Meatball Room (Boca Raton)
***** Meatball Room, 3011 Yamato Road, Boca Raton, Florida 33434, (561) 409-4111.
Last night…
Jeff Eats and Mrs. Jeff Eats attended a “media dinner” at- Meatball Room, an Italian restaurant which opened six days ago in Boca Raton…based on last night’s food/service/décor/vibe, the joint has a real shot of developing an absolutely huge following.
Just so we are straight, the Eats’ meals/beverages and those of 30 others were comped…
For background…
As far as Jeff Eats could tell, the dinner was populated with some of South Florida’s best known- food bloggers and magazine/newspaper food critics/writers. Nothing for nothing, I’ll bet you a buck, that on Thursday, November 28th the Sun Sentinel runs a story on Meatball Room. Talk about thorough!–its reporter had more paper notes than Eisenhower had for the entire D-Day Invasion.
Anyway…let me tell you what “we-all” (this is the South, after-all!) got to try—baked clams, anaheim pepper, kale salad, beets salad, chopped salad, classic (veal/pork/beef) meatballs, turkey meatballs, taco (beef/pork/ground tortilla chips) meatballs, rigatoni bolognese, calamari fra diavolo, cheese pizza, harvest (apples/carmalized onions/mozzarella/goat cheese) pizza, chicken castronovo (breaded chicken breast/asparagus/fontina cheese/mushroom demi sauce), veal parmigiana—and let me tell you, every-thing was delicious. Now for sure, some items were stronger than others, but not one single dish was shall we say-even close to being lousy. For those of you who need a pecking order…as George H. W. Bush would say, “Can’t do it! Not gonna do it! (or was it Dana Carvey?)–trust me it was all good-(ok, you win-the cheese pizza, taco meatballs and chicken castronovo were off-the-chart).
Now for the outrageous kicker…
Meatball Room has a huge dessert menu that includes– ice cream sundaes, milkshakes, ice cream sandwiches/cones, cakes, zeppoles. cannolis, pastries. Us media folks got to try sundaes, cannolis, chocolate layer cake, carrot cake, New York Style cheesecake–Talk about a diabetic’s worst nightmare! I’m telling you, the attendees flipped out when those sundaes were served in gigantic glass goblets. Real cool-all baked goods are made in-house!
You guys know, that it’s not Jeff Eats’ style- to go on and on and on…about how stuff is made and the fine details of a meal—all I’m telling you, is comped or no comped, Meatball Room is making some really terrific stuff.
Let me close by saying, that back on October 23, 2013 Jeff Eats’ did a story on “pre-opened” Meatball Room and the shopping center it’s in. That story is reprinted below -for you guys who enjoy reading 30-day old Jeff Eats’ articles.
You can check menu/prices/photos/other stuff at www.meatballroom.com.
Meatball Room is open 7 days a week from 11am-midnight.
*****
Meatball Room (Boca Raton)
Posted on October 23rd, 2013 · Boca Raton Desserts Italian Pizza ·
* Meatball Room (Boca Raton)
Jeff Eats isn’t sure on this…but I think- you guys know that I “reside” in Boca Raton…with that in mind, at least once or twice a week I’m in The Regency Court (3011 Yamato Road, Boca Raton) shopping center which is like 97 seconds from my home.
Anyway…over the past 10 years or so, four different restaurants have occupied a particular 6,000 square foot- space in the center. If you do the math—that means that on average, a joint lasted about 30 months in the spot—not exactly sure, but I think the last guy maybe was there 9 months and the guy before him 6 months, but who’s counting! The point of this “rambling”—the word longevity doesn’t come to Jeff Eats’ mind when he thinks of this particular spot and its past tenants. By the way, the first tenant and second tenant were “American Style” restaurants and the last two were Italian. To rough this out a drop more, the American Style joints had decent enough food/service and the Italian ones-had horrendous food/service. Jeff Eats can surmise why the Italian guys closed- but the “American Style” failures are open to conjecture—the best guess here, is that the rents were obscenely high, but that’s just an educated guess based on heresay.
Anyway…the other day Jeff Eats received an e-mail press release from an Italian restaurant named Meatball Room…who for right now- we’re gonna call “Guy #5″ with a Grand Opening tentatively scheduled for the first week of November…that pr- piece is printed below for your review.
To make what has now turned into an absurd- long story shorter…this evening Jeff Eats just happened (wink wink!) to walk by the Meatball Room which is in the final stages of construction and watched from the “outside” the training of its new staff…Two of Meatball’s owners, John and Louie seeing Jeff Eats’ nose pressed against the window, invited me in…and I gotta tell you, that after a 32 minute conversation with them, I really-think that Meatball Room has a shot of being a huge success. The reason I “say” this…both John and Louie have “tons” of experience both in the front/back of the house–The menu they showed me, had a great selection of reasonably priced Italian stuff and the decor–which resembles an upscale sports-bar with loads of flat screen tvs (do they still make fat screen tvs?) and an out-door dining patio is perfect for the neighborhood-family crowd that populates the immediate area. Finally…Louie insisted that I try the wood fired margherita pizza that he was “testing” on the new-staff…not wanting to be insulting, Jeff Eats had two slices and I gotta tell you, that the wood fired pizza- thin/crisp/sweet sauce was absolutely dynamite. Can’t speak for anyone else, but I think that my buddies over at blog- Worst Pizza www.worstpizza.com are gonna love this pizza, but I’m getting ahead of myself.
Now nothing for nothing…Jeff Eats knows that 2 slices of test pizza don’t make or for that matter-break a restaurant—who knows, the rest of the food could be garbage and the service stinks—or maybe the rent is a killer…What I do know, is that Jeff Eats has been around a ton of restaurants and the gut-call is that Louie and John (not sure if there are other partners or not) are gonna pull this one off.
As they say in Uganda—Only time will tell!
By the way, you can check menu/prices at www.meatballroom.com.
Take a look at the pr piece…and Jeff Eats will update you guys after eating a “real” meal there.
*****
MEATBALL ROOM, HIGHLY-ANTICIPATED AUTHENTIC TUSCAN ITALIAN RESTAURANT, TO OPEN IN BOCA RATON MID-OCTOBER, Located in The Regency Court, adjacent to Woodfield Country Club, the restaurant features authentic fare, artisan cocktails, designer desserts and mu
By Simply the Best PR
BOCA RATON, Fla., Oct. 7, 2013 — /PRNewswire/ — Meatball Room (www.meatballroom.com), the highly-anticipated, newly designed Tuscan Italian restaurant, announced today they have retained Simply the Best PR (www.simplythebestpublicrelations.com) as its Public Relations firm of record.
Meatball Room’s extensive menu is highlighted by 12 different meatballs made fresh daily, ranging from classic Italian, to brisket, salmon, Reuben, eggplant, turkey, chicken, vegetarian and much more.
Executive Chef Louie, who recently moved back to Florida from Las Vegas after serving as Executive Chef at The Sugar Factory American Brasserie, the highly-acclaimed 30,000 square foot restaurant at The Paris Hotel, is in charge of all aspects of the kitchen at Meatball Room. His authentic Tuscan-inspired signature dishes include homemade pastas and unique sauces, wood burning pizza oven, Pollo, Veal, Pesce, Melanzane, Ravioli and much more.
Meatball Room features:
•Lunch and dinner daily
•Sunday brunch
•Wood burning pizza oven and open kitchen
•Indoor and outdoor patio seating
•Indoor/outdoor bar
•Cocktail lounge
•Champagne ladies night
•Private parties
•Catering
•And more
With the debut of Meatball Room, Boca Raton has a new choice for genuine Italian cuisine that is Tuscan at heart, but reflects modern tastes and lightness. A full bar with a carefully selected wine list, hand-made cocktails and a daily happy hour featuring bar bites and drink specials will be featured.
The Dessert Menu is extensive and is unlike any dessert menu seen in South Florida. Mouth-watering highlights include a wide array of homemade ice cream sundaes, cheesecakes, tiramisu, numerous milkshakes, innovative ice cream sandwiches, delicious cakes, a Whoopie Pie Tower, and so many other choices.
The restaurant is 5,500 square feet, seats 260 both inside and on the outside covered patio, features a wood burning pizza oven, open kitchen, LED lighting throughout, plasma televisions at the bars and private party room.
“Our publicity will include a series of grand opening events to introduce the restaurant as a place to enjoy genuinely delicious Italian dishes and exciting drinks in a comfortable, relaxed yet beautiful atmosphere,” states Kim Morgan, President of Simply the Best PR. “We are particularly excited to promote Executive Chef Louie to the media to showcase his extensive and impressive experience in Tuscan fare and exciting desserts.”
Meatball Room The Regency Court 3011 Yamato Road Boca Raton, FL 33434 www.meatballroom.com 561-409-4111
Contact: Kim Morgan Simply the Best Public Relations (954) 261-2149 kmorgan@goodpresspublishing.com
Read more here: http://www.heraldonline.com/2013/10/07/5280284/meatball-room-selects-simply-the.html#storylink=cpy
jeff, I work in the center where Meatball is located. About a week or so ago, Meatball invited all of the store owners and employees to a taste testing. I went and I have to tell you, that some of the invited people were eating as if this was their last meal. The owners were as gracious as could be, but a load of people were literally lining their pockets with free food.
I have worked in the center for many years and I am very familiar with all of the restaurants that have come and gone in the exact same spot where Meatball Room is now housed, some were good and some of them were really bad.
I just wanted to wish the Meatball owners great success and good luck. They have a gorgeous ultra modern looking restaurant both inside and outside. The food that I tried was delicious. The staff was young and hip looking and as professional as could be. Based on my tasting Meatball Room should be able to establish a large customer base.
Thanks,
Hearing some very nice things about Meatball Room. Several neighbors of mine have eaten there and enjoyed it.
I live in Broken Sound Country Club which is just a few minutes away and will definitely be giving Meatball Room a try.
Jeff Eats:
Got a question for you.
Do you think that the restaurant served you the exact same food that it serves to regular customers?
STUM:
Just had a chance to read your comments.
To answer your question…YES!-and I’ll tell you why.
Last night Jeff Eats and Mrs. Jeff Eats were in Meatball Room from 6:15pm to 10:45pm. During that time, I spent some time just “wandering” around the restaurant which by the way was very busy–and looked at the food coming out of the kitchen on its way to various tables. Now nothing for nothing, the pizzas, salads and entrees that I saw looked exactly like the stuff that was being served in the “media dining area”–now, I didn’t taste the food, but common sense tells me–the food tasted the same. I will also tell you-although you didn’t ask, that during my sojourn-I watched the front desk, the kitchen line, the two bar areas and wait-staff and things seemed to be running real smooth.
Thanks for reading…
Last night my wife and I took out pizza from Meatball Room. It was excellent.
My wife has been following your site recently and we received some enjoyment in reading about your observations on restaurants especially since your thoughts come as a regular customer as we are as opposed to gourmet professional critic.
How you can give an objective opinion on a given restaurant after you have attended a “private media event” is beyond me. Anyone would go out of their way to put their finest foot forward under those circumstances when the spotlight is on them. What you should have done is gone in on a regular day and give us your opinions as an average diner would have experienced. I think you would have more creditability and I would have valued your thoughts a lot more. I went there this past Sunday and here is my experience.
“Wanted to try Meatball Room 5 minutes from where we live. It was Sunday at 5:20 pm (they have been open now about 2 wks) and we wanted to get a quick bite and drinks after a long tiring day.
My wife and I walked up to the door and there were two rows of velvet rope barriers and a tall Maître podium outside with 2 either high school age or recently graduated high school hostesses. We looked inside and could see about 10 diners in the entire restaurant. I said we would like a table for the two of us and the girls asked if we had a reservation and I responded no we don’t. They said they are going to be very busy tonight and they can only honor reservations and not walk ins. They asked if we would like to eat at the bar and we said fine. They then opened the velvet ropes to allow us to go to this empty void lounge and we sat at the bar that was occupied by one other couple.
Two female bartenders about the same age as the hostesses were cordial, friendly and took our drink and food orders. They seemed green and inexperienced. Along with our drinks we ordered a salad, clams oreganata and a pizza. The salad was fine, the pizza tasted as if it was made from frozen dough, and the clams were totally the poorest attempt I have ever seen for Clams Oreganata. There were 6 claims the size of quarters in some oil and some seasoning on top. These claims belong in a pot of linguini not as Clams Oreganata. The price of the clams were $9.99. They should be embarrassed to have served it. You would think a brand new place looking to get started would either make it right, or If they can’t do it right they should take it off the menu. We paid our tab which was a little under $50.00 with the gratuity. Leaving the restaurant at about 6:45 pm the restaurant had about 20 diners and was still 2/3rds empty.
I cannot for the life of me understand how business people can invest a lot of money to open a restaurant that puts up barriers for diners to get in, has inexperienced, unprofessional, green help, has subpar offerings on their menu, especially when they must know that within the last few years at least three other restaurants have closed up in the exact same location”.
David:
Just had a chance to read your comments.
You are obviously a “newcomer” to Jeff Eats…let me explain-
Jeff Eats is a very inter-active site. Look around the site, you will find a huge number of readers’ comments–you will also find “replies” from Jeff Eats…the site is sort of like a Leggo set, the article-comments-replies…builds the finished product.
Now, you and I both know -that of course Meatball Room was going to do its best for the “media”…now if you go to Comments–look at the comment from reader STUM on 11/20/2013 and Jeff Eats reply on 11/20/13…now, in that reply, didn’t Jeff Eats give you basically a “regular customer” view? Sure I did!
Thanks for reading…
David,
My wife and I have eaten 2x in Meatball Room. Both times we had the regular mozzarella pizza and loved it. They use a non acidic plum tomato in their sauces and it prevented late night indigestion in my case. The first time we went he had clams oreganato and didnt care for them. The second time with our pizza we had meat and turkey meatballs which were delicious. Give Meatball another shot.
Its surprising these days when a new place opens, it can get more yelp reviews than places open for several years. You also have to wonder how many of the positive reviews are from people who attended the free meal event and quickly posted to yelp. In fact one positive yelp review the poster actually stated that they were there for the free food event. Yelp has so much clout (I did not know this until yesterday) that siri on the iPhone uses the data feeds into suggesting nearby restaurants. It is not hard for a new restaurant to scan yelp for local reviewers (with a lot of juice/reviews) on yelp and invite them. The reason is the most active reviewers posts will get more attention on yelp. I am not one such reviewer. I do like Jeff Eats opinions and the radio appearance more than a week ago was great. Many years ago I worked in the food industry. Sometimes there were issues with the free events because people ordered a ton of food and the kitchen wasn’t exactly ready (with the staff) for heavy action like that. I also think in general that those who get the free meal are more likely to post a positive review. (Not Jeff) he mentioned this up front and I think his picks are pretty good.
We tried Meatball Room two nights ago. Had the chopped salad, turkey meatball appetizer, pizza, veal parm. Enjoyed everything. The service was good. Personally the price points are a drop on the high side. The restaurant is great looking.
took out pizzas and pastas and enjoyed everything. looking forward to eating there.
Jeff,
My wife and I live in the WCC which is right next to the Meatball’s center. We and another couple ate there last night and enjoyed our dinner. Living in WCC over the past few days we have had pro an cons on Meatball Room. We have always found that the only way to know what is really going on is to actually try the restaurant for ourselves. For example one of our neighbors who ate there didn’t care for the veal parm, while I loved it.
All I can say is that your review is more inline to what we found that what several negatve folks here found.
To your readers, try Meatball Room for yourselves.
Their pizza is fabulous.
Sun Sentinel gave it a nice writeup in yesterday’s paper.
Jeff,
I and my wife ate there this past weekend.
We enjoyed the food.
The service is bit rough but we appreciate that the restaurant is brand new and has to shakeout a bit.
If I could give them an idea it would be to cut down the menu. Too many items. I would feature salads, meatballs, pizzas, pastas and a handful of entrees, period. I would also cut down the dessert menu and feature maybe 10 great items.
No question in mind that with a bit of tweaking these folks can have a successful restaurant.
pizza is excellent same for the turkey meatballs.
Jeff,
Last night My wife and I and another couple at at Meatball Room. Let me say that we had a delicious meal and the service was excellent. For a 100 bucks we had a couple of sodas, a chopped salad, pizza, meatballs, penne bolognese, cheese ravioli, zepoles, and a ice cream sandwich. Tons of delicious food for 25 a head. I have absolutely no idea why some comments are negative on food or service. We loved the restaurant and will be back.
Great looking restaurant.
On the food side ok but nothing great. Nino’s and Augy’s serve better food at cheaper prices.
On the dessert side Meatball has some real winners there.
For me a Saturday night place.
Ate there last Saturday night. Enjoyed the food. My wife and I shared a chopped salad, pizza and a couple of desserts. All in all a nice meal.
Unless we are missing something after reading several negative comments, the food is actually quite good at Meatball Room. We also found the service quite good. Great looking restaurant and the outdoor patio is a real nice option on a nice night.
I dont know where the last group of people ate but we were there Sat. night restaurant was half full. The pizza we ordered was good after that it went down hill in a hurry. We ordered chicken parm, baked clams and our friends had pasta in clam sauce and a veal dish one was worse than the other. The service was not much better than the food
Our party of 4 ate there last Friday night and at 8pm the restaurant was packed.
The pizza was fair.
The chopped salad was good.
The meatballs were good.
The penne ala vodka was good.
The veal parm was good.
The zeppolis were excellent.
The ice cream sandwiches were excellent.
Service was good.
Great looking restaurant.
Nice change from the drab red sauce joint décor that you see all over the area.
The food is okay but far from top notch.
More of a Friday night, Saturday night type spot than a local pizza place that you take the kids and family.
My husband, I and our teenage son tried MR last night. It wasn’t crowded but there were plenty of people eating there. We got there about 7pm.
We didn’t think too much of their baked clams. They were tasty but very small.
We enjoyed their plain pizza.
We also tried their taco meatballs which were delicious.
We also had a ziti bologenese which was excellent.
We’ll be back.
jeff, good talking with yesterday. as I metioned I and my husband ate in meatball room the same night that you were there for the media night. as a matter of fact I saw you sitting in the back room with that media crowd. our meal that night was pretty good. we had plain meatballs and veal parm. we split a chopped salad.
Didn’t care for the food.
Jeff
Can’t quite get the negative reviews. Ate there tonight and everything was delicious.
Food is okay. Not great. Great looking restaurant. For during the week I see a Nino’s, Augy’s, Domenic’s in the cards not Meatball Room. I see Meatball Room as a Saturday night outing.
Ate outside on the patio at the bar enjoyed some meatball sliders and a couple of beers. Great weather and the sliders were just right.
Don’t know about the negative folks here but all I know is that 8:30 tonight the inside and outdoor patio was jammed with people.
Jeff
I am going to this one an Almost.
I say that because if they just tweaked the food and service just a drop they could be a huge winner.
For right now everything is passable but nothing great.
I think that if they would just concentrate on salads, pizza, meatballs, pasta, and a handful of entrees they could be onto something here. Right now they got way too much going on.
Ate there and really enjoyed the food.
I did too. Had the meatballs and really liked them.
Been there 3 times now with different groups of 8.
I would like this place to succeed but I can’t see it.
To survive in Boca you have to offer something unique or special.
Everything here is good but nothing is memorable.
Pizza ok
Salads OK
Service Ok
Meatballs good
Pasta good
But nothing stood out.
The pizza at Boca west is just as good, same with D’Angelos and most other restaurants in Boca
If Burt Rappaport couldn’t make this location work nobody can.
I met the owner twice and I wish him the best but I am sure I will be reading an obituary sometime this spring or summer.
What a shame
Ate there the other night with kids and grand kids and really enjoyed everything. We sat outside and they had a nice trio singing doo wop music and golden oldies. Very nice touch.
Jeff, last night went to a meet the candidate night at Meatball Room. it was held outside and pizza and all types of meatballs were served. thought that the food was delicious.
Love this place. Food is excellent.
food and service are solid.
Had their turkey meatballs and pizza with carmalized onions and loved the food. Service is good.
Great looking restaurant, reasonable prices and the service was very good.
was there last night at 11pm. The bar was packed with people drinking and dancing to disco music. Great time and finally a place that doesnt close up at 10pm. Try Meatball Room.
Jeff Eats:
I have eaten here 4 times since it opened. I like the food. I like the décor. I think that the prices are ok but could be a drop cheaper here and there. All in all, I really think it has a shot of sticking around for quite sometime.
Jeff,
Ate there last night with my wife and grown daughter. It was our first time. Here are my observations.
Items ordered included house salads, minestrone soup, rigatoni with meat sauce, pizza. The food was delicious. The pricing was ok.
The service was fair. The kitchen basically got everything right but the food came out literally all at once.
On staff, there were maybe 25 customers and there was probably 15-20 in staff. It was 7pm and way too many workers for this size crowd. Too many at the front door to greet people.
The food was very good. The operations need some work.
The food is very good. Excellent pizza.
Jeff,
My husband and I recently used a Groupon deal at Meatball Room, Basically it saved us 50 cents on the dollar.
This was our first time at Meatball Room and we loved the modern look of the restaurant. We also liked the outside which was great looking.
We had several dishes which included the regular meatballs, pizza, and chicken parm and we really enjoyed the food, service and atmosphere.
To sum up, it was a good meal and we would definitely recommend Meatball Room to others.
Great place for a late weekend night .
We live in the Woodfield Country Club. We have seen restaurants and other businesses come and go in the center right next door to our Club. Not exactly sure why but I think that high rents are partially to blame.
We tried Meatball Room last Saturday night for the first time and thoroughly enjoyed the food. Same for the service. We know we can get cheaper food at other neighborhood Italian restaurants but the style and the outdoor patio make Meatball worth the few extra bucks. Not going to bore you with a list of what we ate, but suffice it to say, it was all well prepared and extremely tasty. Hopefully the Meatball Room didn’t sign too heavy of a lease.
Hey Jeff,
Three of us ate dinner at Meatball Room last night. We arrived around 6pm and the restaurant was pretty busy but we were seated right away.
I only had a bowl of their wedding soup and it was delicious.
The other two had a chicken Caesar and salmon dish.
Everyone loved the food,
If I have one negative I think that the prices are a bit too high.
Ate their last week. Nice place with a good vibe. I felt the food was just average. I found their sauce on the bland side. Pricing was as bit higher than some of the local competition.
Last night outside they had a terrific 60s band. Food was okay but nothing great.
Sun Sentinel liked the joint and gave it 3 stars this morning.
Loved the pizza and chicken parm.
Food is good.
Good service.
Reasonable prices.
Picked up meatballs, pizza, chicken parm, pene ala vodka. Everything was delicious.
Wife and I ate there last night. Food was delish. When we left at 10:20pm both outside patio and inside were jammed with people enjoying live music outside and canned inside.
Terrific food .
Love this restaurant.
At night they have live music.