Bamboo Beach Tiki Bar & Cafe

Located right in Ft. Lauderdale at The Galt Ocean Mile Beach, this is a great little spot for lunch or cocktails. When the rain started to come down on the beach at around 12 noon, it was perfect timing for lunch while we watched the thunder cloud show over he Atlantic Ocean. A couple of negative points to get out of the way first… I ordered a Miami Vice blended cocktail which was very watered down. I sucked it down on an empty stomach and didn’t even get a slight buzz. No wonder the waitress asked if I wanted a double shot (at an extra charge). We also ordered a tuna wrap but the waitress got it confused with a seared tuna wrap so we had to send that back. Now for the good part! I had the Buffalo Chicken Salad dish which was a good sized portion and it was very spicy! The tuna wrap was also very tasty once the error was straightened out and the correct order came to the table. I heard from others that the burgers are also really good here. Next time I will order beer or a straight vodka martini so I don’t end up wasting my money on watered down cocktails!

Super friendly staff. Big bar, awesome lounge areas and plenty of beach chairs to dig your feed in the sand. The mojitos were very good. Not a huge fan of club-​type dance music, but it wasn’t overly loud so we were ok, plus they mixed in a live saxophone player that walked around, which was cool. I’d go back.

Avoid this place at all cost! The food is decent and the drinks are reasonably priced but the service is horrible. It took 20 minutes just to get a menu. Ordered a beer from the waitress and it took 20 minutes just to get the beer. There are much better local places. Also they don’t accept the Unilocal coupon.

I’ve been here twice and ordered the same things. The first time the food was good the second time it was terrible. Nice spot on the beach but the service and consistency was dead.

The location is great & the drinks I had (two beachside teas) were fairly strong & delicious, but the bar tenders were not very attentive or welcoming to my friend & I at all. We definitely would have stayed longer & ordered more if they had been more friendly or asked if we wanted more drinks.

Located at the Ocean Manor Resort in FLL on Galt Ocean Mile. We had a party of eight and were seated immediately on a Saturday night which was a pleasant surprise. The service here at the hotel and the outside resturant is always really good. The staff is friendly and all about business.
This is a great place to bring out of town guests. We locals love feeling like we too are on vacation. It is a low maintenance day at the beach even if you’re not staying here. Everyone is welcome to drive up, get valet for $ 5, stop at the Tiki Bar for lunch/​drinks or hang out at the beach. All you need to bring is a wallet and sun screen. They offer chair and umbrella rental along with your own personal server. You can even use the pool if it’s not too crowded.
The food has never been disappointing. I was really craving fish dip but they did not offer it on the menu. They offer a pretty large array of options. We ordered appetizers at first. Starters included the loaded nachos which were huge and came with choice grilled chicken breast or ground beef, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, sour cream and chili beans. We also ordered bruschetta. The bread was really fresh but the balsamic drizzle and toppings lacked flavor. Calamari was really good breaded, deep fried rings with marinara. The burgers are huge, juicy and grilled. I would consider splitting one if you ordered apps. I love the steak salad here. The greens are fresh and crisp and the steak is plentiful and cooked and flavored perfectly. Our party ordered Strawberry lemonade (they were out of at first) Pink lemonade, Electric Lemonade, Mai Tai’s, a Strawberry Daiquiri and ice cold beer. There was a Dj playing tunes at a comfortable volume, a beautiful night and a great time. The attire at this place is casual to dressy casual depending what your plans are before or after.
Don’t forget to use your « Unilocal» free drink coupon like I did. Just check in when you get there and it’ll pop up. Your server will ask you to save it until check out.

Obviously the crowd makes the party and we had a party at the Tiki Bar! Bartener was great and drinks were strong. Expensive but well made! Nice environment on the beach. Could use another bathroom (one person for women– unless you searched out another one in the main hotel) — but all in all fun time.

Room is expensive but it’s ok if you have the ocean side view. The food here sucks. Never eat food here. the service is pathetic. the food, well if they can’t make nachos right, well I don’t expect them to make a complicated dish any better. how can you screw up some nachos with beef an chicken? here is how, you serve .the bottom of some cheap brand chips, all the broken left over parts, slap some cold out of the can yellow cheese, cold peaces of chicken, and hamburger, slsa out of a can, thats supposed to be pico de gallo, delay process about 30 minutes not to mention they wanted to charge me for an extra beer they never brought and so, there you go thats how you screw up what was supposed to be a nice night out.

This is a fun little spot, albeit kind of random. We picked it after going out to dinner in Fort Lauderdale. We wanted to be in a relaxed environment where we could enjoy a few drinks without a huge crowd. It isn’t terribly expensive, which makes having a few drinks between two people possible. The bartender was a lot of fun and she kept the party spirit going even when it wasn’t crowded. We enjoyed our experience here, and I would definitely recommend it as a late night spot. The bar itself isn’t huge so I would go with a small group so you can still converse.
It would be interesting to go here in the daytime to see the view of the beach especially with all the positive reviews of it. I may check that out in the future. Everyone was very friendly and the drinks were tasty.

This is one of those places where Mom and Pop restaurants can out-​wretched even the most wayward chain unit. As Marqus pointed out, Jon Tapper and Bar Rescue couldn’t save this place. If the owner is the problem, consultants should run away. fast, but in this case don’t run toward the beach or you might end up like the guy in the end of «A Star Is Born». It’s a great location on the beach that is intentionally mismanaged.
I saw they had a check-​in special on Unilocal and brought it to the server’s attention. She came back a few minutes later to say that somebody else had set up the Unilocal page unauthorized and the offer wasn’t any good. Logic would suggest that the Unilocal Check-​in may lead to a positive Unilocal review — except in this case. I’ll explain. So if a person gave you the heads-​up that they were a Unilocaler, then you gain undue influence over their review. It’s not rocket science but it seems the unauthorized person was looking out for Bamboo’s interests better than the owners were. But the management decision was to pretend Unilocal doesn’t exist or that they don’t REALLY exist on Unilocal.I tried pretending I didn’t exist once in second grade during recess playing Greek Dodge; where they have to hit you with a rubber ball. If you catch it without dropping it, you can try and throw it at someone on the opposing team on the other court to gain a point. But this time I stumbled and fell a few feet from the center line. I covered my eyes and acted as if I was invisible. But, don’t you know, it didn’t work! The ball bounced off the back of my head and I was out of the game. Ignoring an industry driver such as Unilocal will only result in the same, being out of the game, regardless of your brand, or if you have any idea that you HAVE a brand. Bamboo is an example of the latter.
Last, I was amazed that we had a decent Grouper Fingers appetizer, so I ordered Grouper Sandwiches for us. The fillets of fish we received were not Grouper but the razor thin fillets of Swai (a Vietnamese Catfish) which are forever on sale at Restaurant Depot for $ 1.89 a pound.
I left two stars because I think it’s safe enough to come here for a drink. But don’t bother with the food.

Amazing location on the beach. Nine TV’s to watch the games and a great tiki environment.
The staff was very friendly and the service was prompt. Good was solid. A couple bucks more for items than you would pay off the beach, but that’s to be expected given the location.
Drinks are served in plastic cups and the Rum punches ($ 10)were very tasty.
Manager stopped by and was equally friendly.
You need to visit this out of the way place on Lauderdale by the Sea

An awesome place. Right on the beach!
Service was awesome! I had the cheeseburger it was juicy and made to perfection. My hubby first ordered the Nacho. He didn’t like it. The ground beef was a diced up hamburger.
The waiter was Super nice and brought him something different. He ordered the calamari and wings and both we sooooo good.
Def go here if your in the area. It’s a great place. Good drinks, on the beach with awesome food. You can’t lose.

This place was all about scenery. It’s down the A1A from Pompano Beach just hitting Fort Lauderdale. We went there for their Happy Hour drink prices and of course scenery being that it was on Bar Rescue.
The hummus was bland, I mean really bland. Then we got the steak and cheese quesadillas, and that was awesome. So tasty and succulent. Then we got the lobster mac and cheese. I mean they put a whole lobster tail atop a massive dish of tasty Mac and cheese. The Greek salad was plentiful and good. The problem was service is was almost non existent. Always had to flag the waitress down for drinks etc. That was just a pain in the ass. Yes Id go back but knowing it won’t be for the service.

If you want to see places the sun hasn’t shown on people from Michigan, this is for you.
Note: they no longer accept the Unilocal offer of buy 2 get 1 free drink.

Service was pretty good once you got their attention. The grouper bites are awesome. Pizza was not good. The seared tuna wrap was really good. Great location on beach but the crowd was kinda trashy. I would go back again with lower expectations. Overpriced food and drinks due to location.

We stayed at the resort attached to this restaurant this week so we ate here a lot. Overall food was excellent. Breakfast was average and a bit pricey but lunches and dinners were all very good. The fish and chips were AMAZING! Service was spotty, which is why I only gave 3 stars. The location is beautiful and worth the mark up.

Terrible service, my husband and I walked out after waiting 15 minutes with no service. We have been coming here for the last 11 years, just before John Taffer did his «Bar Rescue». The place absolutely needed it. Our first experience was terrible, after the show it was great for a while, food was great, place was clean, and better service, and now it is on a very slow decline. We didn’t see the usual manager present (she is fantastic)!which probably accounts for the lackadaisical mentality. Waitresses walked around totally oblivious to their surroundings.
We have friends from Miami that expressed interest but now there isn’t a prayer we would recommend this place not even to a stranger. Stay away.

Saw the bar rescue episode. Decided to check it out yesterday close to lunch .
The calamari was overcooked. The conch fritter was undercooked: the outside was dark brown and the inside was mushy. Just had the best conch fritter in key west few weeks ago and I couldn’t help but compare. My «ocean «burger was disappointing. I ordered it to be cooked medium and it was dry. The bun they serve was almost like a baguette in texture. It was hard. The whole thing was really uninspired .
I would not come back here for the food but will come here for the drinks and the ambience.

This is one of those times I am glad I didn’t judge a book by its cover. We passed this tiki hut while walking on the beach (which is part of the Ocean Manor/​Sky Resort complex). We came at the very first trickle of spring break, so the crowd here looked like a frat part … Tons of drunk college students.)
The second day, we stopped in for lunch because I guess the spring break crowd was passed out from the night before or hungover because the crowd was more of a tourist type with a handful of the ‘hey bro’ crowd. We were told that this bar was featured on an episode of Bar Rescue and both instantly remembered the episode. ‘Ohhhh … THIS was that bar??‘
Clearly John Taffer and his team did a great job with the menu as there wasn’t one thing I didn’t want to eat. Great selection for people who like grilled stuff (burgers, fish sandwiches, even a $ 10 hot dog) and also people who like pasta, seafood or vegetarian. I was a bit suspicious of getting ‘bar food’ slop but what came out was restaurant quality!
The coconut shrimp were probably the best I’ve had. We got 2 more orders we liked them so much. The salad with blackened shrimp was fantastic! The shrimp were big, plump shrimp … And it seemed like everything was super fresh and not bagged frozen food.
The drinks were good as well … Pina Coladas ($ 10) and a good selection of draft beer ($ 5) and canned beer ($ 4). The food is a bit pricey … You get 5 coconut shrimp for $ 14. Most things on the menu sandwich wise and appetizer-​wise were $ 12-​$ 14. Grilled seafood/​steaks $ 25-​$ 35. We didn’t feel the value was there but the taste and quality were beyond what we expected.
The views are beautiful if you get the right table. Weekends are packed but weekdays a little more open. We people watched at our table and looked out over the ocean. The bathrooms are gross and there are lines … And the crowd does get a little loud and drunk. However, I highly recommend you stop here if you want to dine and drink RIGHT on the beach. For a less fist pumping crowd, try Aruba Café in Lauderdale by the Sea a mile away. The beach views aren’t as good as at Bamboo but the quality of the menu and food are.
Great place!!! Can’t wait to watch it in Bar Rescue. Our lunch here totally made our day great!

The fact is this is a terrific location, with an awesome view and attractive bar-​keepers. You can’t help but feel on vacation.
This is the first place that comes to mind when I want to take out-​of-​towners to a Fort Lauderdale bar. To me, this place represents what this town used to be.
The beer on tap warms quickly, partly, I feel, because it is served in plastics cups. It makes you want to drink faster to enjoy frosty sips (in my case, gulps).
The food is mediocre. I had some wings. Nothing special.
But, this place is neither about the limited beer selection, nor the food. It’s about the people you meet.
During my most recent visit, for instance, I became friendly with a couple that sat next to me at the bar (he a photographer and she an attractive bartender working in South Beach).
I had every intention of sipping on a beer or two, but they graciously bought me a couple Tequila shots and I returned the favor. We ended up having a great conversation, and did a little networking.
To me, that sums up this place, and that’s why I’ll return.