* 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.”

* Does Stuff Like This Ever Happen To You? Me Neither!

Just read this in Huff-Post:

“Every once in a while, we are reminded of the value in paying it forward.
That’s quite true here. An unidentified man walked into a Tim Hortons location in Edmonton, Canada, just after 4 p.m. on Monday and ordered — wait for it! — 500 cups of coffee, according to CBC News.
His order totaled $895.28, and if you don’t believe us, here is the receipt:
dd receipt
When store manager Joanne Averion asked the man why he was purchasing so many coffees, he reportedly did not give any explanation. He also refused to reveal his name.
For the rest of the day, any customer who came in received their drink order free of charge until all of the money had been used. The money lasted until about 8:30 a.m. the next morning, according to Metro News.
Employees and customers of the Tim Hortons still don’t really have an explanation for the man’s actions, other than it being a random act of kindness.
“That’s pretty awesome just to know people are out there willing to just go ‘Hey, let’s do something nice for somebody else,'” one customer told CBC News.
And don’t worry America, we still have some very kind people here too: There recently has been a guy going around the country handing out $500 tips in his brother’s memory.)”

***** Caketory, 7160 Beracasa Way, Boca Raton, Florida 33433, (561) 672-7606.

The other day, purely be accident- after eating a lunch of sweet & sour pork and pork fried rice at a Pei Wei Asian Diner– Jeff Eats discovered Caketory, a kosher bakery (located 2 doors-down) that makes breads, cookies, cakes, cupcakes, pastries.

Jeff Eats and Mrs. Jeff Eats absolutely loved the challah and mixed cookie lb that I brought home.

You do know-that I couldn’t resist “working”- pork and kosher into the run-on sentence that started things off-here…don’tcha?

Anyway…assuming that you aren’t looking for maple walnut bacon topped donuts–

Check Caketory’s website www.caketory.biz for menu/prices.

Caketory hours:
Monday……closed
Tuesday…..7am-4pm
Wednesday…7am-5pm
Thursday….7am-6pm
Friday……7am-2pm
Saturday….closed
Sunday……7am-4pm