Random Thought for Thursday 1/14/16

[As predicted last week ... here is the FIRST of FIFTY tastes of FLORIDA (coming to you on sequential Thursdays.  All.  Year.  Long.)!]

Establishment:  ROK BRGR
Location:  downtown Ft. Lauderdale
Meal:  dinner
Drink:  Bacon Chocolate Manhattan
bacon infused makers | aztec chocolate bitters sweet vermouth | splash of maple syrup | served on the rocks
Appetizer:  not applicable
Main:  Drunken Pretzel Handcrafted Burger (bacon jam added!)
aged vermont cheddar | house made beer mustard fried onion rings | artisan pretzel bun
Side(s):  Loaded Tater Tots
aged cheddar | smoked bacon | sour cream
Dessert:  Reese's Peanut Butter Pie
Server:  Kimberly M

In the middle of the busy Himmarshee district down by the river in the FTL, ROK BRGR (part of a corporate food conglomerate of three different restaurants all on the same block) provided outdoor seating next to the street with the lights strung across it (reminding me of Espanola Way in South Beach) ... all the better for the people watching.  (And can I just say that any time I'm down in that part of the FTL watching people, I am pleased at the mix of folks in my city ... hipsters, other old folks, a few really old folks, internationals, pretty people, people trying to get with the pretty people and the bro-society PLUS about the same variety of dogs.)  Another benefit of the outdoor seating ... it wasn't nearly as loud as the indoor seating (where Nick Jonas 'Levels' was being blared ... along with other pop 40 hits).  A downside to outdoor seating ... there was a smoke machine blowing the good food scents out over the sidewalk and into the eating area, which worked up until the point it got annoying.  But enough about the ambiance ... take a look at these photos of the edibles.  Yes, that's bacon in the (sweet sweet) Manhattan, bacon on the burger (which was delicious with its combined ingredients and juicy, but not to the point of running down to your elbows) and bacon jam (yes, I said bacon jam!) added to the burger and oozing out on to the tray in the picture.  Speaking of which, here's my unique scoring/grading scale (which will return every week):

AMBIANCE:  8/10 (points lost for music volume and excess smoke machine blowing)
FOOD:            7/10 (points lost for loaded tots falling apart, a dessert oversold in its description and the sad fact that they do not carry Coke products)
SERVICE:      10/10 (no complaints -- actually super fast delivery of the food)
BACON:         10/10 (ummm ... in the drink, on the burger [twice, counting the jam] and on the side)
BONUS:         7/10 (+3 for being the first one, in the series, +3 for all the love for bacon and +1 for being a place worthy of a return visit)

TroyScore:  42 out of 50 -- aka 84, a solid B