***** Sparky’s Roadside Barbecue, 204 Northeast 1st Street, Miami, Florida 33132 (305) 377-2877.

Absolutely loved this “hole in the wall” 48-seater bbq joint in Miami. Absolutely nothing fancy going on here, so your tee shirt/shorts/Crocs-sneakers-sandals ensemble is a go.

Sparky’s menu isn’t huge, but definitely gets the job done. The joint also has something like 12 million micro-brews for you beer drinkers out there.

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

A recent outing had me doing…corn nuggets, baby back ribs, pulled pork, beef brisket, bbq chicken, waffle fries, macaroni & cheese—the bbq “not too smokey” just like I like it (you-all, do know that I’m originally from Brooklyn, not Memphis)…to break this down a bit more, I enjoyed the ribs and chicken—that said, the pulled pork and brisket were grandslams…the mac & cheese was good, same for the corn nuggets—but no match for the waffle fries which were outrageously delicious.

Like I said before–loved this joint…definitely one of the better bbq joints that I’ve been to down here in South Florida.

Sparky’s is open Monday-Friday 10:30am-9pm and Saturday-Sunday noon-9pm.

***** BRYLCREAM *****

Last night, at a small intimate private party in Boca Raton (actually, there were 979 people in attendance, but who’s counting?) I saw an absolutely terrific acapella doo wop group named BRYLCREAM. For over 4 hours, 5 middle-aged guys from Fort Myers, Florida mesmerized the crowd with amazing rendtions of hits made famous by groups/artists such as The Five Satins, The Crests, The Skyliners, Jackie Wilson, The Shirelles, The Four Tops, The Temptations, The Beach Boys, The Beatles…just to name a few.

Trust me on this one, BRYLCREAM which can go-three ways…acapella, full band or music tracks–is an act that rock n’ roll “lovers” should not miss. The group works all-over South-Southwest Florida.

If this type of stuff is your game…check the group’s website at www.brylcream.com for schedule/sounds.

***** Mom’s Kitchen, 1940 Northeast 45th Street, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33308, (954) 776-7292.

Mom’s Kitchen…very original name, right! Just don’t confuse this “mom & pop” diner- with “mom & pop” diner- Mom’s Kitchen reviewd here on July 5, 2008, then again, “that” Mom’s Kitchen is in Lake Worth and this Mom’s Kitchen is in Fort Lauderdale. Then again, this Mom Kitchen’s has been around since 1972…

Anyway…if you are a fan of neighborhood diners—faux 1960’s look- as I am, you will enjoy Mom’s Kitchen. You know the look, counter seating, booths, formica. This particular Mom’s does breakfast & lunch Monday-Saturday 6am–3pm and Sunday 6am-2pm. As for menu particulars, the full boat of all-day breakfast stuff, burgers, sandwiches, salads. Absolutely-positively nothing fancy here.

For the record, Jeff Eats has done 3 breakfasts and 2 lunches here- let’s call this one “good solid diner” food.

To wrap this one-up—good diner food, good diner service, good diner prices, good diner decor, good neighborhood vibe.

***** Jan’s Homeade Candies, 4327 North Ocean Drive, Lauderdale By The Sea, Florida 33308, (954) 202-9495.

This one is basically a “public service” announcement…The other day, I saw a tv news segment–on the health benefits of eating dark chocolate. In a nutshell, dark chocolate supposedly is good for your cardiovascular system, produces valuable antioxidants and flavonoids, lowers cholesterol and blood pressure- and helps to relieve depression.

Now, that you know why you should be eating dark chocolate, you gotta checkout Jan’s Homemade Candies in Lauderdale By The Sea. You can check products etc. at www.janshomemadecadies.com.

Suffice it to say, you can get all the home-made dark chocolate that your little heart desires, not to metion delicious carmel apples, licorice, nuts, fudge—and “every” candy known to mankind–at Jan’s.

In my day, I’ve been in loads of “candy stores”…Jan’s is right up there with the best of breed.

So, if you are a healthnut like I am, Jan’s is open Monday-Thursday 11am-6pm, Friday-Saturday 11am-8pm, closed on Sunday.

***** CORAL SPRINGS CENTER FOR THE ARTS *****

The Coral Springs Center For The Arts, 2855 Coral Springs Drive, Coral Springs, Florida 33065—www.coralspringscenterforthearts.com recently “announced” its 2011-2012 show-schedule. For those who don’t know-about Coral Springs, it’s a great alternative to the more “prestigous” and more “expensive” venues like Kravis and Broward Center. Coral Springs is a much smaller venue–that said, every so often it presents some heavy duty talent/productions.

With the above in mind…Just wanted to mention, that two absolutely-terrific “comics”- Bobby Collins (Saturday 3/3/12) www.bobbycollins.com and Mike Marino (Friday 2/17/12) www.mikemarino.net will be making appearances. Trust me on this, if you want to laugh youself silly–then, you got to catch these guys in action. By the way, if you aren’t familar with these guys, the Coral Springs site has video on both…there are also plenty of YouTube videos on them.

You can select/purchase seats online.

***** Ruby’s Pizza, Pasta & Subs, 614 Southeast 10th Street, Deerfield Beach, Florida 33441, (954) 480-9919.

Got a real good “mom & pop” red sauce Italian joint for you…Ruby’s-located in Deerfield Beach. You can check menu/prices/photos at www.rubyspizza.com. For those looking for a “deal”–and who isn’t?—the site has a handful of coupons. There is also an $8.75 gets you $25 “offer” at www.southfloridadines.com.

Now, starting with the premises that Ruby’s isn’t trying to cure cancer-or bring peace to the middle-east…I must-say, that Ruby’s absolutely killed it…I loved the thin crust/sweet sauce pizza, veal parmigiana, caesar salad/grilled chicken, snapper francaise, fettucine alfredo. On the decor front, handful of tables…and a guy making pizzas at the “standard” pizza joint counter/oven. If you wear anything fancier than a tee shirt/shorts/flip flops-sneakers-crocs-sandals, you will be over dressed.

To be perfectly honest with you, over the past few years, I’ve eaten in so many “mom & pop” Italian joints, that it’s often hard to remember the specifics about particular restaurants…lucky for me, I can read Jeff Eats, check my handwritten notes and “recall” what-was-what. To get to the point, this Ruby’s joint is one that I “think” I will remember down the road. Now, trust me here, the food is heads and shoulders better than most of its brethern. Anyway, if I do forget, I’ll just re-read this writeup and be set.

If “mom & pop” red sauce Italian joints are your game, they are mine…you will love Ruby’s.

Ruby’s is open Monday-Thursday 11:30am-10pm, Friday 11:30am-11pm, Saturday 11:30am-10pm, Sunday noon-9pm.

***** City Diner, 3400 South Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach, Florida 33405, (561) 659-6776.

If- like me, you are a sucker for the faux-1950’s diner concept—you will absolutely love City Diner in West Palm Beach. It’s got it all… vinyl/formica booths, red checkerboard tile, vinyl covered stools, counter seating, old tvs with black & white shows, jukebox, oldies music, old signs, assorted old-“crap” (in the nice sense) on the walls and hanging from the ceiling— breakfast stuff, soups, salads, burgers, sandwiches, entrees, malts/milkshakes/sundaes. Unlike Johnnie Rocket type “chains”- City Diner is a “mom & pop” deal, so for good or bad, every decoration is a one-off…

Just so we are on the same page, nothing fancy going on here. City Diner serves really solid basic “diner” food.

A recent outing had me doing… bacon cheeseburger, french fries, onion rings, meatloaf, philly cheesesteak sub, chicken pot pie, chocolate milkshake. Like I said before, I’m a sucker for joints like this…they sort of take me back to a “simpler” time, when I didn’t have to wakeup worrying about Greece’s economy—back then, I really had no fears- because I knew that P.S. 179’s wooden desks would shield me from a Russian nuclear attack. Anyway…everything I ate was right on the money. A special shoutout to the chicken pot pie, one of the best I’ve had in a very long time.

Let me sum City Diner up this way…I loved it. I knew it wasn’t really 1957, but the food/decor/vibe made me recall my dad’s 1956 Olds 88 and an easier-way of living.

City Diner is open Sunday-Monday 8am-3pm, Tuesday-Saturday 8am-8:30pm.

***** Camilli’s Pizza, 927 Park Avenue, Lake Park, Florida 33403, (561) 844-3424.

Here’s an early birthday present for you guys…Camilli’s Pizza in Lake Park. The joint makes one of the best thin crusted-sweet sauce pizzas going. Absolutely nothing fancy here, order/pickup at counter…Camilli’s also has salads, subs and pastas—but the game here is PIZZA. From what I understand, the joint has been around for something like 40 years and has an enormous-multi generational-fan base. Just for the record, in addition to the pizza I “did” a meatball sub and chicken parm sub—let’s call them real-good, but not even close to being in the same league as the pizza!

Like all terrific hole-in-the-wall pizza joints, its open 7 days a week for lunch/dinner/takeout.

***** Ambrosia Restaurant, 1603 South Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach, Florida 33401, (561) 833-8280.

Got a really good “mom & pop” red sauce Italian joint for you…Ambrosia Restaurant in West Palm Beach. The joint has been around since 1978, so I’m thinking that just maybe- it must be doing something right. A quick heads-up, I see that www.southfloridadines.com has one of those 10 gets you 20 “deals” going, so if that’s your game, play on. You can also check Ambrosia’s menu/prices/photos at the site.

The other evening, I did dinner at Ambrosia… A quick decor discussion, although it’s got the “requisite” Italian joint booth-table set-up, I found the artwork etc. more interesting than the usual boring maps/pictures/murals that seem to be standard fare for these type of joints…now don’t get me wrong, nothing fancy here, so your tee shirts/shorts/sneakers-flip flops-sandals work here.

Let me go out on a limb here…I’m gonna put Ambrosia Restaurant right up there with the “best” of breed. Look, like most of you guys, I’ve eaten in more “mom & pop” Italian joints than any normal waistline should be put through. To rank them 1-2-3-etc. would be a tough, if impossible chore. What I do know, is that most of them–get the job done, but aren’t anything really special…sort of like a dime a dozen. Trust me on this one, Ambrosia’s food…at least based on what I “tried” was much better than the South Florida norm.

Anyway…I thought that the veal parmigiana, veal marsala, chicken cacciatore, shrimp fra diavolo, penne ala vodka, pizza–were all delicious. By the way, Ambrosia’s prices are exactly what you’d expect and entrees come with salad/pasta side. Let me go further out on the limb here, the joint makes one of the “best” New York Style pizzas that I’ve had in South Florida…assuming, that my definition of a New York Slice is the same or similar to yours.

Ambrosia is like a breath of fresh air in the “mom & pop” red sauce Italian space…

Ambrosia is open Monday-Thursday 11:15am-10pm, Friday 11:15am-11pm, Saturday 5pm-10pm, Sunday 5pm-9pm.

***** Island Jack’s Patio Bar & Grill, 4449 Okeechobee Boulevard, West Palm Beach, Florida 33409, (561) 687-2122.

Now come on!- don’t know about you, but I gotta love a “sports bar” with indoor-outdoor patio seating whose website spells Okeechobee Boulevard wrong. When you check www.islandjacks.net for menu/prices/photos–play Our Miss Brooks and bring your red pencil with you.

Checked-out Island Jack’s the other night for dinner…the menu is loaded with appetizers, salads, burgers, sandwiches, meat/chicken/seafood entrees. Not gonna lie to you, this joint ain’t serving gourmet stuff…then again, when I go to “an” Island Jack’s, I’m not looking for gourmet– just shooting for a decent enough cheese-burger, fries, grilled wings, philly-cheese steak sub, grilled chicken caesar salad, cold beer and soda, loads of flat screen tvs, pleasant staff, reasonable prices, late hours and a cheesey island-nautical themed decor…with the “aforesaid” in mind, Island Jack’s Patio Bar & Grill handily- gets the job done.

I really enjoyed Island Jack’s.

Island Jack’s Patio Bar & Grill is open Monday-Tuesday 11am-2am, Wednesday-Saturday 11am-3am, Sunday 11am-midnight.