***** 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.

***** Brick Yard Microbrewery, 7050 West Palmetto Park Road, Boca Raton, Florida 33433, (561) 544-0001.

Just got back from trying Brick Yard Microbrewery which opened about two weeks ago in Boca Raton..great looking joint with indoor/outdoor patio seating—loads of tv sets. Full bar, with “tons” of beers on tap. Not a huge menu, but nobody’s gonna starve here…burgers, pizzas, sandwiches, wings, salads. Tried babyback ribs and french fries—fries right on the money-as for the ribs, I’ve had better-something about the sauce that wasn’t right. Also tried the joint’s large cheeseburger with sweet potato fries…both the burger and fries were very good. Being in a piggish mood, I also gave the chicken fajitas and philly cheesesteak sub a shot—both items like the burger were very good. Typical sports bar prices.

So what did we learn?

Brick Yard is a good sports bar. We also learned that on future outings–assuming the sauce is the same, to not order the ribs. We also learned, that the booth seating in the bar area was uncomfortable for a man Jeff Eats’ size. The seats/cushions are too soft and low.

I’m gonna make a prediction here.

Brick Yard is going to “develop” into an absolute homerun. I say this based on the fact, that the food was good–and it’s a great looking joint—better designed/looking than most of the sports bar joints that I’ve tried in South Florida. In addition, based on a brief conversation with two of Brick Yard’s owners–they’ll evetually figure-out that the ribs’ sauce needs some-changing and those booth cushions need to be adjusted.

Like I said before, Brick Yard has only been open 2-weeks. With just a drop of tinkering–this joint is going to be “THE” place in Boca to watch sports and catch a good casual meal.

Brick Yard is open Sunday-Thursday 4pm-11pm, Friday-Saturday 4pm-2am.

***** WHO IS WORSE COMCAST OR SIRIUS XM ? *****

Just curious, who do you guys think has “worse” customer service, Comcast or Sirius XM?

Maybe I’m crazy, but literally, every time I turn on my television there is a problem with the Comcast cable service. The latest “event’ was a total loss of cable last night around 9pm for over an hour. In addition, it was absolutely impossible to “call” Comcast as there was a recording to try later.

On the Sirius XM front, it seems that although they are a merged company, they don’t have merged business account records, so if one of your cars has XM and the other has Sirrus, you can’t just make one call to handle issues. In addition, after the “free” trial runs out on new cars, Sirius/XM tries to bang the customer with ridiculously high monthly rates, which if you are persistent can be negoiated down to virtually pennies a month.

Just curious what you guys think of these companies and their services.

***** Spot Coffee, 44 East Atlantic Avenue, Delray Beach, Florida 33444, (561) 455-4041.

Spot Coffee (for a point of reference, think Starbuck’s) is a small-chain…Delray Beach, Florida– Buffalo (3), New York–Williamsville, New York (wherever the hell that is?)–Rochester, New York– Toronto, Ontario.

Now, I’m not exactly sure as to who likes these kinda joints…Generation X or is it Generation Y–what I do know, is that nothing and nobody is ever going to beat Chock Full O’ Nuts’ lunch counters circa 1960 with their $.10 coffee, whole-wheat-donuts and nut-and-cream-cheese sandwiches—However…

If you are a member of Generation X, Generation Y or like Mrs. Jeff Eats someone who doesn’t dwell on the past—you will absolutely love Spot Coffee’s coffees, breakfast items, pizzas, sandwiches, salads. Today- at the Delray joint had an ice coffee that was perfectly made, a grilled cheese on focaccia bread and a belgian waffle that almost made me forget about Chock Full O’Nuts’ stuff.

You can check www.spotcoffee.com for menu/prices.

Brick Yard Microbrewery, 7050 West Palmetto Park Road, Boca Raton, Florida 33433, (561) 544-0001.

Wanna be one of the first people to try a new joint?–Well if you do, you might want to check-out Brick Yard Microbrewery which opened about 2-weeks ago in Boca Raton. Just so you know, I haven’t eaten there yet, but yesterday I “took” a tour of this new restaurant which features all kinds of beers on tap, burgers, salads, pizzas and sandwiches–and the joint looks absolutely dynamite with a light-brick indoor decor and a great looking outdoor patio with its own bar.

I got Brick Yard Microbrewery on my list of joints to “try”–so look for a review in coming weeks. I will tell you, four people that I know have already tried it and they thought that the burgers, fries and pizzas were delicious. Now, I will tell you, that two of those folks years ago told me and I quote, “Ford’s Edsel is going to be a huge seller.” So…

From what I understand, Brick Yard Microbrewery is open Sunday-Thursday 4pm-11pm, Friday-Saturday 4pm-2am.

* Blue Bell Creameries

Having eaten in- my fair share of Chinese Restaurants since my 1949 Brooklyn birth–I can unequivocally say, that I am an expert on pistachio ice cream.

If you want to eat an amazingly delicious pistachio ice cream–then you gotta try the one that Blue Bell Creameries makes. I get mine at Publix and it’s usually something like $6.98 for a 1/2 gallon. If you play your cards right, every so often, Publix runs a 2–1/2 gallons for $9.

For more information on Blue Bell Creameries which has been around since 1907—www.bluebell.com.