***** Tabitha’s Bistro, 5511 South University Drive, Davie, Florida 33328, (954) 252-1551.

Got a really-good “mom & pop” lunch-dinner joint for you…Tabitha’s Bistro in Davie. Handful of tables indside, couple outside.

You can check the menu/prices of pita melts, sandwiches, salads, wraps, panini at www.tabithasbistro.com.

Now, I could get real cute here and start yapping about Tabitha-daughter of Samantha and Darren, but I won’t. You tv show-“experts” know where I could have gone with that whole thing.

Anyway…tried Tabitha’s out for lunch and I gotta tell you that I was impressed…this little strip center hole in the wall- makes some dynamite stuff. Tried– turkey meatball pita melt, grilled chicken breast caesar wrap, grilled eggplant panini–like I intimated two seconds ago, really delicious. If I got one bitch, the menu is kinda limited (not a single burger in sight), but if “this” old reincarnated truck driver made it through, most of you guys will too.

Now, don’t start bombarding me with “sexist” comments, but you ladies out there are gonna love this joint.

Tabitha’s Bistro is open Monday 11am-4pm, Tuesday-Saturady 11am-8pm, closed on Sunday.

***** Uncle Maddio’s Pizza Joint ****

You know that I like to keep you guys-up to date on all kinds of stuff related to food and the food industry.

When you get a chance, check-out Uncle Maddio’s Pizza Joint www.unclemaddios.com.

Real simple pizza-franchise concept…make your own pizzas. You go to the joint, there is a “huge” selection of pizza toppings etc.—the guy/gal behind the counter puts the pizza “together” for you–and it gets delivered to your table within something like 6 minutes.

Trust me on this one, you will soon see these “make your own” pizza joints popping up all over South Florida, not to mention all over the United States. They sort of remind me of the Yogurt by the ounce joints.

Uncle Maddio’s is just one player in this “new” business segment. There are a number of guys-getting into this business, including publiclly traded Pizza Inn.

For right now–as far as I know, there aren’t any Uncle Maddio’s Pizza Joints in South Florida. Betcha a buck, that sometime within the next 6 months, a version-of-this-concept will be in your neighborhood.

Just thought you guys would enjoy hearing about what the food industry is cooking up for you.

***** THE BEATLES MEET THE ROLLING STONES *****

A reader, recently sent me the following email about an event scheduled to be held at the Woodfield Country Club in Boca Raton.
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Saturday, January 28 at 6:30 p.m.
Grande Ballroom
$59 Members Pre-Registration before January 21; $68 Members Thereafter; $81 Guests

Amazingly, as two of rock’s most iconic bands, The Beatles and the Rolling Stones never shared a bill during the height of their careers. Well, that all changes as national tribute acts Anthology and Roll The Stones take the Woodfield stage for an unforgettable night as these bands create the sounds, mood and vibe that started a cultural revolution! Members and guests begin the evening with a cocktail hour followed by dinner in the ballroom prior to Anthology taking the stage to play all your Fab Four favorites. Then, Roll The Stones will capture the power and excitement straight from the Rolling Stones legendary stadium tours during their set. A signature bar will be available.
*This event will feature assigned seating for everyone. Members may request seating arrangements and all requests will be considered and granted when possible, however, requests are not guaranteed. In the event that this event reaches sell-out capacity, all tables will consist of 12 people to maximize seating. Any group that is smaller than 12 will be seated at a “club table” in which Woodfield will put groups together to form a table of 12. There is a 72-hour cancellation policy for this event.
**Kids Korner will offer complimentary babysitting on this evening for those members attending this event

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If you check past reviews, I have seen both Anthology (10/1/08—www.anthologytheband.com) and Roll The Stones (9/9/2011—www.rollthestones.com) in action and both groups are absolutely terrific. From the email, it seems that this event is only open to Woodfield Country Club members and their invited guests…trust me on this—if you like The Beatles/The Rolling Stones, see if you can “make” friends real fast with a Woodfield member and get yourself a ticket to this “party”…it will be like watching the real-guys in action in sunny Boca Raton, Florida.

***** Ally’s Comfort Cafe, 13674 West State Road 84, Davie, Florida 33325, (954) 476-4343.

Ok-Davie!!! Here’s a real good “mom & pop” diner for you guys…Ally’s Comfort Cafe. Maybe 40 seats (handful of booths/handful of tables). You can check menu/prices at www.allyscomfortcafe.net.

Ally’s Comfort is open Monday-Friday 7am- 2pm, Saturday 8am-2pm, closed on Sunday.

As for the menu, breakfast stuff galore, burgers, sandwiches, salads.

Recently did–western omelette, chocolate chip pancakes, bacon cheeseburger, chicken salad on rye toast, turkey club—everything right on the money. A special shout out to–the chicken salad—chicken salad aficianados won’t be disappointed.

Look, America’s “mom & pop” diners aren’t trying to cure cancer…joints like Ally’s Comfort Cafe bring “neighborhood” back into the eating equation.

If, like me- you are into the “diner” concept, you will definitely enjoy Ally’s Comfort Cafe.

***** OpenTable *****

Got a really cool company/site for you guys to check-out…OpenTable– www.opentable.com.

Now, I know that most of the joints that Jeff Eats frequents or shall we say peruses-wouldn’t know a “reservation” from a basketball, however, every now and then, one of these joints does require that you call-in-advance to make sure that when you get there-they have a table for you–what a novel idea!

To that end, you might like to check-out OpenTable. The Company’s site allows you to book reservations online. The site covers restaurants all over the United States, with a fair dosage of joints in South Florida. In addition to the booking of tables, there are coupons and deals…there are also loads of readers’ comments and other good stuff–that may point you in the right direction and end up with you eating some really good food.

***** Football Sandwich Shop, 8484 Northeast 2nd Avenue, Miami, Florida 33138, (305) 759-3602.

Gonna let you guys in on a little secret…I’ve never met a “sub” that I didn’t love. Now for sure, there are varying degrees of love, some passoniate beyond belief and others where it’s a borderline love-hate relationship. You do know that I’m trying to be clever here, but for some reason it ain’t working…

So, let me tell you about Football Sandwich Shop in Miami…order at the counter/pickup at the counter–indoor and outdoor seating. The joint’s menu has loads of hot/cold subs, sandwiches and salads. The other day I “did” a meatball sub, chicken salad sub, philly cheesesteak sub, chicken parmesan sub and I’m going on- record right here and now, Football’s subs are right-up there with the best I’ve had in South Florida. For those who might be interested-various football terms and Miami Dolphin players’ names find their way into the sandwiches’ nomenclature. For those who might also be wondering “Did Jeff Eats eat all 4 subs?”–There were three of us and I ate the whole meatball sub and sampled the others.

Getting back to that “love” thing I started out with…I absolutely loved Football’s subs.

Football Sandwich Shop is open Monday Friday 8am-6pm, Saturday 9am-5pm, closed on Sunday.

***** Red Fox Diner, 3650 North Federal Highway, Lighthouse Point, Florida 33064, (954) 783-7714.

If you like “mom & pop” neighborhood diners, you will definitely want-to-try the Red Fox Diner in Lighthouse Point. For sure, the joint must be doing something right-as its been around for something like 40 years. You can check menu/prices/loads of photos at www.redforxdiner.com.

Regular readers know, that “diners” like this hold a special place in old Jeff Eats’ heart. For some reason, joints like the Red Fox take me back to a time when America wasn’t so complicated. Maybe I’m getting old, but I kinda think that the America of the 50’s without all of the big box stores, shopping malls, McDonald’s, cable stations and facebooks—was a much nicer place to live…You do recall ABC, CBS, NBC, WOR, WNEW, WPIX (for you New Yorkers out there) and that was about it, don’t you?

The Red Fox Diner does breakfast/lunch. The joint is open Monday-Friday 6am-3pm and Saturday-Sunday 6am-2pm.

Over the years, I must have eaten in the Red Fox Diner something like 10 times. The joint’s menu has loads of breakfast stuff, sandwiches, salads, burgers, meat/chicken/fish entrees. Absolutely nothing fancy going on here…I will tell you, that the Red Fox’s 1/2 lb cheeseburger is one of the best “diner” burgers I’ve had- same goes for the joints’ chicken philly cheesesteak sub.

The Red Fox Diner is located “in-line” in a non-descript Lighthouse Point strip center. Some of you guys may disagree, but I find sitting outside at one of its three outdoor tables–to be far more enjoyable than people watching from some uptown joint’s patio on West 73rd Street and 9th Avenue in Manhattan on a sunny day.

If you are looking for the way breakfast and lunch use to be and should still be, you gotta checkout the Red Fox Diner.

Q
***** Zio’s, 14860 Military Trail, Delray Beach, Florida (561) 865-9333.

I’m on a roll (pun intended)…just had lunch at Zio’s- a “hole in the wall” fast food joint in Delray Beach. Order at/pickup at counter…burgers, subs, panini, gyros, wings, wraps, salads, shakes & malts. The joint has 17 seats inside and 1 table/2 seats outside. No website, Zio’s is open Monday-Saturday 11am-9pm, Sunday noon-8pm.

Never noticed Zio’s until this afternoon despite the fact that its been around for something like 8-years–is right next door to Jack’s Pizza & Italian Restaurant (review- July 8, 2008)–and it’s located in an end cap of a nice sized Delray Beach shopping center that has a Bed Bath & Beyond…but I did!

Anyway, let’s talk food…I “tried” a philly cheesesteak sub with cheese wiz, cheeseburger, fresh off the bone turkey sub, roast beef sub, tuna salad wrap, french fries. Everything and I do mean everything was right on the money. For those of you “spoiled” by joints that make fresh cut french fries, Zio’s are of the frozen variety–but somehow, I managed to finish a large order drenched in ketchup.

Let me sum Zio’s up this way. I’m sorry I didn’t find this joint sooner.

***** Center Street Nook, 223 Center Street, Jupiter, Florida 33458, (561) 745-7477.

If you want to see what a “hole in the wall” diner really looks like–checkout Center Street Nook in Jupiter.

Right up front, I recently did a breakfast and lunch at this maybe 35 seater and loved the joint. You can check menu/prices at www.centerstreenook.com.

To make what could be a long story a short one…delicious raisin bread french toast and belgian waffles—also really enjoyed the bacon cheeseburger and philly cheesesteak sub–they call it a hoagie, but I’m from New Yooork!

You regular readers know, I love the “mom & pop” diners of the world. If you’re like me, you will really enjoy Center Street Nook.

Center Street Nook is open Monday-Saturday 7am-9pm, Sunday 7am-2pm.

No kidding around, it just dawned on me why this joint’s name has the word NOOK in it!

***** China Star Chinese Restaurant, 1430 Coral Ridge Drive, Coral Springs, Florida 33071, (954) 341-0088.

China Star Chinese Restaurant—actually the name should be, China Star Chinese Takeout Only…so don’t plan on spending a leisurely evening eating at the joint, ’cause you can’t.

The other night I “got” wonton soup, bbq ribs, fried dumplings, egg rollds, roast pork fried rice, general tso’s chicken, sweet & sour pork, pepper steak, shrimp in lobster sauce. Applying my-Brooklyn-Jewish circa 1950’s taste test—I’m gonna rate the food very good. If this one was closer to my house, I’d be a regular there. Just so you know, I thought that the egg rolls and general tso’s chicken were extra-good.

For you guys who live or work in China Star’s neighborhood–if you didn’t already know, now you know- about a really good Chinese takeout joint. You can check menu/prices at www.coralspringschinastar.com

China Star is open Monday-Thursday 11am-10pm, Friday-Saturday 11am-11pm, Sunday noon-10pm.