Critic's Review
Giraffas is a fast-growing burger chain that will be opening 3 locations is this area in the next few months; one next to Fresh Market in Fort Lauderdale, one in the Lowes Center in Pompano and one on Andrews Ave by Cypress Creek Road. They have one in Pembroke Pines so I figured I'd give it a try.
Giraffas bridges the gap between restaurant and fast food joint; with the same sort of setup as Pei Wei and Gilbert's on 17th. You order at the counter from a big plastic sign and pay in advance; they give you a cup and a number and you fetch your own drink and silverware. They have a counter/bar where you can sit, but you still order in advance.
You find yourself a table and put your number in the "Giraffe" They have an iced tea machine so you have a choice of green, black or sweetened; they have Splenda but no lemons. I asked a server for lemons but he brought me limes; part of the Latin American experience.
The dining room reminds me of a buffet restaurant; they have some upholstered furniture mixed with cheap tables to contrast with the plastic. It's slightly nicer than Gilbert's but I'm not taking any dates here anytime soon.
They do have quite a few servers given the smallish size of the place, so there's always someone around if you need something. They had a check-in special on Yelp so I got some free "Chicken Ribs" which seemed pretty unique. The ribs came out first.
Sort of like ribs with only one skinny bone. Very good. The sauce was just colored mayo, but the ribs were tasty like good fried wings with less bone. Def worth the $3.90 that they would cost if I had paid for them.
For my entree I ordered a new menu item, the Maminha steak, only offered as a 5 oz cut for $9.90. It comes with 3 sides and a sauce; I selected white rice, black beans and grilled veggies. It came out after I'd finished the 3rd rib.
the Maminha is part of the rump; in some places it says that it's a tri-tip, but this wasn't a tri-tip. It looked like a skirt; it was a little bit chewier than a skirt, but it had a nice flavor that was made better with some freshly ground Sea Salt. Just make sure you cut it against the grain which tenderizes it a bit.
The Chimichurri was decent; not as crazy good as some of the Argentinean places, but it complimented the steak nicely. They didn't give me very much of it, and the black beans portion was small also. But everything was well-seasoned, which is unusual these days.
The vegetables were a bad choice; raw, charred vegetables aren't enjoyable to eat. I also don't consider mushrooms to be a vegetable. I'd try to finagle a double order of black beans if I had to do it again.
A bunch of tables left while I was there and nobody left a tip; there is *some* service but I'm always torn in places like this. I don't tip at Pei Wei and I didn't tip today.
From the menu and the concept, I didn't think I was going to like Giraffas, but it wasn't half bad. It's certainly as good as the churrasco meals you get as most latin places like Las Vegas Cuban; in an environment at least as comfortable. I'm not sure if the kind of people who overpay for Quinoa Salad and Coffee at Fresh Market are the target market for this place, and I probably don't want to pay $8.30 for a 5oz burger; but I do have to say that it was better than I expected for a reasonable price.