Le Tub Saloon

Le Tub started life as a Sunoco gas station, and if you have never been, that origin story is the first thing that will throw you off once you pull into 1100 North Ocean Drive. The pumps are long gone, replaced by a rambling waterfront patio built up over decades with driftwood, buoys, and whatever else the owners hauled in from beachcombing along the Intracoastal. It has been open since 1975, which by Hollywood Beach standards makes it something close to a landmark, and locals still bring out-of-town guests here specifically because there is nothing else in Broward County quite like it.

The burger is the reason most people show up. Le Tub hand-patties a thirteen-ounce burger called The Original, and it takes a while to arrive because everything is grilled to order rather than assembled ahead of time. GQ Magazine named it America’s Best Burger back in 2006, and the restaurant has leaned into that reputation ever since without turning the place into a tourist trap. You will wait for a table, especially for the seats right on the water, and the staff will tell you upfront that Le Tub does not take reservations. Plan around that rather than fight it.

Beyond the burger, the menu covers grilled seafood, salads, and desserts, with entrees ranging from mahi mahi to a thick-cut New York strip. Cocktails and mixed drinks use fresh squeezed lemon and lime juice rather than bottled mixers, a small detail regulars tend to notice. For larger groups, an eighteen percent service fee is automatically added to parties of five or more, standard practice at a lot of South Florida restaurants but worth knowing before the check arrives.

What keeps people coming back has less to do with any single dish and more to do with the setting. You are eating at picnic tables and mismatched seating scattered across a yard that slopes toward the water, boats tying up at the dock nearby, and the whole scene feels unpolished in a way that is clearly intentional. It is built for long, unhurried afternoons rather than a quick bite, and the crowd ranges from locals in flip-flops to visitors who read about the burger online and made the trip specifically for it.

Le Tub stays open late, Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. and Friday and Saturday until 2 a.m., so it works as both a lunch spot and a late-night hangout depending on when you show up. Parking along North Ocean Drive can be tight during snowbird season, so budget extra time if you are coming for a Friday night table. Whether you are after the burger everyone talks about or just want to sit by the water with a drink in hand, Le Tub has been doing this same thing, largely unchanged, for fifty years, and that consistency is exactly the point.