***** American Pop 60’s *****

If you like 60’s Rock N Roll, I got something for you…American Pop 60’s, a terrific 4-piece 1960’s cover band based in Orlando, Florida. The group does absolutely perfect renditions of American hits from 1960-1969. The band also has a big kicker…namely, lead singer Mark Dawson…who also- happens to be the current lead singer of the lengendary 1960’s-1970’s band, The Grass Roots who have sold over 20,000,000 records worldwide…with hits such as–Let’s Live For Today, Sooner Or Later, Where Were You When I Need You, Temptation Eyes, Midnight Confessions. Two Divided By Love, Wait A Million Years, The River Is Wide.

Like I said before, if you like 1960’s American Rock N Roll…you will absolutely love American Pop 60’s. In addition to a “mini” Grass Roots concert, American Pop 60’s performs hauntingly accurate versions of gold & platinum hits by groups– The Buckinghams, Gary Lewis & The Playboys, Three Dog Night, The Doors,The Rascals, just to name a few.

I recently saw American Pop 60’s at a private party…they blew me away. They are sensational.

Look for this band- to start making the rounds of South Florida’s residential communities, country clubs and concert venues…www.ap60.bandzoogle.com.

***** Yeung House, 1747 North Federal Highway, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33305, (954) 561 1888.

Yeung House is a “takeout only” Chinese joint.

The best way to describe Yeung House… Yeung- got the job done. Was the wonton soup, bbq ribs, egg rolls, pan fried dumplings, roast pork fried rice, sweet & sour chicken, pepper steak, honey garlic chicken the best takeout that I’ve had? N O P E…But as I said before, Yeung-got the job done.

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

For those that live or work in Yeung’s neighborhood, you could do far worse than this Chinese takeout.

Yeung is open Monday-Saturday 11am-11pm and Sunday 1pm-11pm.

***** Vinny’s Pizza, 6671 West Indiantown Road, Jupiter, Florida 33458, (561) 575-5445.

Got a real good-reasonably priced “mom & pop–red sauce” Italian joint for you…Vinny’s Pizza in Jupiter, Florida.

Vinny’s menu has all of the “expected stuff”…pizzas, pastas, calzones, hot & cold subs, meat/seafood/chicken dishes (dinners–include salad, pasta side, garlic knots).

A recent dinner outing had me doing…large 16” pizza ($12.20), penne alla vodka ($10.50), meat lasagna ($11.25), veal parmigiana ($14.50). Keeping in mind, that joints like Vinny’s aren’t trying to reinvent the wheel—I can, without hesitation tell you that-Vinny’s food was terrific. Definitey one of the best NYC styled pizzas that- I’ve had in a very long time. The pie was thin-crispy-with an amazingly-perfect sweet sauce. As for the penne, lasagna and veal parm—I know joints that get double the price and can’t hold a candle to Vinny’s food.

Vinny’s is a winner. This is NOT and I repeat NOT—some hack joint, just turning out passable food. Do have one huge problem with Vinny’s…it’s 86 miles (round-trip) from my house.

Vinny’s Pizza is open Monday-Thursday 11am-9pm, Friday-Saturday 11am-10pm and Sunday noon-9pm.

***** Bozo’s Sub & Sandwich Shop, 601 Southwest 12th Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33312, (954) 763-2352.

Bozo’s Sub & Sandwich Shop…order at the counter—pickup at the counter—seating outside. Real simple menu…sandwiches, hot/cold subs, handful of salads.

At this juncture, I could discuss how Willard Scott way back when-played Bozo in the Washington, DC area (you do know that Larry Harmon, Bozo’s creator, franchised the Bozo the Clown concept all over the country) and that Willard, shall-we-say, “morphed” the Bozo look into Ronald McDonald—but I won’t.

Anyway…I recently tried Bozo’s—steak/onions/peppers sub ($7.75), chicken salad sub ($5.95), patty melt (grilled meat patty-grilled onions-provolone cheese -toasted rye bread-$4.95)…now for a play on words, THIS JOINT AIN’T CLOWNING AROUND. The food was delicious. A special shoutout to that patty melt, right on the money.

If there is one criticism, Bozo’s menu could be bigger. Don’t get me wrong, you’ll definitely find something to eat…but a few more items couldn’t hurt.

Bozo’s is open Monday-Thursday 10am-4pm, Friday 10am-6pm, Saturday 10am-4pm. The joint is closed on Sunday.

***** Fountain Plaza Diner, 2150 North University Drive, Pembroke Pines, Florida 33024, (954) 432-4900.

Got a real good one for you…Fountain Plaza Diner in Pembroke Pines. You can check menu/prices at www.fountaindiner.com.

Let’s jump into this thing…you may be wondering how this “diner” stacks up with the players in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania—first of all, Fountain is open Sunday-Thursday 7am-9pm and Friday-Saturday 7am-11pm and we all know that northern haunts are usually 24-hour joints. On menu/prices, Fountain holds its own on this one. The joint has the requisite huge list of breakfast stuff which is served all day, salads, burgers, sandwiches, Greek dishes, meat/seafood/chicken entrees, desserts and “specials.” Now let’s talk how Fountain’s food does—I tried this joint once for breakfast and again for dinner—doing, western omelet ($5.95), 3 pancakes with sausage ($5.95), corned beef hash ($4.85), waffles ($3.95)—(dinners- include soup or salad–vegetable or potato or pasta-cake or ice cream-coffee) meatloaf ($10.95), full rack of bbq babyback ribs ($14.95), baked tilapia ($13.95), cheesebuger (with fries $6.25). THE FOOD IS DINER FOOD. As you regulars may know, in a former life, I must have been a long-haul truckdriver, because I love diners and their huge menus. Everything was just fine–but on my next outing I won’t be ordering those ribs, if you get my drift.

Now for the kicker—On Saturday nights, from 7pm-11pm the joint has free entertainment (usually, rock bands). I will tell you, on the night that I was there, Fountain had Viva Rock & Roll Band- which is one of the best 1950s-1980s cover bands in South Florida (there must have been at least 100 people eating/dancing/singing along with Viva that evening). You can check the entertainment schedule at Fountain’s website.

So, you now know about a DINER—decent enough food, really reasonable prices, pleasant service—free entertainment. What’s bad!!!

***** Jan’s Place, 1897 Northeast Jensen Beach Boulevard, Jensen Beach, Florida 34957, (772) 334-9598.

Jan’s Place is a “neighborhood diner.”

Jan’s Place is open 7 days a week 7am-3pm.

Now, for some color…Great selection of breakfast stuff, salads, burgers, wraps, burritos, sandwiches. A recent outing had me checking-out…western omelette ($9.49), chicken salad club ($9.99), sausage-onion-pepper burrito ($8.99), bacon cheeseburger ($7.99). The food was delicious. The service, as pleasant and friendly as can be.

I loved Jan’s.

If you live in Jan’s neighborhood, this is one really terrific joint for a great breakfast or lunch. Real small-town.

***** Leo’s Pizza, 6720 Coral Way, Miami, Florida 33155, (305) 661-4285.

Pizza-Pasta-Salads-Subs…check prices/menu at www.pizzaleos.com.

Leo’s is a “hole in the wall—red sauce–pizza” joint…but, you already knew that. Leo’s has been around for something like 35 years. A recent outing had me “sampling”—meatball sub– pizza–baked ziti–chicken caesar salad–garlic rolls. Let’s just say, I found everything delicious, with special honors going out to those garlic rolls.

If this joint was in my neighborhood, I would be a regular eat in/takeout customer.

Leo’s Pizza is open Sunday-Thursday 11am-11pm and Friday-Saturday 11am-midnight.

***** Smokehouse Grille & Wingery, 2257 North Federal Highway, Boca Raton, Florida 33431, (561) 391-9110.

Smokehouse Grille & Wingery is a “wings-bbq” joint that opened in Boca Raton about 6 weeks. Don’t have the time to hash out all of the details, but the location for something like 20 years, was the home of Boca Wings & Ribs- which served decent enough wings and ribs, but nothing that anyone would go nuts over. The new owners, remodled the joint and “revamped” the menu. More importantly, Smokehouse turns out some heavy duty delicious grilled-smoked-fried wings, bbq chicken, bbq ribs, burgers.

Check menu/prices at www.smokehouseboca.com.

Now, Smokehouse isn’t exactly a “hole in the wall”- it has about 65 seats…then again, it isn’t a big joint ala Tony Roma’s or Bobby Rubino’s. Very reasonable prices. Huge portions. Pleasant and competent service. AND…some really good food. A recent outing had me doing, 10 teryaki wings ($8.25), bbq chicken & rib combo (1/2 chicken, 1/2 rack. 2 sides–$15.95), hamburger ($7.95)…trust me on this one—the stuff was right on the money. If you are a Jeff Eats’ regular, you know that SMOKED bbq ribs aren’t exactly one of my favorite eating-items. Just so you know, Smokehouse, smokes its ribs…but, the rack that I had, “weren’t too hot and weren’t too cold, but were just right” (courtesy- The Three Little Pigs). Based on the bbq that I had, the guys running Smokehouse appear to have this “smoking” thing correctly figured-out.

I am telling you, this one is a winner.

From what I can tell, Smokehouse is still “flying” under the radar. The joint is in a nondescript strip-center. If I wasn’t on the “prowl” for new restaurants to try, I probably would have passed this one by, because you don’t even notice it from the road. The bet here, is that the crowd that frequents “goldmine” next-door strip center- bbq joint- Mississippi Sweets, will soon be beating Smokehouse’s doors down…and then you’ll have to wait on line to stuff your face.

Smokehouse is open Sunday-Thursday 11am-9pm and Friday-Saturday 11am-10pm.

***** The Frieze Ice Cream Factory, 1626 Michigan Avenue, Miami Beach, Florida 33139, (305) 538-0207.

I know “good” ice cream and ices…Don’t believe me? Well, I’ll have you know, that in 1950’s, I did my undergraduate studies at Good Humor College and graduate work at the University of Bungaloo Bar. Based on the above referenced credentials, I can unequivocally state, that The Frieze Ice Cream Factory, with joints in Miami Beach and Plantation, makes top-notch delicious ice cream and sorbet.

Just, so you appreciate what I’m telling you here…The Frieze Ice Cream Factory M A K E S its own stuff. Just for the record, nothing and I do mean nothing- will ever beat that 10 cent-Good Humor Chocolate Eclair but, The Frieze Ice Cream Factory’s coffee, chocolate chocolate chip and pistachio flavors are homeruns none the less.

You can check flavors/prices at www.thefrieze.com.

To sum this one up, The Frieze Ice Cream Factory isn’t your father’s Dolly Madison or Breyers.

The joint is open Monday-Thursday noon-midnight and friday-Sunday noon-1am

***** Hunan City, 9101 Lakeridge Boulevard, Boca Raton, Florida 33496, (561) 488-8989.

Hunan City is strictly a takeout-delivery Chinese joint.

A recent order had me taking home…wonton soup, pan fried dumplings, bbq ribs, egg rolls, sweet & sour chicken, roast pork fried rice, shrimp chop suey. The food is okay…but nothing out of the ordinary. Your favorite neighborhood joint is probably better.

That’s basically all that I have to say about Hunan City…except, you can check its menu/prices at www.chinesedeliverybocaratonflorida.com…and, the joint is open Monday-Saturday 11am-9pm and Sunday 5pm-9pm.