Critic's Review
The curiosity that arose from the people who own the Beach Place Sonic franchise converting it to a much higher priced restaurant wasn't strong enough to get me to try it. Menus that have "cajun pasta" on them remind me too much of TGI Fridays. And the prices here are too high for a kichen that's also cranking out Chili Tater Tots. But I noticed they have "Chasen's Chili" on the menu; likely a gimmick but it gave me something to try. Normally the Beach is out in the summer as it's usually 98 degrees, but it's been pretty cool as summers go in South Florida.
The beach is a ghost town this time of year, which is a good thing. Tsukuro had 2 people at 2pm. Beach place was pretty dead also. The ASC has a kiosk at the beach level with nobody there and no indication of what you can get. It's odd to me, because when they announced this I assumed that you'd be able to get a lime aid or Sonic food at the beach; I don't want to eat Snapper on my beach blanket.
The entrance clearly pushes the Atlantic Surf Club; a "brand" that has no pull.
Sonic is clearly being de-emphasized; no logo on the Kiosk, the little sign upstairs. No seating for eating; it's just a take-out counter that they really don't want you to use.
Inside, the place is really about the same as it was. The photos they have on their web site are highly misleading; they make it look like a cozy space, but it's really still a cold, sterile room with cheap, uncomfortable seating. Sort of like patio furniture.
In an empty restaurant, I wasn't offered a table. I told the hostess that I didn't want to sit at the bar, so she put me at a counter. "We have service here", she said. I wasn't in the mood to argue, as the tables didn't look too comfortable.
The best thing about the restaurant is the view.
A server came over and took my iced tea order; no roller skates. They have a bunch of dudes serving; not the cute chicks in the photos. The bar here is weird; stainless steel. They do have some taps.
They have loud, bad music playing. The place is really a beach club. Katy Perry, "Cool Kids", "Boom Clap", "Young Girls". Absolute torture.
The tea came out with 1 slice of lemon. "That's extra lemon?", I quipped, as if I was surprised that he forgot.
He said he'd bring me some, but didn't bring me any until I got a refill. He brought out a basket of bread, which was unexpected.
The Chili was served in a fancy bowl.
The menu said that it was "served with rice", which implied to me that it wasn't in the chili. Unfortunately that wasn't so; I scooped off the rice on top but there was still plenty inside.
Note to the owners; Chili isn't served with rice. It's not a Gumbo. I'm sort of a Chili enthusiast and I make it often for myself, and I've never, ever seen a chili recipe with rice. Chasen's didn't serve it with rice.
Chasen's was in Hollywood, CA and was big with celebrities in the 60's, so it's not like I've ever had their chili before. Maybe it's convenient to claim to be serving a famous chili when you can be absolutely sure that nobody who has ever had the real thing will ever come into the restaurant. They released the recipe, and apparently the secret is dry pinto beans and it was loaded with meat that was browned in butter. This "recipe" featured hardly any meat and beans from a can. But I guess you can't get sued by someone after they're out of business.
Frankly, the chili "sauce" was quite good; if it had more meat and beans and didn't have any rice it could be a good bowl of chili. Just a little spicy.
I only ordered the appetizer portion of chili ($8), so I also ordered a caesar salad. They could have brought them out together, but for some reason they served them separately. My server should have asked if I wanted them together, but this is Fort Lauderdale so we don't expect servers to be operating with any forethought.
Caesar Salad is pretty simple stuff, and this was a good portion for $8. The issue with it was that it didn't taste anything like caesar dressing; it was just a creamy parmesan dressing with no garlic or anchovy taste at all. The salad would have been a very good one with decent dressing, but this dressing wasn't very good.
As usual in July in South Florida, the afternoon means thunderstorms, and the nasty clouds rolled in just as I was finishing up, so I had to get my check so I wouldn't get soaked.
It was kind of fun watching the beach clear out as the clouds rolled in.
So the story of this "restaurant" is that the owners has this idea to open a Sonic on the beach with beer and wine, but they found that people that are looking for a $5 lunch aren't willing to spend on much else. The place has been completely mis-managed from the beginning; the point of buying a franchise is to take advantage of a national Brand like Sonic to draw in customers based on their reputation; but this place never properly marketed the brand. Now, they are de-emphasising it because they want you to pay $11 for 2 hot dogs instead of $4.
The place was weird as Sonic, and it's even weirder as a full service restaurant. The music doesn't fit the menu; it's just a mish-mosh of disjoint concepts that didn't work as Sonic and it still doesn't. If the food was fantastic I'd have trouble wanting to come here; and the food certainly isn't a draw.
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