Critic's Review
I had an idea about corned beef and hash, so I thought I'd try the new TooJay's in Dania Beach.
At 2:15p the place was pretty much empty, with no hostess or greeter available.
They're trying to push this place as a "Deli Bakery", I guess there's high margin in cakes?
I literally wandered into the dining room and sat at a table way in the back. After a few minutes I came to the conclusion that nobody was going to see me back there, so I moved to a table where servers were serving nearby. Finally someone acknowledged me and brought me a menu.
I was about to order coffee; I asked if they served breakfast all day, and my server said "No, only until 11". Talk about not being a real deli. Hmph. My entire plan thwarted. Ok, get me an iced tea.
This is a very poorly run corporate restaurant. Music is background noise; garbage on the TVs. It's like there's no-one in charge of the place beyond opening the doors in the morning.
Something annoying is that you can order a corned beef sandwich without fries, but you can only order a Reuben with fries. An extra $2 for unwanted calories.
The food came out all together in 8 minutes.
It's well known that Too Jays is not a real Jewish Deli. A half pickle with a $15 sandwich? A real Jewish deli brings you a plate of pickles and a tub of cole slaw WHILE YOU'RE WAITING for your food, so you're not sitting at an empty table.
The rollup thing is a TooJay's signature; It's prefer wider bread and less height to the sandwich; you can't bit into this like an actual sandwich.
What's interesting is that the cole slaw here is completely different than what I got at the Fort Lauderdale location
The creamy version was a little better than the junk at the other location.
The corned beef is very uninspiring; similar to what you might get sliced in a supermarket; there's just nothing very good about the sandwich. It's "ok", better than a grilled chicken breast for the same price, but not the kind of thing you crave.
Very ho-hum. And not the corned beef hash and eggs that I was hoping for when I decided to come here.
Conclusion
TooJay's must have received an infusion of cash as they're expanding recently, with 2 new stores in the Fort Lauderdale area. I don't know why; the places serve pedestrian versions of Jewish Deli food at relatively high prices. What's missing is service and portion size; the servers are clueless about the food and giving me a half a pickle shows that they have no interest in coming close to reproducing a real Jewish Deli experience.