I tried these spots on Thursday at lunch. The first is just off Sand Lake Rd near Chuy's. The second is in a white building at 743 N. Magnolia Ave where Bagel World used to be. Sort of across (diagonal) the 7-11 at 50.
Chuck Lager - They said the owner beat Bobby Flay or something. I think his meatballs were the challenge. He (and I guess the original location) is from Delaware. Wilmington? They said his name is Fabio. In any case, it's a new chain to try. I had to sample the meatball sub at $18 after that introduction. It wasn't bad. Four golf ball sized meatballs. Pretty tender. Not world beaters though. Way too little sauce. A bit on the sweet side. Ok amount of provolone or mozz. I forget. Just melted on the roll. Roll was ok. Not stale. Some basil. Served on a fake plastic sheet with recipes on it atop a metal tray. Good silverware. It came with a healthy portion of in house potato chips. Barely salted (ok with me) and sprinkled with a touch of vinegar. The rest of the menu is a mish mosh of mostly snack foods. Most apps are double digits. "Mains" are around mid teens to mid twenties. Things like spaghetti and meatballs, flatbreads, burgers, hot chicken, steak ($40), etc. I don't recall any seafood. A big selection of the hard stuff. Flights. Most are over $10 a serving. Beer is $8 a glass. Wine by the bottle was 4x retail. And that is the rub. Everything is about 25% to 50% overvalued. I'm not sure if the other locations have the same price points or they think they can soak tourists, but, I'm not sure the care is great enough to justify the premium. It's just hokey bar food cooked by amateurs. Maybe if good old Fabio was at the helm it would be understandable? The place looks nice in a cookie cutter sort of way. Red brick and stained wood walls. A map mural of Route 66. Three rooms and an area up front that they can draw a curtain on. A large square bar in the center. Patio. Brown leather seats. Seats over 100. Empty. Open for a week. I would maybe try it at 3pm-6pm happy hour. Beer drops to $6 and they have some snacks at $8.
Los Tres Golpes - They said it means the three hitters. I'm sure that is bs and it has a slang meaning like "players". Google says to strike or slap. Maybe they are slapping their monkey? I grabbed the pernil rice bowl to go at $14. It was very good. Soft, moist, garlic-y pork. A bit salty. More garlic sauce on top. Yellow rice with black peas. A bit soft. Tasted like it was boiled in chicken broth. Two sweet plantains. Cabbage, red onion and tomato with garlic dressing. Everything was flavorful. Lots of garlic. Not oily. It a Dominican place. Small menu. Five sandwiches. All were egg sandwiches. Under $10. Two other rice (chicken, mushroom) bowls. Some empanadas at $5. Not much on decor. Open for three months. Not open on M or Tu. Open 11am to 2am (and 4am on weekends)! I'll have to ruminate on whether it will be a Favorite. Close. Very close.
Travel Notes - Florida: I did a little loop to break in the new car. I started in Port St Lucie. I saw the Mets Single A for $16 (listed as $14) and $5 parking. I stayed at the brand new Woodspring Suites (Expedia 9.8) for $133. It was a Saturday and not many non-gross options in the area. I had fried chicken, mashed potatoes, potato salad and cornbread at Nana Morrison's Soul Food. They are from Charlotte. I drove to Jupiter and got in free (some strange policy they have about not opening up to the public on Sundays because of costs) to the Cardinals Single A. Free parking too. I had chicken salad on a bagel at Bagel Boyz and a brisket and links sandwich at Mrs Smokey's Real Pit Bar B Q on Donald Ross Rd. I drove down 95 to Fort Lauderdale and hung a right at Commercial Blvd. I was doing that to get to 75. It took me to the Inter Miami CF stadium (near the private airport). I kept going west until it ends. Then onto the road that goes by the Panthers arena. It turned out to be a toll road. Onto 75 (Alligator Alley). Also a toll ($6) road. I got off just before Naples at Collier Blvd. I stayed at the La Quinta (Booking 7.4) for $88. I drove south on Collier to Marco Island. I had a half dozen Wellfleet or Blue Point (I forget) oysters, shrimp cocktail and mixed fish tacos at The Oyster Society. These were happy hour snacks. About $10 each. The regular menu was no bargain. I saw this on Samantha Brown's Places To Love. The next day I drove to 41N. I ate a shrimp salad sandwich with fries and potato salad at Swan River Seafood. I was trying for stone crabs, but, their market had them at $40+ a pound and the place (Oakes Farms Market) I went to last time was still rebuilding from the hurricane. FYI - most places down there are still f'd up. I continued north and hung a left on to Bonita Beach Rd. Drove through Estero and Fort Myers Beach to 867 and over to Sanibel (toll). I drove towards Captiva. Stopped at Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum & Aquarium (closed on Monday), JN Darling National Wildlife Refuge, Turner Beach (shells) and Captiva. All this from Samantha Brown. I saw her two food stops. Latte Da was being rebuilt. Mucky Duck was open. I wasn't hungry. Back to Bowman's Beach and up the other side of the island and back to the Lighthouse (closed). I had Playdough (yellow vanilla flavor) ice cream with colored sugar cookie bits at Magic Bus Ice Cream & Caffeine. I went back over the bridge to Macgregor Blvd. Up to College Pkwy (toll) and across the bridge to Cape Coral. I stayed at the Dolphin Key Resort (Expedia 8.4) for $78. Had beer at No. 3 Craft Brews. Some wine and smoked salmon (bogo) from Winn Dixie. At check out some guy told me to go to Cape Coral Yacht Club (public beach with free parking) on the Caloosahatchee River. I had a bad Cobb Salad at The Boathouse Tiki Bar. The Cuban was on Food Paradise. I laid out on the beach. I drove over the bridge to Allure Suites (Expedia 7.4) at $76. I had tacos at Taco Works. I went to the Twins Single A for $15 and $10 parking. I saw that the Red Sox have moved (Jet Blue Ballpark) close to there since the last time I saw them. They have no minor league team there though. The next day I tried to find stone crabs once again (in Fort Myers) and failed. I ate at Farmer's Market Restaurant next to one of the places that had none. I drove to Clearwater. 75 to 275 (toll) to 19N to 60. I stayed at the Palm Cove Motel (Booking 8.3) for $113. I went to the Phillies Single A for $12 and $5 parking. I was going to go to the Yankees, but, I didn't want to dick around until 6:30 pm. So, I came home early. 60E to 295 to I4. I think I'll hit the other four teams next week. All games were at 6:30pm. Empty. Sundays at 12pm. No games on Monday. Perfect weather. I'll have to learn about Pay By Plate.
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