***** Dixie Grill & Bar, 5101 South Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach, Florida 33405, (561) 586-3189.

First things first…check Dixie Grill & Bar’s website www.dixiegrillandbar.com—you’ll find menu/prices/photos-there is also a great video which will clue you in on exactly what this casual American-Style restaurant looks like and is all about. Got ahead, check the website out, I’ll wait!

Glad to see that you came back…

Let me start by telling you, that I absolutely love joints like Dixie Grill & Bar…unlike “chains” like Friday’s, Chili’s, Appelbee’s, Ruby Tuesday’s—these “one-off” joints are the real McCoy. Now, you know and I know, that chains’ decors and concepts are planned down to the “dust” on the floor… while-joints like Dixie Grill & Bar are the brainchild of guys like Richard and Jay Preefer who hand-pick every decoration and figure-out every menu item…Trust me on this, 99% of the time–joints owned and operated by the “moms & pops” of the world, run circles around their corporate-counterparts.

The other night, I did Dixie Grill & Bar for dinner…the joint’s menu is loaded with appetizers, salads, burgers, sandwiches, entrees…there is a full bar and indoor/outdoor patio seating. Sampled “stuff”—fried macaroni & cheese, crab cakes, cheeseburger, chicken sliders, beef stir-fry, chicken salad, tuna salad. Every item was delicious. Service is as pleasant as can be. On the price-front, no more expensive than the “Friday’s” of the world. The joint has inside/outdoor patio seating.

Trust me on this one…Dixie Grill & Bar is a terrific restaurant.

If you want to see a cool-well run American Style restaurant in action …check Dixie Grill & Bar out.

Dixie Grill & Bar is open Sunday-Thursday 11:30-10pm and Friday-Saturday 11:30am-1am.

***** Big Momma’s Smokehouse BBQ, 1363 North Military Trail, West Palm Beach, Florida 33409, (561) 478-7270.

Got a really good “fast food” bbq joint for you…Big Momma’s Smokehouse BBQ. For right now, Big Momma’s has 1-location in West Palm Beach, 1-location in Palm Beach Gardens, 1-location in Royal Palm Beach, 1-location in Coconut Creek…according to its website www.bigmommassmokehousebbq.com the “chain” has plans to open-in Sunrise and Delray Beach. While your at the site, check menu/prices.

The other day, I gave Big Momma’s in West Palm Beach a dinner-try…

I’m gonna make this a quickie, the food was absolutely terrific. “Sampled” items included, hickory smoked bbq ribs/chicken, brisket, macaroni & cheese, corn bread. The mac & cheese and corn bread are worth the price of admission alone.

Regular Jeff Eats’ readers know that I’m not a huge “smoked” fan…that said, the guys running Momma’s do it right. They must have read ‘The Three Bears.’ The ribs/chicken were right on the money, same for the brisket.

Like I said before, this is a fast-food joint…order/pickup at the counter. Decor is “fast food” and the most expensive item on the menu is a full rack of ribs for 22 bucks. Momma’s got all kinds of “daily specials” and “plates” so guranteed you won’t be going to the poorhouse to eat there…maybe the ATM machine, but not the poorhouse! By the way, www.southfloridadines.com got one of those $10 gets you $20 deals going.

Momma’s is open Monday-Saturday 11am-9pm and Sunday noon-6pm.

Long Island Bagel & Deli, 21667 State Road 7, Boca Raton, Florida 33428, (561) 218-4506.

A couple of you guys-suggested that I give Long Island Bagel & Deli in Boca Raton a try…so I did.

Just got back from Long Island Bagel & Deli–suffice it to say, I won’t be back.

The joint which opened about 1-month ago, looks like your typical bare-bones bagel restaurant. My friend Mike and I ordered, 2 cups of coffee, 1-toasted everything bagel with cream cheese and 1-everything bagel with chicken salad—with the waitress being told to make sure that the everything chicken salad “bagel” had extra mayo on it and absolutely-positively no lettuce or tomato on it.

30 minutes that’s right THIRTY MINUTES after placing the order, 1-toasted everything bagel with cream cheese and 1-everything bagel with chicken salad-tomato-lettuce and no mayo arrived.

While waiting those 30-minutes, I noticed that the owner was busy sitting/talking with a couple at another table…while his two counter men, were filling orders and handling the register. In all fairness, the restaurant was busy (not crazy busy) but busy—that said, there is absolutely no way that a “small” order like the one my table placed- take 30 minutes to prepare and then find that the order was done wrong. Look! I’m sitting there 30 minutes twiddling my thumbs—same “boredom” for others sitting there and the owner “sits” yapping away at a table. Give me a freaking break…the guy should have been behind the counter, doing whatever-to get food out to customers.

I’ve been to a ton of bagel joints down here…why anyone would pick Long Island Bagel & Deli over nearby competitors is beyond me. Just off the top of my head, I can name at least 6 bagel-delis in the area that run absolute circles around this joint. Let’s try Bagel City, Bagel Works, Utopia Bagels, Nestor’s, Zinger’s and Westside Bagels just for starters.

By the way, the bagels were nothing special—same for the chicken salad. To flesh the food out a bit, the bagel was extremely thin and had the consistency of white bread. The chicken salad, chicken chunks in mayo–if anything else was in the mix, it wasn’t dectectable to this palate. Trust me on this one, this was by no stretch of the imagination “good” chicken salad. This little fiasco before tip was $12.50—trust me, not even close to being worth anything even close to that amount.

Long Island Bagel & Deli is open 6:30am-3pm and Sunday 7am-3pm.

***** Rick St. James *****

If you like Rod Stewart’s music- I got something that you might want to checkout…

About 3-4 months ago, one of America’s top rated-Rod Stewart tribute artists moved to South Florida. The guy’s name is Rick St. James and based on recent performances at B.B. Kings and Meyer Amphitheatre both in West Palm Beach, you’d swear that Rod Stewart in-the-flesh was on the stage.

Do a bit of GOOGLING and you’ll find a ton of ‘You Tube’ on this guy- as well as various talent agency-sites that book his dates.

From what I understand, Rick St. James works all over the United States…that said, he does have a number of up-coming South Florida gigs pay/free scheduled.

Like I said, if Rod Stewart is your bag, you’ll really enjoy Rick St. James’ tribute show.

***** Chuck Burger Joint, 4665 PGA Boulevard, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida 33418, (561) 629-5191.

Got a really-good “upscale” fast-food burger joint for you to try…Chuck Burger Joint in Palm Beach Gardens. A shout-out to HerbK who alerted me to this one…hadn’t heard about this one until he emailed with details. You can check menu/prices at www.chuckjoint.com.

As mentioned in previous reviews, this “upscale” fast food hamburger thing- has literally taken America by storm. It seems like every day or so, another joint opens–for business. Suffice it to say, J. Wellington Wimpy would be in all his glory based on this development.

Now let’s discuss Chuck Burger Joint…

If as suggested, you check the joint’s website, you’ll find a-couple of photos of this ultra-modern really cool looking restaurant. Though it’s a matter of taste, I thought that the decor was right-up there with the best that I’ve seen in the burger-fast food segment. On the menu front…burgers, hot dogs, crinkle cut fries, sandwiches, custard, draft/bottled beer, wine. Price-wise…nothing that would kill anyone- the “sampled” stuff ran as follow, double cheeseburger–$6.75, french fries–$2.70, Hebrew National hot dog with mustard/sauerkraut–$3.45, chocolate milkshake–$5.15. Like J. Wellington Wimpy, I’ve never really met a hamburger/fries that I didn’t like and I’m glad to report that Chuck’s burger/fries and other items were right on the money. I’m not gonna bore you and try to “rate” Chuck Burger’s offerings with let’s say 5 Guys, BurgerFi, Shake Shack, Best Damn Burger, CG Burgers, Between The Bun, Smashburger, Charm City…I’d get dizzy trying to figure it all out—suffice it to say, I really enjoyed Chuck Burger Joint and definitely would eat there again–as I would all of the joints that I justed listed.

One of these days, the upscale fast food burger industry is gonna witness a massive “there are too many players” shakeup…with that said, there is absolutely no reason why you and I can’t stuff our faces with delicious fast food until the day of reckoning comes.

Chuck Burger Joint is open 7 days a week 11am-10pm.

***** Damn Good Burger, 20 Biscayne Boulevard, Miami, Florida 33132, (305) 718-6565.

You know–when in rains it pours!!

Video stores, self serve yogurt stores, cupcake stores…the newest “get in the business”– upscale fast food hamburger joints. Say hello to Damn Good Burger, an upscale fast food burger joint which opened in June 2011. As Bush Sr. would say, “Not gonna do it.”—or maybe it was Dana Carvey doing Bush Sr.—not gonna give you guys a lecture on musical chairs and how one-of-these-days many of these fast food burger joints are gonna find that there isn’t enough business to go-round.

So, while the game is still on, let me tell you about Damn Good Burger.

Damn Good Burger does burgers, hot dogs, french fries, onion rings, handful of salads/sandwiches. In the decor departtment, retro 50’s-60’s look with a cool red drapery thing going on. You can check menu/prices at dgbmiami.com. Really didn’t spend time figuring out the numbers, but off the top of my head- DGB’s prices seem a drop higher than 5 Guy’s and the others in the class. That said, you won’t end up in the poorhouse eating there, so no big worry. I tried a double patty cheeseburger, waffle french fries, onion rings and a grilled mahi sandwich and everything was right on the money. I will tell you, the mahi sandwich was really-really good…so “we” now know a joint where us men can eat burgers & fries smothered in ketchup in peace, while the females have “something” to eat, that they think won’t adversely affect their figures.

Damn Good Burger definitely gets the job done.

You now know about “another” player in the upscale burger fast food business.

Damn Good Burger is open 7 days a week from 11am-11pm.

***** Junior’s Diner, 2920 Corrine Drive, Orlando, Florida 32803, (407) 894-8871.

Junior’s Diner…”mom & pop”–cash only–booth/counter seating diner in Orlando.

I love neighborhood-diner joints, like Juniors. Nothing fancy, just good solid breakfasts, burgers, fries, sandwiches—what makes these joints special is–that they have personality. Unlike chains like IHOP and Perkin’s, the Junior’s of the world have a down-home style and personal touch that only local-owners can generate.

Now, we all know that Orlando is a tourist “mecca”—I seriously doubt, that there are any national restaurant chains without at least one Orlando outpost. If you want to eat where the “locals” eat…you gotta try Junior’s Diner. The joint is open Monday-Saturday 6:30am-2pm and is closed on Sunday.

***** Keke’s Breakfast Cafe, 4192 Conroy Road, Orlando, Florida 32839, (407) 226-1400.

Keke’s Breakfast Cafe is a “small” breakfast-lunch chain. It currently has 2-Orlando stores and another in Winter Park. You can check menu/prices/locations at www.kekes.com.

For discussion purposes, think IHOP and Perkin’s and you’ll have a pretty good idea as to what Keke’s is all about. That said, based on a recent breakfast “sampling” of chocolate chip pancakes, apple cinammon waffles, western omelte, french toast—I think that if Kekes, IHOP and Perkin’s were lined-up in a row…I’d pick Kekes. Notice-I didn’t include Denny’s in that list. For what it’s worth, Denny’s in my humble opinion, is an absolute disaster. Over the years, I have never had a meal at a Denny’s where “something” wasn’t wrong. How Denny’s continues to survive in a piss-poor economy is absolutey amazing. Then again, its rock-bottom prices maybe the reason-that people will voluntarily eat there.

Now let’s be straight with each other, Kekes is a “commercial” joint…it gets the job done in the food department—but it is missing, shall we say, the ambiance and style of the “mom & pop” joints that make eating breakfast really-really special. This mom & pop vibe-thing maybe an “intangible”—but you know it- when you are eating your food and talking to your waiter/waitress.

Assuming that you haven’t been totally spoiled by your favorite “local” diner–I think that you will enjoy Keke’s.

Keke’s bottomline…good food, good service, reasonable prices.

Keke’s is open for breakfast-lunch 7 days a week 7am-2:30pm.

***** Grimaldi’s Coal-Brick Oven Pizzeria, 11701 Lake Victoria Gardens Avenue, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida 33410, (561) 625-4669.

Grimaldi’s Coal-Brick Oven Pizzeria is a “coal oven” pizza chain…there are currently locations in Arizona, Florida, Nevada, New Jersey, New York and Texas. For our purposes, there is currently 1-location in South Florida (Palm Beach Gardens) with announced plans to open a second spot at 1 North Clematis Street, West Palm Beach.

You can check menu/prices/locations at www.grimaldispizzeria.com.

Over the years, I’m gonna guess- that I have eaten in the Brooklyn location 10 times and the Tucson joint 8…Last night, I had dinner at Palm Beach Garden’s restaurant…same menu, same delicious pizza. The only problem I have with Grimaldi’s is that its menu is extremely limited…like try- pizza, a handful of salads, handful of calzones, handful of desserts…end of story. So–if pizza and salad ain’t your bag, you’re in for a serious problem while the rest of your party stuff their faces.

The Palm Beach Gardens’ joint is located in DOWNTOWN AT THE GARDENS…a gorgeous white elephant outdoor mall, which has more empty stores than there are Chins in a Chinese phonebook.

Grimaldi’s pizza is outstanding…it’s right up there with the best of breed. The joint’s caesar and caprese salad are also delicious. The Palm Beach Garden’s joint has a full bar, indoor and outdoor patio seating.

So what we got here…one of the best coal fired pizza/salad joints in South Florida albeit with a very limited menu…great looking indoor wood decor/outdoor patio seating…full bar—in a huge ghost town complex.

Grimaldi’s is open Sunday-Thursday 11am-10pm and Friday-Saturday 11am-midnight.

***** Shiver’s BBQ, 28001 South Dixie Highway, Homestead, Florida 33033, (305) 248-2272.

Let’s play Southerner…got a great bbq joint for you, Shiver’s BBQ in Homestead. Shiver’s has been around for something like 50 years. Just so you know, we are talking “smoked goods” here—so, if the sweet sauces of Tony Roma’s or Bobby Rubino’s are your game–come prepared! Personally, I’m not a huge smoked-fan…but Shiver’s like the Three Pigs, has the formula for Just Right. You can check menu/prices at www.shiversbbq.com.

Shiver’s got a cute idea going…you eat at long picnic tables which line the joint. So in theory, you “could” be eating with strangers. Over the years, I’ve seen this seating thing done at other joints—Shorty’s B-B-Q in Miami (9200 South Dixie Highway) which has been around since 1951, has a similar setup (see review 7/10/08)…I also remember eating in a few Amish joints in Lancaster, Pennsylvania—they had “group” seating, but also had family style portions—but that’s a whole ‘nother story.

A recent outing had me doing…corn nuggets, macaroni & cheese, cornbread souffle, french fries, babyback ribs, bbq chicken, pulled pork. Let me make this real-simple…Shiver’s BBQ is right-up there with the best bbq joints that- this originally from Brooklyn boy has ever eaten in. Everything was outrageously delicious.

Y’all–Shiver’s is a homerun.

Shiver’s BBQ is open Sunday-Thursday 11am-9pm and Friday-Saturday 11am-10pm.