Critic's Review
The Yankees had a day game, and I wanted to check out Duffy's waterfront location in North Miami Beach, just south of Aventura. It doesn't seem that far, but traffic is ridiculous in Ives Dairy Road. Not only is it inadequate as a pathway from 95 to US1, but there is a School on the road with a 15MPH speed limit; only Florida puts all of the schools on main roads, creating a guaranteed traffic nightmare on a daily basis. Isn't school out by now?
My GPS told me I was there before and had one of the roads wrong; luckily I'd seen it on a map previously or it would have sent me in the wrong direction. It's at the end of a large shopping center.
When I walked in, I had no idea what to tell the hostess. You can't see anything about what the place is like from the front door; just a big area and a dining room on the left with no people sitting there.
I decided to check the place out before decided to sit at the bar or in a dining room. The place is massive. There's another big, empty dining room, a big bar indoors, a big covered waterfront deck, and an outdoor bar. There were a bunch of creepy dudes at the outside bar; most people were sitting on the deck.
But the thing was that I wanted to watch the baseball game, and the dining rooms are so large that watching from a table didn't seem like it would be a good experience. I went to the main inside bar, but the game wasn't on any of the multitude of sets. Typical Duffys; What's actually on the TVs isn't managed. Luckily the bartender can change the screens here, unlike Fort Lauderdale where you have to first convince a manager that the game should be on and then wait for him to change the screen.
There were a smattering of of people at the bar. I asked for iced tea and a menu. The Tea was initially delivered with no lemon at all; I asked for extra. When I sit at a bar it's easy enough to ask for extra later, so I like to see what I get without asking.
They have 40% off from 2-4pm during the week; another reason I decided on Duffy's. They always ask for your MVP card in advance, which I never understood, but I gave it to her anyway. They scan or key it in, but it has no impact until you cash out.
They always have new items; one of the new items this time was a Lobster Cobb; something I just had recently at Joe's Seafood Shack. I don't think that Lobster really works on it, so I ordered the Cobb with Chicken, which is also $3. less.
The atmosphere in the place is very un-sportsbarlike. You're watching a game with no sports sound, and they're blaring "Rebel, Rebel", "Woodstock" and "Katmandu". Good music, but it just seems strange. Particularly with 3 people at the bar.
There's a long run from the kitchen to the bar, so I could see my food coming my way 30 yards in advance.
A big salad. Usually you get a cobb in a deeper dish with more lettuce and less stuff; there was a lot of egg and avocado here. I ordered it with blue cheese on the side; they gave me a pretty good portion so I didn't have to ask for more.
This is probably the best thing I've had at a Duffy's. The only criticism is that the bacon on a cobb should be very well done and crisp; I don't care for chewy bacon. At 40% off, this salad with bottomless Iced Tea was $10.89 with the 40% discount. You can't beat that with a stick.
One thing that I didn't like was my server asked if I wanted to use my card balance to pay without informing me that if I used the card I wouldn't get the discount, or without telling me that there was a discount. The bill they put in front of you doesn't have the discount; so I'm wondering if they're suppose to try to get you to use a balance so they don't have to give the discount?