Critic's Review
I got a $2 off coupon for First Watch, and I noticed that they opened another location Deerfield Beach. After 2 unimpressive visits for breakfast, I thought I'd try lunch.
The first thing to know is that it's located in a little strip mall that has no entrance from a main street. It's at the corner of W Hillsborough and Powerline, but you can't get to it directly from either road. You have to enter the shopping center on the south side of W Hillsborough.
This is a pretty small place, but it was only about 1/2 full at 1:45pm. They close at 2:30, so eating late isn't an option. I got a small booth and looked at the "specials" menu that was on the table.
I almost laughed out loud at this; it's like they just throw together a bunch of the most highly marketed buzz words to create a bowl of stuff. That quinoa bowl has to be 1000 calories, I thought (949 according to the nutritional data on their web site). The kale salad is 986 calories.
The space reminds me of a diner or coffee shop, with wall art that looks like it may have been painted by children of the employees.
I ordered an iced tea and took a look at the menu. The "2 for You" combos sounded like a decent deal, but I didn't want Tomato Basil soup, which often tastes like a cup of tomato sauce. They have a big blackboard with the same dishes as the menu on the table, but inexplicably didn't have the soup of the day on it.
I asked my server when she brought my ice tea, "Clam Chowder", she said. "What kind", I asked. "New England I think, The white one". Ok. That sounded like a possibility.
I decided that a 1/2 sandwich was a better deal than a cup of soup, so I ordered a half cobb and half "beefeater", which comes in at $7.49, or $5.49 with the coupon. Can't go wrong for $5.49.
While I was waiting I noticed that this is a box your own establishment. There were 2 elderly ladies nearby who were taking home some leftovers and the server just dropped off a styrofoam container as she walked by. You'd think that they'd offer to help; service is such a thing of the past.
The food came out in 8 minutes.
My first impression was that the Salad was a good portion for a 1/2 salad, and that the "beefeater" didn't have a lot of beef on it. After my experience at CPK last week that I wasn't going to try to eat this salad on this silly plate. I waved down my server and asked for a bowl, which made things a lot easier.
Cobb Salads are made with iceberg and romaine, but you can't expect a place that puts raisins and apples in chicken salad to follow any specific recipe. Cobbs are also organized, which this wasn't, so throwing it into a bowl didn't disrupt anything. Something interesting was that I couldn't tell the difference between the blue cheese dressing and the horseradish sauce for the sandwich; I surmised that the bigger container was the blue cheese, even though they tasted similar.
While the "Beefeater" didn't have a big pile of roast beef, it was basically a grilled cheese with roast beef on it. Coming in at 480 calories for a half sandwich with 25 grams of fat (a quarter of those from butter), it was a pretty tasty sandwich. The grilled turkey sandwich comes in at 1000 calories (500 for a half), so this isn't diet food.
The salad is a good size at half a salad, and a half sandwich was certainly enough with the salad. Even without the coupon is would be a pretty good lunch for $7.49.
Now for the service stuff. My server had dropped off my check on the table, without telling me if I had to pay here or pay at the register. I also had an empty iced tea glass that was being ignored (other tables had water, which I was never offered). I was pretty much done eating (although my plates were not empty); I thought I'd go to the bathroom and see if an iced tea appeared while I was gone. I left my sunglasses and the bill on the table so they'd know I was still there. When I returned, maybe 2 minutes later, a busser had bussed my plates and already put my sunglasses at the hostess stand. When I returned, she said "Oh, were you still eating". I pointed out that I left my bill on the table, so why would she think I was gone? Do I have to leave my wallet and iPhone on the table? Maybe a big note "Please don't take my dishes". Service is such a joke in South Florida. And these people want more than the minimum wage.
Given the value of the food, $2.49 is too much for an iced tea with no refill in a place selling $8.39 salads.
Of course the experience wouldn't be complete without getting caught at a draw bridge or by a train.
What ticked me off about this was that the gates come down well before the train gets to the station. The train stops at the station, so why put the gates down? Not only do we have to wait for the train to arrive, but we have to wait while it sits in the station.
Conclusion
After 2 really lousy breakfasts at First Watch, I was surprised at the value provided here for lunch. Aside from the Cobb not really looking like a cobb, the execution was good also. Maybe they have a better chef at this location.