Early this morning, Jeff Eats told you guys about Spadini’s Pizzeria, 134 Northeast 2nd Avenue, Boca Raton, Florida 33432, (561) 826-7420. The jist of that “article” was that Jeff Eats had heard terrific things about this relatively -new pizza joint (it opened in February 2013) and had “plans” to give it a shot in the near future. That original article is down below.

To make a long story short…

Jeff Eats and Mrs. Jeff Eats decided to take food out tonight.

Items ordered… chopped salad (large $9.50), 16″ plain pizza (Wednesday Night Special $8), chicken parmigiana hero ($9.95), sausage & peppers hero ($8.95), penne alla vodka ($11.95)…and I gotta tell you, everything we had was delicious. A special shoutout to the pizza—let’s just say, that Spadini’s knows how to make a real New York Slice—thin crust, delicious sweet sauce, great tasting mozzarella. By the way, the heroes were big enough to feed two people–and featured a really tasty-lightly toasted bread.

Spadini’s Pizzeria is an absolute “hole in the wall”—a few tables inside and even fewer outside. You order at the counter/you pickup at the counter.

Based on the food that Jeff Eats and Mrs. Jeff Eats “had”—Spadini’s is right up there with the best “mom & pop” red sauce joints in sunny South Florida.

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

Finally, Spadini’s has a whole bunch of “specials”—like $8- 16″ pizzas on Wednesday and buy 2 heroes and get 1 free on Monday…so “ASK” what “deals” are on the table-before you order…Capice!

*****

Nothing for nothing…

Jeff Eats is hearing amazingly-fabulous-incredible “things” about a relatively new Boca Raton pizza joint…Spadini’s Pizzeria.

Just so we are straight with each other, Jeff Eats hasn’t gotten to the joint yet, but at least 7-maybe 11 or maybe it was 13 people (who have eaten there) told me that this “hole-in-the wall” turns out some of the best New York Style pizza/subs/other stuff that they have had- since migrating down here from Brooklyn, New York– Montclair, New Jersey–Hartford, Connecticut– Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania– Cortland, New York–Chicago, Illinois.

Being a top notch “reporter”- this morning Jeff Eats called Spadini’s Pizzeria and spoke to its owner 31 year old Thomas Sellick. Sellick told me that he has lived in South Florida for about a year and prior to coming down- he learned his “craft” working in his family’s Northport, New York (for those who don’t know, that’s part of Long Island) pizza joints. He told me that he opened for business on February 7, 2013—just so you know, Sellick bought out Mizner Plaza Pizza (reviewed 11/28/12), 134 Northeast 2nd Avenue, Boca Raton… did a drop of cosmetic surgery—and with new recipes and menus in hand re-opened as Spadini’s Pizzeria. Sellick told me that he has the same seating as Mizner Plaza had-that being a handful of tables inside and a handful outside. He also said-the joint works on an “order at the counter/pickup at the counter” system–but if you “want” he or one of his “guys” will bring the food over to your table.

Anyway…

Like I said, Jeff Eats is hearing terrific things about Spadini’s Pizzeria. If you get there before I do, I’d apprecaite hearing your thoughts.

You can check Spadini’s website www.spadinispizzeria.com for menu/prices/photos/other stuff.

Spadini’s Pizzeria, 134 Northeast 2nd Avenue, Boca Raton, Florida 33432, (561) 826-7123—is open Monday-Saturday 11am-11pm, Sunday noon-9pm.

The 64,000 Dollar Question:
Are the opinions of the folks from Montclair, Hartford, Pittsburgh, Cortland and Chicago-to be trusted on what consitutes top-notch New York Style pizza? We “know” that the Brooklyn folks are qualified, but-the others?—Jeff Eats is just asking!

On April 30, 2013 Jeff Eats told you guys about PDQ a “new” fast-food/casual chicken chain–that is scheduled to open its West Palm Beach location on Sunday, May 5, 2013. The April 30, 2013 writeup is reprinted “after” today’s “thoughts.”

For the record, this afternoon Jeff Eats “ate” at a Family & Friends outing in the West Palm Beach store and I gotta tell you, this joint is going to be an absolute homerun.

Before I tell you about my “meal”—for what it’s worth, I don’t really care for the name PDQ. To me, the letters P D Q really don’t convey what this joint is all about. Nothing for nothing, but the owners of this business have created a fast food/casual hybrid…think Panera Bread and you may appreciate where I’m going with this. What they “got” is an order at/pick up at the counter fast food restaurant that looks like an upscale sports bar. I loved the look of the joint (and yes, it’s got a load of large flat screen TVs) but if you do some checking, many people use the term PDQ to mean “fast” or “right away”…that said, I think the last thing that PDQ wants is for you to think of its food as being “fast food” The store is logoed with big letters that say, “People Dedicated to Quality”–so Jeff Eats sees where the PDQ comes from (actually if we wanted to get technical here it should be PDTQ)…personally, I wouldn’t have used PDQ because to a great number of people PDQ means “other” things. Jeff Eats’ personal favorites -Pretty Damned Quick and Pennies Dimes Quarters.

Now that Jeff Eats has pontificated on the PDQ name…let’s talk food.

First let me start by saying, this 4,200 square foot free standing building is absolutely great looking…it has a drive thru and looks like something right out of the Florida Keys. There is also a huge open kitchen and you can see everything being prepared. In talking with the its founders (who by the way, created the Outback Steakhouse chain) everything is freshly made and the restaurant has no freezers. While there, Jeff Eats got a kick out of watching the staff squeeze 100s of lemons for the fresh-squeezed lemonade—For you wise-guys out there, yes! I got a kick out of watching, nothing sinister,lewd or whatever your devious minds maybe thinking!

Jeff Eats “tried” the tenders, hand cut fresh French fries, chicken Caesar salad, fried chicken sandwich, turkey breast sandwich, grilled chicken sandwich, chocolate shake, apple slices with toffee—and I’m telling you, every item and I do mean every item was delicious. For the record–the food was “on the house”…which made it “easy” to literally order almost every menu item. If I got one bitch, I thought that the fries had just a drop too much salt on them—trust me, that one little itsy bitsy “problem” is easy to cure. Just a quickie, if you take a look at Jeff Eats’ 1/19/2007 Outback Steakhouse “review” note the salt-complaint… Goes to show you, Jeff Eats and the guys running this joint are consistent, if they are anything.

Check www.eatpdq.com for menu/prices/locations/pictures.

In talking to management, there are currently 4 Tampa, 2 North Carolina, 1 Oakland Park, 1 West Palm Peach PDQs…and “for” our purposes-2013-2014 planned locations-Wellington, Boca Raton and Pompano Beach.

Let me wrap this one up this way…

Based on what I saw, ate and heard PDQ is going to develop into a major national chain. The guys behind this deal know exactly what to do and how to do it…that is if they–

Just lose the salt shaker…

*****
April 30, 2013
PDQ’s menu features lightly fried chicken tenders/sandwiches, grilled chicken and turkey breast sandwiches, salads, French fries and shakes.

Just a quick heads-up…Jeff Eats is “hearing” tremendous things about a brand new-fast food chicken chain PDQ which currently has 4 Tampa/1 Oakland Park/1 West Palm Beach/2 North Carolina locations.

Haven’t tried the joint out yet, but some buddies of mine-told Jeff Eats that PDQ (Oakland Park) makes amazingly delicious grilled chicken/fried chicken tenders/turkey/salads/fries/shakes. One caveat, three of those buddies way back when- thought that the Edsel was going to be a homerun and the fourth guy to this very day-claims that aliens abducted him in 1989.

As I mentioned 4 seconds ago, there is one location in Oakland Park…this coming Sunday-May 5th, PDQ is opening a second South Florida location in West Palm Beach.

Check www.www.eatpdq.com for menu/locations.

For what it’s worth–the chain is owned by one of the guys who created the Outback Steakhouse chain. Nothing for nothing, a few quick conversations with a handful of fast food/casual restaurant developers–had them figuring that PDQ had a real shot to develop into a major chain. The consensus was, that PDQ may appeal to a huge segment of Chik-fil-A’s customer base that is looking for a more diversified menu. Throw in 4,500 square foot stores/with drive thrus that are open on Sunday—and just maybe, PDQ has the formula to be a homerun-chain.

Jeff Eats is gonna check this one out…if you get there before I do, let me know what you think

Just a quick heads-up…Jeff Eats is “hearing” tremendous things about a brand new-fast food chicken chain PDQ which currently has 4 Tampa/1 Oakland Park/1 West Palm Beach/2 North Carolina locations.

Haven’t tried the joint out yet, but some buddies of mine-told Jeff Eats that PDQ (Oakland Park) makes amazingly delicious grilled chicken/fried chicken tenders/turkey/salads/fries/shakes. One caveat, three of those buddies way back when- thought that the Edsel was going to be a homerun and the fourth guy to this very day-claims that aliens abducted him in 1989.

As I mentioned 4 seconds ago, there is one location in Oakland Park…this coming Sunday-May 5th, PDQ is opening a second South Florida location in West Palm Beach.

Check www.www.eatpdq.com for menu/locations.

For what it’s worth–the chain is owned by one of the guys who created the Outback Steakhouse chain. Nothing for nothing, a few quick conversations with a handful of fast food/casual restaurant developers–had them figuring that PDQ had a real shot to develop into a major chain. The consensus was, that PDQ may appeal to a huge segment of Chik-fil-A’s customer base that is looking for a more diversified menu. Throw in 4,500 square foot stores/with drive thrus that are open on Sunday—and just maybe, PDQ has the formula to be a homerun-chain.

Jeff Eats is gonna check this one out…if you get there before I do, let me know what you think.

Yesterday afternoon Jeff Eats was in Sawgrass Mills, 12801 West Sunrise Boulevard, Sunrise, Florida 33323 and came across a fast food concept that I thought you guys might like to know about…Sushigami (954–835-9070). For you folks out there who don’t know what Sawgrass Mills is…just imagine every regional mall and discount outlet in the world under one roof. For a point of reference Sushigami is located right in front of the Forever 21 store.

Anyway…

While walking around this seemingly endless mall, Jeff Eats spotted Sushigami a fast-food sushi joint and it “blew” me away…Picture a huge oval counter with seating—in the middle of the oval is an open sushi kitchen where you can “see” the prep work…running along the entire counter is a conveyor-belt system which delivers various sushi/food items to seated customers…customers pick what they want by removing item(s) from the conveyor belt…the items’ plates are colored coded and there is a wait-staff that roams the perimeter billing customers based on the number of plates selected and the plates’ respective colors.

Trust me on this one, this Sushigami “thing” was really cool…at 4pm on a Sunday it was jammed with people waiting to get a counter seat. Jeff Eats didn’t count the seats- but I’m gonna guess that there were at least 75. Rather than my knocking myself trying to fully explain Sushigami– take a look at www.simon.com/mall/sawgrassmills/stores/sushigami there are a whole bunch of photos and you do know what they say about one picture, don’t you?…For those who don’t–and I quote…”One picture is worth a thousand words.”

Let me close by saying…

Jeff Eats- eats and has eaten all over South Florida. I’ve been to all kinds of food joints…I’ve heard and read about countless restaurant business concepts…

I just want you guys to know, that Sushigami was one of the most creative-dynamic fast food businesses I’ve seen in a very long time. For sure, this concept can’t be plopped down just anywhere, but in the right high-traffic location- this business will find a gigantic customer base.

Just so you know, Jeff Eats didn’t “try” Sushigami’s food… I briefly look at its color-coded menu–but in all honesty, it was the joint’s physical layout and creativity that really caught my eye.

One final caveat, Jeff Eats is smart enough to know that…

If Sushigami’s food isn’t good and priced right…no matter how cool the stainless steel conveyor-belt looks, it will end up as scrap metal in some yard-somewhere!

Before Jeff Eats gets started here…let me state without equivocation- I’m not a shill for “gourmet” fast-food burger chain Shake Shack. Unfortunately, I don’t “have” a piece of this deal.

With that out of the way, let me reprint the two articles that Jeff Eats has already run on this up and coming chain.

***August 1, 2010
Shake Shack… “order at/pickup at counter”…burgers, fries, hot dogs, custard, shakes.
There are 5 Shake Shacks in New York City…1-in Saratoga, New York…1-in Miami, Florida.
This is “fast food” at its best.
Check www.shakeshacknyc.com for menu/prices/locations/pictures.
The next time you are down in South Beach, this joint is an absolute-must-try…Just so you know, Shake Shack has a cult-like-following…so don’t be surprised by some heavy duty crowds and lines.
Shake Shack is open Sunday-Thursday 11:30am-midnight, Friday-Saturday 11:30am-1am.
***August 12, 2012
Back on August 1, 2010 Jeff Eats told you about Shake Shack which had just opened in South Beach..
In that “review”–I told you guys that Shake Shack a fast-food burger joint was “fast food at its best.”
Regular Jeff Eats readers know, that there is no doubt in my mind- that the fast-food burger “business” is totally oversaturated with players—that one day, in the very near future-this gigantic game of musical chairs is gonna end very badly for most of them. There is also no question in my mind, that when all is said and done, Shake Shack will be one of the few players left standing.
————–
This evening, Jeff Eats, Mrs. Jeff Eats, and another couple “attended” a “Friends & Family Practice” at the newest Shake Shack which is scheduled to open in Boca Raton at 11am this coming Monday–April 22, 2013. We were there roughly from 6:45 pm to 8pm and I would guess that something like 150 got to try Shake Shacks’ stuff… being a party of four, we made sure to order all types of “items”— double cheeseburger, french fries, cheese french fries, grilled hot dog, chocolate custard cone, coffee shake, chocolate toffee “concrete” (think Dairy Queen’s Blizzard and you’ll be on the right page), grilled chicken dog,

Let Jeff Eats make this as simple and as clear as possible…Shake Shacks’ food is delicious. That said, to give you guys a fair shake (pun intended)-the only item that needs improving are the french fries…Shake Shack uses a “frozen” product which is very good but it’s definitely not on the same level as the “fresh” cut fries that competitors like Five Guys and BurgerFi turn-out.

As I mentioned 3 seconds ago, this “practice” session was held in the new Boca Raton store. Talk about a great location—Shake Shack’s free standing building (which has both indoor and outdoor covered patio seating) is located right across the road from FAU’s campus and is in walking distance of Boca Raton High School, a half-dozen hotels, Boca Town Center and loads of office buildings. At this stage of the conversation check www.shakeshack.com for menu/prices/locations and loads of photos that will give you some idea as to what this really cool joint looks like.

Normally on his sojourns, Jeff Eats doesn’t sit/stand around talking to a joint’s management…that said, the “Friends & Family Practice” presented an opportunity to chat with Zachary Koff (VP of Operations), Greg Waters (Manager, Marketing & Communications), Josh (Boca’s Assistant General Manager), Dustin (Boca’s General Manager) and Peggy (Director of Training)…suffice it to say, those conversations made it quite obvious why Shake Shack is such a well-run business. No crapping around here, these folks know the fast food business inside and out and seem to have one single goal–that being to present the guest with an outstanding dining experience. Secure in the fact that I’m not a Shake Shack shill—Jeff Eats is telling you that my fast food operations background with Hardees, Discovery Zone and Johnny Rocket’s—kinda gives me a real good point of reference on how things are suppose to work…and Shake Shack comes as close to operational perfection as I’ve seen on the fast food level.

Let me end this thing by saying…

If you like burgers/hot dogs/fries/shakes and haven’t been to a Shake Shack (which currently has… 9 New York, 2 Connecticut, 3 Florida, 2 Washington DC, 1 Massachusetts, 1 Pennsylvania locations) you now have 3 South Florida locations to try and— find out if Jeff Eats knows what he’s talking about or is just a blabbering idiot.

***One final note, to Shake Shacks’ management do Jeff Eats a huge-gigantic favor and add a chicken burger to the menu…so he can get Mrs. Jeff Eats off his ass. Thanks,

Do you know what the saying “Dead on Arrival” means? Sure you do!

Last night Jeff Eats and Mrs. Jeff Eats went to Boca Town Center to “try-out” Butcher & The Burger a new “gourmet” fast food burger joint which opened a couple of days ago in the mall’s food court.

For color, Jeff Eats was following up on a “tip” from Son Jeff Eats who had recently eaten in the Butcher & The Burger located in Chicago. Son Jeff Eats had reported delicious burgers/hand-cut fresh French fries/shakes. For the record, Butcher & The Burger has 1-free standing store in Chicago and the Boca outpost is its second outing.

Now, you guys know that Jeff Eats is a simple guy (I know what some of you are now thinking)…anyway-I was looking for a cheeseburger/French fries/Coke. According to the joint’s sign-board, that trio would have cost Jeff Eats $8.95 for the burger, $4.25 for the fries (small order) and Coke—throw in 6% sales tax and Jeff Eats’ meal would have run $13.99—Mrs. Jeff Eats’ turkey burger-side salad-Diet Coke would have run $13.78 (she has always been a cheap date). The owners of this joint must be kidding! For crying out loud, this is a food court fast food outing—$27.77 for this meal is absurd.

Just a word to the wise, if Jeff Eats thinks that Butcher & The Burger’s prices are too high—go to the bank-that most folks walking around that food court are gonna think the same thing.

DOA!!!

Let me wrap this one up for you…

Butcher & The Burger may have delicious food…but this meal didn’t “happen” because of price. One other thing that caught my eye, Butcher & The Burger’s shakes run $6.50—while Chik-fil-A (in the next-door booth) gets $3.69 for its shakes (yes! I know that you can’t get Chik’s shakes on Sunday)…

Butcher & The Burger is opened 7 days a week during mall hours.

You can check menu/pries at www.butcherandtheburger.com.

In recent days-Jeff Eats has received a number of e-mails concerning his “thoughts” on what fast-food concept “he” would bring to South Florida.

Jeff Eats aims to please, so here goes…

Now nothing for nothing, I think that Papaya King www.papayaking.com and Gray’s Papaya www.grayspapayanyc.com would kill-it down here in South Florida.

For the non-New Yorkers here…both Papaya King and Grey’s Papaya are “famous” NYC hot-dog stands that sell hot dogs and a “health” drink called papaya. Check their respective websites for menu/prices and loads of photos.

For what it’s worth, neither Papaya King or Gray’s Papaya have expanded in any meaningful way from their original locations.

Now nothing for nothing, in the right location—Jeff Eats thinks that either concept would be a homerun. For example I’m thinking South Beach…

Jeff Eats hasn’t really studied the “franchising” possibilities for either brand…What I do know, is that if “licensing” the name is too expensive, a VARIATION ON THE NAME/THEME is a real possibility…something like Queen Papaya, NYC Papaya, Papaya Joe, Papaya Dogs…I’m sure you guys get the picture here.

So there you have it, Jeff Eats’ brainchild…one caveat, this thing only works where there is tremendous amount of traffic.

Your thoughts are appreciated.

Just got back from having “lunch” at Pummarola…which is a relatively new Italian fast food joint located in the food-court at Boca Town Center.

Let me start by saying–Pummarola’s food was fabulous.

The joint’s menu is real simple—personal-sized wood fired pizza ($5.50-$8.50), panuozzo (pizza crust bread with fillings–$8.50), calzones ($8), pasta ($7-8), handful of sides ($3), handful of desserts ($3.50). At this stage of the conversation-you can check www.pummarola.us for full menu/prices/photos.

Now nothing for nothing, over the years- Jeff Eats has literally eaten in tons of Italian fast food mall joints…and I gotta tell you, that Pummarola’s food ranks right up there with the best that I’ve ever had…I’ll even go so far and tell you folks, that Pummarola’s food is as good as most of the stuff served at the best “mom & pop” red sauce Italian joints here in South Florida and elsewhere…I’ll even go on record and tell you, that Pummarola’s food is as good if not better than the stuff served at most of South Florida/elsewhere’s “upscale” Italian joints.

Right about now, some of you guys may-be saying…”Jeff has lost his mind or something.”

Trust me on this one…the “sampled” margherita pizza, chicken milanese panuozzo, fettuccine bolognese, gnocchi alfredo, spaghetti & meatballs, eggplant parmigiana–were absolutely positively delicious. Like Jeff Eats said 14 seconds ago, this joint’s food could easily go head to head with the best Italian stuff out there.

If I got my facts straight, Pummarola has only been open a few months…During the half-hour (3pm-3:30pm on a rainy Saturday) that Jeff Eats was in the food court–the joint did a nice steady business, but I definitely didn’t see long lines at the counter. The real concern that I have with Pummarola is that the guys who own it aren’t business-men…food guys yes!–business-men no! The reason I say this, is that Pummarola is located in a “double space” in the food court…and my pencil to napkin calculations tell me that the rent has to be something like $35,000 a month—and $35,000 a month is an enormous load of pizza/panuozzo/calzone/pasta. In addition, the space “features” a Fiat-car as a decoration…talk about pissing away valuable real-estate! I sure hope Jeff Eats is wrong here-because the food is tremendous…but I really think that Pummarola’s owners might have bit (pun intended) off too much to chew.

Putting “finances” and a car aside for a moment…

I’m telling you guys that you gotta check this joint out.

Pummarola is open 7 days a week during mall hours.

***** May 7, 2013 UPDATE

Just a quick update…

Since Jeff Eats’ April 13, 2013 “review” I and Mrs. Jeff Eats have eaten twice “at” Pummarola with the last outing being this evening—and I gotta tell you that my first impression still holds—the food is absolutely dynamite. Just wanted to mention that after you have finished eating this joint’s pizzas, pastas and sandwiches—give its tiramisu, cannoli and crepes a shot…I sampled all three this evening- and they are as good as the stuff turned out by South Florida’s best Italian bakeries.

Trust me on this..Pummarola is something very special.

The Huffpost Food Group recently published its 2013 “America’s 12 Best Donut Shops” list…

12. Dinkel’s Bakery, Chicago
11. Randy’s Donuts, Los Angeles
10. Voodoo Doughnut, Portland
9. The Donut Vault, Chicago
8. Café Du Monde, New Orleans
7. Mighty-O Donut, Seattle
6. Sublime Donuts, Atlanta
5. Bouchon Bakery, Yountville, California
4. Doughnut Plant, New York, New York
3. Round Rock Donuts, Round Rock, Texas
2. Dat Donuts, Chicago
1. Dough, Brooklyn

So, you now know where you can catch some good donuts…assuming that the Huffpost Food Group has good- taste.

On Saturday, Jeff Eats and Mrs. Jeff Eats went “shopping” at Brandsmart USA in Deerfield Beach for a new washer/dryer. Right in front of the store’s entrance was a hot-dog cart which sells grilled Nathan’s hot dogs and Italian sausages—chips/soda. The cart is owned/operated by a guy named Stu who has been in that location for something like 9 years. Not exactly sure as to Stu’s “hours”- but I think he told me 7 days a week 11am-6pm.

Anyway…Jeff Eats had 2 Nathan’s hot dogs…one dog had warm sauerkraut and deli mustard on it–the other had grilled onions and deli mustard. Do you know what the saying “hit the mark” means? Well those hot dogs hit the mark…they were delicious.

You now know where you can get an all-beef grilled hot dog for $2.50 that hits the mark.

End of story!