Sunfish Grill

The sunfish grill is up for sale; I think they’re just keeping it open so they can get something for whatever assets are left. They’re still charging as if they have some sort of great chef, even though everyone who knows how to make the original chef’s food is gone.

My wife and I went here for Dinner tonight.
The facility is dated. The furniture looks like something that you be in your Grandma’s house, only hers would be cleaner.
The bartender came over and took our drink order, then a waiter came and took our food order.
I ordered fish and chips (Grouper) and my wife had Salmon. My fish arrived as very thick fried bread around the tiny fish pieces. Some of the fried bread was so hard and greasy that I couldn’t break it with my hands. I was unable to eat this. The fish inside was raw.
My wife’s Salmon was also raw.
The food here is no better than bar food. I’d say it’s not even that good.
I showed the waiter (who somehow became the bartender again) the food and all she did was give my wife a flower?
This was the worst restaurant we went to while in Ft Lauderdale.

What a fantastic dining experience. The tuna tartare appetizer was excellent. The plates were blended perfectly for the desired palate. The smoked paprika shrimp dish was a tremendous blend of flavors. There was a lovely gift at the end of dinner for the ladies.

Amazing restaurant with great service and the best carrot cake. They have a great wine list and wine bar to start the evening at. It has become one of my favorites!

The food is amazing… must try! (Good way to start a review?)
Walked in… greeted at the door. Service was absolutely flawless throughout the evening.
Fair choice of Wine/Champagne…they don’t offer a full bar… but a nice bottle of Moet was exactly what we needed.
Caesar Salad was a nice start. They didn’t have anchovies, but the dressing had alot of flavor.
Appetizers: They were offering a scallop appetizer which the waiter recommended… we gave it a try… and (drumroll please) Oh So Amazing!!! …the «homemade» sauce was spectacular… rich and flavorful. Do yourself a favor… order it… you can thank me later.
Main Course: Shrimp with Pasta for me and Lobster for my wife. In most restaurants… a lobster is a lobster… just need melted butter right? Well… whoever is creating the sauces in the kitchen… is a master… a culinary genius!
Both dishes… (yes I tasted the Lobster too) were so amazing… we didn’t know which one we actually liked more. which is a good problem to have.
Sunfish Grill is easily a 5-​Star Restaurant when it comes to food. The Service too is outstanding. The only reason for 4 stars is I have to save that last star for the ambience and fine décor. Don’t get me wrong… Sunfish Grill is beautiful inside as well. You just have to get over the Plaza Strip exterior… but once you are inside… the food is easily 5 Star Quality.
***We didn’t save room… but next time… we would love to try the Blueberry and «home made» white chocolate desert.
A must try!

Great seafood but they have the best deserts in town! They make them on premise including the ice cream. Soo good!

I frequented and remember Sunfish Grill when it was located on Atlantic Avenue in Pompano. It was a favorite of mine. It had some of the most creative and unique preparations of the area. However, without laboring on the details of it, the owners got into a nasty tiff with one now owner of Sunfish Grill on Oakland Park and the other Sea restaurant located on Commercial in Lauderdale by the Sea. Hence, I can’t help but compare the food offerings of the two.
Sunfish Grill is a darn good restaurant. For my most recent meal I started off with a mushroom soup. It was loaded with a mushroom combination having a wonderful overtone of shitake with a perfect base undertone of portobello.
For a salad I went for the hearts of romaine with applewood smoked bacon, which from the distinctive heavy smoke taste I would say was Neuske, gorgonzola cheese, pine nuts and a lemon pepper vinaigrette.
For my entrée I order the pan seared diver scallops with herb spaetzle, lobster and English peas beurre blanc, but I didn’t get them. Instead what arrived was their crab crusted Scottish Salmon. And no, I know I didn’t make a mistake since I recorded myself when I placed the order. However, being hungry and since it looked pretty good, ate it anyway. Indeed it was very good, however, not all that creative and the rather flat taste of the crab did little to enhance the fish.
As I had mentioned, I can’t help but compare Sunfish Grill to that of Sea restaurant. They are both very good, no doubt about that, but from the dishes I’ve had at Sea, I’ve found them by far more creative, far more unique and innovative; hence the restaurant I would favor. But as far as ambiance, atmosphere and overall professionalism of wait staff are concerned, I’d have to give Sunfish Grill my nod as being the better.

Great seafood. Would stay away frontage meats for the price. Amazing staff!!! Joe was awesome. Tasty pastries. Not a younger crowd. More like 40−60s

Reservation required. We use a Groupon for the visit and were seats at Groupon-​seats… worst seats in the room when there’re many other good seats available.
The service is fine, the dishes look great, but the portion is small and the taste is average. We did not enjoy it too much.
For the same money, we could have 2 nice dinners somewhere else.

Dinner with the Orphans 4 and their better halves was a very pleasurable experience in this nice cozy little restaurant known for it’s great seafood dishes and we were not disappointed.
The meal started off with the best Cheese Bread that I have eaten in a long time.
For an appetizer most of us had a salad and some had the soup and it was very good.
I had the Fish Bolognese served over pasta and it was very tasty though I found it a bit salty, the rest of the gang had grilled pork chops (yes there is always one in a crowd who will go to a sea food restaurant to order pork chops) but it looked amazing and the taste was also good… I snuck a piece off his plate when he was looking the other way! The wifey had the grilled shrimp and finished it off completely …
Dessert was outstanding!
The service was amazing and our server Nicole was friendly and most helpful.
Will definitely make it back when in the area some day.

Outstanding service and food. Make sure you order the littleneck clams and save your bread to dip into the broth. Salmon Wellington was superb.

What an absolute delight and another great find in Fort Lauderdale! My friend and owner of Café Seville, which is right across the street from the Sunfish Grill, recommended we come here. What a great suggestion!
As you walk in, there is a beautiful wine bar and the décor throughout the restaurant is very warm and inviting. It’s got a good feel! We were asked if we wished to sit in the main room or in a more private area and were promptly escorted to our table.
Rick was our waiter and he did a great job. We had a blast with him — he was engaging and fun. He let us know right from the start that he would take our entire order at once since preparation of our entire meal would take some time and he didn’t want us waiting too long between courses. I appreciated his advice.
We started with a wonderful bottle of Malbec and apps of tuna tartare with avocado and a caramelized onion flatbread followed by an encrusted goat cheese and arugula salad. AMAZING! Wow what a combination of flavors. When our entrees arrived they were stylish — a wonderful presentation. We had veal & mushroom pappardelle and spaghetti tuna bolognaise. The taste and flavors of both dishes were out of this world! Just fabulous! Finally, we ended the evening with espresso and two to-​die-​for desserts. The «not the usual key lime pie» was mouthwatering and breathtaking. I wish I’d taken a picture. It was incredible to look at AND better to eat! For those that live for chocolate, the symphony of chocolate is a must. Soooo good — chocolate raspberry mousse and cake with decadent thin wedges of dark chocolate! Are you kidding me!
Lastly, and most importantly, Chef Erika came out on the floor and stopped at our table. That speaks volumes to me of the passion and the success she has with her business. Congrats to you Erika and thank you for a wonderful experience!

This place has a nice feel, when you walk through the door, you feel like your in another country… can’t quite put a name on the country, but you definitely feel the vibe. Great date spot. Food took a long time but was excellent when it came. Ordered the crab Charlotte which was prepared beautifully but ate it to fast to take a pic. Ordered spaghetti tuna bolognaise… half portion was plenty

This is one of those fabulous finds tucked in a strip center in Ft. Lauderdale on East Oakland Blvd. My friend and I stopped in on a Thursday evening around 7pm and the place was nearly full, always a good sign. Shortly after being shown to our table, our server, Nicole came by to greet us. Nicole was an amazing server; she was warm and personable and had a great welcoming smile. She was also very knowledgeable about the menu items. Her assistant server (although we never got his name) was exceptional as well. One more thing about the service: our waters were never less than half full and the staff were extremely attentive without being over bearing in your face.
The food was exceptional as well. The wine list, although quite extensive, had a limited selection by the glass. We started with the crispy goat cheese salad with roasted red & golden beets and micro greens. It was tossed in a nice light vinaigrette. We both gave it a thumbs up. Next we tried the bacon wrapped mahi on a crispy polenta cake with sauteed rapini and a «Tomato Fondue» (which gave the polenta cake a burst of additional flavors once the polenta absorbed this tomatoey broth). We next had their veal & wild mushroom ragout pappardelle, which was made with red wine, shaved garlic, herbs and extra virgin olive oil. This dish deserves an «OMG, Deelish! award. lol I think this is one of the best dishes I’ve had in a very long time. It is one of those that I will now hold all other veal & wild mushroom pappardelles to measure up to. Not that I had any more room for dessert, but because we heard the owner is also a pastry chef and that the desserts were made on site from scratch, we had to try the mango sorbet and the key lime pie. Both were outstanding.
We are looking forward to go back again and highly recommend the place.
I will be contacting the owner myself to see about doing one of my foodie events there. To get on my mailing list to find out what events I do have coming, go to
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I popped in just in time to get the tapas specials (from 5−7pm), which I fully enjoyed. Several excellent dishes, all about $ 5, and full, heartily poured glasses of wine for about the same price. You can make a fantastic meal out of a few tapas and a few glasses of wine, which is exactly what I did.
Gratis were some breadsticks baked lightly with marinara and cheese, along with a light condiment for dipping. The smoked fish napoleon was a clever presentation, three pieces of crispy thinbread forming a small structure by sandwiching tasty spheres of smoked fish, three columns with two rows. Some sliced jalapeño gave a lovely kick. The crab charlotte came out next — a tower of crab with avocado and lime ensconced in a vertical crown of cucumbers. I’ll have to remember that presentation for a future meal that I cook. Last was the shrimp risotto suppli (or aranchini) — essentially, fried risotto balls with a light red sauce. All was taken down with two glasses of a Rosemount Shiraz, I believe.
The food was solid, the wine was decent, the presentation was fast, the price was great… so, why did I not give this five stars? Perhaps it’s my general reluctance to give out five stars, but in this case, I just didn’t feel a «connection» to the restaurant. An ephemeral, imprecise statement, you might say, but I feel that the best experiences I have had were those where the staff and I ended up with a rapport by the end of the evening. This is not to say that the staff was not friendly, far from it. As always, «a chaque son gout,» and although my preference may be for a slightly more relaxed meal when I’m dining on my own, some might prefer the formality of presentation and service.

Had a really great experience tonight at Sunfish Grill for a Special Birthday celebration.. First of all, Joe, our server, was over the top fantastic and went above and beyond .He anticipated our every need and was very helpful and friendly.(even with a groupon).Thanks Joe! Really appreciate the fabulous service. In fact, everyone was really nice.
Their food was excellent. Highlights were the tuna sliders, smoked fish appetizer, Pan seared Diver Scallops with Bacon & Herb Spaetzle, Brussels Sprouts with Cider Sauce and the delicious «NOT THE USUAL» KEY LIME PIE with Burnt Meringue. The Coconut Sorbet no longer comes with the key lime pie but it’s homemade and worth ordering. All the desserts are made in House. The atmosphere is nice and a giant improvement from their previous location. A beautiful meal! A real find!

We had a GROUPON and wanted to see the «new» place.
The restaurant is very nicely decorated, the service is excellent but,
the Calamari we ordered was just about as chewy as I have ever had… like chewing rubber bands, when I complained to the waiter he said he’d notify the kitchen… still waiting for their answer… NOT GOOD…
Still overpriced… there are better options.

All right, I have a confession to make. Sunfish Grill was NOT our #1 choice when looking at the Dine Out restaurants list. Mark A. wanted to go elsewhere, but alas, that place didn’t offer the Dine Out menu on the weekends. So fate brought us here, pretty much confirming that everything happens for a reason.
From the very beginning when I called to make the reservation, I already was feeling the good vibes. Joe chuckled with me when I made the mistake of thinking the day was Friday, when it was really Thursday, and agreed that it should be Friday already anyway. Our reservation was for 6pm on Saturday since you must be seated before 6:30pm for the Dine Out menu.
As Mark A pointed out, we weren’t too impressed with its location. We were expecting something flashy and outstanding, not a strip mall that reminded me of those along the beach. Boy, were we fooled! Walk in, and it’s definitely not what you would expect from the outside. Small, but elegant. I almost felt a little too dressed down in my flip flops. Joe remembered me from when I called the reservation, and we were quickly seated at our table, the first in the soon-​to-​be packed restaurant.
Let’s talk food first. Four courses: soup, appetizer of choice, entrée, dessert. I think the courses should build upon each other, one slightly better than the one before; everything satisfying the taste buds, but leaving them craving more. This is exactly what Sunfish Grill did for me.
Broccoli soup with a cheese croquette — large portion, great way to start, especially with that cheese. Unfortunately, I had to abandon some of it so that I could have room for what was yet to come.
Crab cake appetizer — presentation was beautiful! So much so that I didn’t want to touch it. They weren’t making it pretty to make up for ugly taste, though. The crab was fresh, perfect with the avocado.
Jumbo shrimp with truffled mac & cheese — amazing! Funny that the menu listed jumbo shrimp first, though. I was under the impression that it would be more shrimp than mac, but there were only two. NOT complaining, though. That was the best mac & cheese I’ve had! The panko crusted top gave it the perfect texture and tied it all together. Oh, heavens.
Symphony of chocolate — They probably named it this because you may literally hear a symphony when you take your first bite of this chocolate cake and chocolate mousse. WOW. That’s all I really have to say. WOW.
My compliments don’t even stop there! Throughout the meal, service was impeccable. Joe happened to also be our server and took care of us until the very end, along with the rest of the wait staff. They all made sure our utensils were replaced after each course. Our waters were never even half empty. We were even asked if we wanted to have the rest of our soup to take home! When have you ever been asked that?!
Here’s the kicker: I was given a rose at the end of the night! I don’t even like flowers, but I was floored!
I’m sorry this is so long, but I am just that impressed with Sunfish Grill. HIGHLY recommend it!

Though I have had great experiences here, I was very disappointed on my last visit. We were celebrating a special occasion and came here. We had brought out of town guests and had a large party. We were here for at least 2 and a half– 3 hours. Everything took a long time to come out. The appetizers of calamari, soups, and the salads were great. However my entrée was disappointing. I had the grouper special and found the grouper to be very tough, and the Brussels sprouts it came with lacking flavor. My brother in law’s grouper came out raw. Literally raw in the middle, and had to be sent back, and did not come back till far after everyone was done eating. Now, the server teased us by bringing up a special dessert on the house, since we were a very large party and celebrating, however since my husband and I were sick and leaving a little before everyone (and it was our event we were celebrating) he told the server him and I wouldn’t be having any. When the server returned, he passed out menus since people did want dessert, and no longer offered the on the house dessert. I honestly thought it was tacky that they still did not bring out the on the house dessert for everyone. Especially knowing it was celebratory, regardless of celebrating who, since we weren’t even paying ourselves, it was my mother in law’s treat, and since the dinner had been messed up with my brother in law not even eating.
I have had 5 star experiences at this restaurant, and perhaps I will give them another chance in the future and change my review, but no more celebrating anything here and I am in no rush to return.
I am removing my 5 star review, but will leave 3 up since they have done well in the past and I hope my next visit is of that caliber.

I had been here several years ago with my parents (I don’t live in the area) and my mom thought to return when we were down visiting my grandmother this past weekend. I am so happy that we found this restaurant again. This time, I went with my mom, brother, grandmother, and my aunt and uncle. We had a made a reservation (highly recommend doing) and when I called to let them know we were running a few minutes late due to traffic, they had no problem accommodating us.
We were seated immediately and quickly greeted by a server. I have no idea why, but our server changed after a few minutes, but I don’t feel that it interrupted the flow or the service. Our waiter was fantastic, very attentive to all of us, and was able to accommodate a variety of requests (ie. half an order). Their wine list was quite varied in both style and price, which I appreciate. We ordered the Super Tuscan, which was «super yum» for a great price.
Our food was also fantastic. I can’t remember what everyone ordered, but no one was disappointed. My grandmother’s conch fritters had whole pieces of conch inside, which is always a delightful surprise. My mom, brother, and I split a variety of items. We started with the «Crispy Shrimp & Spicy Crab Roll» which was huge as well as the «Calamari Sauté». The calamari was ah-​mazing! I could have kept eating that all night! For dinner, we split the «Sunfish Linguine with Clams in Natural Broth», «Seared Rare Yellow Fin Tuna», and one of their specials that I did not try but my mom and brother said was great. I have got to figure out how to make the clam broth. The broth was so light and without any extra oils added. It also had a lot of whole clams, still in their shells, on it. The tuna was cooked perfectly and the sauce had a lot of flavor without being heavy. I really felt that overall the chef let the seafood stand on its own, while preparing it in a way that really enhanced the natural flavor of the fish or seafood. Several desserts were shared including the crème brulee, the key lime pie, and the chocolate symphony. My uncle finished the chocolate symphony so fast, no one even had a chance to try it. The key lime pie was full of flavor and the meringue on top was the perfect accompaniment. The crème brulee was huge! Three different «pots», each a different flavor and the perfect dessert to share.
I would highly recommend Sunfish Grill for family events or a romantic date. The whole experience was wonderful and the delightful surprise with your check is just ice cream on the cake. Although expensive, my family and I will definitely be returning.