Mango’s
Our imaginary mailbag this week spilled forth an imaginary request from an imaginary group, who we endeavor to answer:
Q: Dude, my group and me are looking for an awesome place to enjoy cool drinks, tasty food, and check out hot bods near the boardwalk, and we don’t want to pay to [sic] much. Don’t be a ‘foodie elitist’ and tell us where we can hang, coming sraight off the beach?
A: Broheim, let me set you straight; check out Mango’s, but don’t tell them I (or any self-respecting critic) sent you.
Mango’s boast of ‘oceanfront dining in Bethany Beach’ is largely a misnomer, because while the restaurant occupies a boardwalk-facing location stretching to overlook the actual beach, whatever appetite you have may be soured by overlooking day-trippers stumble around the boardwalk while you are struggling through a barely passable faux Caribbean-inspired meal. Indeed, Mango’s promotes a ‘No Shower’ happy hour, encouraging visitors to leave the beach and jump into the restaurant (shirt and flip flops are required but seem optional) for food and drink – that philosophy fairly defines its approach to food, but fine dining is not the point. Mango’s is a fun place to enjoy drinks, more drinks, live music, and a social scene, and then stumble home for the shower you actually need or to pass out, but not to reminisce about a menu that largely targets large groups and tourist families pretending they are dining in the islands. Nobody confuses Mango’s for fine dining, but that is not its intended purpose; food, instead, is something to accompany your drinking by the ocean, because Mango’s is one of the only Bethany Beach on-the-boardwalk-dining experiences, even if the food experience may cause you buyer’s remorse. The drinks flow at Mango’s, and the bartenders know how to concoct margaritas, crushes, and everything else that stereotypically defines beach drinking. Enjoy Mango’s for what it is, not for what it doesn’t even pretend to be – a fine meal destination with beach views. Hasta la vista, dude . . .