Every serious diner has an immediate, pertinent question he or she wants answered about any restaurant. My husband always wants to know about the specials of the house. My friend Meredith needs to be informed about the dessert list before she proceeds with ordering a meal. I like to be…
A bagel is a bagel is a bagel — if you live in New York, that is. Down here we have a more difficult time locating the archetypal bagel: chewy crust, resilient crumb. In other words not a doughy roll. Enter Rodeo Bagel (10281 W. Sample Rd., Coral Springs, 954-344-6290),…
It’s a storefront room with a couple of tables and chairs, a swivel rack of Portuguese CDs, one large wooden crate of whole dried codfish, and shelves sparsely filled with a few edible imports from Portugal — mostly wines (including ports, of course) and olive oils. Yet since owners Tony…
Mark Soyka has always been something of a pioneer. In Miami-Dade County his News Café jump-started Ocean Drive in 1988, his Van Dyke in 1994 became the first outdoor café with any real presence on Lincoln Road, and his namesake neighborhood eatery opened last year as the would-be savior of…
Thanksgiving isn’t just about turkeys. Our craving for pies runs deeper now than at any other time of year, especially for seasonal favorites like pumpkin, pecan, and mincemeat. The pies themselves run deeper at Upper Crust Bakery (2015 N. Dixie Hwy., Lake Worth, 561-586-5456), which means that their 9-inch treats…
When Barbara Straub and partners opened 32 Eats (Shoppes at Addison Place, 16950 Jog Rd., Delray Beach, 561-638-0432) last May next door to their well-regarded 32 East restaurant, they brought in two players from the winning New York City takeout team of Dean and Deluca as general manager and head…
Hi-Life Cafe made a better impression on me than it had a right to. Don’t get me wrong, the food was quite tasty and well priced, the wait staff friendly, efficient, knowledgeable about the menu. The place is good-looking, too: a small, elegant, and understated dining room with seductively dimmed…
Lucille and Otley’s landmark restaurant in Boynton Beach closed a few years back but has resurfaced as L&O on the Go (302 NE Fourth St., Delray Beach, 561-274-3085), owned and operated by their grandson Steve Scott and his wife, Lori. The petite space dictates this being primarily a takeout joint;…
Ramada Inns don’t vary much from city to city. Sure, some are newer and spiffier than others, and the accents of workers will differ among regions, but a single corporate philosophy guides them all — and unfortunately their respective dining establishments as well. The philosophy is based solely on the…
Because Shootersville Billiards (600 N. Congress Ave., Delray Beach, 561-243-0422) is basically a sports bar, let’s break it down by the numbers. Start with 30-foot-high ceilings, 21 custom-designed pool tables ($3.50 per person per hour), two 70-inch TV screens broadcasting football, and a large bar lined with 21 more sets…
The thesaurus contains relatively few synonyms for restaurant, and even those aren’t necessarily synonymous. An eatery is not a diner, which is not a café. A bistro isn’t quite a brasserie, and neither of those is anything like a trattoria. Even a seemingly generic word like place conjures up some…
I’ve got to admit, the gyros are pretty tempting at the Steak Shop & Deli (1801 E. Sample Rd., Pompano Beach, 954-941-5790). But I just can’t get past the Philly cheesesteak, a signature item at this pleasant, Miami Dolphins-color sandwich shop. You can get it prepared traditionally: some sautéed onions,…
Restaurants employ a variety of tactics to win customers. Mustang Sally’s, a four-month-old steak house in a desolate Flamingo Road shopping plaza out in cow country (a.k.a. Cooper City), is currently utilizing a time-honored method. No, it’s not exploitation of the Wilson Pickett song, the all-American car, or even the…
So swordfish is off your fish wish list because it’s endangered. Same with Chilean sea bass, which is really Patagonian toothfish and has been overfished to the point that boats have to roam the Antarctic Sea for it. And you’re just plain sick of snapper, grouper, and dolphin. What’s a…
People make much of first impressions. You either believe in them or don’t, trust them or not. They’re always wrong, or they’re always right. You should base your judgments on them, or you shouldn’t. Why doesn’t anyone debate the merits of last impressions? When it comes to restaurants, these are…
Of course we locals know that Palm Beach County has been blossoming with good restaurants, but does the nation know it? Well, it does now, considering that Nation’s Restaurant News just featured PBC in its “What’s Hot” column. Among the restaurants featured, Big City Tavern (224 Clematis St., West Palm…
A woman, one member of a party of six at Baredo Café in Boca Raton, got up suddenly from her table and began marching around the dining room, glancing pointedly at other tables and their parties. We knew she was a customer, but she looked for all the world like…
The design might look like Oh! Howard Johnson’s, but Oh! Mexico (300 SW First Ave., Hollywood, 954-527-5969) promises satisfying, hearty Mexican items. That means not fried clams but fried chimichangas, burritos, fajitas, and the like. Best of all, a tequila bar offers succor to the weary road warrior; the two-month-old…
Diners often think that restaurant critics have elaborate systems for rating restaurants, and of course we have many complex reasons for admiring or disliking a particular eatery. But when all’s said and done — digested and written — I like to keep it real with one simple question: Would I…
Forget about Tipperary — it’s a long, long way to Texas, so before you hit the road, you might want to make a pit stop in Dania Beach. That’s where you’ll find Charlie’s Bar-B-Q (1302 S. Federal Hwy., 954-924-0109), a Texas-style eatery sandwiched between a Pizza Hut and a McDonald’s…
A recent article in The New York Times’ dining section, entitled “Navigating the Bar When It’s Three Drinkers Deep,” offers the following advice on how to get a drink: “Seek out the shortest people and get behind them — same strategy as at a rock concert. Wave a large wad…
If you’ve ever wondered why tomatoes from the grocery store taste so flat and look so pallid, consider the source: Those that must stay in Publix or Winn-Dixie for days on end have been picked too soon but chemically treated to look ripe. You can really tell the difference between…
