The Whale's Rib — Restaurant in Deerfield Beach

So I went here for dinner with family and it was decently crowded or at least it looked that way, and the server who I will not name seemed nice and got our drinks, and helped with suggestions and defining what certain dishes are, and I ordered the whale sandwich first on the top left of the 2nd page, it was supposed to be highly recommended even by Guy Fury whether that is true or not. I wait 30 minutes for the food, the appetizer was ordered early and it was one of the last things to come out I think it was fried clams. Which I felt tolerant of, and at first I noticed the seats and tables were a bit small, and I noticed correctly, for a table of 4, the table could not fit all of our food as on many occasions the food would fall out and I would have to lie back and spread my legs to catch it, at first the sandwich tasted good but I dont know, it didn't taste good for long, as I kept eating the whole sandwich fell apart, I had to eat with a knife and fork which I dont like, and it was getting more and more bland as I was eating it, it was really wet too, the chef should flip the burger when it comes out to balance out the grease falling on the bottom bun, I wouldnt call it tasteless paste but it was pretty close, for 18$ I think I would be better off in the discount isle of a grocery store getting frozen food or just a McDonald's cheeseburger, their "fries" are really just potato chips, which I have eaten at friends house where they cooked potato chips and they were always really good even better then lays so I was surprised when I bought what is I think a 7-8$ bowl of chips that had a little taste but other then that it was like eating crackers, its a shame how I could eat lays for 3-4$ at a store and enjoy it more. The ambiance was decent, if I could find the bathroom easily it would be nice, the problem with the ambiance is I cant enjoy even 10% of it from where I'm sitting its like a big room walled off in many different areas, making it cramped in my opinion. The other people at my table enjoyed it so I guess it's a hit and miss kind of deal and the other reviews seem to like it so to me this place seems like the perfect gambling experience, you go here, maybe you will get what you consider is the value you payed for, maybe you will come out feeling great, maybe you will come out feeling bad, maybe you will feel scammed, maybe you will feel it was just right. But I dont think it will be addicting, so it might be like gambling without the risk of addiction, if you want confidence in where your going though there are definitely other places to go to. So all in all, the drinks were good, 140$ for 4 people meal, drinks and appetizer. That's without tip. I had a bad experience, I hope you have...

Labor Day Sunday update at the end.

I love this place, so please know I’m saying this out of love: WAKE UP! When I lived up here a few years back, I stopped in once a week. On the weekend, we would show up when you opened at 11 so we wouldn’t have to wait for bar seats. I walked in today, Saturday of Labor Day weekend, at noon and I was the second person at the bar. I’ve always ordered rock shrimp, whale fries and a blackened mahi sandwich. Always left stuffed and always amazed at how good the food was. What people are saying about the rock shrimp is true, they are half the size of what they used to be. I have never in the seven years I’ve been coming here, not finished the rock shrimp, I didn’t bother to eat half of them this time. I also didn’t bother ordering the mahi sandwich. Not one chip in the gigantic basket of whale fries had any crisp to it, not even close. Please, I beg of you, right the ship. I can’t imagine Deerfield without the whale‘s rib. See you again soon.

UPDATE: Came back Sunday morning for a bloody. Bar was empty, bar tendered was sitting in a booth eating and the manager who appeared to be in his young 20s was chatting with her. They continued their conversation to include his track record with blondes vs brunettes. Fabulous conversation to listen to, genuinely pathetic. Ordered a bloody. I would have sworn you all changed the mix but the bartended, who was not so nice as the lovely Shane (thank you Shane) was loudly and sternly adamant that it was always that, whatever that was. Let me ask you, If you ordered a drink that came with olives and the bartender just picked one, just one, out and chucked it in the drink without a toothpick and plopped the drink down causing it to spill a little, your impression of that bartender? Nicest thing I could say was she didn’t care. Neither does your kitchen staff, but to give them credit, the whale fries weren’t as undercooked today....

Decided to give the place a try since the reviews were good and the place was crowded. This was a mistake the size of a whale’s rib. First, no matter how you cut it, this place is a pub and the food is pub food. It is attached to Flanigan’s (a pub) and they share the same kitchen; I know so because the credit card texted me that the bill was paid to “Whale’s Rib / Flanigans,” so the register is keyed for both. Second, ordered cheese sticks as an appetizer and, while I know these are not going to be homemade, I didn’t expect them to come out still frozen in the middle. Send ‘em back and the server brought some more but these weren’t taken off the bill, something I think should have been without asking. My guest and I decided to share the fish sandwich that was featured on “Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives.” Great, we thought: this is what was on TV, the server said they were famous for it, and, well, gotta be good, right? Nope. First bite was, “this might be good” but each bite afterward was a hard no for both my guest and me. Between the both of us, we tasted a quarter of the sandwich and left the rest. Then there was the baked potato: it was a baked potato and was on the firm side, as if it needed to be in the microwave another minute (no way in the Hades that was “baked” in any way). The servers were nice enough. The music was a bit loud if you’re trying to carry on a conversation, but it was 80s music so I did enjoy that. The crowd was loud as in any pub so I can’t really count off for that. My summation is that this is a pub. It is typical pub food. The place is exactly what you would expect and get in any tourist / beach town. If you’re looking for a typical pub with the typical crowd of a pub, this is your place. It just isn’t what I was hoping for. I would give it a...