* Rhino Donughnuts & Coffee (Boca Raton)

Jeff Eats loves and I do mean LOVES a good donut or two or three…with that in mind, I’m hearing that Rhino Donuts & Coffee a gourmet donut shop is currently under construction in Boca Raton…I really don’t have any particulars on the business other than it is located in the same strip -center as Spandini’s Pizzeria (see review 5/15/13) which is right across the street from Mizner Park in Boca Raton. Now, this again is hearsay as Jeff Eats is no Perry White—that in addition to the Boca location-Rhino has three other South Florida stores also under construction. The hearsay-story also says that Rhino makes outrageously delicious donuts and that the planned Boca menu is limited to coffee, donuts and a handful of muffins.

So…you now know as much as Jeff Eats knows about Rhino Donuts & Coffee.

Let’s keep an eye on this “one”…sounds like something that Jeff Eats might really enjoy trying out.

***** Joji Yogurt

Yesterday..

Jeff Eats tried a really cool “food truck” Joji Yogurt- at a Boca Raton street fair. Joji serves (pun intended) Miami to North Palm Beach, so you’ll need to check www.jojiyogurt.com to find out where this truck is on any given day.

Real simple concept, the side of the truck has 6-self serve frozen yogurt machines and a toppings bar. For 5 bucks you get an 8oz. cup which you can load-up with all of the yogurt and toppings that your little old heart desires.

Now, you and I both know that Joji Yogurt is a “variation on a theme”…that being the local self-serve frozen yogurt store—with the differences being 1. that this is a store on wheels and 2. the purchase price no matter how little or how much you “take” is capped at $5.

When you check Joji’s website, you’ll find that it has something like 2,000,000 rotating yogurt flavors and 2,000 rotating toppings. Yesterday, Jeff Eats tried the pineapple sorbet, vanilla and chocolate yogurt flavors and chopped peanuts and chocolate sprinkles toppings… everything was delicious on a sunny 85 degree South Florida day while walking from tent to tent looking at endless wind chimes, leather braclets, and paintings. Maybe it’s just me, but I could swear that I’ve seen some of the same paintings for-like 20 years at various street fairs. Anyway, I digress…

You regular guys know -that Jeff Eats has for a long time considered self-serve yogurt stores a “fad.”—I’ll even go on record, that the fad has ended and the predicted store closings are the next shoe to drop here in South Florida and elsewhere around the country. With that in mind, I gotta tell you, that Joji Yogurt’s food truck “one price” concept is genius…absolutely perfect for street fairs, carnivals, private parties—unlike a brick & mortar store, the truck can go where the action is.

Now nothing for nothing, Joji’s concept can be easily duplicated, replicated, copied in a flash. That said, yesterday was the first time that Jeff Eats had seen a “price fixed self serve yogurt” food truck in action, so the props and shout-out go to Joji’s.

You got Joji’s website. Its phone number is (954) 788-2565.

* Amazon.com, Inc.

Jeff Eats loves to “shop” at Amazon.com…For you guys who don’t know what Amazon.com is, take a look at its corporate profile ala Yahoo! Finance:

“Amazon.com, Inc. operates as an online retailer in North America and internationally. The company operates in two segments, North America and International. It operates retail Websites, such as amazon.com and amazon.ca, which include merchandise and content purchased for resale from vendors and those offered by third-party sellers. The company serves consumers through its retail Websites and focuses on selection, price, and convenience. It also offers programs that enable sellers to sell their products on company’s Websites, and their own branded Websites. In addition, the company serves developers and enterprises through Amazon Web Services, which provides access to technology infrastructure that enables virtually various businesses. Further, it offers Kindle Direct Publishing, an online platform that lets independent authors and publishers to make their books available in the Kindle Store; and programs that allow authors, musicians, filmmakers, app developers, and others to publish and sell content. Additionally, the company manufactures and sells the Kindle e-reader devices. It also provides co-branded credit card agreements, and fulfillment and advertising services. Amazon.com, Inc. was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.”
–
Now…if I have read Amazon.com’s financials correctly, this company which does billions of dollars in yearly sales has never-ever reported a profitable quarter. In a nutshell, it grosses tons of money and loses a fortune, yet as I type—its stock is trading at $360 a share which capitalizes the company at something close to $160,000,000,000.

WTF…

Any all explanations will be appreciated.

* 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

* Two Wrongs Don’t Make A Right–Sweet Monkey Frozen Yogurt & Cupcakes

Printed below is an e-mail that Jeff Eats received today from a self serve frozen yogurt/cupcake franchise named Sweet Monkey Frozen Yogurt & Cupcakes…it made me laugh and I thought I’d share it with you guys.

So…if Jeff Eats got it right, Sweet Monkey is trying to peddle franchises that combine frozen yogurt and cupcakes under one-roof!

Like I said at the start of this thing, two wrongs don’t make a right.

To the guys peddling this “thing”…because you got a cute circus decor– more flavors/toppings than the competition with a cupcake kicker-to boot—-doesn’t mean that you got a franchisable concept. Nothing for nothing, and since Jeff Eats has no skin in this game—I really do wish you a load of success, but personally, you guys are so late to the “party” that it isn’t even funny. If you haven’t noticed, self serve yogurt stores and cupcake stores-are literally on every American corner and most recently a number of them have “Closed For Good” signs on their front doors.

*****
Greetings!
Can you believe it’s October already? I guess it’s true, time fly’s when you are having fun! At Sweet Monkey Frozen Yogurt & Cupcakes, we have fun everyday and would enjoy nothing more than to share it with our friends. Before you know it, the holiday season will be in full bloom!
Holiday Specials for Sweet Monkey Franchisees!!
Well my friend, the holiday season is in full bloom at Sweet Monkey Frozen Yogurt and Cupcakes. If you are looking for a fun and unique frozen dessert franchise, then look no further than Sweet Monkey Frozen Yogurt & Cupcakes. Sweet Monkey is proud to announce a once in a life-time special you will be sure to appreciate.
If you sign a Sweet Monkey Frozen Yogurt & Cupcakes franchise on or before January 30, 2014. Sweet Monkey will give you a 50% discount! That’s right! Your original franchise fee of $30,000 will be cut in half!
But Wait!! There’s More!
If you open your Sweet Monkey Frozen Yogurt & Cupcake unit on or before March 31, 2014, Sweet Monkey will give you a 2% reduction in your Royalties for the rest of 2014!
So tell your partners or franchise buddies, this offer is good until November 1, 2013!
CALL ME NOW!!,
James Miller 770-530-2518 or jm@sweetmonkey.com
Vice President of Franchise DevelopmentSweet Monkey Frozen Yogurt & Cupcakes
Mobile Unit
For our Mobile unit franchise candidates, we will offer 50% off original $20,000 franchise fee and 1% reduction of Franchise Royalties for 2014 if you sign a Mobile Unit franchise on or before January 30, 2014.

* I Care I Cure 1st Annual Chef Event (Miami)

From: Kim Lieberman
Subject: I Care I Cure 1st Annual Chef Event

Message Body:
Hi Jeff,
Can you mention the I Care I Cure 1st Annual Chef event Sunday, November 3 at
5:30pm at Marlins Park. Tickets can be purchased online at icareicure.org. It is
going to be a great event featuring celebrity chefs cooking delicious dishes and
serving them up with the Marlins Park as a backdrop. The monies raised go to
help researchers find gentler cures to childhood cancer.
Thanks for your support.
Kim Lieberman

Kim: Jeff Eats can and did…good luck with the event!

* Madisons New York Grill & Bar (Boca Raton)

There is an old saying…”5 Times The Charm”—or something like that!

Anyway, yesterday Jeff Eats did some checking–on a new “American Style” joint that is being “built” in Boca Raton—Madisons New York Grill & Bar. Thought that you guys might like to “share” the e-mail I received from Madisons’ PR firm (it’s printed below)…

Just so you know, the “Boca” location that Madisons is going into-has previously been the home to a Pizza Restaurant, New York Style Deli, BBQ Ribs-Chicken Restaurant and a French Restaurant…just maybe, 5X is the charm!

Jeff Eats is going to “follow” Madisons and as soon as it opens (plans call for December, 2013) I’ll give you the skinny on food/decor. Just so you know, I did some checking on Madisons with a couple of Canadian acquaintances and they swear by this “Canadian” chain—they compare it to being in the same league as Houston’s but with “lower” price-points…they said that it is very-family friendly with loads of flat screen tvs and a real casual atmosphere.

Anyway…Jeff Eats is putting Madisons on “our” calendar and will report back to you guys after it opens.

You can check www.madisonsnewyork.com for menu/prices and other pertinent info.

*****
Good afternoon,
Nice speaking with you. Per our conversation, attached you will find information thus far regarding Madisons New York Grill, a Canadian-based restaurant group set to debut TWO new locations in South Florida in the next few months. Since 2004, Madisons has experienced incredible success with their 14 locations throughout Quebec and is now announcing its grand arrival to South Florida and the U.S., bringing a warm atmosphere, spectacular cuisine and extraordinary service to Boca Raton in December 2013 and Pompano Beach in 2014.
At Madisons, South Florida guests immediately identify with the outstanding New York-inspired menu and heightened dining experience featuring a welcoming bar area ideal for enjoying quality time with friends, family and colleagues. All amidst a magnificent setting, Madisons offers unique ambiance designed to complement the homemade cuisine and top-notch service.
I will certainly keep you in mind once we open and create tasting events.
Thanks!

* Best Kosher Restaurants

Care to share your favorite South Florida Kosher Restaurants?

***** Chef Eddie’s, 3214 Orange Center Boulevard, Orlando, Florida 32805, (407) 505-6802.

Let’s call Chef Eddie’s a “soul food” diner…the joint does breakfast/lunch/dinner Tuesday-Sunday 8am-8:30pm and absolutely blew Jeff Eats away with some of the most delicious fried chicken & waffles, fried shrimp, crab cakes, bbq ribs, mac & cheese, hush puppies—that this East-Flatbush Boy has ever eaten.

No fooling around…Chef Eddie’s food is dynamite.

You can check Chef Eddie’s menu/dirt cheap prices at www.chfeddies.com—there are also a whole bunch of photos/videos for your consideration.

Let Jeff Eats close by saying–every so often I come across a joint that is an aboslute home-run…well, this one is a grand slam!

* Bobby Collins (Mardi Gras Casino, Lake Worth Playhouse).

Just a heads-up…

Bobby Collins-one of America’s funniest “clean” national comics—has three 2013 South Florida appearances scheduled.

Wednesday-November 7th at the Mardi Gras Casino in Hallandale Beach (www.mardigrascasinofl.com).
Thursday-November 8th at the Mardi Gras Casino in Hallandale Beach (www.mardigrascasinofl.com).
Friday-November 9th at the Lake Worth Playhouse in Lake Worth (www.lakeworthplayhouse.org).

Nothing for nothing, over the years- Jeff Eats has seen Bobby Collins something like 4 times—and I am telling you, FUNNY!

Do yourselves a big solid and go see the guy…

You can buy tickets at the above cited websites.