Random Thought for Thursday 3/10/16

My ongoing series for 2016 continues ... with the NINTH of FIFTY tastes of FLORIDA (coming to you on sequential Thursdays.  All.  Year.  Long.)!]

Establishment:  Shawn & Nick's Courtyard Cafe
Location:  Wilton Manors
Meal:  Late Lunch
Drink:  NOT Coca-Cola (I think it ended up having to be root beer?)
Appetizer:  n/a
Main:  Grilled Monte Cristo 
Ham, turkey, swiss on french toast
Side(s):  Tots (12 of them ...)
Dessert:  n/a
Server:  John


It's always nice to get in a place you've driven past so many times and to be surprised with the layout ... in this case, that a strip of little cottage stores "on the Drive" included a covered courtyard in the back.  Of course, we *almost* didn't eat in the establishment, because, upon walking in, we got looks that were less than welcoming.  That, combined with the fact that the sign said the specials ended at 3pm made us think that maybe they were about to close, and so we spun around and headed out the door until we realized our mistake.  All in all, for a late lunch, it was adequate ... and, as stated below, I have a feeling that it might get a higher rating at a different time of day ...

AMBIANCE:   9/10 (as an animal lover, I didn't mind sharing the space with local lizards, a few birds and a french bulldog at the table next to us ... just a single point lost because it looks like it could use a quick freshening up)
FOOD:            7/10 (a point lost for being a Pepsi establishment [what is this?  the seventies?], another lost for the tater tot rationing, and a final point lost for there being too much of a powdered sugar dusting on the sandwich)
SERVICE:      7/10 (one point lost for the attitude when we entered, one point lost for a server who seemed taxed when trying more than one task at a time and one point lost for having to stand up and corner that server to pay the bill so we could leave)
BACON:         9/10 (thanks to serving breakfast all the time, bacon is mentioned 32 times on the menu [I searched online ... I didn't sit there and count while at the cafe], so I'll only deduct one point because I didn't think to ask to have it added to MY sandwich at the time)
BONUS:         7/10 (+3 because it's open 24 hours through the weekends to serve all the drunky-drunks, +3 because it's a fixture of the community and +1 because it is a place to which I would return, only because I feel like the experience might be different in the evening [or at four in the morning])

TroyScore:  39 out of 50 -- aka 78, a high C