Marqus R.
Yelp
Branden's Sports Pub is located in what was formerly Yak-Zies Bar and Grill. The new owners have cleaned up the grungy floor, added some flat screens, generally spruced the place up but it if I didn't know different, from the looks of it, I'd still think I was in Yak-Zies. Essentially it looks and remains very much the same.
I stopped by on date of this review, and it was more than evident that they have plenty of growing pains and business kinks to work out. First off, no draft beer yet. Second, it would even be a compliment to call the bar service amateurish or unprofessional. For example, no real greeting, I ordered a bottle of beer and all the bartendress did was open the bottle and plop it down. No offer of a glass until I requested one which turned out to be one made of plastic but chill frosted and, oddly enough for Brendan's so-called "Grand Opening," no complimentary munchies and no specials of anything.
The menu offering is rather small, very much abbreviated, pretty much nothing but common bar food like wings, burgers, dogs, onion rings, fries, kettle chips, some salads, a chili or French onion soup, pizza, and an assortment of sandwiches, however, I must say that the Philly Cheese Steak I had with sautéed onions, peppers and cheese sauce was really very good.
The crowd that hangs at Brendan's is pretty much the same, aged mid-thirties to early sixties blue collar types along with a few senior citizen retirees that hung here when the place was Yak-Zies but all very pleasant and friendly.
The main things that sort of sets Brendan's apart from other sports bars are that it has a really good number of real dart boards, caters to the dart players and dart playing leagues, has two rather decent pool tables and a good size parking lot composed of adequately sized parking spaces. However, the overall appearance of the place is somewhat tired and worn looking both from the outside and on the inside.
As for rating it, it's OK, but not exactly "A-OK" in that it lacks what might be termed as having a good "fun factor" to it and, as far as sports pubs go, Fort Lauderdale has a multitudinous if not near myriad number of them, most of which are really more sports oriented, have a better atmosphere and would, in my opinion, constitute better choices.
