***** Johnny’s Soda Fountain & Luncheonette, 45 Curtiss Parkway, Miami Springs, Florida 33166, (786) 953-5553.

If a 1950’s “looking” diner located in a Miami Springs pharmacy is your game…get ready to play.

Last week I had lunch at Johnny’s Soda Fountain & Luncheonette which is located in the Miami Springs Pharmacy. You can do the Googling here, but back in 1946 a guy named John Stadnik opened a drug store in Miami Springs…and like many of its brethern of the time, it had both a pharmacy and luncheonette in it. To make a long story short, the pharmacy “survived” but the luncheonette closed in 1965. Fast forward to 2010- the Miami Springs Pharmacy is still owned by the Stadnik Family– and Carol, John Stadnik’s daughter decides to “re-open” the luncheonette naming it Johnny’s Soda Fountain & Luncheonette.

So- you know what this joint is all about, the PHARMACY still has the original 1946-look…while-Johnny’s is 1950’s faux-stuff ala Johnny Rockets. For our purposes, this is a mom & pop diner—with an interesting “story” in a really cool location.

Johnny’s menu isn’t huge, but I’m sure you’ll find something to eat…handful of breakfast items–same for salads/sandwiches/burgers/hot dogs/entrees/daily specials/sundaes & shakes. Like I said a few seconds ago, I did lunch…cheeseburger, grilled chicken breast sandwich, french fries, vanilla ice cream/heath bar shake.

Now for the results…I loved the look of the whole joint. The pharmacy and luncheonette are separated by a half-wall divider. Now I know and you know (because I told you)–that the diner decor is a faux-deal, but it’s still cool and real mom & popish…if Johnny Rockets’ decor is a Bentley, Johnny’s is a really used Honda. As for the food, imagine if you made the stuff at home. I appreciate that we may get some-waaaay different results here, but I do make a real good cheeseburger and Mrs. Jeff Eats can muster up a decent enough grilled chicken breast…as for the fries, Johnny’s were ok– like mine- they came out of a frozen package. The shake wasn’t exactly in the league of a Dairy Queen’s Blizzard, but I definitely could handle 2-3 of Johnny’s a week. For the record, over the years Jeff Eats has tried to “duplicate” blizzards at home and has failed miserably.

Johnny’s Soda Fountain & Luncheonette is my kinda of a joint…I’m a sucker for black & white tiled floors, yellow counter stools and red & white checked tablecloths.

Johnny’s is open Monday-Saturday 8am-8pm, Sunday 9am-3pm.

***** Sweets From Heaven & Fuzziwig’s Candy Factory *****

Got something here that I can’t exactly wrap my arms around…Sweets From Heaven & Fuzziwig’s Candy Factory.

To make a long story-short…

Yesterday, I killed some time in Boca Town Center–while Mrs. Jeff Eats roamed the mall looking for God knows what…For one solid hour I entertained myself- checking out people (most had no packages) and “thinking” about stuff like-how poorly the mall’s new food court “mix” and lay-out was–and what a goldmine the Apple Store was.

Anyway…right near the food court is an “upscale” candy store named Sweets From Heaven. I’m gonna assume that all of you guys have been to big regional malls and have seen and been in “some version” of an upscale candy store. For the record, Sweets From Heaven is a small national chain with a number of franchised locations in the United States. Not sure why, but in some malls the “store-concept” is called Sweets From Heaven and in others it’s called Fuzziwig’s Candy Factory. You can check the chain’s website www.sweetsfromheaven.com for locations/details. For our purposes, there is 1-Sweets From Heaven in Boca Raton, 1-Fuzziwig’s in Fort Myers, 1-Fuzziwig’s in Orlando.

Now, I may be giving you guys too much credit here, but I don’t think so… but, when you saw these “candy stores” which look like amusement parks/candy factories– loaded with bulk candy and kids’ novelty items- didn’t you say to yourselves, “Boy! I wish I was a kid, but man, this stuff costs a fortune.” Well, if you didn’t…I did—and as I walked around the store I couldn’t believe the prices that this joint was getting for the most basic of candies.

Now, if I recall my basic PS 179 math, there are 16 ounces to a pound. To be perfectly honest with you. I don’t recall the exact “brands” or exact ” $-amounts” but Sweets From Heaven was hitting up customers for something like $7.95–$14.95 lb. Like I said a few seconds ago, the brands may not be exactly the same, but I kinda think that I know what, M & M–Twizzler Licorice–Good & Plenty candies look like. Now, nothing for nothing, but on many standard candies- guys like Walmart, Target, Costco are fetching something like 23-30 cents per oz. I’m gonna let you guys do the math. By the way, this morning before writing this piece I checked my cupboard and visited a Walmart and Costco to make sure I wasn’t talking out of my hat.

Now, I know that businesses like Sweets From Heaven rely on “impulse buying.” It just seems to me, that there is impulse buying and then there is IMPULSE BUYING.

Like I said at the top of this discussion, Got something here that I can’t exactly wrap my arms around.

***** Cosmos Cafe & Pizzeria 536 Tamiami Trail, Naples, Florida 34102, (238) 262-8181.

First, who here remembers Cosmo Topper?

Cosmos Cafe & Pizzeria…a good “mom & pop” red sauce Italian joint in Naples. Check www.cosmospizzanaples.com for menu/prices—you’ll also find a handful of pictures that will “tell” you what Cosmos’ indoor/outdoor patio setup is all about.

Recently did dinner at Cosmos…the joint’s menu is loaded with all types of pizzas, salads, appetizers, pastas, meat/chicken/seafood entrees. Tried, 16″ plain pizza, fried calamari, meat lasagna, penne a la vodka, chicken marsala, filet of sole. For the record, the pizza was thin/crisp/sweet red sauce—just like Jeff Eats likes it. The fried calamari was ok-but nothing to get nuts over. The meat lasagna and penne a la vodka were delicious-the chicken marsala and filet of sole were good but I’ve had better, but then again, I’ve had worse.

Let me sum Cosmos Cafe & Pizzeria up this way…a good “mom & pop” red sauce joint. Nothing outrageously great going on here. That said, I loved the indoor decor and the outdoor patio setup–service was as friendly as could be–reasonable pizza joint prices–all-in-all, the kitchen definitely “got” the job done.

Cosmos Cafe & Pizzera is open Monday-Saturday 11am-close, Sunday 4pm-close.

***** Lily’s Cafe, 8031 South US Highway 1, Port Saint Lucie, Florida 34952, (772) 237-5549.

Lily’s Cafe is a “mom & pop” neighborhood diner that does breakfast/lunch Tuesday-Friday 7am-3pm, Saturday-Sunday 8am-2pm, closed on Monday. You can check menu/prices at www.lilycafefl.com. The site also has a handful of pictures which will “tell” you as to exactly what you are getting into here. Not really sure how to explain this, but there are mom & pop diners and then again, there are MOM & POP diners. For the record, Lily’s Cafe is a MOM & POP…remember- those movies from the 30s and 40s where some kids would yell, “hey, let’s put on a show”?

Anyway…Lily’s is a fabulous joint, imagine your mom and your aunts making and serving the stuff. For you wiseguys out there, my mom was a tremendous cook and my aunts though not in her league also got the job done. Just to go off on a tangent for a minute–when I see restaurant signs/menus boasting “home cooked” food, my mind always says whose “home.” All I know, is that back in Brooklyn in the 50s and 60s I had a friend Michael R. whose mother was the worse cook maybe in the world, well at least Brooklyn—I guess that’s why Michael R. use to “run away” from home so often.

I recently ate at Lily’s…the menu isn’t huge-but there is enough breakfast stuff, soups, salads, sandwiches, burgers, wraps, pies/muffins–so nobody’s gonna go without eating. I tried the french toast, western omelet, chicken salad wrap, patty melt (burger, swiss cheese, grilled onions–on rye toast), french fries. Trust me here, everything was delicious. If I had to put the stuff in-pecking order…the french toast was terrific, the omelet-wrap-melt were also terrific but not as terrific as the french toast was, the french fries were good but weren’t terrific. Now if memory serves me correctly, my mom’s french toast didn”t come close to Lily’s, same for her chicken salad (mom use to add chopped dill pickle to the mix, never really liked that!)–mom never made western omelets- but she did make a mean scrambled eggs with American cheese/ham, her patty melt was as good as the one Lily’s dished up, Lily’s and mom’s french fries were a total tossup (too bad Nathan’s wasn’t my mom or dad or whatever!).

The final result, “assuming” that there really is a Lily back in the kitchen–Lilymom, I’m home from college!!

Lily’s Cafe is a homerun!

***** how do you roll? *****

The next fast food “craze”—sushi!

You know and I know-that at times us-Americans can over do a good thing. You do remember “mom & pop” video stores, don’tcha? If you don’t think that current food crazes…self serve yogurt, cupcakes and upscale burgers aren’t headed for a serious day of reckoning, you might like to think again. For sure, there are going to be a handful of survivors, but I’m willing to bet you a lunch of your choice, that in the next couple of years there are going to be a ton and I do mean a ton of very-very unhappy franchisees. Seriously folks, do you really think that Jeff Eats’ 1-mile square Boca neighborhood- needs something like 14 self serve yogurt joints, 9 upscale burger spots, 23 mom & pop red sauce Italian restaurants? Hate to sound like a quiz-master here, but do you know what overkill is?

From what I’m hearing and seeing, the next fast-food craze about to hit America…SUSHI!. The best way to describe this “concept”—think Subway, Blimpie’s, or your favorite sub shop…you know the deal, you tell the guy/gal behind the counter how to construct your sub-sandwich in this case it will be your “roll.”

Checkout a small company—how do you roll? at www.howdoyouroll.com. For right now, how do you roll?–has a total of 11 stores in 6 states. I know-that with only 11 stores this “chain” is a mere-blip on America’s franchise map. By the way, for our purposes, how do you roll? currently has 2-Florida locations–Gainsville and Jacksonville. For the record, last week I was in a –how do you roll? store which literally just opened in Tucson, Arizona right next door to the University Of Arizona. Wanna talk jammed? During the 3 days I was “out there” I saw a constant and steady line waiting to get in…Now I’m no expert on sushi, but a gut feeling tells me that this fast food sushi concept is going to be huge “around” college campuses–and there are plenty of college towns in America.

Mark my words…fast food sushi joints are the next craze. Now, how do you roll? may not emerge as the dominant player–but my money says, that the “concept” is going to spread like a wildfire…and of course, like yogurt, burgers, cupcakes will eventually get over-done.

***** New Hong Kong, 1303 C Southeast 17th Street, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33316, (954) 728-8897.

New Hong Kong is a Chinese takeout joint in Fort Lauderdale…it has a handful of tables for those of you who want to “eat out.” You can check menu/prices at newhongkong.com. New Hong Kong is open Monday–Thursday 11am-10:30pm, Friday-Saturday 11am-11pm, Sunday noon-10:30pm.

The other day I got some stuff from New Hong Kong…wonton soup, bbq ribs, egg rolls, pan fried dumplings, roast pork fried rice, sweet & sour pork, general tso’s chicken (no spice), shrimp with garlic sauce, pepper steak. Now, just so we are straight…I took the “stuff” home to Boca Raton–so there was about a 30-minute lag from wok-to-table (actually, tv room couch)…trust me, I know that nothing beats real cold Chinese food (maybe pizza does) right from the frig-the next morning—but I have “factored” in a drive-sogginess quotient for this restaurant’s review.

Let me go on record, sogginess and all—New Hong Kong’s sweet & sour pork and general tso’s chicken were delicious. I’ll even go out on a limb here and tell you, that the sweet & sour pork was right up there with the best that I’ve had in South Florida. The other “items” were A-OK, but not in the same league as the general tso’s chicken and definitely not the sweet & sour pork’s… By the way, if I knew that the dish was going to be that good, I would have taken home some fried wontons…sopping up delicious sweet & sour sauce with fried wontons can become quite addictive.

To wrap things up here…

New Hong Kong is right up there with the best South Florida Chinese takeout joints that I’ve tried.

***** Mr. Nick’s Sub Shoppe, 901 South Andrews Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33316, (954) 462-1913.

Got a real good sub-joint for you, Mr. Nick’s Sub Shoppe in Fort Lauderdale. Freestanding building, order/pickup at window–tables outside under a canopy…not exactly the fanciest joint going. You can check menu/prices at www.mrnickssubshoppe.com. Mr. Nick’s is open Monday-Friday 8:30am-6pm, Saturday 9:30am-3pm, closed on Sunday.

Like I said a few seconds ago, this is a “real good” sub joint…

Mr. Nick’s has all kinds of hot/cold subs (6″ & 12″), sandwiches, burgers, franks, salads.

For the record, Jeff Eats forced himself to “try”–philly cheesesteak sub, chicken parm sub, chicken salad sub–now trust me here, the subs were all delicious, with a special shoutout to the philly cheesesteak which came with cheese-mushrooms-grilled onions-green peppers. Now I know-we could debate sub/hoagie bread here all day long…some of you guys like hard crust and some of you guys like a real soft outside— as for “me” I like it both ways–just as long as it tastes good. For the record, Mr. Nick’s goes with a delicious soft sub.

By the way, did you hear about the guy who ordered a turkey sandwich at a lunch counter. The waitress told him that they were out of turkey, so he ordered a chicken sandwich. The waitress replied, if we had chicken I would have brought you a turkey sandwich.

Anyway…If you’re like me and enjoy eating a sub under a roadside canopy…Mr. Nick’s Sub Shoppe is for you.

***** Johnny’s Diner, 104 South Semoran Boulevard, Winter Park, Florida 32792, (407) 677-6776.

Johnny’s Diner…inline-strip center “mom & pop” diner—plenty of formica going on here–cash only! The joint is open Monday-Saturday 6am-3pm, Sunday 7am-3pm. Full boat of breakfast stuff, burgers, sandwihes, salads, meat/chicken/seafood dishes.

A bit too early this morning–to get into a full blown discussion as to how the Johnny’s Diners of this world are the “fabric” of American society—how there are literally thousands of them all over the United States—how every town has its own “version” etc.

Johnny’s Diner is my kinda of place. Absolutely nothing fancy going on here. Good solid food at a reasonable price.

Recently did a Johnny’s Diner lunch—chicken salad on rye toast, meatloaf on a toasted bun, grilled cheese & bacon pita, french fries, Coke. Chicken salad ok-but not going to be running from Boca on a regular basis for it. French fries, same deal. The meatloaf which was recommended by a guy sitting next to me and Mrs. Jeff Eats at the counter—now, we’re talking-something really delicious–same for the pita. If gas wasn’t hovering around 4 bucks a gallon, I’d might be tempted to make Johnny’s a monthly episode. For those of you who aren’t shall we say “regular” readers…just kidding on that monthly episode thing.

Let me close by saying, America has “tons” and I do mean “tons” of Johnny’s Diners. Your favorite joint maybe called Joe’s or A-1 or Kitty’s–what they all have in common…mom & pop owners, hardworking waiters/waitresses, decent enough food and local customers like you and me who appreciate a “place” where we can go to- talk and enjoy our friends-family seated at a formica table or counter.

***** Royal Scoop Homemade Ice Cream, 15 18th Street, Bonita Springs, Florida 34134, (239) 992-2000.

Let me start off by saying, thank GOD that Royal Scoop Homemade Ice Cream is in Bonita Springs and not by house in Boca Raton. I’m telling you, if this fast-food ice cream/soup-salad-sandwich joint was anywhere even close—I’d weigh something like 385 lbs.

Royal Scoop has been around since 1979. Real simple concept…order/pickup at the counter, some of the most amazingly delicious homemade ice cream and yogurt going…as a kicker, the joint also has a menu of soups-salads-sandwiches. At this stage of the discussion, feel free to abandon me and check Royal Scoop’s details at www.royalscoop.com.

A recent outing had me forcing myself to try…espresso chip, mocha caramel crunch, cherry vanilla, pistachio–in addition knowing that you guys would ask, I also “sampled” the joint’s tuna-chicken salads and a grilled American cheese with bacon/white toast. Like I said before, the ice cream is amazingly delicious—the kicker here, Royal Scoop’s tuna-chicken salads and grilled cheese were also very good (which is kinda unusual for an ice cream joint–think Swenson’s, Friendly’s, Dairy Queen, Jahn’s and you may appreciate my thinking on this).

Royal Scoop is open Monday-Saturday 11am-10pm and Sunday noon-10pm.

***** Danny’s All American Diner & Dairy Bar, 4406 North Falkenburg Road, Tampa, Florida 33610, (813) 740-0606.

There is an old saying…”One picture is worth a thousand words.”—With that in mind, I need you guys to go to www.dannysallamericandiner.com—when you get there- in addition to menu/prices, you will find photos/videos which will “explain” this joint in detail. Basically, you order from a small building’s window and pickup your own food—you eat outside on picnic tables. Just so you know, Danny’s was featured on tv’s ‘Diners, Drive-ins & Dives’–that “segment” is on Danny’s site…for good or bad, thanks to Guy Fieri, Danny’s customer base is now just not limited to townies.

For you purists out there, Danny’s really isn’t a diner—actually, it’s a hole in the wall-fast food joint that does breakfast stuff, burgers, franks, sandwiches, salads, fries, ice cream, shakes.

Before we go any further, I absolutely loved Danny’s. No lying, if Danny’s was by-my house, I’d eat there at least once a week.

The other day I did lunch at Danny’s…”tried”-bacon cheeseburger, french fries, onion rings, chocolate shake. For what’s it worth, I would match Danny’s “flat-top” grilled burger/fries/onion rings/shake against the best that I’ve had down here in South Florida. There really isn’t too much more that I can say about this joint other than–its food is tremendous, its dumpy roadside building has a great retro-vibe (watch the video), its prices are reasonable and Danny- a former marine (who cooks everything) captures the essence of what American roadside food is suppose to be-and not what the McDonald’s of the world have pushed on us.

I highly recommend Danny’s All American Diner & Dairy Bar.

Danny’s is open Monday-Friday 8am-6pm, Saturday 10:30am-3pm, closed on Sunday.