***** Jr’s Gourmet Burgers, 7 Westward Drive, Miami Springs, Florida 33166, (786) 360-5347.

First, if you look, I got this joint listed as being in Miami Lakes, but it’s really in Miami Springs…don’t have a Miami Springs “category”—so you now know the city where this terrific “mom & pop” hole-in the wall burger joint is located.

One of my favorite meals is a cheeseburger–fries smothered in Ketchup–Coca Cola. Well let me tell you, Jr’s makes delicious burgers and fries. When you check Jr’s menu at www.jrsburgers.com you will find that the joint has 3- sized flat grilled burgers, 1/3 lb, 1/2 lb, 1 lb…handful of toppings…handful of sandwiches…handful of hot dogs…handful of salads—end of story. If I got it right, the pop-Jr is the “cook” and the wife is the wait-staff.

Like I said a few seconds ago–delicious burgers and fries. For the record, I did a 1/3er with American cheese ($6.99) and fries ($1.50). Let me make this real-simple, the burger and fries are right up there with the best currently out there in the South Florida market. Really-just that simple!

Jr’s is open Monday-Thursday 11am-9pm, Saturday 11am-10pm, closed on Sunday.

***** The Filling Station, 95 Southeast 2nd Street, Miami, Florida 33131, (786) 425-1990.

Let’s call The Filling Station located in Miami- an “American Style” kinda sports bar…think decor-wise—-TGIF Friday’s with “old gas” station stuff on the walls and you got the picture.

Right up front, I really enjoyed The Filling Station…loads of appetizers, burgers, sandwiches, salads, wings, pulled pork stuff. Real easy going joint, reasonable prices, sports-bar pleasant enough service. You can check menu/prices at www.thefillingstationmiami.com.

Look! I’m gonna guess that there must be something like 2 billion sports bars-alone in South Florida. Throw in the chain guys of the world like TGIFs, Ruby Tuesday’s, Applebees, Hurricane Wings and Buffalo Wild Wings and maybe we are talking 7 billion South Florida joints where you can enjoy decent enough food, be surrounded by flat screen tvs and choose from something like 25,000 different beers. The point I’m struggling to make here, is that there are tons of joints where you can get good food and drink your liver away-all while watching tv. The only call you gotta make is where you spend that dime. Not sure who said it, “Different strokes for different folks.”

To be perfectly straight with you guys, my game is FOOD…I know a bunch of you folks are really into “this beer or that beer”–but when it comes to joints like The Filling Station–delicious burgers- fries -wings- pulled pork and philly steak subs are my end game.

The other night, I, Mrs. Jeff Eats and another happily married couple stopped by The Filling Station…I gotta tell you that the flame grilled burger with genoa salami/provolone cheese/pesto mayo was absolutely delicious…same for the pulled pork and philly steak subs. The seasoned tater tots’ sides were off the chart…and

The most beautiful part of the evening was that Mrs. Jeff Eats and her girlfriend didn’t bitch too much because the menu had enough salads to hold the fort.The spinach salad with grilled chicken and house salad with blackened mahi mahi kept the peace. For the unmarried men reading– but not exactly following the above rant…when you tie the knot, this will all make sense to you…and that’s a money back guarantee from Jeff Eats.

If you live or work in The Filling Station’s neighborhood…give it a shot.

The joint is open Monday-Thursday 11:30am-9pm and Friday-Saturday 11:30am-10pm, closed on Sunday.

***** Prime Cigar & Wine Bar, 2240 Northwest 19th Street, Boca Raton, Florida 33431, (561) 613-6130.

About a month or so ago I was eating dinner outside at Tucci’s Fire N Coal Pizza in Boca Raton —two guys, I’m guessing in their mid 30’s came over to my table and one asked me “Do you know where we can find a good cigar bar?” Now, I coulda pulled a Lou Costello on them and said–No, but if you hum a few bars-I’ll try and play it…but I didn’t. Surprisingly- Jeff Eats who supposedly knows it all—didn’t have a joint to recomend.

That conversation got me thinking…

I am happy to report to you and “if” those two guys are reading—that I found a terrific upscale cigar/wine bar, Prime Cigar & Wine Bar in Boca Raton. So there is absolutely no misunderstanding, I don’t smoke cigars and don’t know sqwat about them. My recommendation is based on the “trusted” opinions of four friends who love to smoke cigars, know wines and are fans of the cigar/wine bar concept. These guys swear by Prime Cigar & Wine—I will tell you, that I personally-physically checked the joint out a couple of nights ago and it’s absolutely gorgeous with an upscale full bar and lounge area. When I was there, it had a load of guys puffing/drinking away and everybody seemed to be having a good time talking and watching a handful of flat screen tvs. Now I’m no expert here, but the joint seems to be extremely well equipped in that it has a 300 sq foot humidor loaded with cigars–so you can have your own or buy from the house…and “members” get their own temperature controlled cigar storage lockers.

Totally off subject, but “lockers” reminded me of a guy I’ve known since we were kids at Ditmas Junior High School in Brooklyn…back then, this kid for love or money couldn’t figure out how to open the combination lock on his gym locker…and the craziest thing, some 50 odd years later, the same guy despite the fact that he is a prominent attorney and multi-millionaire still can’t open a combination lock. Anyway…

Now- something I’m a bit more familar with- FOOD…

Prime Cigar & Wine Bar doesn’t have a kitchen and doesn’t prepare/sell food. However, it has a complimentary service with its staff “picking up” food for Prime’s “smokers”- from shopping center stablemates…Five Guys, Nick’s Pizzeria, Hooters, Gyroville, CR Chicks, Laspada Subs, Shane’s Rib Shack, Moe’s Southwest Grill. During my visit, I noticed pizzas, burgers, subs “at” the bar and in the lounge.

If you are into this cigar thing…check www.bocasmokes.com.

Prime Cigar & Wine Bar is open Sunday-Thursday 11am-midnight and Friday-Saturday 11am-2am.

***** Sebastian Maniscalco *****

Look—I’m not trying to be the Town Crier here…but when I got something that you may enjoy…

Last Friday night at the Woodfield Country Club in Boca Raton, I saw Sebastian Maniscalco- a young comedian (I’m figuring about 35) in action. To put it bluntly, I can’t recall laughing so hard in a very-very long time. The guy did something like 80 minutes of clean contemporary comedy and literally had the audience eating out of his hand. Kinda hard to describe him, but when I was watching his show, he reminded me of a Jerry Seinfeld/John Travolta (actually- Vinny Barbarino)/Jerry Lewis amalgamation (never used that word before!).

If you want to see a top-notch comic in action, Sebastian who lives in Southern California, will be at the Fort Lauderdale Improv June 7-10 and the Miami Improv November 30 & December 1, 2012.

If you want to “test” the guy out before buying tickets, you can check him out on- You Tube, watch his current Showtime special, or go to www.sebastianlive.com.

Mark this column, in the coming years–this guy will be a be a major concert, film and television performer…and if you had listened to Jeff Eats–you saw him, before anyone else!!

***** Chocolates by Mr. Roberts, 505 Northeast 20th Street, Boca Raton, Florida 33431, (561) 392-3007.

I don’t know about you, but I try my best to eat-healthy (wink-wink!)…so- when I recently came across a handful of newspaper/magazine articles which described the benefits of eating dark chocolate—I was a thrilled camper.

So- for all of you health nuts out there, I got an absolutely amazing joint for you to try…Chocolates by Mr. Roberts in Boca Raton… a “hole in the wall” shop that makes some of the most delicious chocolates that I have ever eaten.

A recent outing had me “doing” pieces of English Toffee Dark, Dark Pecan Bark, Dark Nut Crunch…

Now, based on my research, dark chocolate is supposedly the “healthy” chocolate, so I guess the Milk Nut Crunch and English Toffee Milk that I also tried “didn’t” do me any good…oh well!

Anyway…If you want to chow down on fabulous and I do mean fabulous- home-made chocolates, get yourself over to Chocolates by Mr.Roberts.

You can check products/prices at www.chocolatesbymrroberts.com.

By the way, the joint has been around for something like 30 years.

Chocolates by Mr. Roberts is open Monday-Friday 9:30am-5:30pm, Saturday 9:30am-5pm, closed on Sunday.

***** YOU GUYS ALREADY KNOW THE ANSWER *****

Jeff Eats recently received the following comment from ABD…

” Hey Jeff, every month or so in the mail I get courtesy copies of magazines such as City & Shore, The Boca Raton Observer and Boca Delray Life. It seems that every time they run a favorable restaurant review, a few pages later there is an advertisement for the reviewed restaurant. What’s your take on that?”

***** Boston’s On The Beach, 40 South Ocean Drive, Delray Beach, Florida 33483, (561) 278-3364.

Let’s call Boston’s On The Beach…American Style–sports bar–that does breakfast, lunch and dinner…the joint has been around for something like 35 years… has 2 floors… has indoor and outdoor seating…is really-really casual…is literally a “landmark”…has loads of flat screen tvs (Do they still make “fat” tvs?)… is always packed…has blues/rock/classic bands-artists galore…menus that got everyone covered…decent enough food…full bar…food & drink prices a drop on the high-side–but nothing too terrible…typical sports bar type service, that every so often gets-shall we say-flustered by the crowd…Boston sports teams’ theme (Keep in mind, “they” did sell Babe Ruth to “us”–so there!!)

You can check-out all of the above at www.bostonsonthebeach.com.

Boston’s On The Beach is one of the reasons–we all live down here in sunny South Florida.

Boston’s is a cool place. Take your visiting ‘from up north” relatives and friends there…they’ll be jealous.

Boston’s is open Monday-Saturday 7am-2am and Sunday 7am-midnight.

* THE GRIND-MIAMI’S BURGER BATTLE.

Back on February 29, 2012 I did a story on THE GRIND-MIAMI’S BURGER BATTLE…basically- a contest pitting 30 South Florida restaurants (area codes 305 & 954) against each other to “pick” who “makes” the best burger. Since that story appeared, I have received numerous comments, read numerous magazine and blog articles and seen several televison segments about this event. Suffice it to say, this best-burger-contest has generated an amazing amount of interest and should draw an enormous crowd.

Since my story first appeared, a list of the 30-contestants was released.

Below, I have republished the original Jeff Eats’ article and provided the list of the participating burger-makers. By the way, if you check, Jeff Eats has reviews on a number of the burger makers…and I gotta tell you, their ain’t a slouch in the bunch.

If you know anything about Jeff Eats, I really don’t “do” restaurant grand openings, tastings, samplings, family and friends—with that in mind— I’m gonna do to this one!

The Grind-Miami’s Burger Battle sounds like it’s going to be absolutely dynamite and a whole lot of fun. I’m going as a guest of fellow blogger Burger Beast who will be “serving” as a celebrity judge.

If you can swing it, try and get to this one.

If you do come, please if you spot me, say hello—unless you are a disgruntled restaurant owner!

***** THE GRIND—MIAMI’S BURGER BATTLE *****

Just heard about “The Grind–Miami’s Burger Battle”—sounds like it could be a-load of fun.

Printed below, is a copy of the sponsor’s press release about this “best burger” contest scheduled to be held on Saturday, March 31, 2012 in Miami, Florida.
******************
Wars have been won, but a battle never tasted so good!

A burger showdown will ensue on March 31st, where only the best of the best burgers in South Florida will compete under one roof for the coveted Golden Grinder and title.

South Florida has never seen a burger battle quite like The Grind. Taste 30 of the best burgers in town while washing it down with complimentary open bar including Blue Moon craft beer, wine and spirits. Guests and local celebrity judges will vote for their favorite burgers provided by restaurants in the 954 and 305 area codes. An online competition will also take place where cooking enthusiasts will submit their own recipe for the “Best Backyard Burger”. Judges include TV personalities Belkys Nerey, Adam Kuperstein and Jeff Berardelli; James Beard award-winning chef and director of The Miami Culinary Institute, Norman Van Aken; world-class restaurateur, Steven Haas; food critic, The Burger Beast; co-chair of The Miami Dolphins Foundation, Stan Rudman and Commissioner Marc Sarnoff.

The Grind is proud to have the Miami Culinary Institute on board as a partner. Students will be given the opportunity to work side-by-side with Miami’s top restaurants and chefs as they help prepare the evening’s main attraction – Burgers! For those who want to start sampling, voting and mingling an hour before general admission, VIP tickets are available and on sale now!

WHEN:
Saturday, March 31, 2012
VIP: 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM
General Admission: 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM

WHERE:
Miami Entertainment Complex (MEC)
50 NW 14 Street
Miami, FL 33136

Purchase tickets by visiting www.TheGrindMiami.com or at (305)461-2700.

Advanced Tickets – $75.00
Door Tickets – $85.00

******

JeffEats says…

The contestants are:

8 Oz Burger Bar
Bernie’s L.A. Café
Burger & Beer Joint
Burger Bar by Chef Allen
Charm City Burger Company
Cheeseburger Baby
Chow Down Grill
Chuck Burger Joint
Cuban Cube (Islas Canarias)
Cuban Guys
Elevation Burger
El Rey De Las Fritas
Filling Station
Flip Burger Bar
The Frita Man
Georgie’s Alibi
Giraffas
Grill Master Café
Joe’s Stone Crab
The Joint Bar & Grill
Latin House Burger & Taco Bar
The Local
Lokal Burger and Beer
Makoto
The Office
Pincho Factory
Quickie’s Burgers & Wings
Shake Shack
Smokey Bones Bar & Fire Grill
The Best Backyard Burger finalists Ryan Blanski and Roly Masferrer

The “buzz” about this event is enormous in South Florida Blogland.

If you do a drop of checking, you will find that Jeff Eats has reviewed a number of the “contestants”…suffice it to say, the judges are going to have a real-tough time picking a winner, because there are going to be some absolutely amazing burgers for the crowd to sample.

By the way, desserts will be provided by Azucar Ice Cream Shop, Copperpot’s, Fireman Derek’s World Famous Pies and Mandarin Gourmet Doghnut Shoppe

***** Between The Bun, 1035 Gateway Boulevard, Boynton Beach, Florida 33426, (561) 735-8820.

Back on August 24, 2011- I did a “review” on Between The Bun…a fast food burger joint in Boynton Beach.

This past Sunday, I and Mrs. Jeff Eats had lunch at Between The Bun…I’m really not into the repeating game–however, I gotta tell you that the cheeseburger–steak sandwich–french fries that we had were as good as “anything” out there in South Florida.

The burger and steak were made on a gas grill–which gives the food a delicious “backyard” bbq taste…the fries were hand cut…they look and taste exaclty like the Nathan’s fries- that I grew-up on in- as a kid in Brooklyn in the 1950s.

For the record, I really don’t see how people “call” McDonald’s fries or for that matter any other fast food joint’s fries, the best going—because, as far as I’m concerned- Nathan’s fries were and still are the king of the hill. Look, I know some of you guys out there ain’t Nooo Yorkers— you gotta trust me on this one… the original Nathan’s in Coney Island made/still makes crinkle cut french fries which are absolutely amazing…after you’ve eaten these fries, everything else is second-rate. Just so you know, in the various South Florida Nathan’s outlets, the fries, like the their Brooklyn parent’s stuff are delicious—but, for some reason-maybe it’s the ocean air/grease/Brooklyn air–the Nathan’s Coney Island location’s fries seem to taste better to me. Anyway…

Between The Bun is a one-off. It’s owned by a guy named Dave. From what I can tell, he is there morning-noon-night and literally lives and breathes Between The Bun. The guy use to own a deli in New York City and moved down here to be near his elderly parents who reside in Boynton Beach. I am telling you, this guy Dave knows how to make food. The burger is delicious. He also makes a garlic steak sandwich with grilled onions that is dynamite. On the fries, I really don’t know what Nathan’s secret is, but Dave makes fries that in a blind taste test, I’d bet that Nathan’s CEO couldn’t tell the difference. I know I couldn’t.

Just a couple of thoughts…How come Nathan’s which has burgers, fries, hot dogs–and was around long before McDonald’s, BK and Wendy’s came on the scene-didn’t grow into a huge national fast food chain? Also, how come there are no national hot dog chains?

If you want to eat dynamite burgers, fries and bbq steak sandwiches…give Between The Bun a shot.

Between The Bun is open 11am-9pm 7 days a week.

***** Ernie’s Italian Chophouse, 3150 North Federal Highway, Lighthouse Point, Florida 33064, (954) 781-0910.

The last time I checked–Jeff Eats had been in something like 260 different South Florida Italian restaurants. Math was never my strong suit, suffice it to say, that equates to a whole lot of pizzas, pastas, veal parms, eggplants, chicken cacciatores…Now nothing for nothing, the truth be told, the exact details about any-one particular “meal” is probably just a hazy memory.

Anyway…last night I gave 6 week old Ernie’s Italian Chophouse in Lighthouse Point a shot. By the way, I’m familar with Ernie’s location, in that over the years–it has housed several restaurants like Giulio Cesare Italiano Ristorante. The point I’m gonna make here, is that the “restaurant” that I knew, has been totally reconfigured-remodeled. Just so you know, when you walk into Ernie’s there is a separate bar area where you can eat–then walking a short corridor, there is a second room for dining with a pass-through window that allows you to watch the “chefs” work. The walls are white, there is a handful of “modern” scultpures on the walls, and both rooms have blue wall lights that give the joint an upscale South Beach look. From the decor, there is absolutely no tipoff as to the what type of food dominates the menu. For the record, Mrs. Jeff Eats and the couple we were with loved the decor—personally, I thought the lighting was too dark and the walls on the boring side—and since this blog is called Jeff Eats, I win! By the way, the joint’s website www.erniesitalianchophouse.com in addition to menu/prices has a few dining room photos, so you’ll see what the controversy is all about.

Now let me tell you about Ernie’s food.

The menu is not exactly huge, but there are enough appetizers, salads, pastas, Italian entrees, steaks/chops, desserts—so nobody is going to go home hungry.

At the top of this “review” I told you guys how I’ve been in so many Italian joints–that a haze has set in…well let me tell you, I will absolutely positively remember Ernie’s Italian Chophouse’s food. Let me make this as simple as I can, the chicken on-the-bone scarpariello that I “tried” was probably the best that I’ve ever eaten. Other entrees consummed- veal parmigiana, chicken milanase, broiled veal chop were absolutely top-notch—appetizers – meatballs, fried calamari were delicious and Caesar and fenel/beets/arguela salads were real good. For desserts, we stuffed our faces with in-house-made cannoli, flourless chocolate cake and cheesecake—I really enjoyed all three, but the cannoli and chocolate cake were worth the price of admission alone.

Let me sum the food up this way…this was one of the best Italian outings I have had in South Florida.

Now we- talk, prices and service. The prices aren’t neighborhood pizza joint prices—but surprisingly this “white table” cloth joint didn’t burn us. Now I’m just thumb nailing this–but maybe the whole shooting match was 7-8 bucks a head more than pizza joint fare. Trust me here, your favorite neighborhood pizza joint in a million years doesn’t come close to the goods that Ernie’s is turning out. On service–think competent “sports bar” folks and you got the picture. Just a thought, if Ernie’s makes fresh pasta daily, don’t you think that-should be used as a selling point? Or maybe that the salads and sides are big enough to feed two maybe even three people. Well I do! I will tell you- owner Ernie was all over the joint–visiting- from what I saw every table and trying his best to make sure that the kitchen and servers were doing shall we say…the right thing. Now, being a kind hearted soul, Jeff Eats is going to mix into the equation the fact that Ernie’s has only been open for something like 6 weeks.

By the way, for those of you who maybe wondering…yes, Ernie’s is located in a non-descript half empty South Florida strip center so parking was a snap.

I really enjoyed Ernie’s Italian Chophouse.

On a final note, every so often Jeff Eats finds a joint that has a shot at being a home run. Look, I’m not trying to tell Ernie what to do because I got no skin in this game… But, if you ask me…if he gets his service up to snuff and pipes in some tunes by guys like Frank Sinatra, Jerry Vale, Steve Lawrence and doo wop groups—The Duprees, The Passions and The Skyliners he’ll get a vibe going that will have the joint constantly packed.

Ernie’s is open Monday-Thursday 5:30pm-10:30pm, Friday-Saturday 5:30pm-11pm, Sunday 5pm-10pm.