***** PieZano’s Pizza & Pasta, 4131 North Federal Highway 1, Boca Raton, Florida 33431, (561) 347-9777.

Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in! Yeah, I know it’s from Godfather Part III…

Anyway, got a spanking-brand new Boca Raton “mom & pop” red sauce Italian joint for you…PieZano’s Pizza & Pasta (talk about a play on words!)—owned and operated by Anthony a real Italian guy from Brooklyn…and, I can vouch for his “authenticity” as I know his “original” Brooklyn-Ditmas Avenue pizza joint…I lived in the Ditmas Park area for over 30 years.

I tried PieZano’s out for dinner last night—first let me tell you, its got the coolest wallpaper/paint job that you will ever see. Not sure, how it works, but it-that being the wallpaper/paint job-throws off something like a 3D effect—I’m telling you, you’ll swear that the painted guys are sitting right there in the restaurant—real cool…the wallpaper/paint job alone makes Pie Zano’s worth a visit.

At this stage of this game, you can check menu/prices at www.piezanosboca.com.

PieZano’s has the full-boat of appetizers, salads, brick-oven pizzas, hot/cold subs, panini, wraps, pastas, meat/chicken/seafood dishes, gelato, flat screen tvs—now let’s talk food, “tried” fried zucchini and fried mozzarella sticks (nothing out of the ordinary), large 16″ plain pizza (delicious), chicken parm sub (hey Anthony, the cutlet was delicious, as for the bread-look for a new supplier, it was way too soft), meatball sub (hey Anthony, loved the meatballs, as for the bread–see chicken parm sub comment)), gnocchi alla vodka (delicious), chicken vesuvio (delicious), calamari marinara (delicious), garlic knots (delicious).

If I got my facts straight, Pie Zano’s has only been open about a month. Give or take a few things that I would change, like the sub-rolls and the mozzarella/zucchini stuff—the joint is off to a real nice start. As for service and prices, very pleasant folks run the joint– you guys are gonna love Anthony’s Brooklyn accent and energy…very reasonable prices.

Let me sum PieZano’s up this way…I’ll be back!

PieZano’s is open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner.

***** Portobello Cucina Italiana, 351 South US Highway 1, Jupiter, Florida 33477, (561) 748-3224.

For our purposes, let’s call Portobello Cucina Italiana a “semi-upsacle” Italian joint. When you check Portobello’s site www.portobellojupiter.com in addition to menu/prices you’ll find pictures/video so you’ll know- exactly what you are getting yourself into.

I recently tried Portobello for dinner and I gotta tell you, whoever owns this joint, sure knows what he-she-they is-are doing. Portobello is a great looking restaurant, the service was professional/attentive, the food was dynamite and the prices extremely reasonable. No! I’m not a brother or brother-in-law…really, this restaurant has all of its ducks in a row.

Recently tried Portobello out for dinner…”sampled”–fried calamari/zucchini, gnocchi marinara, chicken marsala, veal parmigiana, shrimp francese, ricotta cheesecake. Like I said a few seconds ago, the food was dynamite. A cursory review of Jeff Eats’ site should tell you, that eating Italian food is one of my favorite dining-things to do. Trust me on this one, for basically the same price—Portobello’s food & ambiance run absolute circles around most of the “mom & pop” and other Italian joints that dot the South Florida landscape.

I loved Portobello’s.

Portobello’s is open 7 days a week 5pm-10pm.

***** On The Roxx *****

If you like ’80’s’ music, you absolutely positively got to check out- On The Roxx–a local 5 piece South Florida band which is developing a huge following. Recently caught them at Boston’s On The Beach in Delray Beach–and I am telling you, they are dynamite. Checkout www.ontheroxxband.com for schedule/videos.

Like I said before DYNAMITE…some of the best covers of Katrina And The Waves, Joan Jett, The Go Go’s, Rick Springfield that I have ever heard. The band has two terrific frontmen–Jack James and Diane DeNoble…they’ll have you believeing that the original artists are in the house.

Just so you know, over the next 3 months the band has 4- free-public appearances set to go…1 in Coconut Creek, 2 in Port Saint Lucie and 1 in West Palm Beach.

Do yourself a solid and catch them, you’ll have a great time.

***** Luca Bella, 19088 North East 29th Avenue, Aventura, Florida 33180, (305) 792-2222.

Got a really good Italian joint for you to try…Luca Bella in Aventura. Although its only been open for a few months, Luca Bella has developed a huge following, so you might want to think “reservations” before you go.

Rather than going into detail, Luca Bella is the brainchild of Mickey Maltese who in a former-life-was a partner in Matteo’s located in Hallandale Beach. Just so you know, I’ve eaten by Mickey for years and in his Matteo’s days- Mickey knew how to make great food and operate a top-notch restaurant.

You regular readers should know by now, that Matteo’s (with Florida locations in Boca Raton, Jupiter, Orlando and Hallandale Beach) is one of my favorite South Florida Italian restaurants…well, Mickey has now opened a new joint with a menu similar to that of Matteo’s ‘BUT’ with enough signature dishes, so you Matteo’s fans won’t think that you walked into a clone-joint…and Mickey still knows how to make great food and operate a top-notch restaurant.

Last night I ate dinner at Luca Bella. The meal for four consisted of chopped salad, fried zucchini, baked clams, penne alla vodka, chicken cacciatore, veal valdostana, burnt style-string beans/broccoli, tartufo. There really isn’t too much to say, other than every dish was delicious, the portions were huge, the service was just right, the prices extremely reasonable.

At this stage of the review, you guys can check www.lucabella.net for menu/prices/photos.

I really enjoyed Luca Bella.

Luca Bella is open for lunch Monday-Friday 11:30am-3:30pm, and for dinner Monday-Thursday 5pm-11pm, Friday-Saturday 5pm-midnight, Sunday 4pm-10pm.

* Frank & Dino’s, 718 South Federal Highway, Deerfield Beach, Florida 33441, (954) 427-4909.

Let’s play a game…eat at a new restaurant before Jeff Eats does.

Yesterday, Frank & Dino’s a casual-moderatley priced “Southern Italian” joint opened its doors for business. Yeah, I know–you thought-they were dead.

Anyway, this restaurant is the latest “project” of South Florida restauranteur extraordinare Dennis Max–so, if past performance means anything, this one has the potential to be a huge winner. You can check menu/prices at www.frankanddinos.com. You can also Google–Dennis Max and The Max Group for info if you are so inclined.

So…just maybe, you guys would like to get a jump on Jeff Eats and almost everybody else in South Florida and try this one out. By the way Max is also working on another Italian joint, Assaggio del Forno-for Boca Raton, but that’s a whole-other story for another day.

*****UPDATE–April 23, 2014*****

Sorry it took so long to get to this…it just slipped through the cracks.

As you guys can see from the “Comments” there are mixed feelings on this joint.

Jeff Eats and Mrs. Jeff Eats and another couple recently did dinner at Frank & Dino’s…

Great upscale looking joint-featuring photos of Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin–hey! I know you knew–but I’m thinking that some Martian who just landed–might not know who Frank & Dino are/were based solely on first names. By the way, big Sinatra fan here–as for Martin, boy- was he lucky that he met Jerry Lewis.

Anyway,

Let me start by telling you, that we ordered…fried calamari, Caesar salad, chicken scarpariello, veal chop parmigiana, penne ala vodka, chicken marsala and everything was right on the money–while Jeff Eats is on the subject of “on the money” -the stuff was a bit pricey–but we knew going in (and most of you who tried it also knew) that Frank & Dino’s wasn’t a “local” mom & pop red sauce joint. Back to the food..I will tell you that the portions were-shall we say-quite generous-the veal chop parmigiana alone could have easily fed 2-people.

Let me wrap this up…

Jeff Eats and Mrs.Jeff Eats really enjoyed Frank & Dino’s…

If you are looking for an “upscale” Italian joint- with good food and a cool vibe, trust Jeff Eats when I tell you- that Frank & Dino’s will definitely work for you!

***** BGR-The Burger Joint, 232 Miracle Mile, Coral Gables, Florida 33186, (305) 461-9989.

BGR…for right now, a small “upscale” fast-food burger chain with something like 18 locations–for our purposes, there are currently 3 Florida locations. You can check www.bgrtheburgerjoint.com for menu/locations. Before, I get going here, I understand that this is one “hot” franchise, so look for BGRs to be popping up all over Florida and the rest of the USA.

When it comes to burgers–I know my stuff. That said, some of my favorite South Florida- “burger” blog reads are–The Burger Beast and Burgers By The Beach. Over the years I’ve gotten some real good picks from these guys. While I’m throwing out compliments, the Worst Pizza blog has been a great pizza-source (or is it sauce?) for me. So, if you want more burger/pizza picks-you know what to do.

Now let’s talk BGR. Nothing fancy here. Decor is “record albums/guitars”–I could have sworn that Hard Rock had this theme all sewen up. Anyway…order at/pickup at the counter. Let’s talk food. The joint has beef/turkey/veggie burgers, fries, onion rings, shakes and some other stuff. Let me go on record, absolutely delicious cheeseburger, same for the french and sweet potato fries. What I especially liked here, was that the burgers were “cooked” over an open-flame–and not on a stainless steel griddle. Now, I got nothing against griddle burgers, but BGR’s flame technique was a nice change from the standard fast food modus operandi.

Finally, you know and I know, that “too” many of these upscale-burger joints are opening here in South Florida and around the country. Like the self-serve yogurt joints and cupcake stores- it’s only a matter of time before the game of musical chairs comes to an end. For the non-believers out there…You do remember “mom & pop” video stores, don’tcha? With that public service announcement out of the way…let me wrap things up by saying, if really good burgers/fries are your game, you–definitely want to try BGR.

BGR-The Burger Joint is open Sunday-Thursday 11am-10pm and Friday-Saturday 11am-11pm.

***** Pekin Chinese Restaurant, 2293 Southwest 17th Avenue, Miami, Florida 33145, (305) 858-9801.

Pekin…basically a “takeout” joint, but it does have a handful of tables. You can check menu/prices at www.pkrestaurant.com.

Let’s handle this one this way—applying Jeff Eats’ Brooklyn-Jewish Chinese Restaurant taste-test circa 1957, the wonton soup, egg rolls, roast pork fried rice, bbq ribs, fried dumplings, pepper steak, sweet & sour chicken, moo shu pork—everything was delicious. A special shout-out to the honey garlic chicken and the egg rolls.

Look! You know and I know that FLORIDA is suppose to have lousy Chinese food. Happy to report- Pekin Chinese Restaurant doesn’t fit the mold. The joint’s stuff is real-good. I’m kinda figuring that since its been around since 1995 it must be doing something right.

If you live or work in Pekin’s neighborhood, you now know about a real good Chinese takeout joint.

Pekin is open Sunday-Thursday 11am-10pm, Friday-Saturday 11am-10:30pm.

***** Paul’s Sub Shop & Deli, 16775 North Miami Avenue, North Miami Beach, Florida 33162, (305) 651-3116,

Well, so much for that New Year’s resolution “not to eat bread.”

Tried out Paul’s Sub Shop & Deli a “hole in the wall” sub joint in North Miami Beach…”sampled” a chicken parm sub, philly cheese steak sub, chicken salad sub, tuna salad sub—check www.paulssubs.net for menu/prices.

Let me make this one short and simple, Paul’s stuff was absolutely delicious.

A bit to early in the morning- for me to be opining about the pros-cons of chains like Subway, Blimpie’s, Firehouse…what I do know, is that Paul’s Sub Shop & Deli makes an awesome sandwich.

Paul’s is open Monday-Saturday 10am-5pm, closed on Sunday.