Let’s play Andy Taylor and Aunt Bea…imagine an “American-Style” country-restaurant circa 1955 and you got The Mason Jar Cafe in Fort Lauderdale. When you check www.themasonjarcafe.com for menu/prices–catch the dining room photo. By the way, you can check Wikipedia if you are curious as to the “history” of the mason jar.

Anyway…gave The Mason Jar Cafe a shot the other day (or is it evening?) for dinner…talk about a menu loaded with Jeff Eats’ favorite comfort-foods—chicken pot pie, fried chicken/with cream gravy, fried steak/with cream gravy, grilled pork chop, bacon cheeseburger, meat loaf, macaroni & cheese…everything right on the money. Huge portions, reasonable prices, very pleasant service.

Now, I knew and if you go there you’ll know…that it really wasn’t 1955 (after-all, the chicken pot pie with 2-sides would have been something like 70 cents and not 15 bucks) but the owners do a real nice job–in serving upscale-comfort food in a cozy pleasant dining room.

I really enjoyed The Mason Jar Cafe.

You definitely should give this one a try.

The joint is open for lunch Monday-Saturday 11:30am-3pm, for dinner Monday-Sunday 5:30pm.

Cricket’s is a “sub-sandwich-salad” joint located in Pompano Beach. At this stage of the proceedings, I could go into the whole Pinocchio story etc., but I’ll save you the agony…kinda boring, trying to be cute all the time.

Anyway…Cricket’s food is absolutely dynamite. Now, it’s literally impossible to rate 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-etc. South Florida’s top sub-joints, but I will tell you, that Cricket’s stuff is right up there with the best in the game.

A recent outing had me doing…tuna sub, chicken salad sub, pork Cuban sandwich, roast beef on rye, Caesar salad—like I said a few seconds ago, the food is absolutely dynamite.

You can check menu/prices at www.cricketssandwiches.com.

I know that this review may-be a drop on the short side…trust me, Cricket’s subs/sandwiches/salads will not disappoint.

Cricket’s is open Monday-Saturday 11am-6pm.

Let’s play a game, Get To A New Joint Before Jeff Eats Does.

Hearing some very nice things about Gimme A Burger…an “upscale” fast-food burger joint, which opened a couple of weeks ago in Deerfield Beach. Sorry, can’t conifrm the “positive” reports because—old Jeff Eats hasn’t been there yet. It’s on my “to try list”…so I’ll soon have the skinny for you guys.

For you folks who might like to beat me to the punch…check www.gimmeaburger.com for info.

Gimme A Burger is open Sunday-Thursday 11am-8pm, Friday-Saturday 11am-9pm.

BGR…for right now, a small “upscale” fast-food burger chain with something like 18 locations–for our purposes, there are currently 3 Florida locations. You can check www.bgrtheburgerjoint.com for menu/locations. Before, I get going here, I understand that this is one “hot” franchise, so look for BGRs to be popping up all over Florida and the rest of the USA.

When it comes to burgers–I know my stuff. That said, some of my favorite South Florida- “burger” blog reads are–The Burger Beast and Burgers By The Beach. Over the years I’ve gotten some real good picks from these guys. While I’m throwing out compliments, the Worst Pizza blog has been a great pizza-source (or is it sauce?) for me. So, if you want more burger/pizza picks-you know what to do.

Now let’s talk BGR. Nothing fancy here. Decor is “record albums/guitars”–I could have sworn that Hard Rock had this theme all sewen up. Anyway…order at/pickup at the counter. Let’s talk food. The joint has beef/turkey/veggie burgers, fries, onion rings, shakes and some other stuff. Let me go on record, absolutely delicious cheeseburger, same for the french and sweet potato fries. What I especially liked here, was that the burgers were “cooked” over an open-flame–and not on a stainless steel griddle. Now, I got nothing against griddle burgers, but BGR’s flame technique was a nice change from the standard fast food modus operandi.

Finally, you know and I know, that “too” many of these upscale-burger joints are opening here in South Florida and around the country. Like the self-serve yogurt joints and cupcake stores- it’s only a matter of time before the game of musical chairs comes to an end. For the non-believers out there…You do remember “mom & pop” video stores, don’tcha? With that public service announcement out of the way…let me wrap things up by saying, if really good burgers/fries are your game, you–definitely want to try BGR.

BGR-The Burger Joint is open Sunday-Thursday 11am-10pm and Friday-Saturday 11am-11pm.

Well, so much for that New Year’s resolution “not to eat bread.”

Tried out Paul’s Sub Shop & Deli a “hole in the wall” sub joint in North Miami Beach…”sampled” a chicken parm sub, philly cheese steak sub, chicken salad sub, tuna salad sub—check www.paulssubs.net for menu/prices.

Let me make this one short and simple, Paul’s stuff was absolutely delicious.

A bit to early in the morning- for me to be opining about the pros-cons of chains like Subway, Blimpie’s, Firehouse…what I do know, is that Paul’s Sub Shop & Deli makes an awesome sandwich.

Paul’s is open Monday-Saturday 10am-5pm, closed on Sunday.

Just got back from trying Brick Yard Microbrewery which opened about two weeks ago in Boca Raton..great looking joint with indoor/outdoor patio seating—loads of tv sets. Full bar, with “tons” of beers on tap. Not a huge menu, but nobody’s gonna starve here…burgers, pizzas, sandwiches, wings, salads. Tried babyback ribs and french fries—fries right on the money-as for the ribs, I’ve had better-something about the sauce that wasn’t right. Also tried the joint’s large cheeseburger with sweet potato fries…both the burger and fries were very good. Being in a piggish mood, I also gave the chicken fajitas and philly cheesesteak sub a shot—both items like the burger were very good. Typical sports bar prices.

So what did we learn?

Brick Yard is a good sports bar. We also learned that on future outings–assuming the sauce is the same, to not order the ribs. We also learned, that the booth seating in the bar area was uncomfortable for a man Jeff Eats’ size. The seats/cushions are too soft and low.

I’m gonna make a prediction here.

Brick Yard is going to “develop” into an absolute homerun. I say this based on the fact, that the food was good–and it’s a great looking joint—better designed/looking than most of the sports bar joints that I’ve tried in South Florida. In addition, based on a brief conversation with two of Brick Yard’s owners–they’ll evetually figure-out that the ribs’ sauce needs some-changing and those booth cushions need to be adjusted.

Like I said before, Brick Yard has only been open 2-weeks. With just a drop of tinkering–this joint is going to be “THE” place in Boca to watch sports and catch a good casual meal.

Brick Yard is open Sunday-Thursday 4pm-11pm, Friday-Saturday 4pm-2am.

Spot Coffee (for a point of reference, think Starbuck’s) is a small-chain…Delray Beach, Florida– Buffalo (3), New York–Williamsville, New York (wherever the hell that is?)–Rochester, New York– Toronto, Ontario.

Now, I’m not exactly sure as to who likes these kinda joints…Generation X or is it Generation Y–what I do know, is that nothing and nobody is ever going to beat Chock Full O’ Nuts’ lunch counters circa 1960 with their $.10 coffee, whole-wheat-donuts and nut-and-cream-cheese sandwiches—However…

If you are a member of Generation X, Generation Y or like Mrs. Jeff Eats someone who doesn’t dwell on the past—you will absolutely love Spot Coffee’s coffees, breakfast items, pizzas, sandwiches, salads. Today- at the Delray joint had an ice coffee that was perfectly made, a grilled cheese on focaccia bread and a belgian waffle that almost made me forget about Chock Full O’Nuts’ stuff.

You can check www.spotcoffee.com for menu/prices.

Wanna be one of the first people to try a new joint?–Well if you do, you might want to check-out Brick Yard Microbrewery which opened about 2-weeks ago in Boca Raton. Just so you know, I haven’t eaten there yet, but yesterday I “took” a tour of this new restaurant which features all kinds of beers on tap, burgers, salads, pizzas and sandwiches–and the joint looks absolutely dynamite with a light-brick indoor decor and a great looking outdoor patio with its own bar.

I got Brick Yard Microbrewery on my list of joints to “try”–so look for a review in coming weeks. I will tell you, four people that I know have already tried it and they thought that the burgers, fries and pizzas were delicious. Now, I will tell you, that two of those folks years ago told me and I quote, “Ford’s Edsel is going to be a huge seller.” So…

From what I understand, Brick Yard Microbrewery is open Sunday-Thursday 4pm-11pm, Friday-Saturday 4pm-2am.

Having eaten in- my fair share of Chinese Restaurants since my 1949 Brooklyn birth–I can unequivocally say, that I am an expert on pistachio ice cream.

If you want to eat an amazingly delicious pistachio ice cream–then you gotta try the one that Blue Bell Creameries makes. I get mine at Publix and it’s usually something like $6.98 for a 1/2 gallon. If you play your cards right, every so often, Publix runs a 2–1/2 gallons for $9.

For more information on Blue Bell Creameries which has been around since 1907—www.bluebell.com.

Got a really-good “mom & pop” lunch-dinner joint for you…Tabitha’s Bistro in Davie. Handful of tables indside, couple outside.

You can check the menu/prices of pita melts, sandwiches, salads, wraps, panini at www.tabithasbistro.com.

Now, I could get real cute here and start yapping about Tabitha-daughter of Samantha and Darren, but I won’t. You tv show-”experts” know where I could have gone with that whole thing.

Anyway…tried Tabitha’s out for lunch and I gotta tell you that I was impressed…this little strip center hole in the wall- makes some dynamite stuff. Tried– turkey meatball pita melt, grilled chicken breast caesar wrap, grilled eggplant panini–like I intimated two seconds ago, really delicious. If I got one bitch, the menu is kinda limited (not a single burger in sight), but if “this” old reincarnated truck driver made it through, most of you guys will too.

Now, don’t start bombarding me with “sexist” comments, but you ladies out there are gonna love this joint.

Tabitha’s Bistro is open Monday 11am-4pm, Tuesday-Saturady 11am-8pm, closed on Sunday.