Cadillac Cove

Whiskey Beach- Satellite Beach, FL- 4 Stars

Tooling up A1A casually one day, I found myself in Satellite Beach, FL. With my mini-me stating her peckishness, I began casting about for a place to chow down. With Pelican Beach Park just behind me, I came upon the old Cove restaurant. The Cove was a hip singles bar for over 40 years that changed hands a multitude of times and finally landed on this fully remodeled restaurant re-branded, Whiskey Beach.

Whiskey Beach is clean, inviting and boasts the largest selection of the Big Boy's poison of choice, whiskey, in at least Brevard County (if not the surrounding ones as well).

They have a well-stocked bar, that is for sure. I don't think I've ever seen such a profusion of liquid golden-hued nectar such as this. I immediately made a mental note to come back unaccompanied by a minor for a serious whiskey tasting session. As I did have a rugrat with me, I asked for a table and was immediately escorted to an empty table with plenty of spacing and a sparkling clean surface.

Our server was a young lady named Ashley and while her demeanor was flat, she was adequate in her duties and I must say, impressed me by getting the order perfect without a pad. I know that since Covid the best and brightest haven't filtered back (and maybe never will) and Ashley won't overwhelm you with personality, she does her job to perfection. Maybe she had some bad personal news she was dealing with, or maybe she needs some coaching from a cheerleader on how to be more "peppy."

I placed an order for the Mediterranean burger, medium-rare and a cheeseburger with American cheese, onions and nothing else. The Mediterranean burger was cooked to a perfect medium-rare (something a lot of places won't or can't do) and the fries were cooked to golden, crunchy perfection and lightly seasoned as all fries would be if I had my way and cooks had any desire to be successful. The feta-tomato pico that lends the Mediterranean aspect to this slab of charred animal flesh was charming on the palate and unctuously handles the burger. The cheeseburger was cooked and served as specified and got a big thumbs up from my offspring. More fries. Nummy.

The Big Boy says, "Whether you are hankerin' for some whiskey or some fine bar grub, Whiskey Beach has you covered!" #iamthebigboy...

I’d like to share an honest experience/feedback without being ugly.

First time visiting tonight and was sadly disappointed. The atmosphere had a good vibe, lots of potential. They were not overly busy at all, we arrived about 6:45-pm Friday maybe 8 tables between inside and outside. Service took quite some time to come around. We started with a “special” of coconut shrimp, these were the least favorable dish of the night, tasted like freezer and the batter was mostly flavorless batter and hardly any coconut at all; even though there were o ly 5 for $10 they were quite large, sadly they just weren’t good at all. On a side note, I’ve never had coconut shrimp with sweet chili sauce….that was a no for us…we prefer a tropical glaze or marmalade type sauce. We the ordered a crispy chicken wrap, hot pressed, it was full of old remnants of onion ring batter chunks from the fryer. It was just ok. Son ordered the crispy chicken sandwich and he really liked it. Husband ordered the gourmet beach burger (something like that) and he said it was pretty good. We ordered a side of fries because none of the entree come with a size (he se the decent prices). I asked for cheese on the side in an attempt to try it as cheese fries, I was asked if nacho cheese is ok and it was explained that it was made with jalapeños and shredded cheese that they mix fresh. We agreed to try it, mistake…it was almost white, had bits of shredded cheeses in it the taste was like nothing I have ever had before and it was like water. The fries were so salty it was like I was putting my fingers in a sandbox….I like salt but my goodness that amount was next level. I’m not sure we will be back, maybe another try in the future for a second chance but at this time not somewhere that is in the “I can’t wait to...

My first time visiting this establishment was not one to right home about… though being a bar I can’t say it came as a surprise. The service wasn’t bad… nor was it good. Honestly it seemed the staff was far too small for a Friday evening and none of them even had a hint of a smile on their face. I’ve been in the industry and it can be brutal, and during COVID times it’s only gotten worse BUT EVERY JOB requires a bit of acting especially in service yet not one face I saw showed anything but misery and depression. My review is not based on service as I have come to expect a heavy decline in these times. My two stars comes from the food. I started with a pina colada. It was just as average as they come and could have used more alcohol (it tasted and left me feeling like I had nothing more than a virgin daiquiri) The Caesar salad was not a bad salad but it was an insult to CAESAR salads everywhere. The lettuce was fine, croutons also fine, the Parm was from a shaker… absolutely horrible on greens! Parm on a caesar is meant to be shaved, anything else is a lazy and mockery of an attempt at this simple starter. The dressing was also just not caesar. Maybe thousand island dressing? None of it worked. I pushed it aside after 3 bites. The fish and chips also were a huge disappointment. The fish was over battered, bland and over fried. The inside was dry and the outside was almost too hard to cut or bite into, the fries (though I asked for crispy fries) were soggy and limp. The tartar sauce was actually very yummy! The spot itself is very inviting and the lights at night were charming...