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A Stroll Through Las Olas Riverfront in Ft. Lauderdale
Published: 08/24/2009 by Charles J. Di Bartolo
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Before we get to what's going on on the Las Olas Riverfront, this would be a good time to give tourists a parking tip. When you reach the end of Las Olas make a right, a quick left and another left to get to the parking area. Unfortunately, we made a left and wound up parking at the correctional facility and had to cross the drawbridge to get back to the riverfront. A typical tourist mistake. while the parking is cheaper, it's not the best place to be.
First we took a stroll along the river and found some interesting pubs like the Historic Downtowners Saloon and a couple of others. It was a Sunday night in August and there was still quite a bit of activity. Fort Lauderdale has done a nice job of making the Riverwalk there appealing. Stay off the drawbridge if you can, because there are quite a few panhandlers hanging around looking for tourists.
When we arrived at the Las Olas Riverfront I was shocked to see that half of the restaurants, clubs and shops had closed. The local dining guides in the area have unfortunately not kept up on the closures in this area. We were looking to grab a casual Mexican meal at Ole Ole and found it was closed. I then went to the directory to see what was open and found that 16 out of 33 places were not open any more. I keep hearing that the economy is getting better but if you speak with the restaurant owners here, they tell a different tale. We decided to try a restaurant and Club called "Off The Hookah", which serves Mediterranean Cuisine and offers Hookah smoking in a trendy setting of Couches and Canopy Beds. They have a few bars inside and out that can make this a fun place to be. You can check our restaurant review area for a full review of the food, atmosphere etc.
I spoke with the manager of "Off The Hookah" that evening. Juan said that the economy hasn't been great. We happened to catch the off season in the end of August. He mentioned quite a few places have closed in the last year. All I could think of is what a shame it is to have this great area in Fort Lauderdale with only half of the businesses open to cater to local restaurant lovers and tourists.
