***** 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.

***** Local Eats *****

Yesterday, I got an email from a company called Local Eats.

Take a look at Local Eats’ site www.localeats.com—all kinds of restaurant reviews, blog sites. Seems like a real-good source of information on restaurants all over the country.
*****
Hello,

One of our editors recently stumbled upon your blog while researching South Florida restaurants – great site! Jeff Eats is just the type of blog we want to let our readers know about, so we have selected it to be one of our FEATURED BLOGS. What does this mean? As a featured blog, you are in good company – we currently feature over 1,000 of the best food and dining blogs across the U.S. Being featured means we will post a snippet from your last post via RSS feed. Visitors will be able to jump to your blog by either clicking your blog Url or your post heading.

To see how your blog is featured, go to: < http://www.localeats.com/best-american-food-and-dining-blogs/miami-dining-and-food-blogs/ >. We would also like to offer you an award button to display on your website go to: < http://www.localeats.com/blog-awards/ >. Posting a button is certainly not required, but if you do Thank You.

Thanks for your time, and keep up the great work. I hope we at LocalEats can serve our own readers and website visitors by calling their attention to your blog, and that we can drive some traffic to your site in the process.

Thanks!
Brian

Ps. If you would rather not be featured on LocalEats, just let me know and I’ll remove your listing.

——————

Brian Relleva

brian.relleva@localeats.com
LocalEats

***** Gamaroff’s Bar And Grill, 100 South Federal Highway, Hallandale Beach, Florida 33009, (954) 454-9676.

I gotta tell you, some of you guys really know your stuff…

Following up on several readers’ recommendations–last week, I checked out Gamaroff’s Bar And Grill in Hallandale. Do you know what a “homerun” is? Well–Gamaroff’s is a HOMERUN!!

For our purposes, let’s call– Gamaroff’s a “sports bar”—flat screen tvs, full bar (of course), indoor/outdoor patio seating, sports bar ‘friendly” service—now for the kicker, this joint serves delicious, reasonably priced, high quality food. At this stage of the dialogue you can check www.gamaroffs.com for menu/prices/photos.

As I just mentioned, delicious food. A recent dinner had me “trying” onion blossom appetizer ($6.95), bbq beef ribs appetizer ($6.95), 18oz bone-in-ribeye ($14.95), 1/2 southern fried chicken ($8.95), shrimp scampi ($13.95), 16oz prime rib ($13.95), 1/2 roast chicken ($7.95) mac & cheese ($4.95), creamed spinach ($5.95)–for you wiseguys out there, there were 5 in the Jeff Eats’ party–so I was able to “try” a load of stuff.

Now just so you know, the entrees basically-come with nothing–and the sides are served family style.

As I mentioned at the top of this discussion, several of you guys recommended this joint to me. No names, but one reader “rated” the food right-up there with the stuff served by South Florida’s best upscale steakhouses. To be perfectly honest with you, I actually enjoyed the food and vibe better than let’s say 95% of the upscale steak joints that I’ve been to. The steak and prime rib were as good if not better than the stuff hustled by the white table cloth joints- at twice the price. Throw in the fact, that the “help” was pretentiousless (if there is such a word)–and that shorts/tee short ensembles work beautifully here—and that spells homerun in Jeff Eats’ book.

I am telling you, Gamaroff’s is a must-try.

Gamaroff’s is open 11:30am-1am 7 days a week.

***** Read It With Your Own Two Eyes *****

The following article by Larry Barszewski appeared on today’s cover of the “Sun Sentinel”…

Brooklyn nets best bagels-from Boca

A major Brooklyn sports and entertainment venue has found the essence of Brooklyn bagels and tap water-in Boca Raton.
New York’s famed bagel shops may be miffed, but Barclays Center has chosen Boca Raton’s Original Brooklyn Water Bagel Company as its bagel vendor.
The $1 billion center opens in September as home to the NBA’s renamed Brooklyn Nets. The 10-store bagel company, including eight from Miami Beach to Jupiter touts a 14-step treatment for the water it uses to make bagels.
Its operation at Barclays Center will take Brooklyn’s New York City Tap water and turn it into-Jerry Seinfield couldn’t make this up-Brooklynized water.
“They’re going to turn it into better Brooklyn water,” said company attorney Robert Mayer. “It’s only going to have the good stuff.”
And if that’s not enough, a sister Boca Raton company, the Original Brooklyn Water Bottling Company, is the center’s exclusive provider of bottled water, coming from company facilities in the Northeast.

—–
I know Phineas T. Barnum didn’t say it, so I will…”There’s a sucker born every minute.”

Now, do you really think that the folks in Brooklyn are gonna “buy” into this one? Nothing for nothing, but the Brooklyn that I left in 1991 would be pissing its pants in laughter…but then again, that was 21 years ago.

By the way, back on 8/11/2009 Jeff Eats reviewed The Original Brooklyn Water Bagel Company.

***** Dave Revels Tribute To The Four Tops *****

I am a huge Motown fan…Just so you know, Smokey is my favorite singer and I absolutely love The Four Tops. Now with that in mind—

I recently caught an 11 piece act..”Dave Revels Tribute To The Four Tops” that absolutely blew me away. I’m telling you– You’d swear, that The Four Tops (Levi, Duke, Obie and Lawrence) were in-the-house circa 1965. Dead on and I do mean dead on versions of the group’s greatest hits.

To be perfectly honest with you, over the years, literally- I have seen countless cover bands and tribute acts down here in South Florida. No fooling around, “Dave Revels Tribute To The Four Tops” was right up there with the best that I’ve seen, anywhere. Terrific staging, costumes, music, dancing—this group had it all covered. In addition to The Four Tops’ tribute, the act also did amazing covers of such 50s-60s-70s artists as The Drifters, The Platters, The Supremes, The Miracles, Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell.

The reason that I am mentioning “Dave Revels Tribute To The Four Tops” is that the New York based group is currently scheduling a number of 2012-2013 Florida appearances. So… if this type of “entertainment” is your bag–be on the lookout for advertised performance dates.

Just a little heads up…the leader of the group- Dave Revels ain’t exactly a rookie in the entertainment business. Years ago, he was a member of Charlie Thomas’ Drifters and is a current member of the legendary acapella group-The Persuasions (who by the way, tore the house down this past Sunday night at The Broward Center). To say that this guy can sing, would be an understatement. He does a Levi Stubbs and Marvin Gaye—that would have the originals thinking that- they were singing on stage.

Like I said, “Dave Revels Tribute To The Four Tops” is something you gotta see—you can check schedule/audio/video at www.daverevels.com & www.standingintheshadowsofthefourtops.com. You can also You Tube–Dave Revels and you should come-up with a ton of videos.

One final thought, I’m sure that a number of you guys live in condo communities, country clubs, etc…that have entertainment directors/committees. “Dave Revels Tribute To The Four Tops” would be an absolute homerun–so maybe you should make an introduction!

***** Nosher’s Deli, 7134 North Nob Hill Road, Tamarac, Florida 33321, (954) 642-5225.

Got a real good “bagel-deli” joint for you…Nosher’s Deli in Tamarac. You can check menu/prices at www.noshersdeli.com.

If you are over the age of 13 months, you know exactly how this “concept” works… formica tables galore, breakfast & lunch Monday-Thursday 7:30am-3pm, breakfast/lunch/dinner Friday-Sunday 7:30am-8pm—14 types of in house baked bagels—all types of breakfast stuff served all day—soups—sandwiches—burgers—salads—“special” entrees.

For the record, over the past 3 months I “did” 1-breakfast and 1-lunch. Real simple, really enjoyed the western omelette and everything bagel that I had—for $5.99 which included coffee, this was a super-duper bargain. On the lunch end, I “tried” pastrami on rye ($7.99), corned beef on rye ($7.99), chicken salad on rye toast ($6.75) and a bowl of matzo ball soup ($2.99)—everything was A-OK.

Just so we are straight…Nosher’s Deli is a BAGEL-DELI joint. Like most of its brethern, it turns out decent reasonably priced stuff—with the word “reasonably” being the operative word here. For what it’s worth, Nosher’s Deli is located virtually in Kings Point- a gigantic senior citizen community. The bet here, the crowds that were there on my outings, were probably 70-80% seniors. Got nothing against seniors–but I do want you to know the game that is being played here. Good–not great stuff—at very reasonable prices.

So…to sum things up–a real good, reasonably priced bagel-deli joint.

***** The Plantation Diner, 6903 West Broward Boulevard, Plantation, Florida 33317, (954) 791-2985.

Earlier today, I told you guys about a real-good “mom & pop” neighborhood diner…Over Easy Cafe located in Oakland Park—here’s another real-good one, The Plantation Diner in Plantation (that figures).

Look-I could go into detail, but suffice it to say, The Platation Diner is a terrific place for breakfast/lunch. When you really think about it, breakfast here in South Florida is pretty much dominated by the fast food chains and bagel-delis. I don’t know about you, but I’d prefer eating a western omelette or some pancakes with a hot coffee in a neighborhood diner than getting food at the two “aforesaid” type venues. Call me crazy, sentimental, but these mom & pop joints give me a Mayberry vibe…Now, I could go into “Greek” diners vs. “mom & pop” diners—for sure, there are differences and then again some same-ness. Suffice it to say, I’ll bet that you guys know exactly what a neighborhood diner smells and looks like.

The Plantation Diner has a menu loaded with breakfast stuff, salads, sandwiches, burgers, desserts. You can check menu/prices at www.dinerplantationfl.com.

Over the years, I’ve probably had breakfast/lunch at The Plantation Diner something like 4-5 times. Just so you know, old Jeff Eats is a creature of habit when it comes to diners—I love western omelettes, home fries, french toast, bacon cheeseburgers made on a grill, chicken salad with extra mayo on toasted rye, apple pie, Coca Cola. I’ve had all of the “mentioned” at The Plantation Diner and I am happy to report that everything was A-OK. I also love to kibbutz waitresses and owners–and my latest breakfast (about 1 hour ago) was a kibbutz -fest.

The Plantation Diner is open Monday-Saturday 6am-3pm, Sunday 6:30am-2pm.

***** The Over Easy Cafe, 341 East Oakland Park Boulevard, Oakland Park, Florida 33334, (954) 561-1177.

The Over Easy Cafe–“mom & pop” diner located in Oakland Park.

Let me start by saying, that everyone has an Over Easy Cafe…

It maybe called- George’s in Brooklyn, Tom Sawyer’s in Boca, Good Egg in Tucson, or Cozy Corner in Chicago—that small, neighborhood, formica table/booth joint (the grill is right behind the counter seating) that you go to—for breakfast/lunch. Absolutely impossible to get a count, but I’ll betcha that there are literally thousands of these mom & pop owned/operated restaurants in America.

You know the drill…menus- loaded with breakfast stuff, sandwiches, salads, burgers, dinner specials, desserts. Nothing gourmet (whatever gourmet means) seemingly happens at the -Over Easy Cafes of the world—Just decent food, pleasant waitresses, loads of coffee, endless conversation.

Like most of you, I absolutely love these kind of joints.

For the record, I have eaten 3 breakfasts and 1 lunch at the Over Easy Cafe. Can’t recall ever having had- a bad western, pancake, cheeseburger, chicken salad on toasted rye. You can check menu/prices at www.theovereasy.com.

The Over Easy Cafe is open Monday-Friday 6am-3pm, Saturday 6am-1pm, Sunday 7am-1pm.

One final item for you…The Over Easy Cafe makes some of the best home-made pies that this Brooklyn boy has ever tasted. Try the dutch-apple and I’ll betcha a buck, that the next time you’re in Costco- you’ll think twice about bringing home that 20 pounder (well it feels like it’s 20 lbs) that they have in the baked goods area.

***** Papa Piccolo Pizzeria, 8016 Southwest 81st Drive, Miami, Florida 33143, (305) 270-1020.

On February 7, 2012 I did a “review” on Papa Piccolo Pizzeria…Last Saturday night, I ate at Papa Piccolo and I gotta tell you that the original review didn’t do justice to this terrific red sauce mom & popper. So here’s a drop more about the joint.

You know and I know that “mom & pop” red sauce Italian joints are literally a dime a dozen down here in South Florida. Give or take a trellis here and there, they basically look the same—similar menus, price points…and, they usually get the job done with decent enough pizza, pastas, garlic rolls etc. For sure, every so often, you catch a really delicious dish–but generally, the stuff at best is just ok. The bet here, if blindfolded–most of you (me included) couldn’t differentiate one joint’s veal parm from another’s.

So with the “above” in mind… I was absolutely blown away by a recent dinner at Papa Piccolo Pizzeria. Now there is absolutely no way for me to make a sensible “pecking order” of moms & pops–because we aren’t just talking 1-item like a burger, or fries, or a slice—one joint may have great pizza but crap chicken parmigiana, while another may have great calzones but garbage penne ala vodka. Capice!

Anyway…trust me here—Papa Piccolo Pizzeria has amazingly delicious food. Everything that I “tried”- pizza, veal parmigiana, chicken marsala, shrimp scampi, lobster ravioli, penne ala vodka was right on the money. Throw in huge portions, really reasonable prices and a garlic bread that alone is worth the price of admission—and you got one of the best mom & pop joints that I’ve been to. Now for sure, the failure to make chicken cacciatore and chicken scarpiello “on the bone”—is a negative, but I’ll live.

If you live or work in Papa Piccolo’s neighborhood–you gotta try this joint.

Papa Piccolo is open Monday-Thursay 11am-10pm, Friday-Saturday 11am-11pm, closed on Sunday.

****** THIRD ANNUAL GOLDEN MATZAH BOWL ******

The folks at Forest Trace, a senior retirement community in Fort Lauderdale got a great event planned for March 22, 2012—eight of South Florida’s top “delis” going head to head (mano y mano) -to decide whose matzah ball is the best. From what I gather, a blue-ribbon panel of local celebrity judges will make the call– There is also an on-line contest for the general public—so, if this kinda stuff is your bag, check www.foresttrace.com for details.

Amazingly, Jeff Eats has fressed and has reviews for all of the contestants.

In no particular order they are…

Zinger’s Delicatessen (8/18/11)
Too Jay’s Gourmet Deli (4/28/09)
Ben’s of Boca (3/8/08)
Sage Bagel & Restaurant (5/22/08)
Ally’s Comfort Cafe (12/26/11)
Mo’s Bagel & Deli (8/14/08)
The Pastrami Club (5/3/08)
Mitch’s Westside Bagels (2/9/09)

Let’s see how this one turns out.

May the best ball-win!!!!

PS…to the wise-guys out there, I know that there are something like 22,000,000 different spellings for the word matzah.

***** March 22, 2012 ‘Contest Results’ *****
Press Release:

Eight South Florida restaurants threw their matzah balls in the ring today at Forest Trace, a luxury retirement community in Lauderhill, for the chance to win the title of “Best All Around Matzah Ball” and $500 to the charity of choice in the Third Annual Golden Matzah Bowl. This pre-Passover main event for matzah balls packed quite a punch with the 150 residents and guests that attended this bout.

Ben’s Kosher Deli scored a unanimous decision with the judges by winning “Best All-Around Matzah Ball” and donated $500 to Jewish Community Services of South Florida. In addition, SAGE Deli, Hallandale Beach, scored a technical knockout (TKO) with the attendees by winning the People’s Choice Award.

Some of the judges included Sam Cohen, VP of the Florida Boxing Hall of Fame, and Matt Baiamonte, co-owner of the world famous Angelo Dundee 5th Street Gym. Matt presented a title belt “Turn Back Time” award to Sam Cohen for changing the stereotype of aging and proving that 80 is the new 60.

Chef’s Choice-Pastrami Club

Most Like Mom’s-Ally’s Comfort Café

Best Floater-Mo’s Bagel’s and Deli

OOH IT’S SO GOOD!! Zinger’s Deli

Knock Out: Best Out of the Box Award-Josh’s Deli (Surfside, opening April 2012)

Best of Broward-TooJay’s

People’s Choice-Sage Deli

Best All-Around Matzah Ball-Ben’s Kosher Deli