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Last Update: Feb 21st, 2019
Bosbeach 0919

Bo's Beach

600 Seabreeze Blvd
Fort Lauderdale FL, 33316
954 616-8315
Overall Rating
1.5
Food
Service
Ambiance
Value
Last Review
02/21/2019

Details

Hours: 11:30-10p 7 Days
Attire: Casual
Parking: Metered Lots
CC: Yes
Alcohol: Full Bar
Has WiFi: Yes
WiFi Password: None
Outside Dining: Completely

Pros

Beachfront Location
Plenty of Seats

Cons

The entire restaurant is patio furniture
Way overpriced Sport Bar food
Amateur service

Critic's Review

Bo's Beach is officially open in the space previously occupied by The Oasis. The property is owned by the City and Bo's Group offered them a lot of money for the lease so it was good-bye to the Oasis.

I try to avoid the beach in February and March, as traffic is a disaster. Today was no different. And the fact that the lot at A1A and Las Olas is under construction just makes everything worse. The beach parking lot was just about completely full, all the way to the Marriott. I found a spot about 200 yards away.

One good thing about the beach area is that I can bring the big camera and pretend to be a tourist.

The place is a big monstrosity; they've used just about every square inch of the property for a 2 story structure stuffed with 430 seats. They're very optimistic about the beach.

Bo's Beach North Bar

I walked in and asked for a table, indicating that I didn't want to sit at a bar. Looking at the seating downstairs, I opt'd to check out the upstairs; they directed me to the stairs; they have a separate hostess upstairs.

The upstairs didn't appeal to me; the bar was on the beach side and there were just a bunch of tables in the middle of the room; not very appealing. So I went back downstairs.

Bo's Beach view from Stairs

I saw a few booths available and talked my way into one of them. There aren't very many of them. There are a lot of high tops; the entire place is patio furniture with a blue theme.

Something different is that the napkins and condiments are on the outside of the booth, which seemed odd and wrong.

Bo's Beach Booth

I moved them to the inside part of the booth. Can't complain about the view however.

View from Bo's Beach

My server was bubbly and friendly and she took my iced tea and fish and chips order while trying to push the "fish of the day" without disclosing the price.

Never order the fish of the day

"Good Vibrations" was playing as I arrived, but that was the only "beachy" song for the duration of my stay. Henri Purnell, Sam Feldt Feat. All garbage the rest of the way.

The south bar isn't any different than the north bar; just another bar with bad patio furniture.

Bo's Beach South Bar

My server brings out my iced tea after way too long; I have to hold back from laughing.

Bo's Beach Iced Tea

If you're a server and someone asks for extra lemon, do you think that 2 micro slivers is going to make them happy? I mean how cheap can you get?

A runner brought out the fish and chips a few minutes later.

Bo's Beach Fish and Chips

Not your traditional offering. I was struck by the amount of tartar sauce given for the seemingly massive piece of fish. I asked for some extra anticipating I'd need more.

At first glance, it seemed that the fish was ok, but the fish and the batter seemed to be separate entities. And it was more like a hard crust than a light, delicate batter.

Bo's Fish and Chips Close

I tossed on some sauce and tried to eat it by hand but it was no use; the fish just slid out and the batter/crust was too hard.

Bo's Beach Fish and Chips

The fish was soggy and overdone inside and the batter was simply no good; I ended up cutting out the fish to try to salvage some protein. Overdone, mushy fish is not what I was hoping for here.

Bo's Fish and Chips

The slaw was trash (who puts corn in a slaw?) and the fries were ok but they could have used another 20 seconds in the fryer.

While I was waiting to flag down my server a manager came by and asked how the fish and chips were and I told him; he seemed very concerned and said he'd pass on my criticism. I'm betting that if you order this a year from now it will be exactly the same; because this is how $12/hr line cooks make food. He didn't offer me anything nor did he notice my empty iced tea glass. You'd think a guy taking pictures with a $2000 camera would draw some special interest, but not at Bo's.

While my server was perky, cute and friendly, straw wrappers weren't removed from the table and I wasn't offered a refill for my $3 iced tea, even though I made a point to push my empty glass to the edge of the table. The iced tea cost her $1 on the tip.

Conclusion

The Bokamper's group has built another big restaurant in Fort Lauderdale with predictably bad food that's surprisingly uncomfortable. Imagine a restaurant comprised completely of bad patio furniture, and you have this place. While there are a lot of TVs, it'd hesitate to call it a sports bar; I can't see myself standing here to watch a game. I had the worst excuse for a salad I've ever had at their other location; and I think this may be the worst fish and chips I've ever had.

Bo's Beach provides the lowest level of service imaginable while nickel and dime-ing you on lemons and tartar sauce on a $23 lunch. Why aren't I surprised? The place is completely run by kids; All of the "managers" looked under 30. Their other restaurants have horrible service also, so this is part of their model, apparently.

As I was leaving the place I was trying to think of the circumstances that would compel me to come here again, and I couldn't think of any.

Another wholly predictably bad restaurant in Fort Lauderdale.

Comment Policy Add Comment
Kyle
Reply
I'm making some popcorn and I'm going to read some more reviews. This is hilarious.
mike
Reply
Several pics on Yelp of raw chicken sandwiches being served, Bo is just killing it
Robey
Reply
Seafood Tower is extremely overpriced and the manager could not explain how the $90 price tag was met. The Main lobster was less than 4 bites of lobster
Ron
Reply
Pro Tip: Don't order a seafood tower at a beach sports bar.
Jerry
Reply
There's a pic online from this place of the worst looking cobb salad I've ever seen. What has happened to the food industry?
TD
Reply
Your review is not surprising given how the FTL Bo’s has changed over the years marching appetizer price with sandwich price to maximize income at lunchtime. They have an interesting take on calamari: they serve it in a cone so that the fried dough remnants fall to the bottom. Their portion is about half that of neighboring Flip-flops and for 2$ more. Sad, and even worse that a server doesn’t know the price of the drinks.
Mike
Reply
It's over Commander, isn't it? FTL will never have a decent restaurant or a decent place to hang out to watch a game in my lifetime. Is there any hope really left at all?
Administrator
Reply
Depends how long you live.
Bill
Reply
Here’s your problem. You can’t just ask for extra lemon. They will just slap an extra unusable wheel on that iced tea and call it a day thinking they did the right thing. You need to sell it better. Tell them you want extra lemon then follow that up by saying you literally want an entire plate of lemons. I have a friend who I think is half lemon and it works with surprisingly good results.
Administrator
Reply
I'm guessing you're not a regular reader? This isn't my first rodeo with Iced Tea.

The Iced Tea / Extra Lemon thing is kind of a test. That fact that lemons are sliced like a garnish indicate that bean-counting is more important than service and providing customers with a good product. But if someone asks for extra in order for this to make it to my table it has to be an edict from ownership to nickel and dime customers.

How they offer refills also tells you something about the restaurants. Some places have a pitcher handy and they refill you before you're done. Other places hope you don't ask for one. How much does a glass of tea cost, 3 cents?
Nick
Reply
They have to make up the money they're losing on The Balcony. What a shit show that place is.
Administrator
Reply
Bo's has acquired Joy's Liquors liquor license, so it appears that they're expecting to sell more alcohol than food. Very few places this large buy a quota license.
Administrator
Reply
They've registered this as Bo's Beach. Probably within a couple of months.

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