Critic's Review
With the Giants playing a Sunday Night Game, I took a drive up to Davie to see what he new Twin Peaks place was like for Sunday Football. I wanted to see the crowd for the Dolphins game, how they handled the 4pm cutover, and what the crowd was like once the Dolphins game was over. So I got here about 3:45.
I didn't think I'd have much chance of getting a spot; I drove through the lot twice and spotted a bunch of people getting into a car. Who leaves a sports bar at 3:40? Maybe their team was getting whooped? I parked, and went inside to a fairly crowded room.
Lots of Dolphin Fans. I wonder if there is anyone at Hoops? Forget about getting a table during the Dolphin's game. You'd probably have to get here an hour early.
What I suspected from previous visits was true; there isn't a lot of standing room and the TVs are viewed better from a distance. So if you're sitting at the weird long table and your game is in front of you; you're good. But the games were on randomly. I couldn't find one game I wanted to watch.
The big annoyance happened at 4:25. The Seahawks / Rams was in overtime, so from like 4pm to 4:20 it was on like every set. That was the game that Seattle did the onside kick to start overtime. All of a sudden, all of the TVs changed as the late game were coming on. Poof, the game was gone. I had to walk around the entire bar to find the 1 set that they left it on. And the only place I could see it was by standing in the middle of the room.
Conclusion
As suspected, Twin Peaks isn't a great choice to watch all of the games. With the positioning of the TVs and the randomness of where they are put on, the chances that your seat would be in the right place to see your game, if you got a seat, seems remote. I suppose if you come really early you might be able to get them to put on your game where you want it. Personally, I wouldn't count on it.
Review 7/9/15
With the Yankees playing a day game, it was a day to eat at a sport bar. I was on my way to a place out West, when I remembered Twin Peaks. Half the distance; why not give them a 2nd try.
The first thing is that the outside is now open. It's kind of an awkward space; they have a bar, but in 90 degree heat only serious smokers will be out here until November.
The parking lot was full; it was still peak lunch hour and there are aren't enough spots for this restaurant regardless. On my second pass I spotted some lights going on so I grabbed the spot.
No girls opening the front door today; not sure if that's just a weekend thing or if that was a grand opening thing. The place was somewhat crowded but there were tables and seats at the bar.
I feared that if I asked for a table they'd seat me at the dreaded dunce bar; the long table off the bar that's not at the bar.
Another bit of comedy is that the Yankee game wasn't on any of the TVs. It was the only live sporting event on, and not on 1 TV. The idea that this is a sports bar is kind of a joke. Lucking there was a manager behind the bar when I asked so he put it right on.
The problem with the bar here is that service is so spotty. The girls are just milling around and they're not hired for their attentiveness skills.
One girl gives me a drink menu but no food menu. It's 1:30pm on a Thursday, can I get a lunch menu please? I get another girl's attention and ask for a food menu. "Sure". She throws it down and runs away. I get another one's attention. "Can I get an iced tea". She brings the tea with 2 small lemons. No sweeteners. I get another one's attention: She brings me sweeteners but there is no sugar.
This is like 10 minutes to get an iced tea, and no-one has asked if I want to order. I get ANOTHER girl and get some suger. "Can I order some food?". "Sure". So I order a cup of the venison chili and 6 hot wings, figuring that would be enough.
They put out 2 big plates for me; I was wondering what I was going to do with those?
Music here is VERY loud. Mostly good stuff ZZ Top, Zeppelin, Puddle of Mudd, "The Girl's Gone Wild", "Cannonball". I noticed that the beer temperature was fluctuating between 28 (too cold) and 30 degrees. Not sure why they can't keep it within 1 degree.
The wings came out first.
Ugh. Really? These looked pretty pedestrian. Hooter's wings are better than this. They call these "Red Hot", but they weren't hot. Or freshly made. I think there were reheated frozen.
A runner came out and with the chili.
Ugh. This is $6? It was served in a teacup with a proportionally tiny piece of bread. It had a smattering of cheese.
Nothing special about the chili. Just a bunch of chopped meat in a blandish gravy. It might have been venison. Could have been ground round. I couldn't tell any difference. Chili with ground meat and no beans isn't worth the effort.
Adding insult to injury, I ran out of blue cheese before finishing the wings. Can't eat these on their own.
Luckily they put your tab in front of you; they took my card the last time but not this time. It still took a few minutes to get someone's attention to take my card. Even though Ashley was apparently my official server, it's really a matter of flagging someone down.
The bathrooms have some interesting signage; good thing that have the Men and Women signs next to it just to be sure.
Conclusion
The food I had today wasn't good; One guy next to me had a cheesesteak and another had the pot roast, which looked better than what I had. The guy didn't finish the cheesesteak so I don't know what that means.
Ashley was very friendly but these girls are not professional servers. They don't even wipe down the bar; they have a busboy wipe it down from the outside when someone leaves. The girls are here for show.
This will be a good place to watch football if you can get a seat, but it's not really set up for standing room. I don't really like having to get to a 1pm game at noon to get a seat, so we'll have to see how they handle it. It's difficult enough to get service at the bar if you have a seat.
Review 6/20/15
Twin Peaks opened last Mondey. I thought about trying it out but they were only open for dinner and I didn't want to risk not being able to get a seat. So I headed over at 2:30 on Saturday, expecting the 3-5pm lull to give me a chance.
The parking lot is too small for the place, which was a big complaint last week. On my first pass there were no spots. There lot across the way is under construction, so there isn't abundant parking nearby. As I swung around I noticed that the outside space is still under construction; it's probably going to be a big smoking scene so no matter. On my 2nd pass I spotted someone getting into their car and positioned myself to nab the space.
One of the gimmicks is the 2 girls who swing open the front door as you approach, and then all of the hostesses scream a welcome. It's all very contrived; the smiles don't match the message.
First weekend open and it's a big crowd. Very lodge-y with elk heads and antlers throughout.
They have a glass enclosed "Man Cave", but there's no-one allowed inside. Not sure if you have to reserve it or need a VIP pass. I didn't ask.
On one side of the bar there a long table with seats where you can sit, eat and watch the game. I guess it's good for single or couples, but it's not very comfortable. It's sort of like sitting at the bar without the personal service of a bartender.
The restaurant itself was full. Lots of tire-kickers on a Saturday Afternoon. Another place to get a burger. Davie lacks interesting restaurants. This place is going to hurt the Ale House big time.
At 3pm the bar was full. No seats available. There were a lot of old dudes who didn't seem to be interested in sports; the rest of the crowd was the kind of people who do shots and drink all day on Saturday. I didn't see too many people who seemed to care about sports.
TV management is non-existent. Golf was on, of course, but other stations were on randomly. Baseball was randomly represented; the Orioles vs Blue Jays wasn't on anywhere. They had some NBA replay thing on. This is not really a sports bar. None of them are.
I didn't order anything before I got a seat and despite standing with nothing but a phone in my hand nothing was offered. No-one asked if I wanted something. So no reason to spend money.
Finally I spotted a couple cashing out and I settled in behind them and took a seat when they left. Sitting there with no menu, no-one offered me a menu. Eventually one girl who was talking to the dude next to me asked "Would you like to order something?". "How about a menu, Babe?'.
They have a very limited menu, which is probably a good thing, Places like Duffy's that try to offer every dish every conceived just make everything worse by over complicating their kitchen. They have pictures of these piled high sliders on the menu, and I went for the bait. At $8.99 they seemed cheap, compared to $12 sliders elsewhere. I also ordered a large Mich Ultra; the 11oz is $4.29 and the 22oz is $5.29 so it makes no sense to order the small beer. More incentive to get drunk in south florida.
The beer came out in a frosty glass looking quite frosty throughout.
A big gimmick here is the "29 degree" beer. They have a big display showing the current temperature of the beer.
The temperature hovered between 27.9 and 28 the few times I checked it. The problem is that beer freezes under 29 degrees, and light beer freezes higher than that, so what you get is half a glass of ice.
I saw some beers come out without the ice head, but the gimmick has its issues. Once the ice melts it's fine.
TV viewing here is excellent. They have big clear Sharp TVs and they're about 6 feet away. About 1000 times better than the Tilted Kilt setup with smaller TVs are high in the sky.
Also unlike the Tilted Kilt, the girls here are generally quite good looking. This is a franchise, so many of the workers are training from other locations; they're not going to send ugly chicks, so we won't know for 2 weeks what the local crop is going to look like.
Music is loud, but not out of control. Toby Keith, EMF, Parachute and Jet mix it up with the Romones' "I wanna be sedated'. Nothing offensive.
The sliders come out on a little tree stump bench. Very gimmicky.
My first impression was that these were nearly as "piled high" as the picture on the menu. More bread, less meat. Where have we seen that before?
The "slaw" was red cabbage and some greens. Not really a slaw. One of the sliders didn't have a pickle at all. The sliders were good; well marinated and not too sweet; the red cabbage provided a nice crunch. Usually 3 sliders fill me up, but this was a snack.
I guess I took too many pictures because a manager felt compelled to tell me that the official policy of Twin Peaks is
No Pictures of the Girls unless they consent
Really? A breasteraunt where you can't take pictures of the girls. That's the first time I've heard that since 2009 before smart phones were in wide use.
I had trouble getting my tab. It's just a hornet's nest behind the bar and at no time did I feel like I had a server making sure that I had what I needed. They just dump stuff in front of you and buzz around without much apparent direction.
Conclusion
From a physical standpoint, this place is as good as it gets. A central bar, TVs situated in a way that you can realistically watch 3 or 4 games at once (Hello NFL). Service is going to be bad, because these girls weren't hired for their bar tending skills. The skinny slider on opening weekend is a bad sign; things like that tend to get worse over time, although the "no pictures" policy is a sign that management if feeling bold after a big first week. Let's see how they are in Mid August, when the newness has worn off.
Prices are fair and they have these $3.99 shots that seem to appeal to many as quite a few people just came in to order a couple of shots.
One thing is that there isn't a lot of standing room around the bar, so it could be a real circus some NFL Sundays.
Word on the street is that Hoops is on it's last legs; I can't see them surviving.
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