***** Direct From Philly, 1201 South Military Trail, Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442, (954) 428-7035.

I am now going to tell you guys about an absolutely terrific sub joint…Direct From Philly, which is located in Deerfield Beach. Nothing for nothing, I guarantee you, that unless I told you about Direct From Philly, in 100 years, you’d never-ever find it. This joint is located in a Chevron Gas Station.

Check Direct From Philly’s website www.directfromphilly.com for menu/prices.

But, I digress–don’t really have time to go into detail…suffice it to say–there are two rival subs shops in Philadelphia that for years have battled it out, as to who makes the best Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich…namely Pat’s King of Steaks www.patskingofsteaks.com and Geno’s Steaks www.genosteaks.com. If you GOOGLE these guys you will find tons of articles about the “battle.” I have eaten at both and both joints make a great Philly cheese-steak sandwich.

Anyway…Direct From Philly in addition to a load of breakfast sandwiches, salads, hot-cold subs—does a great job- in shall we say, replicating the sandwiches that Pat’s makes and that Geno’s makes…I tried both of Direct Philly’s “versions” and they were absolutely delicious. As good as the originals? A very-very close call. I think the only difference between the sandwiches that Direct From Philly makes and those that Pat’s and Geno’s serve-up- is what we call ambiance…not much ambiance eating in your car at a Chevron Gas Station…

You now know about a tremendous sub joint.

Direct From Philly is open Monday-Friday 7am-7pm and Saturday 8am-7pm. The joint is closed on Sunday.

*****October 25, 2013 UPDATE:
From: Stephen Rao
Subject: Direct From Philly has moved.
Message Body:
Jeff,
How are you? I decided to move my shop from the gas station into the kitchen at City Pub at 956 S. Federal Highway in Deerfield Beach, 33441.
Will you please update our location so it shows on your site?
Call me at (561)716-0140 if you have any questions.
Thanks,
Steve Rao

***** Cupcake Couture, 328 East Atlantic Avenue, Delray Beach, Florida 33483, (561) 276-2334.

First things first…I’m still very skeptical about the longevity–and staying power of these “cupcake” joints…that said, today, I was in-an absolutely terrific one…Cupcake Couture in Delray Beach.

Cupcake Couture, in addition to the–cupcake-thing…has a great selection of gelati (that’s the plural of gelato)…candy by the pound…coffee/tea drinks. You can check menu/prices at www.cupcakecoutureusa.com.

I’m not going to go into the sorid details, but this afternoon–shall we say, I “taste-tested”–“Dolce & Banana”- “Jimmy Chooocolate”- “Oscar de la Raspberry”- “Coconut Klein”… When you get to this joint’s website, you can check the contents of each of these absolutely delicious cupcakes.

Just a suggestion– the next time you are “strolling” Atlantic Avenue, think Cupcake Couture. A real nice alternative to the run-of-the-mill-on every corner Starbucks.

Cupcake Couture is open Monday-Friday 10am-10pm and Saturday-Sunday 11am-11pm.

***** Russo’s Submarine Sandwich Shop, 1477 Military Trail, West Palm Beach, Florida 33415, (561) 964-1014.

Russo’s Submarine Sandwich Shop is, a submarine sandwich shop…there are 2 locations in West Palm Beach and 1 location in Lake Park. You know the setup—order at/pickup at the counter.

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

The folks who own this “mini” chain definitely have their act together. A recent outing netted me…meatball sub (large 12″–$6.39), tuna salad sub (large $12″–$5.59), turkey/ham/cheese (large 12″–$6.19)—delicious sub rolls, enormous portions, delicious fillings.

Just so you know, Russo’s menu is kinda on the limited side…with 8 subs and 5 salads. Subs come in two sizes…small 9″ and large 12″.

If you are a sub eater—you will definitely enjoy Russo’s. This “mom & pop” chain runs circles and I do mean circles around- the big boys like Subway, Quizno’s, Firehouse.

Russo’s is open Monday-Wednesday 9:30am-7pm, Thursday-Saturday 9:30am-8pm, closed on Sunday.

***** Napoli’s Pizzeria & Grill, 4469 South Congress Avenue, Lake Worth, Florida 33461, (561) 439-5904.

Over Jeff Eats’ life span—I’ve eaten in something like-give or take- 230 South Florida Italian joints. For sure, some are better than others…that said, unless we are talking the high end of the Italian restaurant spectrum—most of the “mom & pop”- red sauce joints are basically all the same…some have better this and others have better that…but on the whole, most of them walk to the same beat…Decent Food. Decent Prices. As you guys know, when I do come across an exception to the rule, one way or the other—I try and give you the skinny.

Anyway…the other day I had dinner at Napoli’s…”tried” the pizza–veal parmigiana-chicken marsala-crabmeat alfredo-meat lasagna. Everything I had was A-OK. You can check menu/prices at www.napolisrestaurant.net.

For those of you who don’t just drop everything to check restaurant websites, Napoli’s menu has the full boat of appetizers, subs, calzones, pastas, pizzas, meat-seafood-chicken entrees…it also plays the requisite entree-pasta side-soup or salad-garlic knots game.

It’s really quite simple…if you are looking for a good- very reasonably priced-red sauce “outing”…Napoli’s is a good place to know about.

Now for the kicker to this story, Napoli’s makes an absolutely delicious NYC style pizza–Trust me here-I’ve eaten a ton of pizza down here in South Florida and Napoli’s slice was right up there with the best of breed.

Napoli’s is open Monday-Saturday 11:30am-10pm and Sunday 4pm-9pm.

***** Junior’s Pizza & Subs, 1787 North Congress Avenue, Boynton Beach, Florida 33426, (561) 374-9099.

Junior’s Pizza & Subs…casual–reasonably priced–mom & pop–red sauce–handful of flat screen tvs—Italian joint, in Boynton Beach.

If you live or work anywhere near this joint…you gotta give it a try. The pizza is terrific (thin-sweet sauce)–same goes for the wings, penne alla vodka, veal parmigiana sub, sliced steak pizzaiola sub, fried calamari marinara.

Junior’s menu has the full boat of appetizers, salads, hot/cold sub, pastas, pizzas, calzones, meat-seafood-chicken entrees. You can check menu/price details at www.juniorspizzabar.com.

Junior’s is heads and shoulders above most of the pizza joints which dot the South Florida landscape.

Junior’s is open Sunday-Thursday 11am-10pm and Friday-Saturday 11am-11pm.

Cup ‘N Saucer Restaurant, 6169 Jog Road, Lake Worth, Florida 33467 (561) 966-4997.

Just had Sunday breakfast at Cup ‘N Saucer– a “mom & pop” breakfast- lunch diner located in Lake Worth.

Based on the breakfast that Jeff Eats had…how this joint has managed to stay in business for something like 20 years is beyond me.

My order was quite simple…western omelet/hashbrowns/plain toasted bagel. The omelet was so salty that it was borderline inedible… The hasbrowns were undercooked, with the potatoes being nearly raw. The bagel tasted like a piece of whitebread. This was probably the worst breakfast that I’ve had down here in South Florida. By the way, my friend Mike who joined me for breakfast had a farmers omelete (sausage,onions, peppers, tomatoes & cheese) found his omelet to be oversalted-the hasbrowns undercooked and his english muffin to be tasteless. Just for the record, both Mike and I left something like 90% of our breakfasts untouched…22 bucks down the drown.

Look, I’m no cook…what I do know, is that over the years I’ve eaten tons of omelets and the “things” that we were served- were bad-news. I wasn’t back there when they were being cooked, but I suspect that the “cook” making these things, scrambled a few eggs and then shoveled the filings between the folded eggs. That’s not how omelets are suppose to be made. Rather than playing Julia Child and waste everyone’s time here, trust me on this one…the omelets were disgusting—same for the potatoes—same for the english muffin and bagel. I believe the rule is 3-strikes and your are O U T.

One of my favorite things, is a “leisurely” Sunday breakfast…you know what I’m talking about—when you go to a diner and just take your sweet time eating a large-breakfast. Well, this morning—Mike and I couldn’t get out of this joint fast enough.

If breakfast was any indication of what this Monday-Friday 6:30am-2pm, Saturday-Sunday 7am-3pm breakfast-lunch joint is all about…how it has stayed in business for 20 years should rank as the “Ninth Wonder Of The World.”

To be fair. The joint is clean—and service was pleasant and competent. I must also tell you, that at 10:15 am the joint was very busy. Could I be wrong here? NOPE— the food was atrocious!

***** Relish Burger Bar, 401 Northwood Road, West Palm Beach, Florida 33407, (561) 629-5377.

Got a big-time winner for you guys… Relish Burger, an upscale/fast food/order at-pickup at counter burger joint—in West Palm Beach. Not really too much to say about Relish, other than it makes absolutely delicious burgers, fries, wings, shakes,— has something like 1,000,000,000 burger toppings—and has turkey, buffalo, tuna, mahi mahi, veal, crab, lobster, shrimp- burgers for the folks who gotta be “fancy”…You can check this joint’s website www.relishburger.com for menu/prices.

A recent outing had me doing…cheeseburger with sauteed onions ($6.28), french fries ($2.49), raspberry bbq grilled chicken wings (6-$5.59), chocolate truffle shake ($4.69)…no fooling around here—this is about as good as it gets in fast-food land.

Like I said before…Relish is a winner.

Relish Burger is open 7 days a week 11am-10pm.

***** The Lodge Beer & Grill, 200 South Federal Highway, Boca Raton, Florida 33342, (561) 392-5003.

Got something interesting here for you guys…The Lodge in Boca Raton–a hole in the wall wine/beer- bar/restaurant. Check the joint’s website www.thelodgeboca.com for menu/prices/photos.

The Lodge has something like 37 different beers –a half dozen, give or take- wines…and a menu, with maybe a dozen appetizers, one salad, one chicken sandwich and five burgers. You beer drinkers out there will be like pigs in sh@t! Old Jeff Eats isn’t a drinker…I’m an EATER, so when I walked into The Lodge and read the menu, I was concerned.

Outrageously good and I mean OUTRAGEOUSLY GOOD…steak sliders, fried chicken sliders, bacon cheeseburger, french fries, onion rings.

The Lodge is open Monday-Friday 4pm-2am, Saturday 11:30am-2am, Sunday 12:30pm-2am.

***** Chef Carlin Restaurant, 6941 Sunset Strip, Sunrise, Florida 33313, (954) 749-7472.

Chef Carlin- is a real good, casual, very reasonably priced, “mom & pop” Cuban joint, located in Sunrise, Florida. Check www.chefcr.com for menu/prices. The website also has a short video that gives a nice-tour around the restaurant.

Now, despite what you might think, Jeff Eats is far from being an expert on Cuban food…I know it’s hard to believe, but what is, is! I think, that my aversion to Cuban and other “forms” of Latin food—goes back to those “D’s” in Spanish, that I got at Brooklyn’s J.H.S. 62 & Erasmus Hall High School. Actually “aversion” maybe too strong of a term…let’s just say, that Latin food wouldn’t be on my “last meal” list.

Anyway…sometimes compromise is in order—so when friends wanted to try Chef Carlin… diplomat-Jeff Eats acquiesed.

Now…if I wasn’t- biased, I would tell you, that the black bean soup ($1.95), chicken noodle soup ($1.50), breaded steak ($8.50), shrimp creole ($9.95), roast chicken ($7.95), flan ($2.00)—were absolutely delicious…by the way all entrees come with, rice-black beans-sauteed plantains.

If Cuban food is your bag, you’re gonna love Chef Carlin.

Chef Carlin is open Monday-Saturday 11am-8pm. The joint is closed on Sunday.

***** C. R. Chicks, 2240 Northwest 19th Street, Boca Raton, Florida 33431, (561) 33431.

C. R. Chicks is a takeout/eat in “rotisserie chicken” joint…if you do some checking, on October 1, 2008- I gave this South Florida chain an absolutely rave-review. Back then C.R. had 7 locations—in about 8 hours-32 minutes a Boca Raton store will be added to the lineup.

Last night, C.R. Chicks’ Boca joint held a “Private Grand Opening Party” where a chance to try EVERY item on the menu was there for the taking…and I took! In no particular order—chicken, meatloaf, potato pancakes, mashed potatoes, brown rice, chocolate chip cookies, primavera linguine, apple pie, chocolate banana cream pie, caesar salad, bbq pulled chicken sandwich, brown rice, cole slaw. I was like a pig that died and went to heaven.

Let me make this “update” as simple and short as possible—C. R. Chicks makes terrific rotisserie chicken–in addition, there are delicious soups, salads, sandwiches, pastas, sides, desserts—and a meatloaf that will make you forget the one that your mom made/makes (I’m assuming she made/makes a real-good one).

You can check menu/prices/photos/locations at www.crchickswpb.com.

For those of you out there who swear by Costco’s rotisserie chicken…GET REAL!

C.R. Chicks is a winner!

C.R. Chicks is open 11:30am-9pm–7 days a week.