Sunday, July 4, 2010

Drift Away Cafe


Cuisine: American
Price: $8 - $24
Separate bar: yes
Takeout: yes
Coke or Pepsi Products: Coke
Address: 7400 Skidaway Road, Savannah, GA 31406
Phone: (912) 303-0999


He says: An OK local dive, but I'm not sure it's a place I'd go back to

Before I get started on my review, I wanted to explain a few things that have happened since our last post. I spent the first week of June in the hospital in Statesboro and a couple of days at the Mayo Clinic at Jacksonville. I am OK now, but it made it difficult to blog (however, I thought about doing a post about IV fluids and hospital food). We went to a restaurant the night before I had to go to the hospital, but once everything happened we didn't get a chance to review it so hopefully we'll get back around to that particular restaurant. I'm glad to be back and writing again, so with all that out of the way I'll tell you what I thought about Drift Away Cafe.

We went to Drift Away Cafe with my parents after a long day of riding scooters around Isle of Hope. I recently bought a Vespa and I love it. The only problem (at least my dad will tell you) is that now my mom wants one. So my parents came down and rented two scooters from Motorini Savannah and we decided to cruise down to the marshes and ride around on Isle of hope, a local historic and very expensive waterfront community.





We drove past Drift Away Cafe and decided we were hungry. Dad said he's heard from people at work that it's pretty good, so Licia and I decided it would be a good place to pick back up on the blog.



Since I've bought the Vespa as well as staring at a pretty big pile of hospital bills, needless to say we're on a bit of a budget, so we've decided we're going to start sharing our entrees. I had a tea (which wasn't very sweet) and we ordered the Baja Fish Tacos: 2 grouper fingers, lightly blackened, wrapped in a flour tortilla served with homemade pico de gallo and steak fries.

I don't think I've ever had a fish taco before, so I don't really have a base line to compare these to but I thought the fish was good. The fish was blackened nicely without being overly spicy and losing the flavor of the fish. The only thing I have to complain about is that I thought it was a little overpriced at $11 for fish fingers served plain, open faced on a tortilla. I think I could have made it at home for about $3. But if my restaurant was located 5 minutes from a bunch of multi-million dollar homes I might up the prices on my menu too!

The major problem I had, more than the prices, was the service. It took over half an hour before we got our food. My parents split a burger and we split the fish tacos and we couldn't believe it took so long for those two simple dishes.

The view we had was very nice. The back wall is one big window overlooking the little creek and lush green garden they have flowing behind the restaurant. They also had the Braves on a TV in the corner, which I will always approve of.


Overall it was an OK experience. The food was good enough, and while the service was lacking, the atmosphere made up for it. In the end I thought it was a quaint local spot, but I don't think I would go back or recommend it.

Taste: 3 noms
Plating/Appearance of Food: 1 noms
Service: 2 noms
Cleanliness: 5 noms
Atmosphere: 5 noms

Overall Noms: 3.2


She Says: Maybe the Drift Away Cafe should just ... drift away.


If there's anything I hate more in life than listening to the stupid, annoying sounds vuvuzulas (so I'm anti-World Cup ... sue me) is having a beautiful day ruined by sub par food (or having a wonderful dessert date at Lulu' s ruined by the sound of Will's vuvuzala app * shoots evil glance at boyfriend*).

It was the kind of Saturday we Savannians dream of: the wind was blowing, there was no humidity, and the temperature wasn't in the 100's. So Will's parents came down for the day to go for a scooter ride. We rode out to the Isle of Hope, where we took in the marshy sights, and stayed cool riding under live oak trees that formed a canopy over our heads. We were in scooter heaven.

After taking in the Isle of Hope we decided to drive out to Wormsloe, a historical plantation that I've never seen before. I was excited, but also hungry. So we all drove to a cute little dive a couple of blocks up from Wormsloe. It was the typical dive: the kind that has the sea shells and beach decor covering wood planked walls (cute, but forgettable). When we walked in we just knew it was the perfect spot. Nobody was in there except a few old men at the bar, which made for a quick in-and-out lunch. We were going to be in Wormsloe in no time.

The waitress came and got our drink orders promptly. I could already see the plantation in my head. But that image quickly faded as the waitress didn't come back to get our food order for another ten minutes.

When she did come back, Will and I ordered fish tacos to split ... that took 30 MINUTES to get to our table. Now I'm no math wiz, but I do know that fish doesn't take 30 minutes to cook. I was annoyed and the plantation was slowly fading away in my mind.

To make matters worse, when the tacos did get there, they were sub par. Granted, I'm extremely picky when it comes to fish tacos, since I ate my first one in Hawaii. But there are simple rules when it comes to fish tacos: use fresh fish, good tortillas, and light, fresh toppings.

This cafe clearly didn't know these rules. We ordered the fish lightly blackened, but there was so much seasoning that I couldn't even taste the fish. Seasoning on fish should be low key so the fish speaks for itself, but this fish was mute. Besides the overwhelming taste, the pico de galo was too chunky (and not fresh tasting at all), and the tortilla was a simple flour tortilla that had been a little too overcooked on the grill.

I wish I could tell you the travesty ended there, but it didn't. We ended up having to go up to the bar to pay for the food because our waitress was too busy gossiping about one of her coworkers to bring us a piece of paper.

By the time we got out of the cafe, and drove a couple of blocks down, Wormsloe had closed for the day. We literally got there just in time to see the main gate shutting. Sure, I could go back to Wormsloe any time. It's just a short drive away from the apartment. But that's not the point. The point is that when I go to a restaurant expecting to get in and out in 45 minutes, but not getting even getting my food until 45 minutes after I've sat down, I'm never going back. Ever. Especially when there are only two other customers in the place, and all they're having is Bud Lite. So Drift Away Cafe, you can just drift right out of my memory, because I'll remember you for nothing more than bad service, sub-par food, and a missed Wormsloe trip.

Taste: 0 nom
Plating/Appearance of Food: 0 nom
Service: 0 noms
Cleanliness: 5 noms
Atmosphere: 3 noms

Overall Noms: 1.6