***** BurgerFi, 4343 North Ocean Drive, Lauderdale by the Sea 33308, (954) 489-0110.

Walked into this free-standing “fast food” burger joint last Saturday night—and immediately new that I was going to love it. The easiest way to describe BurgerFi–Shake Shack (see 8/1/10 review) meets Five Guys Famous Burgers (see 11/2/06 review) with indoor and outdoor “picnic table seating.”

Let me make this real simple…one of the best fast-food cheeseburgers and hand cut fries that I’ve had in a very long time.

At this stage of the proceedings, check www.burgerfi.com for menu/prices/photos.

I am telling you, if burgers and fries are your game, you are absolutely gonna love this joint.

As a 1949 “baby” I think I know a thing or two about the fast-food-burger industry. Trust me on this, old Jeff Eats has eaten his fair share of burgers and fries.

I think I know exactly what BurgerFi is “trying” to do here…The joint’s decor looks like a roadside fast-food burger joint circa 1950’s/1960’s with some-modern touches…throw in “gourmet” burgers and “upscale” fries-other stuff…and BurgerFi’s got all of the bases covered. It’s cooler looking than Five Guys but cheaper than the “upscale” full service-burger restaurants that are currently America’s latest craze.

Check Burgerfi’s site, there are a handful of pictures which will give you some idea as to what I am yapping about here.

Like I said before, if you like burgers, fries, hot dogs, custard…you’ll love this joint.

BurgerFi is open 7 days a week 11am-1am.

***** Lotus Express, 10300 West Forest Hill Bouelvard, Wellington, Florida 33414, (561) 792-0554.

Lotus Express is a “fast food” Chinese joint–located in the fast-food court at The Mall at Wellington Green in Wellington.

Tried Lotus today for lunch. For $6.69, Jeff Eats got a combination plate of orange chicken/General Tso’s chicken/white rice. I also “tried” an egg roll, shrimp pork fried rice, boneless spare-ribs.

The verdict, the food is edible…with the orange chicken actually being quite decent. As for the other stuff, I’m willing to bet that your favorite neighborhood Chinese takeout makes better stuff.

So, if one-day, you find yourself in The Mall at Wellington Green with an “urge” for orange chicken, you now know where you can get your fix.

Thank you…

Krispy Krunchy Chicken, 2900 West Sample Road (Festival Flea Market), Pompano Beach, Florida 33073.

Yesterday afternoon I tried Krispy Krunchy Chicken…a new fast-food fried chciken joint which recently opened in the Festival Flea Market’s food court. The business is so new—its credit card terminal still hadn’t yet been installed.

To be perfectly honest with you, prior to yesterday’s outing, I had never-even heard of Krispy Krunchy Chicken despite the corporate website’s boast that it currently has 600 corporate/franchise locations in 24 states.

Wasn’t Krispy Krunchy the “clown” on the Simpsons?

You can check menu/prices at www.krispykrunchy.com.

Let me be kind…I ate 3 pieces of “dark meat” around 1:30pm (yesterday)—it is now some 12 hours later—I have already “downed” something like 96 oz of Coke and I’m still thirsty. Suffice it to say, the chicken was too salty and its batter way to thick.

Krispy Krunchy Chicken is open Monday-Friday 9:30am-5pm and Saturday-Sunday 9:30am-6pm.

***** Cafe De France, 110 East Atlantic Avenue, Delray Beach, Florida 33483, (561) 455-2140.

Got a really good–casual–reasonably priced French joint for you…Cafe De France in Delray Beach.

Yes! Your tee shirt/shorts/flip flop ensemble will work there.

Check www.110carpediem.com for menu/prices. There is both indoor and outdoor patio seating.

If “couponing” is your game, www.southfloridines.com -got a $15 gets you $30 deal going.

A recent dinner outing had me “sampling”…onion soup, chicken cordon bleu, duck a l’orange, braised lamb osso bucco, tilapia provencal. Let me make this brief- one of the best onion soups I’ve had in a very–very long time– absolutely loved the chicken cordon bleu, same for the duck.

This joint is a homerun.

Cafe De France is opened 7 days a week…9am-11am (breakfast), 11am-4:30pm (lunch), 4:30pm-11pm (dinner).

***** The Deck, 307 Northwest North River Drive, Stuart, Florida 34994, (772) 692-1203.

Let me start by saying, that I’m not some “flack” for Governor Rick Scott or the Florida Office of Tourism…with that said—just take your cousin- Louis of Hollis Hills (feel free to insert your cousin’s name & his/or her’s city/town) for lunch or dinner at The Deck located at the Harbor Inn & Marina in Stuart—and your visiting-relative will immediately get a real estate broker to find them a house or condo to buy.

Let me make this one a short story. The Deck is what Florida “living” is all about. At this stage of the game, check www.harborinnandmarina.com for menu/prices/photos.

The Deck is a “super-casual” indoor-outdoor dining joint with absolutely amazing views of the Saint Lucie River. On the food front… a handful of appetizers, salads, sandwiches, burgers, wings. The Deck has a full bar. Now, just so we are straight—nothing gourmet here—think good sports bar stuff and you-got the picture.

The Deck’s game is AMBIANCE. The view, the food, the weather—absolute HOME RUN!

Just a heads- up…www.southfloridadines.com has a $30 coupon for 15 bucks.

The Deck is open Monday-Saturday 11:30am–Close and Sunday noon-Close.

Far East Wok, 2900 West Sample Road (Festival Flea Market), Pompano Beach, Florida 33073, (954) 974-6654.

Far East Wok is a “Chinese” takeout located in the Festival Flea Market—in Pompano Beach.

Fast and simple…tried it twice– To be kind, the food is borderline in-edible. One outing had me doing–orange chicken and boneless spare ribs…the second visit had me doing–bourbon chicken. The orange chicken was a plate of mush. The ribs were like eating the bottom of a shoe. The bourbon chicken was hard. The white rice that came with the dishes, was “clumpy” and tasteless-bland.

Real easy, if you are in the Festival Flea Market food-court…don’t.

The joint is open, Monday-Friday 9:30am-5pm and Saturday-Sunday 9:30am-6pm for those who don’t want to heed this warning.

***** Christina’s Cafe Restaurant, 2201 East Atlantic Boulevard, Pompano Beach, Florida 33062, (954) 782-2160.

I don’t know what it is, but all of a sudden Jeff Eats “got” a huge craving for “Greek” food…Could be the Telly Savales’ “Kojak” cable tv-reruns recently discovered—then again, I haven’t had an overwhelming urge for Tootsie Roll Pops…so, who knows.

Anyway…Got a really good Greek joint for you…Christina’s Cafe Restaurant in Pompano Beach. You can check menu/prices/photos at www.christinas-cafe.com.

Recently did two dinners at this joint…absolutely delicious- grilled lamb chops, gyro, pastichio, grilled salmon, beef kabob, chicken kabob, loukanika, crab cakes, moussaka. To be perfectly honest with you, there wasn’t-one single dish that wasn’t right on the money.

There really isn’t too much more to say about Christina’s…delicious food, reasonable prices, huge portions, super friendly-competent staff.

Christina’s is open Monday-Friday 11am-9:30pm and Saturday-Sunday 4pm-9:30pm.

***** Kosta’s Greek Eatery, 5024 North Federal Highway, Lighthouse Point, Florida 33064, (954) 571-3842.

Got a real-good- casual-Greek joint for you…Kosta’s Greek Eatery in Lighthouse Point.
Check menu/prices/photos at www.kostasgreekeatery.com.

Tried Kosta’s for dinner the other night… delicious, chicken and pork souvlaki–pastitso–moussaka–grilled lamb chops.

I really enjoyed Kosta’s. The food was terrific and the service was as friendly as could be.

Just so you know, Jeff Eats ate there last Saturday night arriving around 8pm. The joint was jammed with something like a (no big deal) 20 minute wait…I did notice, that the staff appeared to “know” many of the customers, so I’m gonna-figure that Kosta’s has a huge local following.

This joint is a winner. If casual-Greek stuff is your game…play Kosta’s Greek Eatery.

Kosta’s is open for lunch Tuesday-Friday 11:30am-2pm and for dinner Tuesday-Thursday & Sunday 4:30pm-9:30pm and Friday-Saturday 4:30pm-10:30pm…the joint is closed on Monday.

***** Yard House, 601 Silks Run, Hallandale Beach, Florida 33009, (954) 454-9950.

Way back when–1/28/08, Jeff Eats did a writeup on an “American Style” joint, Yard House located in Palm Beach Gardens. Think- Cheesecake Factory, J Alexander’s, Houston’s…and you’ll know exactly what this chain’s game is all about. This chain’s “gimmick”- its got something like 8,000,000 different beers. Since that 1/28/08 recommendation, I’ve eaten in the Palm Beach Gardens’ location 3 times and twice in their Scottsdale, Arizona joint.

For right now, there are 3 Florida locations, Palm Beach Gardens, Coral Gables and Hallandale Beach–which I tried yesterday for lunch. At this stage of the review, you can check www.yardhouse.com for menu/other details.

Just so you know, the Hallandale-Yard House is located in The Village At Gulf Stream. The Village, is a large outdoor retail complex connected to the Gulfstream Racing & Casino “thing.”. This complex has a number of restaurants, boutiques and chain operations such as The Container Store and Pier 1 Imports.

Not to bash The Village, but this is a train wreck waiting to happen. Yesterday afternoon, the track and casino were busy. The Yard House was packed both inside and outside on its dining patio…the rest of the complex was like a freaking ghost-town. Mark- Jeff Eats’ words, this “center” hasn’t got a chance in hell…the boutiques all look alike…the merchandise is repetitious…and- every Tom, Dick & Harry Mall in Florida has the same stuff. If The Village doesn’t get a huge movie-complex in there and unique stuff, like an upscale bowling-night club and other retail businesses that aren’t duplicates and clones…the whole joint is gonna collapse.

Now back to the Yard House. Let me make this simple, I love joints like this. Good burgers, fries, onion rings, mac & cheese, decent enough babyback ribs, tv sets, energetic waiters and waitresses, cool classic rock music (maybe a decibel or two-too high), reasonable prices, great looking dark-wood decor, large outdoor patio with tvs, consistency–all of my “outings” foodwise were real-good.

If you like “upscale” sports-bars…you are gonna love Yard House.

Yard House is open Sunday-Thursday 11am-12:30am and Friday-Saturday 11am-1:30pm.

***** Pastrami Princess, 4690 North State Road 7, Coconut Creek, Florida 33073, (954) 968-3020.

On March 9, 2011- I did a “story” on Pastrami Princess. In a nutshell, Pastrami Princess is owned/operated by the same people that owned/operated NYC’s famous Pastrami King and Boca Raton’s Pastrami Queen. Without going into the “politics” of this business, let me just say that if you want-to-eat outstanding New York Kosher Style Deli stuff, you must try Pastrami Princess which opened last Tuesday in Coconut Creek.

For “rave” Pastrami Queen reviews, check Jeff Eats “Pastrami Queen” (12/12/08) and “Real NY Style Delis” (8/27/09)—while you are reading take a look at the enormous number of positive reader-comments that were received.

Last night, I “did” dinner at Pastrami Princess. Delicious pastrami, corned beef, roast beef, turkey off the bone, roast chicken, chicken in the pot, stuffed derma.

Once again, if you are looking for real-McCoy deli stuff…Pastrami Princess is for you.

The joint does breakfast-lunch-dinner and is open 7 days a week 7am-9pm.