***** ChicBerry, 1689 Southwest 107 Avenue, Miami, Florida 33165, (305) 227-6792.

There is an old saying…”When it rains, it pours.” Got ANOTHER–self-serve yogurt joint for you, ChicBerry in Miami. The drill is simple, 12 “rotating” flavors and a topping bar—you fill your cup and it gets weighed. This joint gets 49 cents an ounce…

Regular readers know that old Jeff Eats sees FAD written all over the self serve yogurt business. Gonna be a nasty ending for most of the “players” in this arena. Best guess here, this game of musical chairs is going to end sometime during the next 2 years.

The other day I gave ChicBerry a shot. Tried green tea, chocolate, vanilla, strawberry…In defense of that 49 cents an ounce which is expensive for self-serve stuff—the yogurt was absolutely delicious. Not really a big fan of yogurt, that said, the flavors- matched up against the stuff that most of the “other” joints are selling is far superior.

You can check menu/flavors at www.chicberryusa.com.

I suspect, actually I know—in coming weeks and months, we’ll be “talking” about other self-serve yogurt joints. You do remember the “mom & pop” video store craze of a few years ago, don’t you? Seemingly, a video store or two on every corner. You also know how that one ended. Even a guy like Blockbuster collapsed. No question in my mind, same-thing is coming for the self serve folks.

Well—until the game ends, with maybe a handful of survivors…we’ll enjoy this latest fast food craze.

ChickBerry is open, Monday-Friday noon-11pm and Saturday-Sunday 1pm-11pm.

***** Froyolicious, 11081 Southern Boulevard, Royal Palm Beach, Florida 33411, (561) 753-4890.

Froyolicious…self serve yogurt joint with 10 daily “rotating flavors”…by now, you should know the drill at this-type of joint…fill your cup with yogurt and various toppings—cup gets weighed—this joint gets 45 cents an ounce.

These self-serve yogurt joints are seemingly opening all-over South Florida. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…FAD. This “thing” is gonna end up like a bad game of musical chairs for most of the players. I’m gonna give the “concept” 24-months before the vacancy signs start to pop up in the storefronts where they are currently rushing to get in. For sure, there will be a winner or two in the game, but then again, Blockbuster also thought it was king of the road.

Anyway…I gave Froyolicious a shot the other day. Besides having a ridiculously hard name to pronounce and the fact that 45 cents per ounce is waaaaaay–too-high, the joint’s vanilla, chocolate and green tea yogurt flavors were very good. Please keep in mind, that Jeff Eats is far from being a yogurt connoisseur—but I did find Froyolicious’ (try and say that 3 times real fast) yogurt better tasting than most of its South Florida competitors. Once again, a DQ chocolate/heath bar blizzard would be my game of choice.

You can check Froyolicious’ flavors at www.myfroyolicious.com.

You now know about another contestant in the self-serve yogurt category. If yogurt is your game, enjoy the players before the inevitable shakeup takes its toll.

Froyolicious is open Sunday-Thursday 11am-10:30pm and Friday-Saturday 11am-11pm.

***** Philly Steak Sub Shop, 6025 Miramar Parkway, Miramar, Florida 33023, (954) 964-8686.

Let’s start the month of December off with…Philly Steak Sub Shop located in Miramar.

Was down to Philly Steak Sub a couple of days ago and I gotta tell you that this joint makes some dynamite 6″ and 12″ subs…if I counted correctly, Philly Steak Subs has something like 89 different subs on its menu—they also have a half-dozen or so salads, for you non-sub lovers out there. I was just thinking, that if some of the subs were combined with some of the other subs, that 89 could be something like 1,000,000…but math was never one of my strong suits.

Just so you know, there were 3 (including Jeff Eats) on this taste-test mission…don’t want you guys to get the impression that old Jeff Eats devoured 8–6 inchers all by his lonesome. Included in the “sampling”…philly cheese steak, chicken parmigiana, hot pastrami, honey mustard chicken breast, chicken salad, tuna salad, bbq pork, bacon cheeseburger. To be perfectly honest with you, I really couldn’t pick a “favorite” because all of the subs were really-good.

Philly Steak Sub Shop is a winner. Delicious sub bread, terrific fillings, super prices—figure, the most you are gonna spring for is 7 bucks or so for a 12-incher.

Philly Steak Sub Shop is open Monday 9am-9pm and Sunday 10am-8pm.

***** Chef Tai’s, 4810 Northwest Boca Raton Boulevard, Boca Raton, Florida 33431, (561) 998-7887.

Chef Tai’s is a Chinese takeout-only joint in Boca Raton…surprise-surprise (courtesy Gomer Pyle), it is located in a “bombed-out” shopping center- that you probably wouldn’t drive into in a million years. That said…Chef Tai’s makes some delicious stuff. I heard about Chef Tai’s about 5 months ago– have gotten food four times…haven’t been disappointed even once.

Delicious- egg rolls, fried dumplings, bbq ribs, general tso’s chicken, roast pork fried rice, shrimp with black bean sauce, pepper steak.

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

Based on Jeff Eat’s patent-pending “Brooklyn Chinese Food Taste Test”- I gotta give Chef Tai’s a top-notch rating. Trust me on this, the food is really good.

Chef Tai’s is open Monday-Saturday 11am-9pm, closed on Sunday.

***** Tutti Frutti Yogurt, 12801 West Sunrise Boulevard (Sawgrass Mills Mall), Sunrise, Florida 33323, (954) 845-0881.

Yesterday–Sunday, November 28, 2010 I was in Sawgrass Mills Mall. My bride of some 35 years actually convinced me, that Sawgrass Mills Mall at 3:30pm wouldn’t be “that busy” and “parking wouldn’t be a problem.” Just so you know, in my day, I’ve also bought the Brooklyn Bridge 4 times.

Tutti Frutti Frozen Yogurt is a national chain (currently in 16 states)…it is in the self-serve yogurt business. The game–loads of flavors- you fill a cup with yogurt/toppings and pay by the ounce. Tutti Frutti recently opened an outlet in Sawgrass Mills Mall…for right now, for our puposes- it also has joints in Orlando, Port St. Lucie, Winter Park and has stores scheduled to open in Boca Raton and Aventura. The Sawgrass location gets 49 cents per ounce.

You can check www.tfyogurt.net for locations/flavors.

Just for the record, I had a cup of green-tea and a cup of cookies n’ cream… Let’s just say neither here nor there. OK, but not the “best” that I’ve had. Personally, I may not be the best yogurt-judge going, as I think, a Dairy Queen chocolate-heath bar blizzard is the da’ bomb…same goes for Carvel’s chocolate flying saucer.

Deja vu…These- self serve yogurt joints seemingly are popping up everywhere you look. Kinda reminds me of the video-store business that eventually was “conquered” by Blockbuster, talk about an emperor with no clothes. Hopefully your favorite “player” has some staying power, because sooner or later—there are going to be a whole load of empty storefronts waiting for the next f-a-d.

You now know about another player in the self-serve yogurt game.

***** Blues Brothers Soul Band *****

I just got home from a party which “starred” the Blues Brothers Soul Band. These 9-guys absolutely killed it, with a dead-on 90-minute tribute to the Blues Brothers made famous by Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi of Saturday Night Live fame. I am telling you…from the vocals to the dance routines, this Weston, Florida based group had the room of 250 dancing, singing and swearing that Dan & John a/k/a Jake & Elwood Blues were on that stage.

From what I understand, the Blues Brothers Soul Band is something of a staple in the Dade-Broward-Palm Beach corridor…with an enormous schedule of private and public appearances. Check www.bluesbrotherssoulband.com for appearance dates.

I am telling you, if you like the Blues Brothers, the blues, rock n’ roll…and just plain old being entertained—make it your business to see these guys in action—they are terrific.

***** Gourmet Gourmet, 4249 West Flagler Street, Miami, Florida 33126, (305) 443-8664.

Gourmet Gourmet is a “takeout” Chinese joint located in Coral Gables. Gourmet Gourmet has a handful of stools for eat-in, but the game here is pickup/delivery. You can check menu/prices at www.gourmet-gourmet.net.

Let’s talk Jeff’s opinion here…I’m gonna call Goumert Gourmet an absolutely terrific takeout joint…I’ll bet you 5 bucks that Gourmet’s —wonton soup, egg rolls, bbq ribs, roast pork fried rice, honey garlic chicken, sweet & sour pork, shrimp in lobster sauce are better than the stuff that your favorite neighborhood joint turns out. Gourmet is definitely one of the best takeouts that I have gotten food from.

Gourmet Gourmet…delicious food, big portions, reasonable takeout prices. One big drawback—this joint ain’t in my neighborhood.

Gourmet Gourmet is open Monday-Saturday 11:30am-9:30am, Sunday 5pm-9:30pm.

If you live or work in Gourmet Gourmet neighborhood, you got a homerun joint for takeout Chinese food.

***** My Market & Deli, 229 Southwest 17th Street, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33315, (954) 764-5253.

My Market & Deli is a terrific “subs/sandwiches/salads” joint in Fort Lauderdale. Just so you don’t go crazy or nothing looking—the joint is located in the back of a… plain old-standard-run of the mill- convenience store. My Market has a handful of tables for you folks who want to dine-in. You can check mymarketdeli.com for menu/prices.

My Market, has a real nice selection of salads and hot/cold stuff for its rolls/breads/subs.
I recently did, 12″ sausage parm sub ($9.99), bbq pork on a kaiser roll ($5.99), 6″ turkey fra diavolo sub ($7.99)…trust me on this, absolutely sensational stuff. The only mistake I made on this “outing”- was not getting a 12-incher for $11.99 on that turkey fra diavolo—I’m talking big time delicious.

Interesting drill here. You get/eat your salad/sandwich/sub in the back…after you eat, you pay up front…so don’t throw away the empty bag until you get to the front door.

My Market is open, Monday-Friday 10am-6pm, Saturday 10am-5pm, Sunday 10am-4pm.

***** 160 Burgers Done Well, 4437 Lyons Road, Coconut Creek, Florida, Florida 33073, (954) 633-2276.

Yesterday I was walking around the “white elephant” outdoor mall known as Promenade of Coconut Creek Plaza. Talk about disasterous timing…this mall opened for business just as the current economic crisis started to hit America–talk about sucking wind…poor real estate deals is a whole other topic for another day.

Anyway, I stopped at hamburger-hot dog-fries, fast food- order at/pickup at counter 160 Burgers for—a cheeseburger with sauteed onions, french fries and a Pepsi. The joint has indoor/outdoor patio seating.

160 Degrees Burgers Done Well is “1/2” of a two prong concept. You enter the store which has 2–counters…one for The Muffuletta A Sicilian Sub House…one for 160 Degress Burgers Done Well. Two different menus—two different kitchens. Personally, I think that the TWO idea is an amazing- waste of space, causes customer confusion, requires extra labor—I could go on and on, but this business puzzle is for the owners to figure out. I will tell you, that The Muffuletta/160 Degrees menus fully cover the sandwich/burger game. Before I move on and talk about my cheeseburger and fries…let me ask you-what the hell is a muffuletta? According to the owners, muffulettas are well known “sandwiches” in New Orleans. I rest my case—I’ll bet you 20 bucks that most people seeing- The Muffuletta sign, think the joint sells muffins.

Now onto the burger…One of the best fast food cheeseburgers I have had in a very long time. Can’t put my finger on it, but the burger was perfectly “seasoned” with something that made it absolutely delicious. The bet here, a drop of garlic. The fries, let’s just say–ok, but nothing that that I would write home about. The cheeseburger-fries-soda—9 bucks. Just so you know, 160 Degrees has hamburgers-veggie-chicken-buffalo burgers.

By the way, you can check menu/prices for both 160 Degrees and Muffuletta at www.malteseholdings.com.

160 Degrees Burgers Done Well is open 7 days a week from 11am-9pm.

***** Scruby’s BBQ, 8990 West State Road 84, Davie, Florida 33324, (954) 370-2774.

Scruby’s is a… really good-casual-reasonably priced “bbq chain”…there are currently- 3 locations, Davie, Pembroke Pines and Tamarac, Florida. You can check menu/prices/locations at www.scrubys.com. This writeup “concerns” the Davie joint. Based on the website, we are going to assume that all 3 restaurants have the same menu/prices and faux-old cowboy western decor. Just for the record, over the years, I must have driven by the Tamarac joint 22,000 times and never stopped.

Anyway…last week, I finally got around to trying Scruby’s Davie store. Based on an “outing” of a full rack of babybacks ($14.99), sliced bbq pork sandwich ($5.19), fried corn nuggets ($4.99), brunswick stew ($3.99)–I should have stopped years ago. Simply put — some of the best bbq that I’ve had in a very long time. The stuff is “first” lightly smoked and then grilled with a delicious sweet sauce…As you may or may not know, I am NOT a fan of heavily smoked bbq. Scruby’s smokes, but then grills in a dynamite sweet sauce. Best way to describe the bbq stuff, “real good” Tony Roma’s and Bobby Rubino’s.

Scruby’s menu has all kinds of “specials” and “deals”…super pleasant service, big portions, and delicious food. Absolutely nothing to complain about!

Scruby’s is open Monday-Thursday 11am-9:30pm, Friday-Saturday 11am-10pm, Sunday 5:30pm-9pm