Critic's Review
The lunch choices in this part of town aren't great, and you could almost miss Flanigan's if you didn't know what it was. This place looks like just a liquor store from the front; they have a few locations that combine a liquor store and a restaurant.
No matter where you are, it always feels the same inside a Flanigan's. They have no windows, so the feel is the same no matter what part of town you happen to be at.
These places are very similar to the Miller Ale House; because back when these places where conceived, this is what restaurants looked like.
One bad thing is the servers engage in the "sell", pushing the alcohol specials at lunch. Lunch Specials are not in the menu; they're buried in the drink book, so be sure to look for them. I ordered an iced tea to start.
They have $5.99 lunch specials, and also "Meal Deals", which include a caesar salad and a side. I decided on the 8 oz NY Strip Steak, with a hard to get these days baked potato. I ordered the butter and sour cream on the side.
Music here is nostolgic, with Journey, Led Zeppelin, The Cars and Survivor filling the air. The caesar came out right away.
The salad was kind of limp; they're not making these babies up fresh. This has been sitting in the dressing for a bit. They put bacon in it instead of loading it with cheese, trading one good fat for another. Despite the limpness, a decent salad. And a pretty big one.
The rolls, which I rarely interest me, are crazy good.
Unlike the hard, tasteless garlic and oil rolls you get at many Italian restaurants, these are soft and dripping with butter. Rolls need butter. No wonder most of the clientele here seems so overweight. I had to keep myself from more than just tasting these.
The steak came out shortly after I finished the salad; obviously presentation isn't the main focus here.
A skinny steak for sure. Notice the foil in the potato; eating tin foil isn't good. I had to pick out a few pieces. I think that may be one reason that nobody serves baked potatoes anymore. Given the size of the salad and the rolls, I passed on the sour cream.
While skinny, the steak was prepared properly.
It isn't Ruth's Chris, but not a bad steak. Not a bad deal for $15.99 flat, including the beverage. The salad and iced tea would cost that much on Las Olas.
I thought service was good until I needed to pay my bill; nobody seemed to notice that my plate was empty even though I was sitting right next to the server station. I had to wait quite a while for someone to notice. "How are we doing here", someone finally said. "I need my tab, please". She then proceeded to go into the coffee and dessert sales pitch. Here's a tip: When a customer asks for the bill, they're done.
Conclusion
Of the Flanigan's vs Quarterdeck comparisons; Flanigan's is by far the better venue. Flanigan's is the way things used to be before businessmen started to hire fake chefs to pawn off junk as high end far; a lot of food, low prices and specials galore. When I was a kid, this would have been a big night out for my family. Now, it's a place to grab some grub when you're in the mood for a big meal. You can do appetizers and desserts here for the price of an entree at the newfangled restaurants. Nothing great; but you know what you're getting.
Quarterdeck pretends to be Flanigans,while not as consistent or good, and Flanigans is a good (value) but not great local restaurant chain.
Flanigan's is a pretty good bar and package store too.