Paul W.
Yelp
I'm not sure how Earls does it, but they've figured out the secret to consistently attract patrons to their restaurants, and keep them coming back. Nearly every time we've come to one their Miami or Ft. Lauderdale area locations, even late in the evening, they've been full - often when other eateries in the immediate area aren't. Earls' Dadeland location, which we're long-time fans of, has been around for about 11 years and continues to be popular, while a handful of other restaurants in that same "dining pavilion" have come and gone. One Tuesday night we arrived here to their relatively new downtown Miami location just before 11p.m., and even that late, nearly every table, booth and barstool in the front section was full and they were still seating people 10 minutes before their stated midnight closing time, but again, nearly everything for blocks around this place was lifeless and dead. I'm not sure how they do it, but the results are impressive.
Each Earls location in South Florida is a bit unique in their design, color scheme and layout. This one in Miami Worldcenter has a large bar with many more screens for watching sports and other programming vs. their Dadeland location, and overall with the darker wood and dimmer lighting, it just feels "sexier". Also, while the music is loud enough to enhance the atmosphere and create a vibe, patrons can still hear each other talk without having to raise their voices as is the case at some other restaurants. Their late night happy hour offers a very good value with specials on drinks and many of their dishes, and we appreciate the fact that this place is within easy walking distance from the Kaseya Center - perfect for a bite after a game or concert while all the traffic clears out.
My only critical comments of this location, after we've visited here I think 3 times now, are that: 1) The staff, at least at the bar where we've always sat, could be more attentive. On our first visit we were ignored for several minutes after we sat down, and we had to grab our own menu off the bar that was left by a past patron and it was dripping wet, but functional. On that night, once we got the attention of the staff (and they saw from our food and drink orders that we were planning to spend $$), service was much better from then onward. During other visits, we've needed to wait longer than we should've to get basics like cutlery once our food was delivered, or to order a drink once ours had been empty for some time. They often seem tied to their cell phone screens, and on one occasion all 3 staff behind the bar were standing in a huddle, looking at one of their phones while I and another patron were both trying to get their attention. 2) Parking. The first few times we came, we were able to snag streeside "Pay by Phone" parking which was fine, but the last time we visited, we had to park in the garage at Worldcenter. We were here for a bit more than an hour, and though Earls did give us a QR code to scan to defray some of the cost, that "parking validation" only gave us $3 off the total parking charge of $16 and change. Seems a bit excessive when we were only here long enough to enjoy dinner.
