Establishment: World Famous Parrot Lounge
Location: Ft. Lauderdale
Meal: (Gametime) Dinner
Drink: Bucket o Beer
(half Bud Light and half Yuengling Lager)
Appetizer(s): Mozzarella Sticks; Chicken Quesadilla
sticks: made here and breaded here; quesadilla: a blend of jack and cheddar cheese in a flour tortilla
Main: Philly Cheesesteak (on an Amoroso roll)
choice top round, sliced in house -- add 'shrooms and mayo
Side(s): homemade kettle chips
Dessert: soft pretzel AND a blue jello shot for each TD!
Server: Amber
In 2001, we moved from PA (where we grew up) to Chicago, where we lived for a dozen years. We quickly discovered that one of the ways to beat the homesickness was to spend Saturday afternoons in the fall glued to the Penn State games -- and it helped that the BigTenNetwork had launched. That tradition of becoming insta-fans of the team continued with the big move from Chicago to the FTL in early 2014. Which is all the preamble to say that finding a place by the beach that is known as THE place to see all the games and getting to watch a night game there was extra special. For it to have been the game where PState beat OState in an upset was extra *extra* special! See how the establishment scored below:
AMBIANCE: 9/10 (outdoor seating ... with multiple TVs in sight ... just a block or two from the beach ... and a bucket of brew ... plus almost everyone -- customers and staff included -- dressed in your team's shirts [it's a Penn State bar!] ... what's not to like? ... well, other than the one old man who came up and introduced himself and asked us to watch his bag that he abandoned under the window while he disappeared for a bit [not cool, Anthony man, not cool -- it's the terrorist era and you dare not do that] ... so just one point lost for having to deal with old beach drunks [note that no one was harmed in this story, as the abandoned bag was reclaimed and did NOT blow up])
FOOD: 8/10 (what with eating while watching the game, this turned into a progressive meal of sorts, with something ordered after each quarter along the way ... and although it's a bar, the "bar food" was elevated -- with special kudos to the cheese stix ["homemade" and not just out of the bag] and the soft pretzel [reminding me of the Hills snack bar of my youth], an honorable mention to the philly steak sandwich [with fresh 'shrooms] ... not as successful were the queadillas [crunchy yes but melty cheese not so much] and the kettle chips [normally a favorite for me but they seemed a bit stale like maybe they were made the day before] -- so a point off for each of those)
SERVICE: 9/10 (there is none so worthy as the server who pulls the shift during the big game that has to deal with every kind of drunk ... and ours smiled the whole time, from kickoff to surprise win ... and her helpers stopped by once or twice to check in [and to deliver more ice to the beer bucket] and her busboy [who looked like he was ON the team a year or two ago] worked in the background without getting in the way ... just a point lost because of the "free" jello shots that were followed up shortly after by someone looking for donations [not that there's anything wrong with raising funds, just that the concept wasn't explained up front])
BACON: 9/10 (it's on the menu in all the right places -- added to the chicken sandwiches, to the burgers and to the salads ... for a perfect score in this category, why not add it to the list of possible additions to the philly cheese steaks and really start something special)
BONUS: 10/10 (+3 for bringing the Penn State pride, +3 for being so close to the beach, +3 for that bucket o beers money saving concept and +1 for being a place to which we will return, quite possibly for another night game in just a few weeks!)
TroyScore: 45 out of 50 -- aka 90, a low A
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