***** Smashburger *****

Smashburger is a “national” fast-food hamburger chain.

For right now, you CAN’T eat in a Smashburger in South Florida, because-they haven’t yet opened a single store in this region. That said, if you check the company’s website- www.smashburger.com you will find that 3-South Florida stores are set to open real soon…1 in Coral Springs, 1 in Kendall and 1 in Miami.

During the past 2 months, I ate in Smashburgers in Phoenix and Dallas…absolutely delicious burgers, fries, hot dogs. As a point of reference, don’t think plebian joints like McDonald’s, Burger King or Wendy’s… but rather, the upscale players like 5 Guy’s, CG Burgers, Shake Shack, BurgerFi and you’ll “know” what market Smashburger is playing in.

I really enjoyed Smashburger. The joint’s prices are in the same-ballpark as 5 Guys (and the others mentioned)…Smashburger’s menu has the requisite burgers and fries—you’ll also find a handful of salads and shakes.

If really good fast food burgers and fries float your boat- keep an eye out for Smashburger.

Manchu WOK, Miami International Airport, Miami, Florida 33123, (305) 876-0633.

Manchu WOK is a “national” fast food Chinese chain. Manchu WOK’s locations are primarily located in mall-airport food courts. For our purposes, there are 2 locations in Miami International Airport and 1 location in the Westland Mall in Hialeah. You can check locations/menu at www.manchuwok.com.

Let’s make this one a real quickie…DON’T! Yesterday, I was at Miami International Airport. Tried Manchu WOK and the 4-items I “had” ranked right-up there with the worst Chinese stuff I’ve eaten. The stuff…orange chicken, sweet & sour pork, chicken & mushrooms, egg rolls was absolute crap.

Look…I’ve been eating “American” Chinese food for something like 61 years…my first outing, was back in 1950 at Joy Fong’s on Avenue J in Brooklyn, New York. Trust me on this, the stuff I ate yesterday was absolute garbage. The orange chicken and pork were soggy messes–in addition, the sauces that they were in, almost defy description. The pork-sauce tasted like cherry juice and the chicken sauce tasted as if it was gooey orange juice …the chicken & mushrooms based on my “tastebuds” were msg masterpieces. The egg rolls—tasteless.

Be smart…if you see one of these joints in an airport or mall…pick Subway, Sbarro’s, etc. instead.

Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse, 2525 Pone de Leon Boulevard, Coral Gables, Florida 33134, (305) 569-7995.

Flemings’ Prime Steakhouse is a “national” upscale steakhouse chain. For our purposes, it has 1 location in Coral Gables, 2 Orlando joints, 1 in Naples and 1 in Tampa. For a complete list of locations and menu/prices check www.flemingsteakhouse.com.

Recently had dinner in the Coral Gables’ location. Dinner for 4—no drinks, 1-house salad, 1 chicken-1 prime rib-2 steaks–4 side dishes–no desserts–no coffee…..the bill with tax and tip $259.

Let me make this one real simple, Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse is an UPSCALE STEAKHOUSE like I’m the great grandson of Abe Lincoln and trust me, there are and never were any Lincolns in our family. Fleming’s has the requisite dark wood look and decent enough professional service—but the the food–each and every entree and side (fries/onion rings, creamed corn, string beans, mac & cheese) was second rate. My bone-in-ribeye was no better than the ones you get in joints like Longhorn and Lonestar. The mac & cheese was over-spiced, same for the corn.

Rather than knocking you and me out here…

The joint is open Monday-Saturday 5pm-10pm and Sunday 5pm-9pm.

Personally, I won’t be back. There is absolutely-positively nothing special about the food. Why this stuff commands “go for your lungs” prices is beyond me.

***** Taste Bakery Cafe, 900 Alton Road, Miami Beach, Florida 33139, (305) 695-9920.

Before I get going on-this-one, you guys do know that this food reviewing thing is totally a subjective thing. What I like, you may hate and vice versa. In forming opinions, it’s all about life-experience. Look! I was raised on $.15 pizza, $.01 candy and $.05 Coke. To be perfectly honest, to this very day, I can’t figure out what this 5 bucks Starbucks’ “attraction” is all about. With that in mind let me tell you about Taste Bakery Cafe in Miami Beach.

About a week or so ago, I did lunch at the Taste Bakery Cafe…think Starbucks on steroids and you got the picture…better yet, check www.taste-bakery.com for menu/prices/photos.

Now, nobody and I mean nobody is ever going to “beat” the 1960’s –Ebinger’s blackout chocolate cake, or Steinhartz Bakery’s onion rolls, or Sutters’ black & white cookies or Chock Full Of Nuts’ date-bread-cream cheese sandwich, or Cookie’s on Avenue U (there was also one on Avenue J) burgers and meatloaf —but I will tell you, that this 2011-Taste Bakery Cafe has a real nice menu of breakfast stuff, salads, sandwiches, smoothies, coffees and baked goods.

A recent outing had me doing…chopped salad, roast beef wrap (if memory serves me correctly, there were no wraps in the 1960s except the fox one my mother and her girlfriends wore), peanut butter & jelly tortilla (another item that the Flatbush section of Brooklyn in 1960s wasn’t exactly known for), pesto panini (maybe they existed in Brooklyn 1960s, but I don’t recall this one either). Now, not exactly truck-stop food, but everything was delicious-right on the money.

Taste Bakery Cafe is open 7 days a week 7am-6pm.

***** Roll The Stones *****

If you are a fan of THE ROLLING STONES–and who isn’t?…I got something that you absolutely-positively will want to take advantage of…

On September 24, 2011 from 7pm-11pm—Roll The Stones one of America’s top-rated Stones’ tribute bands will perform a FREE CONCERT at City Place, 550 South Rosemary Avenue, West Palm Beach, Florida 33401. I have seen this 9-piece band in action—and I am telling you, that that are absurdly good. Don’t believe me?…Check www.rollthestones.com and catch the photos/audios/videos.

***** South Florida Daily Blog *****

Now it’s just an opinion, but the “MOTHER” of all South Florida Blogs is…SOUTH FLORIDA DAILY BLOG.

Just so you know, I check SOUTH FLORIDA DAILY BLOG every morning and every evening. The guys who “run the site”—have created a great blog-niche for themselves—in that they review and comment on other blogs. The site is really cool as it covers food, politics, news—you name it. Trust me on this, you’ll read about stuff-you haven’t even thought of.

If you want to stay “current” on literally everything going-on in South Florida—do youself a huge favor and read South Florida Daily Blog www.southfloridadailyblog.blogspot.com/.

South Florida Daily Blog…the mother of South Florida blogs.

***** Karaoke with Jammin’ Jimmy *****

Been hearing about this “Karaoke with Jammin’ Jimmy” thing for years. In a nutshell, this DJ-guy Jimmy setups up a super-professional karaoke system in a local restaurant/club…his members/followers/or whatever you want to call them, show-up and eat/drink/perform. Jimmy gets a few bucks from the owner for running the thing and the restaurant gets a crowd who spends money. Real Easy To Understand. By the way, there is no charge to get in and no minimums…regular patrons are welcome.

Anyway…Last night- me, the missus and two other couples along with something like 100 others—spend the evening at Ellie’s 50’s Diner in Delray Beach (see review 7/15/2008) the latest “spot” for Karaoke with Jammin’ Jimmy. My group was there from 6:30pm-10pm and we had an absolutely fantastic time…spending $53 a couple on drinks, appetizers, burgers, entrees and desserts. That’s right 53-whole dollars. On the Ellie’s-front nothing has really changed since my 7/15/08 writeup…good appetizers, burgers, sandwiches, bbq chicken, pies all at super reasonable prices. You can check Ellie’s details at www.elliescatering.com. Cool thing about Ellie’s, in addition to “diner food” it has a constant entertainment-schedule with bands, tribute artists, shows…so, if you want something more than just food–you now know about a restaurant that’s got “stuff” for you.

Now, let me get back to the Jammin’ Jimmy part of the story… Think Joe Pesci and you got Jimmy. He sings and dances and does his best to get everyone involved…to that end, last night he managed to get Ellie’s owner (Ellie) and her wait staff singing for the crowd. From what I could tell, of that 100 I mentioned, most of them were Jimmy followers, with maybe 20 of them being plain old customers who just happened to “luck out” with this impromtu party. During the evening, something like 20-25 different people sang…some had their own CDs which they gave to Jimmy, while others went “cold” and selected from the over 250,000 tunes (that’s what Jimmy told me) that Jimmy’s computer carries. As for the singing, some of these folks can really sing and then again, some are shower singers. All in all, it was really a terrific evening. By the way, last night Jeff Eats was strictly a listener as I let the amateurs have-at-it.

If Karaoke with Jammin’ Jimmy sounds like something you’d like to “do” check www.meetup.com/south-florida-karaoke-party-with-jammin-jimmy/. Like I said before, the guy appears all over South Florida in various restaurants and clubs—so you should be able to find a good spot for you and your friends.

***** Cafe Frankie’s, 640 East Ocean Avenue, Boynton Beach, Florida 33435, (561) 732-3834.

Cafe Frankie’s…”mom & pop” Italian joint located in a Boynton Beach craphole shopping center—which has more closed stores than opened ones. Didn’t count tables, but maybe a handful inside and maybe a handful outside…absolutely nothing fancy going on here. Your shorts/tee shirt ensembles will work well there.

The observant will have noticed by now, that I didn’t call Cafe Frankie’s a “red sauce” joint. For sure, its got pizzas, pastas, veal parmigiana, meatballs, penne ala vodka—that said, someone in the back-of-the-house really knows how to cook…outrageously delcious veal marsala, shrimp scampi, fried lobster, clams oreganata…throw in terrific thin crusted-sweet sauce pizza and I gotta rate the food right up there with the best mom & poppers in South Florida.

Only got two-complaints, the joint’s bread which is served with roasted garlic and pesto—was boring. I guess “boring” is a subjective thing…what I do know, is I usually devour a ton of bread in these kinds of joints…last night, one piece was more than enough for old Jeff Eats. Some real good garlic bread or garlic rolls would have been more on point. The second complaint, soda in cans…I also love loads of Coke when I do mom & poppers—cans take the fun out of eating like a pig.

On the price front…Cafe Frankie’s has the requisite- entree, soup or salad, pasta side “deals” going. A cursory menu review—just an estimate, but some of the entrees are here-and-there- a few bucks more expensive than the local competition. No biggy here, as I thought that the food was just plain out-better than the stuff I usually “sample.”

Cafe Frankie’s is open 7 days a week for dinner and does lunch Monday-Friday.

***** 5 South Florida Food Blogs *****

I always say–the more the merrier.

Got- 5 South Florida Food Blogs that I really enjoy. Over the years, these “guys” have turned me on to a huge-number of terrific-joints. Give a read…

In no particular order:

Miami Food Trucks………………www.miamifoodtrucks.com

Burgers By The Beach……………www.burgersbythebeach.com

The Burger Beast……………….www.burgerbeast.com

South Florida Food & Wine……….www.southfloridafoodandwineblog.blogspot.com

Worst Pizza.com………………..www.worstpizza.com

Just so you know, sometimes Jeff Eats agrees and sometimes Jeff Eats disagrees with the “calls” of others. For what it’s worth (wink wink wink!), I know I’m right and they are wrong, but after all, this is America!

Enjoy these other sites…like I said before, these guys often come-up with terrific joints that serve great stuff.

***** Egyptian Pizza Kitchen, 3201 North Miami Avenue, Miami, Florida 33127, (305) 571-9050.

Go figure…and- I thought that the Chinese invented pizza.

Eqyptian Pizza Kitchen…reminds me of a Tucson joint I once ate in…Vito & Sol’s New York Kosher Style Deli & Pizzeria—-half the menu had “Jewish stuff” and the other half had “Italian stuff.” As I recall, neither “half” was very good, but then again we-are-talking-Tucson.

Anyway, Eqyptian’s menu has pizza/Italian stuff–middle eastern stuff–mediterranean stuff. At this stage of the proceedings you can check menu/prices at www.epkmiami.com.

A recent outing had me doing, falafel, Greek Salad, bbq chicken pita, sausage/pepperoni calzone, chicken shawarma, margherita pizza, baklava. All of the stuff was good, but the pizza, calzone and baklava would be the “items” that would get Jeff Eats to make a return visit…especially that baklava and its drizzled chocolate sauce.

So, if you want to play United Nations in Miami…

Eqyptian Pizza Kitchen is open Monday-Friday 10:30am-10pm and Saturday-Sunday 10:30am-11pm.