***** What’s The Best Greek Joint In South Florida? *****

Give Jeff Eats your best picks.

***** SWEET DREAMS *****

Literally— just got the following press release from the Seminole Coconut Creek Casino…looks like a real-fun charity event on Friday-December 7, 2012/Saturday-December 8, 2012. Tickets go for either $25 and $35.

*****
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 11.20.12
CONTACTS:
Elizabeth Kelley Grace | 561.702.7471 |elizabeth@thebuzzagency.net
Julie Mullen | 561.779.2516 | julie@thebuzzagency.net
Britta Schlager | 954.283.2812 | Britta.Schlager@stofgaming.com
Brittany Elder | 954.714.7893 | Brittany@bitnergoodman.com

Seminole Casino Coconut Creek to Host 6th Annual ‘Sweet Dreams’
Holiday Dessert Extravaganza

Event benefits local charities; features live entertainment, carolers, desserts, and more

COCONUT CREEK, FL (November 20, 2012) – The Seminole Casino Coconut Creek’s Pavilion will transform into a sugary winter wonderland during its 6th annual Sweet Dreams festival on Friday, December 7 and Saturday, December 8, from 6-10 pm. VIP tickets are $35 per person, and General Adult tickets are $25 per person. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Ronald McDonald House and the Broward Health/Lisa Boccard Breast Cancer Fund.

Sweet Dreams will feature a variety of dreamy dessert stations, wine, beer and spirits, and live music from The Rat Pack (www.ratpackisback.com), a Las Vegas sensation tribute group on Friday; and Deana Martin (www.deanamartin.com), daughter of music legend Dean Martin, on Saturday. A backdrop featuring spectacular decorations and strolling carolers will add to the holiday ambiance.

Three Olives Vodka and Patrón are sponsoring the open bars. Guests can indulge in everything from Mexican Brownies, to cake pops, mini Bundt cakes, Key Lime fudge, cupcakes, crepes, candies, nitrogen ice cream, cookies, cotton candy, and a spectacular chocolate fountain. Participants include A Chocolate Affair, A Flair for Fudge, Benvenuto Restaurant, Cake Delirium, Cakes by Ruthie, Cantina Laredo Modern Mexican Food, III Forks Prime Steakhouse, Cold Stone Creamery, Cookies by Design, Corner Bakery Café, Crepeteria, Cuatro Leches, Extraordinary Sweets, Gelato Petrini, Jodi’s Cupcakes, Melting Pot, Mizner Productions, Palm Beach Cakes, Potions in Motion, Restaurant Beverage Service, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, Suckers for Dessert, We Take the Cake, Seminole Casino Coconut Creek Catering, and more.

Sweet Dreams is strictly for guests age 21 and over and will take place from 6 to 10 p.m. on Friday, December 7 and Saturday, December 8 at the Seminole Casino Coconut Creek. VIP tickets are $35 per person and include an open bar, and General Adult tickets are $25 per person and include beer and wine only. Guests are invited to make a night of it and enjoy all the casino fun following the Sweet Dreams event.

Tickets can be purchased online at Ticketmaster.com http://www.ticketmaster.com/Sweet-Dreams-tickets/artist/1799519?tm_link=edp_Artist_Name

Sweet Dreams benefits two charities, the Broward Health/Lisa Boccard Breast Cancer Foundation and the Ronald McDonald House. The Broward Health/Lisa Boccard Breast Cancer Fund which was founded to screen women within the Coral Springs community who were financially unable to obtain screening mammograms and advanced high quality breast imaging and biopsies. For more information visit: http://www.browardhealth.org/lisaboccardfund .

The Ronald McDonald House (www.rmhc.org) provides housing for family members of children who are receiving hospital care. Sometimes when a child gets sick they have to go to a hospital far from their families. And parents want to be with their child every second during such a difficult time. In fact, many would trade places with them if they could. Since they can’t, they can at least be by their side. That’s exactly why there’s RMHC. We have places where families can be together, because we believe children heal faster when they’re with loved ones. For the past 38 years, RMHC has provided hope, healing and the gift of togetherness for families in their greatest time of need.

About Seminole Casino Coconut Creek
The all-new Seminole Casino Coconut Creek is South Florida’s hottest place to play. With its recent $150 million expansion, the entertainment destination now features 65 table games of live Blackjack, Baccarat, Pai Gow Poker, Let it Ride and Spanish 21 plus a High-Limit area and lounge on a 100,000-square-foot casino floor. The new second floor non-smoking Stax Poker Lounge offers high stakes no-limit action including Texas Hold ‘em, 7-Card Stud and Omaha Hi Lo tournaments. More than 2,300 Las Vegas-style slots include Wide-Area Progressive Jackpots and Mega Jackpots. Three new restaurants – the upscale NYY Steak, Sorrisi Italian Restaurant and the New York-style 1st Street Deli – join the award winning Fresh Harvest, Nectar Lounge and Sunset Grill. Taking total guest enjoyment to a new level is The Pavilion, a 1,200-seat concert venue, and the revolutionary Player’s Club showcasing an innovative and immersive experience eliminating wait times. An environmentally friendly garage with solar energy and green art technology offers 2,400 covered parking spaces. An adjacent transportation hub is outfitted with valet service and a bus lounge for ultimate comfort and guest convenience. Open 24/7, 365 days, Seminole Casino Coconut Creek is located at the corner of U.S. 441 (State Road 7) and Sample Road at 5550 NW 40 Street. For more information, call 954-977-6700, visit us at www.seminolecasinococonutcreek.com or www.facebook.com/seminolecasinocococreek. Follow us on Twitter @SemCasinoCoCo.

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Mario’s Osteria, 1400 Glades Road, Boca Raton, Florida 33431, (561) 239-7000.

I gotta ask you guys to pleasssse indulge me…do me a favor and read Jeff Eats’ Mario Of Boca (7/21/08) and Bova Cucina (6/6/09) reviews—it’ll save me a whole lot of explaining.

Anyway…this guy Mario is now back with a new Italian joint…Mario’s Osteria in Boca Raton. For you folks who want to know about Mr. Bova’s restaurant career- check the Sun Sentinel and you’ll find loads of details…you’ll also find the hows?/whys?/whens? concerning his unfortunate business relationship with Scott Rothstein Esq—Florida’s own “Bernie Madoff.”

Now let’s talk about the “dinner” that I just did…

First, the good news… Mario’s is “one” gorgeous looking semi-upscale Italian joint.

For color—Just a hunch here, but my gut tells me that “Mario” has some partners “here”—don’t know any details, but I suspect someone ELSE is bankrolling this joint…but I’m just guessing here (wink wink wink!). For the record, I’m assuming that you folks know the story how “Mario” lost a ton of money–getting crooked by Rothstein. If you don’t, some of you might find it an interesting read.

Second, the not so good news…the large pizza, meatball sub, chicken parm sub, garlic knots, French fries—were all LOUSY. An absolute waste of money. The pizza had no taste and the crust was a soggy mess…the meatballs tasted like something out of an Army rations can…Sorry I stand corrected, the rations’ stuff tastes better.

Let me wrap this one up real fast…don’t waste your time.

Wait! I was just thinking, let me give you guys an early Thanksgiving gift…here’s the 2-”Mario” reviews I mentioned at the top of this rant…

***

Mario’s of Boca (Boca Raton)

Posted on July 21st, 2008 · Boca Raton Italian

Mario’s of Boca, 1901 North Military Trail, Boca Raton, Florida 33431 (561) 392-5595.

Before we start, take a look at Mario’s wesbite at www.mariosofboca.com. Gorgeous place, great menu, reasonable prices…it is all “spelled out” for you on the website…WRONG!!!

Mario’s has been a Boca Raton “fixture” for something like 23 years…this Southern Italian joint literally owned (notice I said “owned” not “owns’) the Boca Raton market with lines continuously out the door. Well something happened (and I don’t know exactly what it was) to Mario’s changing it from a great joint into a mediocre second rate joint…kiss the lines goodbye.

I’ll make this as simple as can be…over the past 3 months I have had dinner at Mario’s twice…each time the food was horrendous and the service even worse, if that’s possible. Both times, the joint was literally being run by high-school kids ( no insult intended to the youth of America, but you know what I mean). Just so you know, I “sampled” veal parmigiana, veal chop milanese, chicken parmigiana, chicken scarpiello and shrimp scampi…they were all lousy…by the way, the veal parmigiana was in the same league as eating the sole of your Reebok sneaker…Just so we are straight, the people that I ate with all agreed, that the food was terrible and that the service amateurish. There was one redeeming thing…Mario’s garlic rolls are still terrific.

One final thought…when I was a kid, the big player in the premium ice cream business was Good Humor…the big player in coffee shops was Chock full o’ Nuts…the big player on the highways for hotels/food was Howard Johnson’s…everyone of them failed to stay at the top and are just bit players today. Mario’s was the kingpin.
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Bova Cucina (Boca Raton)

Posted on June 6th, 2009 · Boca Raton Italian

Bova Cucina, 1901 North Military Trail, Boca Raton, Florida 33431 (561) 392-5595.

You know…if you dress a monkey in a $2,500 suit (in this case the suit is a great looking restaurant), it’s still a monkey.

Do me a favor and read my review for Mario’s of Boca (July 21, 2008)…it wasn’t very favorable.

Well the owners of Mario’s, recently changed the joint’s name to Bova Cucina and started a “dinner-promotion”…last month it was $8.95, this month it’s $9.95…the “deal”…soup or salad, garlic rolls, entree, pasta side and they throw in a cannoli for dessert.

Well, it’s still the same monkey dressed in the “$2,500 suit”…and the food is still mediocre.

The other night the joint was jammed with “bargain hunters”…trust me on this, the portions are small and like I said before, the food isn’t very good… your favorite neighborhood “mom & pop” serves better stuff.

Fool me once, shame on you…fool me twice, shame on me.

***** Ovenella, 499 Federal Highway, Boca Raton, Florida 33432, (561) 672-7553.

Got a real-good semi-upscale Italian joint for you…Ovenella in Boca Raton.

You can check menu/prices/photos at www.ovenella.com. Just so we are straight, Ovenella isn’t a “red sauce” stuff your face– “$14.95” soup or salad/entree/pasta side/garlic knots’ joint…that said, Jeff Eats found it to be really-cool, modern decor, really easy going, great vibe and not taking itself too seriously.

Jeff Eats recently did dinner–“tried” fried calamari, veal marsala, chicken parmigiana, 12″ wood-oven margherita pizza, meat lasagna, gnocchi, frutti di mare, tiramisu—everything was A-OK. On the price front, like I said before, you ain’t gonna get away for $14.95 in this joint, but nothing too terrible. The pizza fetched 14 bucks, the veal marsala $26, the chicken parm $19…

Before I hop, Ovenella has a full bar and the wait-staff knew their stuff.

Let me wrap this one up-this way—Jeff Eats really enjoyed Ovenella. Every so often, it’s nice to get away from– Joe’s, Leo’s, Bobby’s, Tony’s, Vinny’s (you can insert your favorite red sauce name) where every meal is like a scene out of that movie “Groundhog Day.” To all the red sauce joints out there, please know–that Jeff Eats still loves you, just making an “editorial” point–so don’t go spitting in my food or nothing the next time I’m in!

Ovenella is open Monday-Friday 11:30am-10pm, Saturday 5pm-10pm, closed on Sunday.

Panda Gourmet Chinese Restaurant, 13900 South Jog Road, Delray Beach, Florida 33446, (561) 638-9022.

The other day Jeff Eats got the following e-mail from long time reader Bill from Delray:

From: Bill from Delray
Subject: Great new Chinese Restaurant in Delray
Message Body:
Jeff,
Wife and I have been to the Panda Gourmet restaurant in Delray twice now. The last visit was the acid test… taking my 91 year old mother-in-law with us. The food is fresh and first quality, the prices crazy low and they’ve been publishing 50% off the second entree (including early bird) in the Sun Sentinel a couple of times a week for a while.
The earlybird, by the way, includes soup, egg roll or spring roll and ice cream. Three of us ate for $34 plus tip and the entree size was not reduced because of the earlybird.
Looking forward to seeing what you have to say about this little family run hole in the wall place.
Bill
***
Bill from Delray:
Based on your recommendation I gave Panda Gourmet a “shot” this evening.

Jeff Eats “sampled” wonton soup, egg rolls, fried pork dumplings, bbq ribs, general tso’s chicken, moo shu pork, roast pork fried rice. Now- no kidding around here, EVERY ITEM had absolutely no taste whatsoever. No question about it, some of the blandest Chinese food I’ve ever eaten in South Florida. Now nothing for nothing, but I’m thinking that just maybe the early-bird coupon deals colored your opinion—because this stuff was in no way, shape or form even remotely close to being good.

Well Bill!…That’s what Jeff Eats thinks and based on my maiden voyage, I definitely won’t be returning even though the super-pleasant owners gave me a handful of “coupons” on my way out.

For those of you guys who want to make up your own “mind”…

Panda Gourmet is open Monday-Thursday 11:30am-9:30pm, Friday 11:30am-10pm, Saturday noon-10pm, Sunday noon-9:30pm.

***** SOMETHING THAT WON’T HAPPEN *****

Literally—Jeff Eats got the following e-mail 10 minutes ago.

“Hey Jeff,
The election is over and Romney lost. Since that date, the DOW has fallen close to 500 points. Personally, I think that if Romney had won, this “Financial Cliff” problem would already have been solved, but he didn’t so it isn’t.
I think that President Obama is destroying the country.
What do you think of Obama making a HUGE MOVE. He should appoint Romney Secretary of the Treasury & Senator McCain Secretary of Defense.
I think these two appointments would bring the country together.
I think that all of the Democrats out there who were worried about ABORTIONS are now seeing a financial abortion as the markets fall. Obviously the markets wanted Romney calling the shots on the country’s finances.
What do you think of my appoint idea?”
CCH
**************
Just curious what do you guys think?

***** What’s Your Favorite Mexican Joint? *****

What’s your favorite Mexican joint in South Florida?

***** Bo Leg’s B.B.Q., 250 Northeast 167th Street, North Miami, Florida 33162, (305) 303-2134.

Got a really good “smoked” bbq joint for you…Bo Leg’s B.B.Q. in North Miami.

Just so you know, this is a takeout joint—smokers setup in a strip center’s parking lot. BO is open Wednesday-Saturday 12:30pm-9pm.

If “smoked” bbq is your game, you gotta get food from this joint. Its menu is kinda limited- ribs, bbq chicken, jerk chicken, handful of sides. Bo has a handful of sauces—bbq, hot bbq, spicy mustard, hot spicy mustard.

Last week Jeff Eats “sampled” ribs and bbq chicken. Trust me on this one, delicious…I also tried all of the sauces and they were all right on the money. If I had to do a pecking-order type deal—spicy mustard, bbq, hot spicy mustard, hot bbq.. In addition to the ribs and chicken-Jeff Eats did mac & cheese and baked beans. The sides were okay, but nothing to go nuts over.

Let me wrap this one up this way, if you like smoked bbq, Bo Leg’s B.B.Q. is a must-try. It’s really good.

***** Taco Prince, 180 South Federal Highway, Boca Raton, Florida 33432, (561) 750-113.

Taco Prince—“hole in the wall” order at/pickup at the counter fast food Mexican joint in Boca Raton. For a drop of color… I remember when it use to be a Dairy Queen and then a juice bar. You can check menu/prices at www.tacoprince.com

Taco Prince’s menu is real simple… basically tacos, burritos, quesadillas, tostadas.

The “65” in Spanish that Jeff Eats got in 1966 at Erasmus Hall High School- qualifies me to tell you that the “sampled”– grilled steak taco, grilled mahi-mahi taco, grilled shrimp quesadilla, mushroom burrito were ok–but nothing out of the ordinary.

Personally, I liked the “store” better when it was a Dairy Queen.

Taco Prince is open 7 days a week.

***** Gourmet Gourmet, 4249 West Flagler Street, Miami, Florida 33134, (305) 443-8664.

Got a really good Chinese “takeout” joint for you guys…Gourmet Gourmet in Miami. Just so you know, Jeff Eats first told you guys about Gourmet a

Gourmet on 11/25/10- some things bear retelling…

Let me make this one short and simple…

Applying the world-famous Jeff Eats’ “1959 Brooklyn-Jewish Chinese Taste-Test”—wonton soup, egg rolls, bbq ribs, roast pork fried rice, general tso’s chicken, beef with broccoli, mu shu pork…Jeff Eats has to tell you, that Gourmet Gourmet is one of the better Chinese takeout joints that I’ve encountered down here in sunny South Florida. Just so you know, the food was picked-up at the store and was eaten at a friend’s apartment about 5 minutes away…For those of you who like a pecking order, I thought that the mu shu pork and egg rolls were the best items, closely followed by the bbq ribs—the rest of the stuff “tied.”

Like I said a few seconds ago, Gourmet Gourmet is a TAKEOUT—so that precludes a ton of you readers from playing this “game.” For those of you who live or work in Gourmet’s neighborhood—this is a good joint to know about.

You can check Gourmet Gourmet’s menu/prices at www.gourmet-gourmet.net.

The joint is open Monday-Saturday 11:30am-9:30pm and Sunday 5pm-9:30pm.