Well I wish that this was one of those raving reviews.  I love finding a local restaurant that offers great food, great atmosphere and good service.  Unfortunately, the Shuck 'N Dive Cajun restaurant in Ft. Lauderdale left me Shrugging 'N Disappointed.

The restaurant is located in a small strip mall on US 1 south of Sunrise Blvd.  The strip mall is next to a Winn Dixie and the War Memorial.  The inside is clean and well decorated in New Orleans fare.  There is a small bar with some booths and tables as well as outside seating.

 

We sat at a booth and ordered our drinks from our server.  Our server was VERY unfriendly and cold.  She never 'greeted' us or even cracked a smile.  That was setting the tone and had a bad feeling.  When she brought our drinks, I was disappointed that my Diet Coke was served in a can.  This means there are no 'free' refills.  Strike 1.  Jeff ordered iced tea, but the server never checked back to offer a refill, so who knows if they would have charged us or not.

The server finally came back after a good 15 minutes (the place only had about 6 tables full) to take our order.  Strike 2.  We ordered the Fried Green Tomato and the Gumbo as our appetizers. 

      
(Fried Green Tomatoes - left ; Gumbo - right)

The tomatoes were fresh and hot, however I felt with all the sauce on flare sprinkled on top...there should have been more flavor.  Nothing really to rave about there.  The gumbo was thick and had sausage and roasted meat of some kind.  Jeff really wasn't too impressed with the gumbo and said that it almost tasted like it was from a can. 


Next our main entrées came.  I ordered the Gator Cheeseburger and Jeff ordered the Black Voodoo Burger.  Both came with a choice of french fries, slaw or tater tots.  We both went for the fries.

     
(Gator Cheeseburger - left ; Black VooDoo Burger - right...looks can be deceiving)

My Gator Cheeseburger consisted of ground gator mixed with herbs and spices.  While the flavor of the meat was good, the patty was so small it was overpowered by all of the sauce they slapped on.  I've never had so much mayo on a sandwich...not even on my chicken salad sandwiches! Strike 3.  The fries came dusted with some cajun seasoning and were actually quite good.

Jeff's Black Voodoo Burger was pretty big and was overflowing with toppings.  Jalapenos, horseradish and a secret sauce.  He loves spicy food, but felt there was too much going on and you didn't even know there was a burger in it. 

While the food wasn't bad, it wasn't memorable.  The deal breaker is the horrible server we had that never check back to see how our food was or if we needed anything else.  She even reached across the table in front of my face to snatch up silverware when we were finished.  If she hates her job that much, maybe she should stay home.  Better yet, I'll just eat elsewhere.  The total cost was $34 + tip.  How much tip would you leave if service was that bad? 

Shuck 'N Dive is located at:
650 N. Federal Highway
Ft. Lauderdale, FL

They serve lunch and dinner.

FTLToday's Restaurant Grade:  C
-atmosphere was unique
-food was flat