Five Most Common Restaurant Bait-and-Switch Tactics

Every once in a while, officials from the Hotel and Restaurant division of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation office get to sleuthin’. They’re looking for “food misrepresentation cases” — usually restaurants selling you one thing but serving you another.Inspectors catch the bait and switch about 50 times…

Order Up: The Living Room

This week in Dish: The Living Room, a cozy little pub/restaurant in West Boynton Beach. With a quirky, decorative touch and plenty of mismatched tables made to look like miniature living rooms, it’s the kind of restaurant you can really feel at home in. Sometimes too much so. Check out…

“Satan, Your Table Is Ready”: Six Restaurant Customers From Hell

So let’s see, in my little orgy of list-making so far, I’ve managed to piss off professional restaurant critics, amateur restaurant critics, cooks, chefs, and servers.  Who’s next?   Hmmm… Ooh, I know.  Customers.  Assholes, cheapskates, the clueless, the entitled, and the just plain psycho all conspire to make the lives…

East Coast BBQ Brings Modern ‘Cue to Pompano Beach

There’s no shortage of good barbecue restaurants opening these days. With places like Sheila’s Famous BBQ Conch and More in Lake Worth and the second installment of Texas Hold ‘Em coming to the Gateway in Fort Lauderdale, there’s good ‘cue within reach of just about everyone. Now add East Coast…

Which “Famous” Chef Wrote This Crazy Craigslist Post?

We were cruising Craigslist this morning (for “friendship,” we swear) and stumbled across this mighty odd post from a supposedly famous chef in need of an attorney (preferably female). Any guesses on this person’s identity?Lawyer Needed for Public Figure: I was told I’m supposed to be a famous chef. People…

Where Are We Eating?

Not going to get much in the way of hints here, folks. All I can tell you is that it’s a partial service restaurant, and this is the front counter.Click on the image to make it larger. Just don’t try any CSI-type maneuver and “enhance” the pixels until you can…

What Local Restaurant Would You Like to See the Most at Pairings?

New Times’ annual Pairings event is coming up fast. The food and wine gathering at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts takes place September 16 from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. And the list of participating restaurants this year is already huge. On the docket so far are places like…

Doggie Bag: This Week in Charlie

The new World of Beer in Coconut Creek has made quite a splash since opening. Check out our inside look into the place, and read about how its lack of a proper kitchen is making a big impact on Promenade businesses. Cheap lunch is just around the corner at Mr…

Wine List: Five Great Wines to Pair With Lobster

With the official start of Florida lobster season on August 6 and hordes of amateur bug hunters loosed on the unsuspecting critters during the two-day lobster miniseason last week, it seemed as good a time as any to start thinking about what wines to pour with your seafaring bounty.  Whether…

World of Beer Has Big Impact on Promenade Businesses

At the new World of Beer in the Promenade at Coconut Creek, customers can enjoy more than 500 craft beers from places like Belgium and Japan. But the beer bar, which opened earlier this month, actually has no kitchen. Instead, World of Beer has a special arrangement with restaurants located…

Beer of the Week: Harpoon UFO

Unrepentant beer drinkers, rejoice! Each week, Clean Plate Charlie will select one craft or import beer and give you the lowdown on it: How does it taste? What should you drink it with? Where can you find it? But mostly, it’s all about the love of the brew. If you…

Happy Hour at T-Mex Cantina in Fort Lauderdale: Loco BOGO

The place: T-Mex Cantina, 204 SW Second St., Fort Lauderdale. Call 954-463-2003. The hours: 4 to 8 p.m.; 4 to 10 p.m. on Wednesday. The deal: Buy one drink, get one free (of equal or lesser value). The digs: Formerly San Loco, this location and its South Beach sister store…

Five Reasons to Love Cupcake Couture in Delray Beach

Is it me, or is South Florida undergoing a cupcake boom? There are so many awesome cupcake bakeries —  House of Sweets, Spanky’s Cupcakes, We Take the Cake, Sweeter Days Bake Shop, the Sugar Monkey, Sweet Surrender Cupcakes, What a Cupcake, Couture Cake Shop, Yummy, Allegria, Sugar Chef Cupcakes, dd’s…

Beer-Food Pairing Dinner at Racks

They’re not letting any hops grow under their feet at the new Racks Downtown Eatery + Tavern in Mizner Park.  Come Tuesday, August 3, the sleek modern American bistro will offer its first beer-food pairing dinner, with top toque Matthew Danaher dishing five courses to go along with a quartet…

Scarfone’s Coal-Fired Pizza Needs a Little Work

High-heat, coal-fired ovens have lit up all over South Florida, bringing charred crusts and specialty toppings to just about every strip mall. Among them is Scarfone’s, a modern pizzeria in the mold of Anthony’s that recently debuted its second location in the Promenade at Coconut Creek. The cavernous bar and…