In current years, the 954 has seen its justifiable share of latest and outdated. While a lot of its tried-and-true eating places proceed to impress, newer institutions have a behavior of shuffling out and in, making it onerous to maintain tabs on what’s scorching — and what’s not.
From longtime favourite haunts which have stood the take a look at of time to the flashy newcomers full of promise, listed under in alphabetical order are the ten finest eating places in Fort Lauderdale.
Cafe Vico
1125 N. Federal Hwy., Fort Lauderdale
754-399-4021
cafevicorestaurant.com
Cafe Vico chef-owner Marco Rodriguez has loved greater than 20 years of quiet success among the many metropolis’s plethora of upscale Italian eating places and stays one of many space’s finest standbys for Northern Italian delicacies with a romantic ambiance. Originally not more than 5 tables, Cafe Vico has slowly expanded over time to incorporate a shocking piano bar and a second location (3496 N. Ocean Blvd, Fort Lauderdale). Like many old-school joints, the menu has all of the signposts of a standard Italian restaurant, with just a few sudden twists. Rodriguez has given various conventional dishes an unconventional — but typically profitable — departure from the norm, tweaking them simply so. You’ll discover black cherries within the hen ravioli. The piccata — be it hen, veal, or fish — presents a creamy lemon and caper sauce completed with artichoke hearts. And the calamari appetizer is obtainable steamed or grilled. Don’t miss the chef’s signature lasagna bolognese, a longtime favourite that marries a wealthy Parmesan béchamel layered between sheets of hand-cut egg noodle pasta with lean floor beef and a contact of recent San Marzano cherry tomato sauce.
Canyon’s new menu presents longtime favorites and stellar new dishes, finest paired with the home prickly pear margaritas.
Photo courtesy of Canyon
Canyon
20 S Federal Hwy., Fort Lauderdale
754-779-7199
canyonfl.com
Located in Fort Lauderdale’s Rio Vista neighborhood, Canyon has stood the take a look at of time as one in every of Fort Lauderdale’s most beloved eating places. For greater than 27 years, the institution has been a go-to for all issues Southwestern however lately relocated to a bigger house. Now, a reimagined menu continues to serve a stellar tackle American artisanal delicacies with Asian, South, and Central American undertones. Today, new crowd-favorite menu gadgets embody the crispy pork tacos topped with manchego cheese, mashed avocado, cabbage slaw, and pico de gallo wearing cilantro cream, or jumbo sea scallops with poblano-lime plantain hash and chipotle-honey glaze. There’s additionally a 20-seat tequila bar the place longtime patrons can nonetheless partake in Canyon’s well-known pink-hued, prickly pear margaritas.
Coconuts is Fort Lauderdale Beach’s favourite Florida-themed eatery.
Photo courtesy of Be Nice Restaurant Group
Coconuts
429 Seabreeze Blvd., Fort Lauderdale
954-525-2421
coconutsfortlauderdale.com
Given its location within the thick of the Fort Lauderdale Beach chaos, the place A1A and Sea Breeze Boulevard meet, Coconuts may look like simply one other tourist-themed restaurant. But if you happen to cross up this longtime native favourite, disgrace on you. This is Florida eating at its most interesting, from the expansive outside patio with uninterrupted views of Fort Lauderdale’s Intracoastal waterway to the menu of Floribbean classics — with just a few sudden twists. The menu sports activities the requisite South Florida blackened Mahi Sandwich, smoked fish dip, and conch fritters. But there are additionally just a few surprises, from the lobster membership sandwich and crab empanadas to an enormous slab of Danish baby-back ribs smothered in a chipotle-pineapple barbecue sauce. Pair any of them with a cocktail and you have simply discovered your new favourite beachside hang-out.
Dune chef/proprietor Laurent Tourondel at his oceanfront institution
Photo courtesy of Dune by Laurent Tourondel
Dune by Laurent Tourondel
2200 N. Ocean Blvd., Fort Lauderdale
754-900-4059
dunebylt.com
For years, movie star chef Laurent Tourondel — finest identified for BLT Steak and BLT Fish in NYC — hoped to create a restaurant that was as a lot a feast for the eyes as for the palate. When the Dune house turned out there, perched atop precise dunes that provide one in every of South Florida’s most fascinating oceanfront restaurant experiences, it felt like the right venue. Today, the chef’s signature worldwide influences, paying homage to his LT Steak & Seafood and the Alley (each on the Betsy Hotel in Miami Beach), provide friends his Asian and Mediterranean-inspired tackle seafood, alongside some Italian favorites. Take the grilled Spanish octopus, impeccably seared and curled atop a mattress of chickpeas and chorizo. Or a seafood ravioli, mascarpone-filled pockets rife with tender shrimp and scallops. If the views fade with the nighttime horizon, take in the solar over the newly launched “Rosé All Day” Sunday brunch. Dishes take a tropical — if hedonistic — flip from the caviar and blue crab served over an open-face croissant with a spicy citrus mousse to the wealthy and decadent buttermilk-coconut pancakes topped with flambéed banana and a creamy piña colada sauce.
Greek Islands Taverna is a favourite of locals and vacationers for its genuine Mediterranean fare.
Photo by Alex Passakos
Greek Islands Taverna
3300 N. Ocean Blvd., Fort Lauderdale
954-568-0008
greekislandstaverna.com
The signature kalamata olive-spiked Ladoregano sauce at Greek Islands Taverna is so in style, the restaurant needed to bottle it. The household recipe smothers almost the whole lot you may consider on the menu, from the signature lamb chops, shrimp, and ribs to the family-size salads and big mezze platters. There’s lots to like about this beach-adjacent Greek restaurant, which retains patrons coming again for hearty, genuine Greek fare. Brothers Sam Sotiri and George Kantzavelos provide the sorts of dishes locals, vacationers, and Greek natives can all admire.
The Katherine
723 E. Broward Blvd., Fort Lauderdale
754-216-0690
thekatherinerestaurant.com
The thought behind the menu on the Katherine, named for Miami chef/proprietor Timon Balloo’s spouse, is straightforward: an edible ode to the dishes the 2 recall from their travels. While Balloo’s eponymous Miami restaurant faucets into his Chinese-Indian-Trinidadian heritage, his Fort Lauderdale institution provides followers an opportunity to discover the chef’s private favourite dish hit listing. Eating off mismatched china in a bistro-like ambiance, friends are served quite a lot of seafood, greens, and luxury meals flavored together with his signature contact. Take the clam chowder fries, a nod to Balloo’s childhood within the San Francisco Bay space plus a part of his profession working in Belgium, and sprinkled together with his spouse’s love of clams and French fries. Or the delicately spiced jerk hen thighs — crisp on the surface and tender on the within — that pay homage to Balloo’s Caribbean roots.
No Man’s Land presents a singular menu of luxe small plates and food-themed cocktails.
Photo courtesy of No Man’s Land
No Man’s Land
666 N. Federal Hwy., Fort Lauderdale
954-368-2616
nomanslandftl.com
A ardour undertaking from hospitality veteran and Big Brother reality-TV star Memphis Garrett, No Man’s Land is the brand new child on the block, providing locals and guests an expertise in contrast to the rest in Fort Lauderdale. The sultry cocktail parlor and kitchen examine all of the containers with exquisitely crafted cocktails, creative small plates, and superbly appointed marble tables embraced by blue velvet banquettes. Dishes flex each approach and creativity, designed for grazing and meant to pair completely with the bar’s spirit-forward cocktail listing. An ideal meal right here: the foie gras “Old Fashioned” — which weds a bourbon-cured terrine, Luxardo gastrique, and Angostura mascarpone to thick slices of Demerara brioche — and an espresso martini as dessert, right here topped off with a housemade French-toast whipped cream.
Nothing says “Old Florida” seafood home in Fort Lauderdale just like the Rustic Inn.
Photo courtesy of Rustic Inn Crabhouse
Rustic Inn Crabhouse
4331 Anglers Ave., Fort Lauderdale
954-842-2804
rusticinn.com
Once an outdated roadhouse saloon, the Rustic Inn has spent greater than six many years channeling Old Florida, and is any native’s go-to hole-in-the-wall fish home. The eating room is draped in a thick, seafaring rope; tables are coated in butcher paper, and sinks formed like wood barrels are scattered all through the restaurant, stocked with paper towels and cleaning soap. After greater than 50 years in enterprise, the cavernous restaurant overlooking a canal has grow to be the right place for diners to launch their aggression on the backs of blue crabs. Most come right here to savor the signature dish of garlic crab — piles of steamed blue, golden, or Dungeness sautéed in garlic-infused oil.
Steak 954
401 N. Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd., Fort Lauderdale
954-414-8333
steak954.com
At Stephen Starr’s Steak 954 within the W Hotel on Fort Lauderdale Beach, a slider isn’t just a slider. It’s Kobe beef topped with candy caramelized onions and sandwiched between rounds of buttery brioche. A bone-in veal chop is juicy; Mediterranean branzino, served with a jewel-like array of greens, is as gentle and delicate as any fish that ever swam. Even a tuna and foie gras taco (bizarre because it sounds) is a luscious taste pairing. Since opening in 2009, the large indoor/outside restaurant, which includes a mesmerizing 15-foot jellyfish aquarium at its entrance and an oceanfront locale, creates a seductive vibe that is value savoring.
Takato presents a mashup of Japanese and Korean flavors in Fort Lauderdale.
Photo courtesy of Takato
Takato
551 N. Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd., Fort Lauderdale
954-414-5160
takatorestaurant.com
Takato, which means “in a state of utmost happiness” in Japanese, will ship simply that. This year-old institution has shortly grow to be one of many jewels of Fort Lauderdale seaside. Here, government chef Taek Lee’s upscale menu of sharable small plates and entrées exhibits off Lee’s method to Japanese and Korean fusion. Signature dishes embody braised quick ribs served over a nest of candy potato noodles and a Wagyu skirt steak topped with a wasabi-spiked chimichurri. It’s not exceptional to see conventional dumpling makers kneading and filling dough from scratch earlier than delivering recent batches through modern rolling carts, or catch a glimpse of diners having fun with table-side wasabi, cocktail, and culinary displays. The restaurant has launched its personal omakase lounge, choices friends a extra intimate expertise.