Finally, COVID Contact Tracer, Leonard Goffe, has tracked down what he calls a
fantastic destination restaurant for locals and tourists alike. He says the atmosphere is relaxed
and friendly. And not to mention, the food is excellent. It's in Dania Beach,
and it's called Historic Dockers Restaurant & Pub.
I'm John Conlon, the Director of Operations for Sunchase Group, the owner of Historic
Dockers in Dania beach. Historic Dockers is the sister restaurant to Historic Downtowner
in Fort Lauderdale. In 2014, the brothers that owned Historic Dockers had shut Dockers down,
the owners of the Marina. And so they were interested in us coming in, revitalizing Dockers
and getting it reopened. And so we came and spent about a half a year redoing the whole place and
reopening, and revitalizing Dockers. We felt like we could be the gateway to Dania. And Dania
wanted to see Dockers open again. It's primarily a seafood restaurant, but it has a wide varied menu
that offers a lot of availability for whatever anyone's looking for.
Fish and chips is probably the most popular dish. It's Atlantic cod with French fries, coleslaw,
tater, and lemon. And probably the most popular dish that we have on the menu.
So Historic Dockers is all about being an affordable, attentive,
approachable restaurant that everybody can come to and feel comfortable.
If you're seven or 70, we have a wide-varied menu that makes something for everybody.
So Leonard, the name is true. It really is
historic. Do you know how long they've been around?
They've been around since 1947. And I would like to think that every old black and white movie star
has stopped there on their way to Miami to make their movie. It's got a little history on the
walls, and fishing things, and stuff like that. It makes you feel like you're in a little bit of the
past, as well as being here right now with their modern food and their up-to-date menu selections.
All right. So speaking of menu collections, tell me a little bit about what you had this last time.
You tasted quite a few things. You wanna go through it a little bit?
We did, we had a lot of things. We had the fish dip for an appetizer. And I had the pasta and
clams, which is definitely my favorite dish there. It's got a whole lot of clams in there. My wife
had the shrimp scampi, and I've had that too. It's delicious, it has a whole lot of shrimp in there.
The food is, we talked about farm-to-table. This is probably ocean-to-table food. And
I didn't have it this time, but I wanna recommend the key lime pie for dessert.
Carolyn, what'd you think about it?
Well, when you first walk in, the dining room has floor-to-ceiling windows. There was no outdoor
dining, but the indoor ambience is very open. The tables were spaced very far apart from each other.
And it's a very bright restaurant. And you look out on the Marina, and I found the atmosphere
very pleasant. We started with the smoked fish appetizer. And it had a real good kick with some
jalapeno. And everybody enjoyed that. I had the clams in kind of a wine butter sauce. The pasta
was al dente, and there were just a ton of clams on it. It was a very generous portion.
And I think you had two desserts, is that correct?
Yes. The key lime pie. And we had the brownie dessert,
and it was delicious. And we fought over it. It was very good.
As it should be, exactly as it should be. Stephanie, what did you think of Historic Dockers?
The food was very fresh. So with the casual environment, I wasn't expecting
so such high quality food. But the seafood that we ordered was very fresh. The conch fritter balls
were full of conch. My husband also enjoyed himself. He ordered the country fried steak,
seasoned vegetables, and mashed potatoes, and he devoured it. I had Surf and Turf.
The steak was very fresh, very tender. And the shrimp was made very well as well. And
the atmosphere just in general was just nice. It was nice, and we didn't feel rushed 'cause we were
there for quite some time. We were able to take our time, and we enjoyed it. We really enjoyed it.
Well Leonard, Historic Dockers Restaurant & Pub was your pick, sum it up for us.
Come for the history, stay for the great food.
That's a very good tagline, by the way. Carolyn, can you give us your summary?
I thought generosity of the restaurant was very nice.
Stephanie, you wanna sum it up?
Sure. I would say it's fine dining in a casual atmosphere, very warm and welcoming. And lots of
history behind it. It's a good place to relax and enjoy fresh seafood and wonderful drinks.
You can sail on over to Historic Dockers Restaurant & Pub located at 318 North Federal
Highway in Dania Beach. They're open daily for lunch and dinner. Reservations are accepted,
and the average price for dinner without drinks is about $35.