***** S & I–Gourmet Bagel Exchange, Festival Marketplace, 2900 West Sample Road, Pompano Beach, Florida 33073. S & I (954) 984-4785, Gourmet Bagel Exchange (954) 973-1622.

Got something really terrific for you…a wholesale/retail bakery & a wholesale/retail bagel-deli store. Same owners, right next to each other. This is strictly a takeout operation.

Guaranteed-absolutely-positively, that if I didn’t tell you about this joint, the chances are that you would never-ever find it. Crazy-crazy location…the joint is located in the “back” of the Hillsboro Antique Mall which is “housed” in the Festival Marketplace on Sample Road. There are 2- long retail counters (one for each business) and a huge bakery–kitchen operation where the stuff is made.

S & I and Gourmet make outrageously delicious—bagels, bialys, cakes, cookies, breads, salads, knishes, deli meats. The stuff is so good, that it is wholesaled to numerous restaurants, markets, bakeries, country clubs from Homestead–Jupiter, Florida.

Today, I brought home a mixed dozen bagels/bialys and I gotta tell you that the—everything, onion, plain were right up there with the best that I’ve had down here in South Florida. As for the bialys, as good as it gets…I kinda think that The Boys Farmers Market in Delray Beach (see reviews–6/1/10–May 6, 2009) which has great bialys– gets those bialys and many of its other terrific baked goods from S & I. Now-to continue my story, I also picked-up, potato-kasha-sweet potato knishes, which were absolutely delicious. My takeout order also had me doing, marble chiffon cake, chocolate rugalah, almond horn, apple turnover…excellent. I also did a pound of brisket, pound of corned beef, pound of pastrami—Now you guys know that I am very particular about my deli meats…that said, today’s “find” now has me “knowing” another joint (and there aren’t too many down here in South Florida) where I can get a really good NYC style deli sandwich.

For anyone not familar with the Festival Marketplace…it’s something like 400,000 square feet and has more watch stands–perfume stands–jewelry stands–shoe stands–cosmetic stands–sunglass stands–than any one person should be forced to walk by on a Sunday afternoon. From what I understand, S & I–Goumet Bagel have been in this flea market for over 10 years and were part of the “famers’ market” section which recently closed. It is now part of an antique mall surrounded by a ton of antique stands–which makes no sense whatsoever. Think of it logically, when was the last time that you went out to buy a dozen bagels and a 1952 Howdy Doody poster at the same “location”?

Anyway…you now know about a really good bakery-bagel-deli operation.

S & I Bakery and Gourmet Bakery Exchange are open 9:30am-5pm 7 days a week.

***** Chris’ Taverna, 6346 Lantana Road, Lake Worth, Florida 33463, (561) 964-4233.

Chris’ Taverna is a GREEK RESTAURANT…maybe 20 formica tables inside, 20 outside. You can order at/pickup at the counter…or you can be fancy and have a waitress/waiter take care of you. Menu/prices/loads of photos at www.christaverna.com. This is strictly a shorts/tee shirt ensemble kinda-joint.

Now…and I really mean this, outrageously delicious food. I have to rank the Greek salad ($8.95), gyro entree ($11.95-2 sides), souvlaki entree ($11.95-2 sides), grilled baby lamb chops entree ($20.95, 5 chops-2 sides) right up there with the best that I’ve had in a Greek joint.

Really, that simple.

Chris’ Taverna is open Monday-Thursday 11am-9pm, Friday-Saturday 11am-10pm, Sunday 5pm-9pm.

***** Allegria Frozen Yogurt & Cupcakes, 4431 Lyons Road, Pompano Beach, Florida 33073, (954) 977-8077.

The joint’s name says it all…Allegria Frozen Yogurt & Cupcakes. Order at the counter/pickup at the counter…3 cupcake flavors—chocolate-vanilla-red velvet (chocolate cake with cream cheese icing)…5 yogurt flavors—chocolate-green tea-vanilla-pomegrante-“daily” special…17 yogurt toppings. Check www.allegriafroyo.com for menu/prices.

As you guys know, I’m not a huge yogurt fan. I do enjoy a good cupcake or 2 or 3 now and then.

I recently tried Allegria’s chocolate yogurt, green tea yogurt and red velvet cupcake. Not bad, not bad at all. If you are a yogurt “fan”…this joint’s stuff was right up there with the best that I have eaten. That said, I’d prefer a cup of DQ’s vanilla or chocolate or a small Blizzard—As for the cupcake, it was delcious.

Allegria is open Sunday-Thursday 10:30am-9:30pm and Friday-Saturday 10:30am-10:30pm.

*****Classic Gold Music Awards*****

***** August 29, 2010—THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELED *****

Back on July 7, 2010 I did a story about the Classic Gold Music Awards. If you love 1960s-1980s Rock n Roll–Disco–Gospel–Country Western music do youself a very big favor and check that writeup.

In a nutshell, on Monday night, August 30th-2010 the Seminole Hard Rock Casino & Hotel in Hollywood, Florida is hosting the Classic Gold Music Awards–which looks to be an absolutely amazing music awards show-concert. The Hard Rock event, is the first of what is planned to be an annual awards-concert paying tribute to greats of the music business.

According to CGMA’s website www.classicgoldmusic.com— this year’s honorees include, Connie Francis, The Original 5th Dimension and Little Anthony & The Imperials… special guests include, Mary Wilson (The Supremes), Rick Derringer (The McCoys), Florence LaRue & Lamonte McLemore (The 5th Dimension) and Davey Jones (The Monkees)…performers include, Larry Hoppen (Orleans), Felix Cavaliere (The Rascals), Mark Farner (Grand Funk Railroad), Peter Beckett (Player & The Little River Band), The Emotions, Taste Of Honey, ConFunkShun, The Bar-Kays, Surgarfoot (The Ohio Players).

Tickets for this event are priced $45-1,000. They are available at, CGMA’s website–the Hard Rock Live boxoffice and Ticketmaster.

Now for the DEAL…courtesy of Mary-Florence-Lamonte, Jeff Eats has a pair of complimentary tickets for the first 5 readers who write to me–telling me that you’d love to go to this event. It really is just that simple–just drop me a line and you get the tickets…no gimmicks, no catches, nothing to buy, no nothing—By the way, the seats were handpicked by Mary-Florence-Lamonte and aren’t in nosebleed land–trust me, you won’t need a pack mule to get to your seats…and you won’t need binoculars to catch the show.

Like I said…a pair of FREE tickets to the first 5 readers that drop me a line.

I’ll let you guys know in a few days (by email )–as to who (or is it whom?) gets the tickets. The tickets will be at the Hard Rock Live boxoffice- “will call” desk the day of the concert.

***** New York Pickle Co., Festival Marketplace, 2900 West Sample Road, Pompano Beach, Florida 33073, (954) 935-6019.

One of life’s simple pleasures…walking around the Festival Marketplace eating a sour pickle on a stick…don’t knock it till you’ve tried it…and it only costs 60 cents, 2 for a buck.

New York Pickle Co. is a “stand” located in the Festival Marketplace. The joint has been around for 18 years and has some of the most delicious sour–half sour–tomatoes–sauerkrat–peppers–olives in all of South Florida. The stuff is shipped in weekly from New York City and is sold from “old fashioned” barrels.

For you “old time” New Yooorkers…New York Pickle Co. is as close to Guss’ Pickles as you are gonna come. By the way, Guss’ which was around for close to 100 years (on the lower eastside) closed a few years ago.

Like I said before, one of life’s simple pleasures. Personally, I’d rather walk around a flea-market with a sour pickle on a stick than a cup of yogurt, any day of the week.

Trust me on this one—to paraphase Mikey’s brother…”Try it, you’ll like it.”

New York Pickle is open Monday-Friday 9:30am-5pm and Saturday-Sunday 9:30am-6pm.

***** Four Star Ravioli Deli & Bakery, 10786 Wiles Road, Coral Springs 33076, (954) 974-2444.

Got a real-good Italian Deli Bakery…Four Star Ravioli located in Coral Springs. The joint has a couple of tables—so let’s consider this joint a takeout. You can check menu/prices at www.fourstarravioli.com.

Four Star is a throwback to the Italian delis which dotted the NYC landscape circa 1950s-1960s…for those of you old enough to remember, back then—literally every “neighborhood” in the 5 boroughs had some type of mom & pop deli(s) where your mom sent you to pickup food when you were a kid. In my Brooklyn neighborhood, there was a kosher deli—there was a German deli–there was an Italian deli…all within 7 blocks of each other. In that same radius–the supermarkets were A & P, Waldbaum’s and Bohacks. There were also 5 bakeries and 9 candy stores. There was also 6 “grocery stores”—I can still picture Mr. Goodman sitting behind the register. Not to mention a Chinese hand laundry—and 4 pizza joints and 2 “full” Italian restaurants. Also–let’s not forget those darkly lit bars…my neighborhood had 4 of those guys…and I almost forget butcher shops, there were 3–and fruit stores there were 2 in my neighborhood.

Anyway…Four Star has the full boat of hot-cold subs, pizzas, soups, salads, pastas, meat/seafood/chicken dishes, cheeses, breads, baked goods.

I recently had some folks over to the house—and picked up the following… 2-17″ sicilian pizzas, 2-16″ plain round pizzas, 3-10″ chicken parmesan sub, 3-10″ sausage/peppers/onion, 3-philly cheese steak subs, 3-10″ prosciutto & mozzeralla subs, caesar-antipasto-mozzarella caprice salads, minestrone and Italian wedding soups. The food was delicious and very reasonably priced.

To be honest with you, Four Star is not exactly in my neighborhood…that said, every so often, I think you gotta change it up from the neighborhood momma & pop red sauce pizza joints…after awhile, at least to me, all of the food that these joints make– begins to taste all the same. Four Star is not a restaurant and is more “caterer like”—if that makes any sense to you folks!

Four Star is open Sunday-Monday 9am-3pm, Tuesday-Friday 9am-6pm and Saturday 9am-5pm.

***** Canton Palace Chinese Restaurant, 7980 Southwest 8th Street, Miami, Florida 33144, (305) 264-9444.

Now I’ve seen it all…a Chinese restaurant that “translates” its English menu into Spanish…I’ve been in Chinese joints where wontons are “called” kreplach but last night was the first time that I ever encountered…pan fried dumplings (empanadas fritas)—egg rolls (rollitos de huevo). If you like, you can guess what– carnaribes en salsa de frijoles negros and carne con cebollas y pirrento are.

Anyway…the point of this discussion—Canton Palace Chinese makes some of the best Chinese food that I’ve had down here in South Florida. Last night’s dinner had me doing, wonton soup, pan fried pork dumplings, egg rolls, roast pork fried rice, shrimp with black bean sauce, pepper steak, honey garlic chicken, mu shu pork. This is a “mom & pop” operation—if you are over the age of 2, you know exactly what the joint looks like. You also know that there all kinds of specials—soup-appetizer-main dish-white rice-dessert for 9-10 bucks. For you dim sum eaters, dim sum is served all day.

No fooling here…Canton Palace Chinese is really good. You can check menu/prices at Urbanspoon (a great restaurant review source) www.urbanspoon.com.

Canton Palace is open Sunday-Thursday 11am-10pm and Friday-Saturday 11am-11pm.

***** Antonio’s Pizzeria & Italian Restaurant, 619 East Dania Beach Boulevard, Dania Beach, Florida 33004, (954) 923-5151.

I love good—pizza, shrimp scampi, veal parmigiana, baked manicotti, fettuccini alfredo and meat lasagna…so I’m gonna tell you about Antonio’s Pizzeria & Italian Restaurant in Dania Beach.

Antonio’s is a really good-reasonably priced “mom & pop red sauce” joint. Perfect for your tee shirt/shorts’ ensemble. The joint’s menu has the full-boat of appetizers, calzones, pastas, pizzas, hot & cold subs, meat-seafood-chicken entrees. You know the game, the entrees come with soup or salad-pasta side-garlic rolls…the shrimp scampi was $18.95…the lasagna went out at $11.95…the veal parmigiana ran me $17.50…the baked manicotti set me back $10.50…the fettuccine alfredo was $13.95…and the the 16″ pizza goes for $17. Like I said before, the food is really good. I especially liked the lasagna and manicotti.

Now—if we live in West Palm Beach or Wellington are we gonna make a special trip to eat at Antonio’s? I don’t think so. But—if we live or work in or near Antonio’s Dania Beach neighborhood we now have a real good joint to eat at or takeout from.

Antonio’s Pizzeria is open Tuesday-Thursday 11am-10pm, Friday 11am-11pm, Saturday noon-11pm, Sunday 3pm-10pm. The joint is close on Monday.

***** Lucarella’s, 4165 North Dixie Highway, Oakland Park, Florida 33334, (954) 630-8855.

Lucarella’s is a red sauce Italian takeout “pizzeria-deli-bakery”…don’t let the joint’s “dumpy” storefront scare you off—trust me on this one– some of the best pizzas, calzones, hot/cold subs, salads, pastas, meat/chicken/seafood dishes, baked goods that you will ever bring home.

Check Lucarella’s menu/prices at www.lucarellas.com.

I recently did… 18″ plain pizza ($12.99), chicken parmigiana calzone ($5.25), 6″ sausage-peppers-onion sub ($6.50), 6″ chicken salad sub ($6.50), caprese salad ($8.99), meat lasagna dinner (includes entree, garlic roll, house salad, pasta side $9.99), large chocolate cannoli ($3.95) and the stuff was absolutely delicious.

For you speed-readers out there…THIS IS A RED SAUCE TAKEOUT JOINT. If “mom & pop” stuff is your game (it’s mine)– you gotta give Lucarella’s a shot.

Lucarella’s is open Monday-Saturday 9am-9pm. The joint is closed on Sunday.

***** Sweeter Days Bake Shop, 1497 North Federal Highway, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33304, (954) 396-3979.

Well it’s that time of the year…when Publix, Costco and Walmart “start” the HURRICANE SEASON…if you’ve been down here in old-South Florida for any length of time, you know exactly what I’m talking about…all of a sudden the weathermen start talking about this possible– tropical depression and this possible tropical storm and this possible hurricane—and us-guys run out to Publix-Costco-Walmart and loadup on bottle waters-batteries–candles–and God only knows what else…

Anyway…this year, I’m “doing it” another way…when the weathermen start talking–I’m going to Sweeter Days Bake Shop and loadup with some absolutely delicious cupcakes-cookies-cakes-brownies–gelato…and get ready to ride the weather-out.

A recent outing to Sweeter Days Bake Shop had me “doing” a chocolate chocolate fudge cupcake, a boston cream cupcake and key lime cupcake (they run $2.95 each)—and I gotta tell you, it’s real easy to get hooked on these freshly baked creations.

Take a look at www.sweeterdaysbakeshop.com for menu/prices.

Now I know, some of you out there are “wondering”…What happens if you take home gelato–put it in the freezer and a storm really does hit and you lose power?

Anyway…Sweeter Days is open Monday-Saturday 10am-6pm and is closed on Sunday.