Grille 401 may a top choice of Fort Lauderdale locals to frequent for after-work happy hour, but now it’s a haven for brunching too. The restaurant, located on Las Olas Boulevard, started its weekend brunch this summer on Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Brunch features an assortment of delicious appetizers, salads, sandwiches, desserts and traditional breakfast dishes such as shrimp and grits, chicken and waffles, and crab cake Benedicts. There’s even a special kids menu with four entrees all priced at $7, making Grille 401 a great choice for family brunch outings.
I enjoyed a special “breakfast-for-dinner” themed night and was pleasantly surprised by something I never thought I’d like… Eggs Benedict. I’m not a huge fan of eggs and I don’t like hollandaise sauce, so I’ve always been hesitant to order it just in case I didn’t enjoy the poached egg. But alas, it was time to give it a go (sans hollandaise, because…just, no.) Turns out, I don’t mind the poached egg! Watching the yolk ooze out of the center as you slice into it is enough to make anyone’s mouth water. The best part? This wasn’t your average eggs Benedict — it was a crab cake eggs Benedict. It’s served on a house-made biscuit with grilled asparagus and crispy home fries. The biscuit had nice flakiness and flavor, but was a little dry. But the runny yolk and Maryland-style crab cake helped to soak it right up. One of my absolute favorite brunch-y items is always the home fries — but not the shredded ones! I want chunks of potatoes, slices even, that are super crispy, seasoned to perfection, and easy to just pop into your mouth one by one by one. These took the term crispy to a whole new level. I’m not ashamed to say it — I could make a meal out of a big ol’ plate of crispy breakfast potatoes.
Another brunch classic, shrimp and grits, was served next. My first experience with this dish was in Chicago last year and it was heaven. I was excited to see how Grille 401’s compared. The jumbo shrimp were cooked just right and sat on a bed of corn salsa and a light creole sauce, surrounding the stone-ground white cheddar grits. Talk about flavor — this plate was bursting with it! Smooth, spicy creole sauce, refreshingly sweet corn salsa, creamy, cheesy grits… It was a mouthful of excitement and my only wish was to eat more.
My favorite dish of the night was the house-made veggie burger with brown rice, mushrooms and beets on a toasted challah bun with Havarti cheese. The beets add a subtle sweetness to the burger that really took it over the edge with intense flavor. I didn’t even touch the bun and could see this delicious combination of ingredients being served as a side dish rather than in patty form. It’s too good to be hidden underneath lettuce, tomato, and a huge bun.
By this point in the night, I was stuffed. Like, unbutton-my-pants-and-roll-me-outta-there stuffed. But when I saw white chocolate bread pudding on the menu for dessert, my tummy did a happy dance and instantly made more room. As my 5-year-old self would say, my stomach’s dinner section is full but dessert is empty! This bread pudding is a blend of brioche bread, white chocolate, and vanilla custard, baked and topped with a light brown sugar topping. It’s served in a swimming pool of warm mixed berry compote that I just wanted to dive right into. I’m a sucker for bread pudding. It’s been one of my top favorite desserts since my first taste of it in college. I’ll never say no to bread pudding. Never, ever, ever. It was to die for and I had no problem leaving that plate as clean as it was before dessert even touched it. Read the full post on Take A Bite Out of Boca: http://takeabiteoutofboca.com/2016/07/fort-lauderdale-restaurants-grille-401.html
