Eat your greens

Swing by St. Augustine, Florida's newest movie-- inspired restaurant for laughs and great food.

You can't miss it. Just look for the building with a golf ball sticking out of it."

I listen to a hostess give those helpful directions to a caller while I'm waiting for a table at the Murray Bros. Caddyshack restaurant in St. Augustine, Florida. It's true. You can't miss this place. Even from 1-95, you can see the beach ball-size golf ball and golf cart crashed into the side of the building at World Golf Village.

Comedian Bill Murray and his five brothers opened their golf-themed restaurant here last summer, and it draws end-of-the-day crowds almost as big as the gallery that follows Tiger Woods around. I was able to breeze in at lunch a few months ago, but it's a 45-minute wait for dinner tonight.

Even a seat at the Bunker Bar, where there's full-menu service, is as tough to get as a tee time at Pebble Beach. But I decide to hang out anyway. It gives me some time to look around and have a few chuckles at the restaurant, which is designed to look like a country club gone awry. Lawnmowers suspended from the ceiling whirl slowly to serve as fans. A copy of the Caddyshack script, cowritten by Brian Doyle-Murray, is on display, along with other memorabilia from the movie.

In addition to caps, balls, and T-shirts with the Caddyshack logo, the gift shop sells copies of Bill Murray's book, Cinderella Story. It's a collection of funny golf stories that go back to the days when the Murray brothers worked their first jobs as caddies, lockerroom attendants, greens keepers, busboys, and waiters.

I half-expected to hear a Murray-- like quip from the smiling server, dressed like a caddy, who came to take my order after I was finally seated. "Got any fresh gopher?" I'm tempted to ask. But the service is fast, efficient, and as serious as a 30-foot putt. Cofounder Andy Murray has an extensive restaurant background that includes working as a gourmet chef and sous-chef. Staples of the menu are baby back ribs ($16.99), pasta, pizza slices, "sand-wedges," and an old-fashioned, hand-patted ground-- chuck Caddyshack burger ($6.99) that tastes like the ones the Murray boys used to grill in their backyard after a long day on the course.

On this crowded night, the noise around my table is about as loud as a middle school cafeteria. After a mighty effort, a toddler at the table next to me breaks free from her high chair and runs through the restaurant like Ricky Williams on a good day.

Somehow, the scene seems to fit the spirit of the restaurant. Caddyshack is all about humor, and we could all use a little more of that.

LES THOMAS

Murray Bros. Caddyshack: (904) 940-3673. From 1-95, take Exit 95A to the World Golf Village.

Copyright Southern Progress Corporation Aug 2002
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