***** 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.

***** Giotto, 959 West Avenue, Miami Beach, Florida 33139, (305) 532-1138.

Giotto…super modern looking pizza/salad joint located in Miami Beach.

Really quite simple here– Giotto makes delicious 8″ and 13″ pizzas…throw in equally delicious salads and you got a place that you defintely want to try.

Check menu/prices at www.giottopizza.com. The site also has a ton of photos, so you’ll know what the joint looks like.

A recent dinner outing had me “doing”…margherita pizza (13”–$9.50), house salad with chicken ($6.50). Like I said before, delicious. Actually, one of the better pizzas I’ve had in a very long time. On the salad front, you actually “build” your own…it starts with romaine lettuce and you “add” what you want.

Giotto is open Tuesday-Sunday noon-11pm. The joint is closed on Monday.

***** China Garden & Kin’s Sushi, 260 Crandon Boulevard, Key Biscayne, Florida 33149, (305) 361-8181.

China Garden & Kin’s Sushi…”mom & pop” Chinese joint with a sushi menu thrown in for good measure.

Let me make this one short-simple…won ton soup, roast pork fried rice, egg rolls, bbq ribs, fried dumplings, sesame chicken, sweet & sour pork, shrimp with lobster sauce all OK—definitely not the best Chinese stuff that I’ve had–but the sesame chicken was on the ‘pretty good’ side of the ledger

You can check menu/prieces at www.chinagardenkinsushi.com.

China Garden is open Monday-Thursday 11am-10:30pm, Friday-Saturday 11am-11pm, Sunday 11:30am-10:30pm.

***** Dixie Grill & Bar, 5101 South Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach, Florida 33405, (561) 586-3189.

First things first…check Dixie Grill & Bar’s website www.dixiegrillandbar.com—you’ll find menu/prices/photos-there is also a great video which will clue you in on exactly what this casual American-Style restaurant looks like and is all about. Got ahead, check the website out, I’ll wait!

Glad to see that you came back…

Let me start by telling you, that I absolutely love joints like Dixie Grill & Bar…unlike “chains” like Friday’s, Chili’s, Appelbee’s, Ruby Tuesday’s—these “one-off” joints are the real McCoy. Now, you know and I know, that chains’ decors and concepts are planned down to the “dust” on the floor… while-joints like Dixie Grill & Bar are the brainchild of guys like Richard and Jay Preefer who hand-pick every decoration and figure-out every menu item…Trust me on this, 99% of the time–joints owned and operated by the “moms & pops” of the world, run circles around their corporate-counterparts.

The other night, I did Dixie Grill & Bar for dinner…the joint’s menu is loaded with appetizers, salads, burgers, sandwiches, entrees…there is a full bar and indoor/outdoor patio seating. Sampled “stuff”—fried macaroni & cheese, crab cakes, cheeseburger, chicken sliders, beef stir-fry, chicken salad, tuna salad. Every item was delicious. Service is as pleasant as can be. On the price-front, no more expensive than the “Friday’s” of the world. The joint has inside/outdoor patio seating.

Trust me on this one…Dixie Grill & Bar is a terrific restaurant.

If you want to see a cool-well run American Style restaurant in action …check Dixie Grill & Bar out.

Dixie Grill & Bar is open Sunday-Thursday 11:30-10pm and Friday-Saturday 11:30am-1am.

***** Big Momma’s Smokehouse BBQ, 1363 North Military Trail, West Palm Beach, Florida 33409, (561) 478-7270.

Got a really good “fast food” bbq joint for you…Big Momma’s Smokehouse BBQ. For right now, Big Momma’s has 1-location in West Palm Beach, 1-location in Palm Beach Gardens, 1-location in Royal Palm Beach, 1-location in Coconut Creek…according to its website www.bigmommassmokehousebbq.com the “chain” has plans to open-in Sunrise and Delray Beach. While your at the site, check menu/prices.

The other day, I gave Big Momma’s in West Palm Beach a dinner-try…

I’m gonna make this a quickie, the food was absolutely terrific. “Sampled” items included, hickory smoked bbq ribs/chicken, brisket, macaroni & cheese, corn bread. The mac & cheese and corn bread are worth the price of admission alone.

Regular Jeff Eats’ readers know that I’m not a huge “smoked” fan…that said, the guys running Momma’s do it right. They must have read ‘The Three Bears.’ The ribs/chicken were right on the money, same for the brisket.

Like I said before, this is a fast-food joint…order/pickup at the counter. Decor is “fast food” and the most expensive item on the menu is a full rack of ribs for 22 bucks. Momma’s got all kinds of “daily specials” and “plates” so guranteed you won’t be going to the poorhouse to eat there…maybe the ATM machine, but not the poorhouse! By the way, www.southfloridadines.com got one of those $10 gets you $20 deals going.

Momma’s is open Monday-Saturday 11am-9pm and Sunday noon-6pm.