YOLO

This place is very misleading. I tried karate chopping a waiter, then taking a pick axe to a booth. I got arrested. The place is YOLO. I always wanted to try both of these things. Wtf

My wife never enjoys going to restaurants because she simply doesn’t have a taste for food because of medical problems. This is the first restaurant that I can remember that she said she wanted to go back to because of the food. She had a grilled artichoke that had a smoked flavor to it with a great dipping sauce. We had the cornbread which we couldn’t finish so took it home and it was really good. She had the crab cakes which were not a big portion but had real crab meat and a great sauce. I had the prime rib and it was excellent. The coffee was rich like what we get when in Europe not in the states. Just a really nice overall meal and the waiter was excellent as well. Pricing was very reasonable compared to other nice restaurants we have gone to.

Make a reservation as it is popular. Park on the street as valet is $ 7.
Kale/​feta/​fruit salad was delicious.
I got the calamari/​tomato/​olive appetizer for dinner and it was filling. Husband got the grouper in a curry potato sauce-​good!
Service was wonderful, atmosphere is warm, couches and fire pit outside. Would come back to eat here again.

Fantastic spot, and came highly recommended by a few locals. Love the outdoor patio lounge with plenty of soft seating and a blazing fire pit. Great spot to meet people and enjoy the weather. Very tasty small plates, and they don’t skimp on quantity. Very good cocktails as well.

My bad experience starts before even having a chance to try this restaurant– which I won’t be doing as I was turned away.
My friends and I are planning a trip to Fort Lauderdale in March so I was calling ahead to make reservations. I tried to make one online, however it said my party was too large. It directed me to call the restaurant as they DO still take larger reservations. Upon explaining my party would include 14 people, I was immediately dismissed saying they only accommodate reservations of 6. Hmm? I asked if we could break up the reservation and sit at 2 different tables. I was told this was not allowed. Hmm? If we wanted to do that, we would have to make our reservations an hour and a half apart from each other… Mind you– I’m calling 6 weeks in advance. I seemed to be the only one trying to come up with a solution to the problem, as the woman on the phone offered no resolutions or suggestions and was overall dismissive.
We have heard great things about YOLO. We were very excited to have a reunion with great friends in this atmosphere, but were basically told our business was unwanted. For a place named «YOLO» I don’t think they could operate under a more opposite mantra…
Very disappointed.

Yolo seems like a place to go if you want to get noticed not for the food or the service. The food wasn’t awful just mediocre. The Beer list is absent unless you like bud or miller. Our waiter was horrible and it took one hour to get our food. The waiter seemed to forget about us and took a drink away when it was half full. I do not intend on returning to Yolo and felt I had to write this review because of all the positive ones that made me try the restaurant.. If you want a place where yuppy people go just for wine then this is your place.

Great food and service. I loved the outdoor lounge. If you’re looking to just hang out for drinks this is a great place for that as well. When back in Florida will come back and try more of

Our drinks were great. Our server was attentive. It was date night and we ordered the fillet. He ordered it medium rare and it was still Tough. The sauce lacked flavor. The Mac and cheese was saved by the crispy topping. My sweet potatoes were unremarkable. Dessert was just as disappointing. We ordered the chocolate molten cake and bread pudding. The cake tasted as if it were flourless and was too dense. They were out of the skillet cornbread (our main reason for going) but to their credit, they note that there’s limited availability. It was all edible and nothing was really «bad» about the place. But nothing was good either.

This one is a toss up. It’s sometimes good, sometimes just ‘ugh, really’. Ladies night on Wednesday’s. Pay $ 5 and drink all night for free, whatever their specials happen to be that week. Pretty good deal, I usually get the wine. I’ve had a couple apps here, and all were pretty good. 2 or 3 apps are half off during happy hour. Corn salsa something or another is good, meatballs are a pass, cornbread is a pass, calamari and tuna are both good.
People-​watching is hit or miss. Sometimes there is good stuff hanging around. Other times it’s a complete joke. On weekends, there is at least a few fancy cars to gaze at. Usually business leased by older men who are trying to one up each other on the next drunk girl. But don’t fret, more than half the girls go there for just that. So really it’s fun sometimes, and other times you just want to hurry up and get the hell out. It’s worth it, leave if you hate it. But then it’s worth it again because the next time could be totally the opposite. Bar/​club next door is a nice «escape» and then can go back to the bar after your man or woman of choice has left the premises. HA!
Outside seating has fire pits, lounge chairs, bar that opens to both inside outside. Indoor seating is always packed. Good for small groups. Not good for children. Bartenders are always quick to serve!

CON: A friend who works in an upscale restaurant in Las Olas recommended YOLO. Our family was there on vacation and we were in a very upbeat mood. Our waiter was Seth, which changed our mood from upbeat to down-​beat. Not only was he in a hurry, he was flustered, frustrated, and animated. For example, we ordered a drink which was not to our liking and so we asked to exchange it for another and he showed us his displeasure by being short and irritated. He abruptly asked us «well, what else do you want?» We felt pressured to make a decision, so we ordered another cocktail from the menu. He quickly snatched the original cocktail from the table, stormed over to the machine, banged on the computer’s display, and stormed inside. The whole experience brought us down. Not only did he treat us like that, but we observed him treating other patrons in a similar fashion, and storming about the entire restaurant with negativity. We even witnessed him yelling at a fellow staff member saying, «WHAT?! WHAAT?! WHAT ELSE DO YOU NEED?!»
Despite all of this, he did show up to the table at the end of the meal with a smile, expecting a large tip. There’s too many other great restaurants on Las Olas Blvd for us to be treated this way.
PRO: The calamari is bomb! So delicious! Chicken Thai Soup was great! The apple coleslaw was wonderful!

I went last night and had an amazing night.
Its a great place to go for a get together with friends or even an happy hour.
They have valet parking which is good since I know I can never find parking in Las Olas.

Great ambiance!!! Amazing food!!! The meatball appetizer is soooo soft. I will be killing myself to figure out how the chef got the meat so soft! Center cut steaks… Delicious!!! Cesar salad yum!!! A bit loud by the bar but totally normal for happy hour! Service was great! Susan was awesome!!! Doggie bag and all…

This happens to be my go-​to bar in Las-​Olas. If all fails, all roads lead to YOLO. Nice atmosphere with trendy people. You can go all dressed up or not at all. For a busy bar, the service is quite remarkable.

We go back to Yolo every time we are in Florida! We absolutely love the calamari, it’s a must have! The service is usually very knowledgeable and helpful on the menu and other questions.
The bar sometimes can be very busy and its hard to get a drink at times.

There’s not enough compliments for this place, the food is seasonal and always fantastic, service could not be better, the place/​decoration is stunning beautiful. Come and try it!

I love this place. The food, service and drinks are good. It’s a great place to come out when it’s nice and sunny and enjoy brunch

Really cool place. Great service. All the food we had was delicious. The calamari is amazing and I 100 percent recommend the crab cakes. Best meal I have had in awhile

Uhhhmazing! Ordered the grilled artichoke and truffle fries and was not disappointed. Our waiter Joel was so friendly and so fun we just couldn’t help ourselves! We had to take a picture. Drinks are well and the live music was on point. Coming from California and we were not disappointed. YOLO for sure!!.

YOLO has been My go to Fort Lauderdale restaurant for several years now and it will continue to be as long as they keep up the good thing they have going on. My favorite menu items are: the squid salad, Tuna tar tar, Ahi tuna and the amazing French fries! Random, but all so delicious in different ways! It’s also a great place to people watch and witness the crowd at the next door club, vibe. It’s also in a great location on Las Olas where there is plenty to see.
UPDATE: yesterday, I received some really nasty messages from two random Unilocalers about my review and I’m bewildered as to why total strangers would care about my personal opinion? Please keep your negativity to yourself or in your own reviews. Thanks!

This was our first visit to YOLO since our event, well over a year ago. I didn’t get anything to eat that night, so was glad to get to try some of the food.
This was for a party with cocktails and hor d’oeuvres. It was a Friday evening, so we figured it would be packed. It was actually not a huge crowd, which was nice. Our group has reserved a space outside, by the fire pit. Thankfully, the fire pit was not lit for ambiance, since it was quite a warm evening.
First came the cocktail. I’m never sure what to order, so I went with the «seabreeze,» the cocktail I had at the event. The only thing I remembered about it was that I liked it a lot and, after two of them at the event, there were some pics on my phone the next day that I didn’t recall at all. Yes, I’m a lightweight, especially with no food, but the point is that they don’t water down the drinks. This one was refreshingly grapefruity and just strong enough.
I skipped the plate of cold cuts, as those are always standard fare. So, the first app up was a chicken sandwich. It was fairly average, except that there were real chunks of chicken instead of deli slices and the bread was quite good.
Next were the meatballs with ricotta. They were big and very nicely flavored with lots of garlic. The marinara sauce was perfect.
But on to the best — the Szechwan calamari with garlic chili sauce, peanuts and sesame. These were sooooo good. I could have eaten the whole chafing dish of them. They were tender on the inside, crunchy on the outside and perfectly seasoned with the sweet spicy garlic sauce. If nothing else had made me a fan, that would have done it for me.
Yep, if I have another opportunity I’ll be going back.