Last Saturday night around 10pm my wife and I- and another couple stopped by a German “bar-restaurant”—Biergarten in Boca Raton. The joint has indoor seating/huge outdoor patio seating. Real simple concept–tons of different beers, wines, specialty drinks—menu loaded with appetizers, burgers, salads, sandwiches, tacos, German style wursts-schnitzels-and other dishes—local bands and djs. The joint looks like “what” I guess a German beer garden in Germany is suppose to look like and the staff wears’ German beer garden costumes (I think!) You can check menu/prices at www.biergartenboca.com.

What a cool place!. It was JAMMED and I do mean JAMMED! I’m gonna bet here, that half the crowd was FAU/Lynn students. Although it was approaching “my” bedtime, I still “tried” a steak slider, bbq pork slider, pastrami slider, kielbasa, potato pancakes—and I’m telling you straight up, the food was absolutely dynamite. Absolutely some of the best “bar” stuff I’ve had in a very very long time. A great dj was spinning all-types of music and I understand that the bands that work the joint, play classic rock, reggae and new stuff.

Suffice it to say, the “kids” there were having an absolute blast–and us 4 old geezers did the same. Boy! If Ithaca, New York had a joint like Biergarten back in 1966-1970–just maybe, I wouldn’t have been so anxious to graduate from Ithaca College-to get back to Brooklyn. In all fairness, Bobby Comstock & The Counts was a great band, but if memory serves me right, the food at the Dewitt Clinton Hotel where they worked- wasn’t even in the same breath as Biergarten’s grub.

Biergarten hasn’t been around for very long. I’m guessing here, but I think something like 6 months. The joint is located in the “Pink Plaza” in Boca Raton…the spot that it’s in- has over the years-housed more restaurants than you can shake a stick at. I maybe going out on a limb here, but I think that the landlord has finally found a long-term tenant.

Let me close by saying, no matter how old or for that matter young you are—you gotta try Biergarten.

Biergarten is open Sunday-Monday 11am-midnight, Tuesday-Saturday 11am-2am.

One of your 2007’s New Year’s Resolutions should be, to eat dinner at Uncle Lui’s Restaurant a HUNGARIAN RESTAURANT in Sunrise, Florida.

Uncle Lui’s is a my kind of a joint: 1. It is a hole in the wall, which has tables and booths covered with vinyl tablecloths. 2. It is owned and opererated by the Bodnar Family (father, mother, son and daughter) who I assume are of “Hungarian decent.” 3. The food is terrific.; 4. The portions are enormous; 5.The service is terrific. 6. The prices are ‘dirt-cheap.”

Uncle Lui’s is open Wednesday-Sunday for dinner. Just so you know, this is not an “undiscovered” joint, so be smart and make sure that you have a reservation, because if you don’t you “ain’t” getting in. From what I can figure, the Bodnars basically have three seatings, 5pm, 6:30pm and 8pm, but at times this “seating” thing doesn’t exactly run like clockwork (then again if I recall “my” history, it’s the Swiss that make the timepieces and not the Hungarians.)

Just a heads-up: You can order ala carte at Uncle Lui’s, but the way-to-go, is by ordering one of the 15 priced-fixed dinners on the menu. These dinners are priced between $11-16 and include soup or salad, entree, one side dish, coffee and dessert. In addition, every meal comes with a complimentary appitezier of potato pancakes and “family style servings” of creamed spinach and red cabbage.

A recent dinner, allowed me to sample 4 entrees: roast duck, veal goulash, chicken paprikash and chicken francese. I am telling you, the food was terrific and the doggy-bags were loaded.

Try this joint.