M.E.A.T. ISLAMORADA PLUS

The Nutella & Banana Bread Pudding was as creamy and delicious as it sounds and looks. I found it in my heart to order some dessert. Very honorable mention to their housemade Mango Chipotle Ketchup, which is bottle worthy. The Duck Fat Fried French Fries were good too, but no match for those two burgers. The maple-cured cherry wood smoked bacon put the proverbial cherry on this burger top. The bun was toasted, the American cheese was melted, and yeah, it was excellent. It was cooked medium as requested and was correctly seasoned. When both burgers arrived, I had the feeling I should scream out “MEAT” in a Braveheart kinda way, but then the feeling subsided. It was covering the rallying cry of MEAT. She came speared with a tiny gherkin pickle on top. The mustard was the right condiment for it, and the choice of American cheese was also on the money. There was that familiar and excellent chorizo flavor in patty form. In color, it reminded me of the gator burger I had once. It was riveting from the moment it arrived. The word MEAT is on the top buns. The chorizo is housemade, and the Patti came topped with American cheese and their homemade mustard. The Chorizo Patti Sandwich, as it’s called, arrived along with the Nancy Pants Burger. The lime-cilantro aioli dipping sauce was just perfect for it. They were crunchy, airy, and not greasy ( contrary to the story the newspaper below it was telling). It sounded like a poor man’s July 4th celebration. The rinds were still popping when they arrived.

M.E.A.T. ISLAMORADA PLUS

The housemade Pork Rinds ( chicharrones), the Nancy Pants ( 5 oz Burger) with bacon and a microbrewed cola, plus the chorizo sandwich made the team too. All the sodas contain no high fructose corn syrup. They have their own sodas in flavors cola, diet cola, birch beer, cherry cola, and a few others. There are no big-name soft drinks to be had either. I can see they’ve got over 10 Beers on draft ( variety of Craft & Domestic) and even Albita Rootbeer on tap. Yup, there are some menus when you walk in with a sign that says essentially, figure out what you’d like to eat, and either take a seat to order or come up to the register.

I must have overlooked something when I walked in. Some fellow is placing an order at the register right near the entrance. I notice a lack of menus to look through. I walk to the end of the bar and sit down and start surveying my surroundings. When I walked in, I had that feeling you know, the one the “this place is gonna be great” feeling. You can’t tell very much from the outside of the MEAT Eatery and Taproom.

M.e.a.t. islamorada