Bahia Cabana Restaurant

We alwasy go here when we are cruising the intercoastal! Great drinks and great atmosphere! Across from the beach if you want to go take a dip! It is great.

We had their buffet breakfast and was pleasantly surprised. They had quite an array of different choices of breakfast foods and pastries to choose from. Service was fair, price was good and you certainly could not leave their hungry. Atmosphere is awesome with the beach right across the street!

Nestled in a side street in Lauderdale Beach just off A1A you will find a place called Bahia Cabana. Just follow the live music and then wend your way through the hallway to the back and out into the tables surrounding the full bar and sit right there on the Intracoastal Harbor. I find it very relaxing to watch the boats come in and out while I dine... but really, other than that, this is not a relaxing kinda place. It's more of a hoppin' fun kinda place.

The live band was playing all manner of tunes the night we ate here. Everything from Jimmy Buffet to Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress to all the drunks singing along with Neil Diamond songs. Like I said, a fun kinda place.

It's all very beachy (even though it's not technically on the beach at all) with nautical ropes and palm fronds.. weathered wood everywhere from the picnic table we sat at to the walls. They have old license plates hanging up in between the fishing nets and tropical neon.

We started out with an order of Conch Fritters for $4.95. Well, saddly, this batch was pretty bad. They were cooked in apparently old oil and over cooked at that. The coating was just too much and even the resident black cat turned up it's nose at them. Despite the warning signs to not feed the birds, we did.

It does get better though. Much better. On Wednesday it seems they have a Prime Rib special so I went ahead and ordered that since I was sea-fooded out at that point.
This was a 10 oz 'Queen' portion for only $12.95. A nice horse radish sauce was just a request away. This was very good prime rib. Perhaps not the best ever, but more than adequate. Definitely better than I expected. I absolutely would not hesitate to order this dish again here.

The Jamaican Jerk Chicken Sandwich for $7.95 was a bit dried, but not terribly so. You really are here more for the bar and the atmosphere though, and it scores high on that count. Just sit back and enjoy the view of the Intracoastal and the live band.

PROS: On the water, fun live band
CONS: Food is hit-n-miss