* Who Makes The Best Bagels In South Florida?

Fire away!!

* Nicks Pizzeria & Bar (Coral Springs)

Here’s a heads-up for you guys…

Nicks Pizzeria & Bar in Boca Raton is one of Jeff Eats’ favorite pizza joints…now for the skinny–a few months ago, Nicks signed a lease to open a second joint, this time in Coral Springs. Don’t have too many details, but from what I’ve heard…5,200 sq. ft. on Univeristy Drive, plans have been filed with the City, with permits being set to be issued this week… all things being equal–owners Nick and Anthony are looking to open mid-November 2013.

Like I said 12 seconds ago, Nicks Pizzeria & Bar is right-up there with my favorite South Florida pizza joints. Based on its Boca operation, you Coral Spings guys are in for a real treat. As I get details on the project, I’ll update this column.

Printed below, is Jeff Eats’ August 4, 2011 “review” of Nicks Pizzeria & Bar in Boca Raton which at that time had just opened its front door for business.
*****
Nicks Pizzeria & Bar (Boca Raton)
Posted on August 4th, 2011 · Boca Raton Italian Pizza
***** Nicks Pizzeria & Bar, 2240 Northwest 19th Street, Boca Raton, Florida 33431, (561) 368-2900.
As I’ve done numerous times in the past…let me tell you about a terrific joint that “basically” nobody else in South Florida knows about. Say hello to Nicks Pizzeria & Bar, which opened 2-days ago in Boca Raton. This restaurant is soooo-new, that a few days ago, its owners were still tinkering with its name…finally deciding on Nicks Pizzeria & Bar instead of the “original” handle—Nick’s New Haven-Style Pizzeria & Bar.
Here’s the story…Last night I had dinner at this “coal fired” pizza joint–and I gotta tell you, it absolutely blew me away. First of all, for a joint opened only 2- days, the service was right on. The decor is dynamite, with a dark wood 1940s-1950s theme. There are inside booths/tables–outdoor tables. The joint has a full bar area/handful of flat screen tvs and a completly open kitchen. The piped in music, features doo wop, 1950′s-1960′s oldies…though I did hear a couple of Green Eyed Peas’ numbers in the mix.
Let’s talk food…all kinds of- appetizers, salads, wraps, subs (they call them grinders), pizza flats, pastas, desserts. You can do a GOOGLE on what “New Haven Style” pizza is all about…basically, crust-tomato sauce-romano cheese-oregano. NOTICE! there is no mozzarella cheese in the mix. Just so you know, in addition to “this” New Haven stuff, Nicks has “regular” coal oven pizzas, so you (us) New Yooorkers and other purists can get pizza that doesn’t “confuse.”
Last night I had dinner at Nicks. I “sampled” pan-fried mozzarella, steak & cheese grinder, New Haven Style plain pizza, margarita pizza (let’s call this one- New York Style), white clam-bacon-garlic pizza, parmesean fries, rigatoni bolognese…everything and I do mean everything was delicious. For dessert, I “tried” 4 of the 8 gelatos on the menu (I know- someone’s gotta do it!) milk chocolate, pistachio, lemon and coconut—this stuff alone, was worth the price of admission.
Another beautiful thing about Nicks is that it is located right next door– and I do mean right next door to a Weight Watcher Center. Just thought you point-counters would like that info.
Let me wrap this one up by simple saying…I loved Nicks. By the way, you can check menu/prices at www.nickspizzeriabar.com.
Nicks is open 7 days a week 11am-to late.

* Give Us Your Best South Florida Restaurant Picks

Like to hear about your favorite French joints.

Feel “free” to throw in some color–on your picks.

* Uncle Maddio’s Pizza Joint (Tallahassee)

Back on December 29, 2011, Jeff Eats “did” a story on the “make your own” pizza business…the story is re-printed below.

In that story, I told you guys that I was expecting a huge roll-out of this “concept” to hit South Florida…in particular, I briefly mentioned an Atlanta based franchise company, Uncle Maddio’s Pizza Joint as one player to keep an eye on.

It is now some-19 months later…and I “see” that on May 2, 2013 Uncle Maddio’s opened its first Florida outpost in Tallahassee—took the Company a drop-longer that Jeff Eats thought it would to “get into the state”—but it finally happened.

Now, the point of this discussion…Jeff Eats is now hearing, that Uncle Maddio’s is in “tons” of South Florida lease negotiations—so be on the lookout, for this chain to gain extreme South Florida traction over the next 8-12 months.

For what it is worth…Jeff Eats “tried” Uncle Maddio’s in Atlanta and I’m telling you–that these guys make a terrific product, design a great store and are operationally very sound.

The bet here, is that Uncle Maddio’s is going to emerge as theeeee- PLAYER here in Florida and maybe even the United States.

Jeff Eats has been keeping a close eye on this “make your own” pizza segment and from what I’ve seen/tasted/heard…Uncle Maddio’s has the potential to develop into a major fast-food company.

As always…Your thoughts, ideas and assorted nonsense on the industry– are of course welcomed!
*****
Posted on December 29th, 2011 · Fast Food Italian Pizza
***** Uncle Maddio’s Pizza Joint ****
You know that I like to keep you guys-up to date on all kinds of stuff related to food and the food industry.
When you get a chance, check-out Uncle Maddio’s Pizza Joint www.unclemaddios.com.
Real simple pizza-franchise concept…make your own pizzas. You go to the joint, there is a “huge” selection of pizza toppings etc.—the guy/gal behind the counter puts the pizza “together” for you–and it gets delivered to your table within something like 6 minutes.
Trust me on this one, you will soon see these “make your own” pizza joints popping up all over South Florida, not to mention all over the United States. They sort of remind me of the Yogurt by the ounce joints.
Uncle Maddio’s is just one player in this “new” business segment. There are a number of guys-getting into this business, including publiclly traded Pizza Inn.
For right now–as far as I know, there aren’t any Uncle Maddio’s Pizza Joints in South Florida. Betcha a buck, that sometime within the next 6 months, a version-of-this-concept will be in your neighborhood.
Just thought you guys would enjoy hearing about what the food industry is cooking up for you

* Can We Catch A List Of South Florida’s Best Upscale Italian Joints?

Jeff Eats would appreciate “your” favorite best UPSCALE Italian joints.

If you want to throw in some “color” on your picks…it’s fine by me.

Pasta Fever, 4251 North Federal Highway, Boca Raton, Florida 33431, (561) 338-0012.

My mother use to say…”If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything.”–With that in mind, this Jeff Eats’ “review” should end right about now…

Imagine the 3 Stooges running a “hole in the wall” Italian joint (with a handful of French dishes)—and you “got” the picture…wrong entrees delivered to the table, 3 out of 4 entrees over-salted, veal parmigiana so bad that it was inedible, cramped table setup, amateurish service…a colossal waste of time and money. This evening’s dinner was such a mess that Jeff Eats couldn’t wait for the meal to end so I could get the hell-out of Pasta Fever. Roughly 140 bucks (4 people) down the drain…and the owners and waiter seemed oblivious as to how poorly they had performed.

Look! I could go on and on about this “debacle” but I won’t…all I know is that some clown-waiter tried to convince me that the chicken parmigiana he delivered was veal parmigiana–give me a freaking break!…and by the way-waiter…Moe-Larry-Curly-Shemp-Curly Joe whatever your name is, water glasses are designed to be occasionally refilled…also tell your fellow “Stooge” in the kitchen, that a croc of French onion soup doesn’t require SALT and I do mean SALT! One other thing, the owners of this joint should know that when you are “in a rush” to replace inedible veal parmigiana with 4-cheese ravioli in an Alfredo cream sauce…it’s not such a “hot move” (pun intended) to deliver the dish with hot sauce on top of ice-cold pasta—trust me-I know, it don’t taste too good! Capice! Then again, I understand that the owner-chef is a born and bred Frenchman–so just maybe he doesn’t capice.

In all fairness, the bread which came with olive oil was decent.

Be smart…

Don’t even think about eating in this joint…www.pasta-fever.com.

* Progressive Pool Services, 1278 South Military Trail, Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442, (855) 954-7665.

Hey!…Progressive Pool Services–for crying out loud, those black & white “fake–cop cars” that you guys ride around in…not cool!

Two days ago, Mrs. Jeff Eats pulled into “our” neighborhood—to be greeted by one of your “fake cop-cars” parked in front of our next door neighbor’s house—and immediately assumed that some type of emergency was underway…she later learned it was the pool-man.

This evening…while Jeff Eats was zooming down MilitaryTrail clocking in around 60 in a 40 zone—in the review mirror, I noticed a “black & white” on my tail—took me a few seconds to figure-out that it was one of your “fake–cop cars”…driven by the pool-man

I get the advertising idea—trust me I do!

It really isn’t cool having a “fake–cop car” riding around- UNLESS it contains 2 pool-men in black suits, white shirts, black ties, black fedora hats, black shoes, white socks and Wayfarer sun glasses…who can sing and dance (between you and me, that singing and dancing “thing” might be pushing matters just a bit!)…

I’ll leave it to you guys, to go from “not cool” to “cool.”

Jeff Eats readers check www.progressivepoolsservices.com for pictures of the fake cop car.

For those of you who may-be wondering as to how a pool company “fits” with Jeff Eats—here’s the thinking…Cop cars got cops, cops eat donuts, donuts are food…there you go!

* DoubleTakeDeals.com

Got something for you guys—DoubleTakeDeals.com…

First things first…the site is owned/operated by Clipper Magazine— the magazine (with all kinds of coupons) that mysteriously shows up in your kitchen–month in and month out–and you got absolutely no freaking idea as-how it got through your front door-in the first place.

Anyway…

Go to www.doubletakedeals.com—enter the city/venue of choice- and you’ll find a load of–50% off coupons that you can buy with a credit card…you’ll also find, tons of “free” coupons that give you all types of deals. Pick what you want and print away.

Just so you know, DoubleTakeDeals.com isn’t limited to just restaurants…it has all kinds of retail businesses and services listed.

Trust Jeff Eats on this one, the site is totally legit and for a few seconds-work…you’ll save some hard-earned cash.

One last Jeff Eats’ thought…some of you guys maybe wondering as to how Jeff Eats “knows” that the site is legit?—The bet here is that, since Clipper Magazine is owned by publishing/communications giant Gannett—I kinda think those 50%-off coupons will actually-work without any-hitches…I seriously doubt that Gannett is gonna try and beat you out of 20 bucks or whatever the number is…but then again, years ago I thought that the Edsel was going to be-a homerun…

* What Do You Guys Think Of Sites Like Yelp and TripAdvisor?

Just curious…what do you guys think of “review” sites like Yelp and TripAdvisor?

* ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT

There is an old saying…”You don’t know shit from Shinola.”

I’ll leave you guys to do some GOOGLE HOMEWORK and learn the “history” of this line. For you short-cutters out there—Shinola was an American brand of wax shoe polish manufactured by the 2-in-1 Shinola-Bixby Corporation from 1907-1960. During World War II the line “You don’t know shit from Shinola” became extremely popular–with the reference being to Shinola’s black polish. A long story short, the manufacturer went out of business in the early 1960s and the brand was dormant until very recently.

Now, for the ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT part of the story…a couple of years ago, Tom Kartsotis, co-founder of the Fossil retail chain acquired the Shinola trademark and in early 2013 via Shinola/Detroit LLC -opened a factory in Detroit to manufacture upscale watches, leather goods and bicycles. As of today’s date, Shinola products can be purchased at the Company’s website (www.shinola.com), specialty retailers (like Barney’s) and most recently at two Shinola retail stores-1 in New York City and 1 in Detroit.

From what I’ve heard, the “plan” is to develop Shinola into an upscale luxury brand–think Michael Kors, Coach…

Now…only time will tell if Mr. Kartsotis can “pull this off”…that said, Jeff Eats’ bet is–that Kartsotis will hit a home-run based on Fossil’s success and the “rarity”- to find a “start-up” retail business that has instant name recognition -literally with millions of people. I also think, that although the “upscale” accessory arena is a crowded one–there is always room for a new player who has a different “take” on things. The “picking” of the Shinola name–tells me, that just maybe Mr. Kartsotis has some fresh-ideas up his sleeve to woo consumers to the brand.

Let’s watch this “one”…

In closing, I know that you guys appreciate how hard it is to start a business from scratch…Let’s see if Tom Kartsotis knows or doesn’t know “shit from Shinola.”