Deck 84, 84 East Atlantic Avenue, Delray Beach, Florida 33483, (561) 665-8484.

Last night, ate at this Delray Beach “American Style” joint- which has both indoor and outdoor patio seating–on the Intracoastal.

Do you know what a waste of time and money is? Well, if you don’t…eat dinner there and then you’ll know.

Over the past year or so, Jeff Eats has been “hearing” mixed thoughts on Deck 84. Unfortunatley for me, Mrs. Jeff Eats and another couple decided to find-out for ourselves what the skinny was.

Overpriced! No way that 3 salads, 2 hamburgers, 2 crab cake sandwiches, 2 Cokes and a glass of house wine should cost $152 (with tip).

Very limited menu–and I do mean limited. Don’t belive me? If you check www.deck84.com you’ll see what I am talking about. For 152 bucks-you would kinda think that the burgers and sandwiches would have been “hot” and not luke warm. You would also think, that the sweet potato tater tots wouldn’t be cold and taste like something right out of Publix’s frozen food shelves—same for the boiled greenbeans that came with the crab cakes. By the way, forgetting about their “temperature”–the food was okay, but nothing that anyone would go running back for.

The service is okay–sport’s bar quality.

You would also think, that the outdoor patio “right on” the Intracoastal would be a dynamite place to sit—and wouldn’t have a “gasoline” smell from the various boats docked at the restaurant. You would also figure with an out door bar, there might be a band or dj “cranking out” something…not dead-silence at 8pm because, some woman living next door- got the City of Delray to enforce a noise ordinance which only allows the joint to play outdoor music from 2pm-6pm.

What I’m thinking here is-with enough beers in you on a nice Sunday afternoon, Deck 84 might work for some of you guys from 2pm-6pm sitting outside. Notice the operative word here is “might”–personally, I don’t think that my bladder could handle the number of beers it would take to convince me that this is a good joint.

My call here is- I think that Deck 84 is a big waste of time. If you are smart, you’ll — Stay away!! Leave this one to the tourists.

***** BOCA BURGER BATTLE, A GRILLING AFFAIR *****

Got a real good one for you guys…”BOCA BURGER BATTLE, A GRILLING AFFAIR!” -Saturday, July 14th-7PM-10PM at Sanborn Square Park, Boca Raton.

From what I’m hearing, this “thing” is gonna be something else!

All kinds of food, beer, booze, burger contest, celebrity judges, bands, live entertainment, retail shopping bazaar…

Pre-sale tickets $50, at the door $75. The price of admission includes all food and beverage tastings.

The 2012 “Burger Contestants'” preliminary list includes- in no particular order…Super Dave’s Diner (Boca Raton), Biergarten (Boca Raton), Gimme A Burger (Deerfield Beach), Big Joe’s Burger & Wings (Boca Raton), Red’s Backwoods BBQ (Boca Raton), Boardwalk Fresh Burgers & Fries (Boca Raton), Brickyard Micro Brewery (Boca Raton), Saquella Caffe (Boca Raton), The English Tap & Beer Garden (Boca Raton), Dubliner Irish Pub (Boca Raton).

For whatever it’s worth, amazingly- Jeff Eats has “writeups” on all of the current contestants–except The English Tap & Beer Garden.

If this sounds like something you’d enjoy, check www.bocaburgerbattle.com for information/tickets.

I’ll keep you guys updated as new contestants and details are announced.

****June 23, 2012 UPDATE

By the way, since Jeff Eats’ “initial” writeup, Morton’s, Brewzzi’s, Smashburger and Rebel (same guys that own Charm City), Wave 2700 have been added to the contestants’ list.

***** Good Times Sub Shop, 17225 South Dixie Highway, Palmetto Bay, Florida 33157, (305) 964-7418.

Anyone here remember the 1970’s tv blockbuster show- Good Times? Recently caught Jimmy J.J. Walker at a comedy club…and the man is still very funny.

Anyway…the other day I tried Good Times Sub Shop…a “sub” shop (what else?) in Palmetto Bay. Now nothing for nothing, you guys know-that down here in South Florida, sub-shops are literally a dime a dozen…you also know, that most of them are pretty-good and get the job done…for example, even a gigantic operation like Publix turns out decent enough stuff. Now, every so often Jeff Eats comes across a sub joint that goes-shall we say–the extra mile…just check, I got some names for you in the Subs/Salads category. Getting back to Good Times, I’m gonna put this joint in the “extra mile” category. First, the two young guys who own this joint, couldn’t be more pleasant or nicer. Second, the 3 subs (delicious hard crust bread) that I tried- churrasco, bbq chicken and tuna were right up there with the best of breed. Third, rare for a sub joint, Good Times has wings—and the grilled honey mustard ones I had were delicious. I’m gonna leave you guys to let me know if the cold meat/cheese subs are any good–but I will tell you, the Italian Special that I saw a guy eating there looked awfully good to me.

You can check Good Times Sub Shop’s menu/prices at www.goodtimessubshop.com.

Good Times Sub Shop is open Monday-Friday 11am-7pm, Saturday 11am-4:30pm, closed on Sunday.

***** What’s Your Favorite Breakfast Joint? *****

Looking- for the “best” breakfast joints in Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.

***** Super Dave’s Diner, 2166 North Dixie Highway, Boca Raton, Florida 33431, (561) 544-0940.

Every so often Jeff Eats comes across a joint that is an absolute homerun…

Last night, I took-out from Super Dave’s Diner a “hole in the wall soul food” joint in Boca Raton…the order was real simple–fried chicken, bbq pork ribs, chicken wings, mac & cheese, green beans, sweet potato pie, corn bread, cole slaw -and I gotta tell you, every item was absolutely delicious.

A few seconds ago, I called Super Dave’s Diner a “hole in the wall”—trust me on this, Super Dave’s is the real-deal, maybe 4-5 tables and 4 counter seats—throw in that it’s in a bombed out strip center and you got the makings of a special-really cool joint. Nothing for nothing, but the bet here is- if tv’s Guy Fieri of “Diners Drive-in & Dives” or Adam Richman of “Man V. Food” tried Super Dave’s Diner not only would they love its food but they would launch it into “must try” status. Just a quick story, about 3 hours before Jeff Eats got there, Super Dave’s Diner had fed (inside and outside in Super Dave’sparking lot and two adjoining lots) a group of 150 which included a number of New York Jets’ players. Just so you understand as to where I’m going with this, your living room (the bet here-that no matter who you are or where you live) is bigger than Super Dave’s Diner’s entire restaurant. Based on what I heard, Super Dave’s only had 20 minutes notice that the group was coming in…talk about banging out food, the scene in the kitchen must have been wild.

Let me tell you a drop about the food…each bbq rib is something like 7″ long. The ribs are smoked in an outside smoker, basted with Super Sauce a sweet sauce (with a bit of kick to it) and finished off on a gas grill. The wings are lightly battered/fried–I had both honey mustard and Super Sauce covered wings. Let me make this short and simple, the ribs and chicken were some of the best I’ve had….same for the sweet potato pie and green beans. So you don’t think that Jeff Eats is a shill for Super Dave’s Diner, the mac & cheese and corn bread although very good, didn’t quite make the “some of the best I’ve had” category.

For a small joint, Super Dave’s Diner has a good-sized very reasonably priced menu…It’s got all kinds of breakfast stuff (which is served all day long) like pancakes, omelettes…loads of sandwiches, wings, bbq items, sides, seafood/chicken/meat dishes—trust me, you’re gonna have trouble deciding what to eat.

Just in case you find yourself on tv’s “Jeopardy”– Super Dave’s Diner opened in October, 2011 and is owned and operated by Dave Harmon. Dave has been in the restaurant business for 16 years and has worked at such South Florida joints as Ernie’s Restaurant, 5th Avenue Grill, Macaroni Grill, Carrabba’s and Ribs and Things…now for the Final Jeopardy answer…in Jeff Eats’ professional opinion, Dave’s 10 year kitchen stint at a 24-hour New Jersey Diner is the reason he was able to handle 150 people with relatively no notice without even breaking a sweat.

I absolutely loved Super Dave’s Diner.

I highly recommend that you give this joint a try…it’s a rare find.

At this stage of the game check www.superdavesdiner.com for menu/prices.

Super Dave’s Diner is open Monday-Tuesday-Thursday 11am-8pm, Wednesday 11am-6pm, Friday-Saturday 11am-10pm, Sunday 1pm-6pm.

***** BET THE JOCKEY *****

Got- what could be a very interesting stock play…Function (X) Inc. (NASDQ:FNCX:$3.01)…then again, it may not be, so before you do “anything” do your own DUE DILIGENCE.

FNCX is a “play” on this whole social-media business. I know that sounds kinda nebulous, but I still use a rotary phone.

FNCX was “cobbled” together about a year ago from a shell-corporation by a guy named Robert F.X. Sillerman who “use to own” American Idol. For our purposes, Sillerman is THE JOCKEY.

Now if this kinda stuff interests you, do some heavy duty GOOGLING as well as check www.functioninc.com and see what you come-up with on Sillerman and Function (X).

Based on THE JOCKEY and the team of jockeys that Sillerman has assembled–JEFF EATS thinks that something huge maybe in the works here.

***** Super Dave’s Diner *****

Over the past week or so, I’ve gotten a number of very positive e-mails about a BBQ-joint named Super Dave’s Diner, 2166 North Dixie Highway, Boca Raton, Florida 33431- (561) 544-0940…www.superdavesdiner.com.

I got plans to check this joint out in the very near future.

If half the stuff in those e-mails is true, Super Dave’s Diner has terrific food.

If you get there before I do, let me know what you think.

***** THINGS YOU KNOW FOR SURE *****

Kill some time with me, until I “cook up” another restaurant-joint story for you.

Give me your best THINGS YOU KNOW FOR SURE…

***** MATTRESS STORES *****

Just a quick observation…

I don’t know about you guys, but it seems to me that every “crappy” South Florida strip center now has a MATTRESS STORE in it.

Now…I know that in recent years fancy-schmantzy self-adjusting mattresses have become quite the “rage”—but something tells me, that “mattresses” just like “upscale” fast food burger–self serve yogurt–cupcakes–coal oven pizza joints—definitely got a musical chairs game going on–and it ain’t gonna end well for most of the retail-mattress joints.

I don’t know about you, but it just seems to me–that in a real weak economy “buying” a new mattress can’t be on too many folks’ “must buy” lists. It would also seem to me that all of these mattress stores indicate that landlords are having trouble finding shall we say-stronger tenants to fill those vacancies.

Just some observations.

***** Meyer Amphitheater–Sunday* June 17, 2012* 4pm-7pm *****

Now, not trying to turn Jeff Eats into an “oldies” Rock N Roll-newsletter or nothing…but, when I see something really good, it’s my sacred duty as a child of the 50’s to tell you guys about it.

On Sunday–June 17, 2012 from 4pm-7pm the Meyer Amphitheater in West Palm Beach (www.cityofwpb.com)- is presenting what looks to be a fabulous free “outdoor concert” headlining three of South Florida’s top 60’s cover bands:

THE FABULONS (www.fabulons.com)
ORANGE SUNSHINE (www.orangesunshine.biz)
ACROSS THE UNIVERSE (www.acrosstheuniverseband.com)

Trust me on this one, “IF” you are a fan of 1960’s Rock N Roll you will absolutely-positively love this concert. I have seen all three groups and each one of them puts on a tremendous show.

Check the websites listed above for event details/audio/video.