Restaurant Review: YOLO (Ft. Lauderdale)

Last week, I spent several days in Ft. Lauderdale for a mix of business and pleasure.  We stayed at the Marriott Harbor Beach which is a fabulous oceanfront resort with several restaurants and plenty of outdoor activities.  Although the resort is designed to provide its guests with everything they needed, we decided to venture out to a few local restaurants.

YOLO

Our first stop was at a restaurant called YOLO. (YOLO stands for "You Only Live Once")  We pulled up to the restaurant at 7:00PM on a Wednesday to a vibrant scene.  The driveway leading to the entrance hosted several high-end vehicles including a Maserati and a Bentley.  When I saw this I knew I'd chosen a great place.  The weather was beautiful so we asked to be seated outside.  I was so glad I made reservations well in advance because we would never have gotten a seat.

We were seated and immediately our waitress came over and informed us of the specials and took our drink orders.  I ordered The Devil's Hammer, a drink that contained Patron Tequila and Bourbon infused cherries.  What drew me to it, besides the fact I'm a lover of Patron, was because on the menu it said in bold "Limit 3". If they had a limit, I figured it had to be good and it was. 

We began by ordering the meatball sliders topped with blue cheese.  While, I'm usually not a fan of blue cheese, these sliders were absolutely delicious.  The cheese was very mild so it complemented the sauce on the meatball very well.  The meatballs were so tender and juicy, they just melted in my mouth.  Next we had the YOLO chips, which were handmade, thick-cut potato chips with blue cheese, bacon pieces, and truffles. They were also very tasty and filling.

By the time my entree arrived I was already pretty full but of course I made room for crabcakes. They were lightly breaded, just the way I like them, and the portions were huge, I didn't even know where to start.  The only thing I didn't like was they were very heavy-handed on the sauce.  The crabcakes already had a different kind of topping, the sauce they were sitting in was overkill.  It came with a huge side of shoestring french fries and green apple slaw.  Both were great but again the portions were huge so I barely ate half of the plate.

Overall, I enjoyed the food, drinks, and the atmosphere.  It definitely seemed more trendy like something  you'd find on South Beach or even LA, not Ft. Lauderdale at all.  It was definitely a welcomed surprise.

 

YOLO Restaurant - You Only Live Once

333 E. Las Olas Blvd
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301-2259
(954) 523-1000
www.yolorestaurant.com