Bahama Breeze
Bahama Breeze: 3339 North Federal Highway, Oakland Park, FL 33306
A few weeks ago Bahama Breeze opened a new location on Federal Highway in Oakland Park, FL. While most of you know we prefer to eat at locally owned restaurants, we figured that we needed to at least check this place out since many of you might go there. This is part of the Darden Restaurant Group which owns Olive Garden, Season’s 52, Cheddars, Capital Grille, Longhorn Steakhouse and Yardhouse.
The Restaurant:
Bahama Breeze looks to give you the feel of being in the Caribbean and on an island with the fresh ocean breeze flowing through your hair (oh wait, my hair is too short) while you enjoy a nice meal. Parking is fun at this location because of the way they built it. They wanted the restaurant to be right on the road, so if entering from Federal highway, you will enter the driveway and drive past the restaurant to find the parking lot. The spaces right in front of the restaurant are for handicap plates or take out orders, and they are almost always full. There is a place to drop people off, but it is a little confusing to find it. The lot over all is quite large with plenty of parking, just be prepared for a nice walk before and after dinner. You can also enter the parking lot from NE 20th Ave if you want to make life easier.
Once inside you will be greeted by island themed artwork on the walls, ceiling fans, tables and booths with color, and overall island decor. As you can see from the pictures, they have some fun decor and the bottles of liquor being used as the light shades is brilliant. I also loved the old distillers for making beer that were on display.
The inside of the restaurant is quite large and would hold a good number of people.
The Food:
Bahama Breeze’s menu has a decent number of items on it, but not overwhelming. Jerry decided to try out the Salmon grilled with a mango glaze. For his sides he chose asparagus and rice. The salmon was cooked medium the way he likes it. The mango glaze added an additional layer of flavor to it, which Jerry enjoyed very much. He said that the asparagus was cooked perfectly and once he added his lemons to the rice, he devoured that as well.
For my meal I chose the Jerk Chicken Pasta. I asked the waitress how big the portion was and I was told there were two sizes. I said that I would prefer the larger portion since I as very hungry. (didn’t have lunch that day) So out comes my pasta bowl, and when they put it down in front of me, I looked and Jerry an laughed. I said I am glad I did not get the smaller portion.
Then the waitress comes over and has a look on her face like what the heck. She goes and talks to the other waitress and then looks at her computer. She comes back over and says that she is sorry, apparently the code she used to order my meal, “LP” stood for little portion and not large portion like she thought. So they take my meal away, and a few minutes later comes another one, which appeared to have a bit more food in it. So I started to eat it. After almost finishing the plate, the waitress comes back with a much larger portion and says that is the one I am supposed to have. So I eat a bit more, then ask her to pack up the rest to take home.
While the packed up portion sits on the bar, another waiter comes over and delivers me yet a third portion. We started laughing and could not believe that they had messed this up that badly. But at least they kept trying to fix it. They also gave the lady next to us a free appetizer because it took forever for hers to come out.
Jerry wanted to have some desert, so he chose the Key Lime Pie. Unfortunately I was so full from eating all my pasta dishes, that I could not help him eat it. The slice of pie was very large and I think they gave us extra for the mishap. I will have to say that they were honest and made up for the issue we had with my meal.
Pricing: $$-$$$
I would recommend to check this place out. They are still working out some of the kinks of a new restaurant, but the food was very good and you can not beat the happy hour drink prices or half off appetizers!
