Beach Getaways 2008 - (Page 15) beach Left, stone crab claws, Cafe Maxx. Photo courtesy of Woodbury and Associates. getaways Pompano grew in size and in 1947 became the city of Pompano Beach. Growth came quickly through an influx of new residents, Northern tourists in search of beaches and transplanted companies including boatmaker Chris-Craft, which for a time made its luxury boats here. It is the hometown of Esther Rolle, who played the ground-breaking sitcom character Florida Evans on the CBS TV shows Good Times and Maude. Above, Pompano’s beach, looking toward the Hillsboro Lighthouse, circa 1940. Below, the Bailey-Saxon House. Canalside Casino In Pompano Beach, history is very much apparent in the present. Since 1928, the notable pecky cypress paneling, captain chairs and wooden booths of Cap’s Place Island Restaurant have attracted boaters along the Intracoastal Waterway. Cap’s Place was once a rum-runner’s casino den, reachable only by launch and situated on a mangrove island. Today, you still have to take a boat, whether your own or the restaurant’s motor launch. The restaurant’s Old Florida charm extends to the food, with dishes like Florida lobster and cobia. It’s Broward County’s oldest restaurant. And it is still run by the founding Hasis family and claims Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Meyer Lansky, Al Capone and Mariah Carey as guests. But Pompano’s restaurant scene isn’t just about nostalgia. The awardwinning Darrel & Oliver’s Café Maxx has served up Florida regional gourmet cuisine for two decades. Co-owners Darrel Broek and Oliver Saucy (yes, he’s the chef, and that’s his real name) have won umpteen awards for their East Atlantic Boulevard restaurant. The Calypso Restaurant offers Caribbean fare, including Jamaican Jerk chicken. Other locals’ favorites include Chez Porky’s BBQ; Jack’s Old Fashion Hamburger House (freshly ground hamburgers served up in a restaurant that started life in 1972 as a Burger Chef franchise) and Galuppi’s. Galuppi’s, situated on the golf green of the Pines Course of the municipal Pompano Beach Golf Course, offers a country club feel without the membership dues. Photos courtesy of Pompano Beach Historical Society. The waterfront Joe’s Riverside Grille on North Riverside Drive, owned by Joe and Erica Cascio, offers up great seafood in a nautical setting. Like the rest of Pompano, the authentic Atlantic vibe is omnipresent at Joe’s, which hosts U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary meetings. Quite a Moving History The Pompano Beach Historical Society offers periodic walking tours of Old Pompano’s historic area, spread over a lush neighborhood of palm trees and green grass east of Dixie Highway and north of Atlantic Boulevard. The walking About Pompano’s Beach Pompano is notable for having five beaches designated as “Blue Wave” clean by the Clean Beaches Council. In addition to a beach patrol that keeps watch 365 days a year, the beach offers a municipal pier and the Pompano Beach Amphitheatre. BLUE WAVE BEACH Received the Clean Beaches Council’s award for sound environmental management. Beach Getaways 15
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.