***** Kona Bay Cafe, 310 East Ocean Avenue, Lantana, Florida 33462, (561) 429-3606.

Kona Bay Cafe is a super casual-beachy decor “breakfast-lunch” joint…that has counter & inside table /outside patio seating. Check www.konabaycafe.com for menu/prices and pictures that will “tell” you exactly what this joint looks like. Bathing suits are considered dresswear.

On the food front…nice, but not overly large-selection of breakfast-stuff (which is served all day). The lunch menu (like the breakfast menu, not overly large) has salads, wraps, sandwiches. A recent breakfast had me doing…a short stack of apple cinnamon pancakes ($4.95), a short stack of chocolate chip pancakes ($4.45), strawberry stuffed French toast ($6.45), western omelete ($7.95)—everything was just right.

Kona Bay is open 7 days a week for breakfast & lunch.

***** S & S Diner, 1757 Northeast 2nd Avenue, Miami, Florida 33132, (305) 373-4291.

S & S Diner is a REAL DINER…the joint has been around since 1938, has no booths or tables…customers sit at an 18 seat horseshoe counter. This is a cash only joint. The only thing that “tells” you that it’s 2010 is a flat screen tv…and of course the prices—no 5 cent coffee.

The way I figure it, if a joint has been around for something like 72 years, just maybe it’s doing something right–don’t ya think?

S & S does breakfast, lunch, early dinner…pleny of breakfast stuff, sandwiches, burgers, salads and “daily specials” like meatloaf and turkey.

Like I said before–real diner. Nothing fancy here…just solid good diner food.

S & S is open Monday-Friday 6am-6pm and Saturday-Sunday 6am-2pm.

***** Corelino’s Coal Oven Pizza & Cucina, 6346 Lantana Road, Lake Worth, Florida 33463, (561) 968-8200.

Last night, I had dinner at Corelino’s Coal Oven Pizza & Cucina…the joint is brand new–it just opened last Wednesday night. Corelino’s seats something like 160, with both indoor and outdoor patio seating. You can check menu/prices at www.corelinoscoaloven.com.

Let me make this one simple…I thought that Corelino’s was absolutely terrific. The food and service were outstanding…the prices super reasonable.

Over the years. I’ve eaten in tons of coal oven and “regular” pizza joints. I gotta tell you– Corelino’s ranks right up there with the best of them.

Last night I did a house salad ($6 enough for 2), plain large pizza (16″- $11), coal oven wings (10-with french fries-$8.50), philly steak hero ($7.50-with french fries), jojo pollo (2 grilled chicken breasts with vegetables/roasted potatoes-$13), dessert sampler (mini pastries & cake-$10) and the food was absolutely delicious.

Trust me on this one, the food is right up there with the best stuff served by your favorite coal oven/Italian joint. Of note, all of the desserts are made in house. The mini pastries were right on the money and the chocolate cake could prove to be addictive.

There really isn’t too much more to say…give Corelino’s a try, it really is that good—and the joint is open Sunday-Thursday 11am-10pm and Friday-Saturday 11am-11pm.

Oh! almost forget to mention…Corelino’s garlic rolls—SENSATIONAL- if my wife wasn’t sitting there, I probably would have eaten 10 of them.

***Don’t Believe Everything That You Read***

In today’s Sun Sentinel on page 33 of Showtime insert…”ANTHONY’S IS THE BIG CHEESE”…

A full page, describing- how Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza with 23 Florida locations makes the best pizza in Florida.

If you check, on May 22, 2009 Jeff Eats ran “The 9 Best Coal Oven Pizza Joints In South Florida and on June 29, 2009 “The 17 Best ‘Regular’ Pizza Joints in South Florida—and Anthony’s didn’t make either list.

Trust me on this, Anthony’s doesn’t have the best coal oven or best regular pizza in South Florida.

Now- just an opinion…but I’ll bet you a buck, that in a blind taste test—you would pick Carolina’s Coal Fired Pizza & Pasta’s (see writeup May 27, 2008) -coal oven pizza over Anthony’s every time. Personally, I think that Carolina’s coal oven pizza is for-right-now, best of breed down here in South Florida. I also think, that most, if not all of the 26 pizza joints that I listed are better than Anthony’s.

I could go on and on…but like I said before, not a chance in the world that Anthony’s by any stretch of the imagination has the best “anything” pizza.

Just wanted to get that off my chest.

***** Shawn & Nick’s Courtyard Cafe, 2211 Wilton Drive, Wilton Manors, Florida 33305, (954) 563-2499.

Let’s call this one a “diner.” There is both inside and outside patio seating.

Check www.wiltonmanorscourtyardcafe.com for menu/prices.

This joint has some heavy duty extensive hours. Sunday-Wednesday 7am-3am, Thursday-Saturday 12am-12am (that’s 24 hours).

Let’s talk…huge menu- loads of breakfast stuff, appetizers, burgers, sandwiches, salads, meat-seafood-chicken entrees, desserts. Very reasonable prices. Plenty of “specials.”

Is Shawn & Nick’s the best diner that I’ve ever been in? Nope!…that said, the bacon cheese burger/sweet potato fries ($7.75) was pretty decent…same for chicken salad wrap/french fries ($7.75), raisin French toast ($3.75). I thought that the “The Mess” (2 scrambled eggs mixed with bacon, sausage, ham, American cheese) was outstanding ($5.95).

So…you now know about a diner, that has reasonable prices, decent enough stuff and is open when most other joints are long dark.

***** Boca Raton Fire Rescue-Station #5, 2333 West Glades Road, Boca Raton, Florida 33431, (911).

This past Tuesday, August 24, 2010 I worked as a “poll worker” at Boca Raton Fire Rescue-Station #5 in Boca Raton. Not really going to get into it, but I seriously doubt that you could find a more pleasant and helpful group of firefighters/ems folks than those assigned to this location anywhere in the United States. These “guys” went out of their way to make sure that us-poll workers were as comfortable and equipped as needed.

On August 24th, I was in the “station” from 5:45am-7:50pm—simply amazing how many calls the fire and ems trucks made during those hours. Whatever these folks get paid, Mrs. Mayor, not enough.

Anyway…I’m sure that you guys have “heard” about what great cooks firefighters supposedly are—well, I sampled a garden salad-chicken parmigiana-penne marinara-garlic bread dinner prepared by firefighter Adam Elliot, that was as good- if not better, than the stuff made by most of Italian “mom & pop-red sauce” joints that dot the Boca Raton landscape. By the way, the firefighters buy/pay for all of their food from their own pockets—this dinner cost each diner-12 bucks.

You now know about a “joint” that you can’t eat in.

Once again, thanks to Station 5 “D” Shift- Captain Aaron Fix, Lieutenant Ryan Cihowiak, Driver/Engineer Todd Withrow, and Firefights Ryan Kelly, Manny Nuno & Adam Elliot for making 6-very “warm” poll workers feel right at home.

One final thought, I heard that “they” got a guy who makes steaks better than those served at New York Prime and another guy who makes bbq to die-for. I say—we need more elections!

***** Pompano Pizza Italian Eatery, 1606 South Cypress Creek Road, Pompano Beach, Florida 33060 (954) 782-5800.

Pompano Pizza is a “mom & pop–red sauce” Italian joint. Check www.pompanopizza.com for the full lineup of pizzas/pastas/calzones/strombolis/hot-cold subs/meat-seafood-chicken entrees.

Is this one of the great “mom & pops”…no sirree Bob. That said, decent enough…plain large pizza ($10.95), veal parmigiana ($13.95), veal marsala ($14.95), calamari marinara ($12.95).

You know how this all works, entrees come with choice of soup/or salad, pasta side, garlic rolls.

Let’s call this one—a good-neighborhood joint that gets the job done.

Pompano Pizza is open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner.

***** 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.