Surfside Glover Park

August 24, 2008



After great anticipation, Surfside finally opened its doors in Glover Park. I must say that I was excited for a new casual dinning restaurant with a rooftop deck to open in my neighborhood so I decided to meet some friends there at 8:00 (my friends didn't show up until 8:30 but that's a story for another day) on a Thursday night.

As I walked into the back entrance of Surfside, I was very impressed with the new/fresh look of the place. At this point of the night, the place was packed. I was overwhelmed with the amount of action going in the place. However, since my friends would probably be late I decided to get a beer while I waited. The bar (including 2 HD TV's) is located in the back of the restaurant where you have to pay for your alcoholic drinks separately from your food items. There were in fact 2 bartenders working but it still took a long time to get a drink since the bar itself is pretty small. I decided to order a Corona to properly put me in the mood however my mood soured when it ended up costing me $8 after tax and tip.

After my friends showed up, we decided to start looking for an open table. We ended up not finding one so we went to order food with the hope that a table would open up by the time our food was ready. The line to order food moved pretty fast because you had to circle the item you wanted on a paper menu and then hand it to the cashier. I thought the system worked pretty well however I didn't notice a special order section on the paper menu. Therefore, you couldn't tell the chef any specific instructions about your order.

Our food came out but we could only find a 2 person table so we just crowded around the table and began eating. I had to stand for the start of the meal until we found another chair. As a result, I felt like I was rushing through my meal. Hopefully, in a few weeks the place won't be as crowded thus making standing and eating a non-issue.

I ordered a flank steak dish that came with rice and grilled vegetables for $13.95 (pictured top left). The vegetables were grilled to prefection. You could taste the grill flavor but at the same time each vegetable held on to its unique flavor (I often find that vegetables get overgrilled and they taste just like mush). The rice complemented the vegetables well which added to the overall dish. The flank steak was cooked around medium rare (note that there is no place on the menu to say how'd you like the steak cooked) which is how I like my steaks. However, the steak was just OK. I would probably try it again in a few weeks to see if it was just a reflection of Surfside being open only a few days. But, if it tasted the same then I definitely wouldn't order it again.

I also sampled a chicken dish (pictured top left). The chicken was definitely over marinated which resulted in an overpowering lime flavor. I only had 2 bites of the chicken so that's really all I could say about it.

After our meal, we decided to check out the rooftop which was really nice. The area was much bigger than I thought it would be with many tables and chairs in addition to some open space for people to stand. The rooftop by far was the highlight of the night.

Overall, I liked Surfside but it could make some major improvements. First, I would lower the drink prices. Before Surfside opened, I envisioned it as a place where a group of friends could get buckets of beer at a reasonable price and spend a saturday afternoon drinking on the rooftop deck. However, at close to $8 a beer that makes it not worthwhile. Also, adding some appetizers to the menu would be a major plus. Right now the only offering is guac and chips for $8.95 which I also think is overpriced. I am sure Surfside will work out the kinks that come with opening a new restuarant so I look forward to trying more menu items on the rooftop sooner than later.


3 out of 5

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