.  We went to "The Tipsy Boar" in downtown Hollywood, FL.  It is right by the other place I previously blogged about, "The Greek Joint".  We were craving a beer and a bacon burger to be specific and we heard this place has good craft beers and awesome burgers.

Beers on tap at The Tipsy Boar

We went there on Saturday, 2-15-14, and sat at the bar.  It was somewhat busy but we found a couple seats right away.  They had over 40 craft beers on tap and all were written on a chalk board style menu in front of the bar.  I recognized many of the beers such as Cigar City Brewing (CCB) and many others. The menu was also very detailed and all their choices sounded delicious.  Since we had a burger craving, we decided to order their "Millionaire Bacon Burger".  It was one of their specialties along with Pizza.  I ordered CCB "Cubano Espresso" to drink and it is a coffee porter with a strong coffee flavor.  My girlfriend ordered "South Hampton Abbot" beer which I had before and she enjoyed it.  

The bacon burger came out within 15 minutes of ordering it and was extremely tasty.  It definitely satisfied our craving!  We ended up having just the beer and burger, but they do have many other foods such as pizza, steak, seafood, salad, and many bar bites.  They have about 12-15 TV's in there and the atmosphere seemed really "chill".  The pricing was a little higher than some other places with craft beer ranging from $6-$9 for a glass and the burger was $14.  I think it was worth it though, as we both loved our experience. We will definitely be back to "The Tipsy Boar" soon.  

The Greek Joint

Hey friends,

So over the weekend my girlfriend and I went to "The Greek Joint" in downtown Hollywood, FL.  It was located on the busy strip there right by Young Circle.  It is not too far from "Hollywood Organic Brewery" which I blogged about previously.  

The name of the location has changed a few times over the years but this last change was a relocation of a former business.  "The Greek Joint" was previously on Harrison Street in downtown Hollywood, FL, which is just one block away.

The Greek Joint Logo

They primarily had focused on their Greek style food and did not really have a bar.  We were there before and enjoyed our food every time we had gone.  Since they relocated, their main focus is on the bar with numerous craft beers on tap featuring many local breweries such as "Cigar City Brewing" (CCB) and "Wynwood Brewery" and they were in the process of acquiring beers from "Funky Buddha Brewery".  Click here to read more on "Funky Buddha Brewery"  

They also still feature their Greek style foods and also offer delivery.  I ordered Maduro from CCB and I loved it.  I had it previously before when I was in Tampa, which is where CCB is located, and it is a top brown ale choice of mine.  Overall, it was not that packed when we were there and the prices were about average.

Riverside Market Cafe

Hey all,

So yesterday, January 31, 2014,  I went to "Riverside Market Cafe" with my girlfriend.  It was my second time there, and her first.  I had an awesome experience the first time I was there and I knew I had to be back!  

Well, finding this place was not easy to begin with.  It is in a residential area in Fort Lauderdale, FL.  Not saying that's a bad thing, but let's just say it is easy to get lost.  We walked inside and explored our surroundings at first.  They have about 6-7 tables outside and a bunch of different seating options inside such as couches, high tops, etc.  The beer selection is more than I have ever seen in one place.  They carry a few local breweries on tap but where they stand out is their bottle selection.  They have over 550 craft beer bottles from all over the world in their self serve coolers.  In addition, they also have a kitchen for food.

Riverside Market Cafe self serve coolers pictured above.

I had a stout beer from Colorado and it was very smooth and rich.  We had ordered red pepper hummus with pita chips and also their pulled pork sandwich.  Both were phenomenal! We ended up getting a couple more craft beer bottles and stayed for a couple hours.  It was definitely a cool, chill spot and we are already thinking of when we are coming back!  So, if you are in the Fort Lauderdale, FL area, check this place out!