Flanigans - West Pines

So, when I was young-er, Flanigans was our meet up spot, our "go to" place when we had no plans, or just a place to get some decent ribs and beer. This past weekend, hankering for the good ol' days I ventured back.

The hubby was working the night shift this specific day so it was just Mia and I, but not to fear, two additional parent re-enforcements were joining us with their tiny hurricane. We outnumbered the tiny hurricanes 3 to 2, not excellent numbers, but still a hand up.

Upon arriving I realized that poor Mia had not taken a nap due to her being overly exited and playing with her buddy all day long. I had a chance to take her home and nap, but decided a girl convo with the Archbold's main lady was a much better way to pass time. Will she be cranky and ruin dinner? Will she pass out and let me eat and drink to my heart's content? Its such a toss up in times like these. Its like Russian roulette...minus the bullets of course.

We were seated fairly quickly for it being a weekend game night, but its the location that makes the difference. Had we gone to the Flanigans in Hialeah, we would have waited at least 45 minutes, no doubt about it. That is "the" Flanigans, that was the hangout spot I spoke about earlier. All the young kids go there. Its like Mecca for college students and college drop-outs alike. Alas, we are not that cool anymore, waiting anywhere for 45 minutes with a hungry sleepy child is not highly recommended in any of the parenting for dummies books I've skimmed through.

Quickly seated, we knew what we wanted, an all out consensus of wings. I liked the Archbold's even more when the adult drink orders all contained some percentage of well earned alcohol. Kids will drive you to drink.

Drinks and wings at hand we dug in. Juicy and hot, freshly fried. Mia also loved the chicken and the fact that she got to dip it into blue cheese all by herself. Next up, Ribs. Now, I've lived in Memphis, who claims to be the BBQ capital of the USA. I'm probably going to get hell for this, but Flanigan's ribs totally rock. Maybe its the fact that they take me back to my college days, maybe its just that they really are plain ol' good, or maybe a combination of both. Fall of the bone, saucy, finger licking good. Mia seem to like them also, as after not paying any attention to her for a few minutes I found her sucking on a meatless bone.

There were no complaints from our table in regards to food. The Archbold's also seemed to enjoy their plates as all was quickly consumed and no to-go boxes were needed.

I know that Flanigans is a chain restaurant, but sometimes you just want to go somewhere where you know they have both crayons for the kids and a cold drink for you. On Saturday night, this was the place for us.

I'd like to take this time to say thanks Angelo for the tomato slice that Mia swiped from your fish sandwich, I hope the experience was still enjoyable without it.


Pros: Consistent food and service; good beers.
Cons: It is a restaurant/bar, so if you don't want your kids to hear the occasional sh!t or f@ck when the game is on, I suggest you stay away; no drink specials!; the bathrooms could have used a clean up.