***** Vita Italian Restaurant & Pizza, 10014 Griffin Road, Cooper City, Florida 33328 (954) 434-8422.

Vita is a “mom & pop” red-sauce Italian joint. Vita has been around for something like 27 years…let’s call this one, a good-steady neighborhood joint. Take a look at its website www.vita8422.com for menu/prices/photos.

The other night I did a pizza, veal parmigiana, shrimp marinara, chicken marsala…you know the deal, soup or salad–entree with pasta side–garlic knots. The food is pretty good…like I said before, “neighborhood” is the key word here. The prices are very reasonable and the service is as freindly as can be.

So…if you live or work in Vita’s neighborhood, you now know about a good local joint where you can have a nice lunch or dinner or takeout stuff from.

Vita is open Monday-Thursday 11am-10pm, Friday-Saturday 11am-11pm, Sunday 11am-9pm.

***** Brothers of Brooklyn, 1547 Northwest 77th Court, Miami Lakes, Florida 33016 (305) 362-6292.

Brothers of Brooklyn is a “bagel-deli” joint…it is open 7 days a week for breakfast-lunch 7am-3:30pm. I’m not gonna describe its decor, if you are 3+ years old, you know exactly what this type of joint looks like. I am not exactly sure how long Brothers has been around, but I have been eating there since 1991. I’m gonna bet that I’ve had breakfast there something like 30 times.

Just so we are straight…Brothers is a neighborhood-type joint. There is absolutely-positively nothing “gourmet” here…so if you are looking for top-notch pastrami/corned beef/brisket this joint ain’t for you. Brothers is the “borderline seedy” (in the good sense) joint where you go for a “standard” cup of coffee-scambled eggs with bacon and a toasted everything with a schmear. Nothing more, nothing less.

Brothers is my kind of a joint. Plain…Simple…Easy Going.

***** Big Joe’s Burgers and Wings, 2831 North Federal Highway, Boca Raton, Florida 33431 (561) 447-7995.

If you take out your Webster’s and look under “hole in the wall” burger joint…you will find Big Joe’s Burgers and Wings in Boca Raton. The joint seats something like 10, that’s right 10…and is located in a non-descript (aren’t they all) strip center on Federal Highway. Talk about crappy locations…This is what “we” call a destination spot.

Anyway…Big Joe’s is my kind of a joint. At this stage of this game, checkout its website www.bigjoesburgers.com for menu/prices.

Let me make this real simple…this joint is GREAT. The menu has loads of soups, burgers, sandwiches, wings…not to mention daily specials and desserts.

I recently did a taste-test of a bacon cheeseburger, chicken caesar salad, honey garlic chicken wings, blackened mahi mahi sandwich…absolutely delicious. Now…I don’t know how Big Joe’s makes them, but this joint serves mashed potatoes (you do remember Vice President Dan Qualye, don’t you?) that are absolutely incredible…by the way, the mashed potatoes come in “various flavors/combinations) I had the plain-old ones. The joint also has a lineup of home-made desserts…I did the chocolate peanut butter pie, great.

You absolutely-positively want to try this joint. Like I said before, it is a hole-in-the-wall—in a crappy strip center…so set your GPS or call ahead for directions.

Big Joe’s is open Monday-Friday 11am-8pm.

***** Padrino’s Cuban Express, 2900 West Sample Road, Pompano Beach, Florida 33073 (954) 984-4128.

Got something different for you…a fast-food Cuban joint…Padrino’s Cuban Express…located in the Festival Marketplace’s (Flea Market) food-court.

Padrino’s makes some heavy-duty delicious stuff. Although its an “order-at-counter” joint, its menu is loaded with appetizers, wraps, soups, salads, sandwiches and meat-seafood-chicken entrees. Padrino’s also has a breakfast menu.

Like I said before, Padrino’s is in the food-court…you order at the counter and eat in “general population” seating. The joint also has its own 20-or so seat dining room with table and counter seating.

The prices are dirt-cheap…breaded minute steak hoagie sandwich ran $5.49…seafood creole was $5.99 and grilled pork chops $8.49, both came with rice, beans and plantains…These dishes were delicious. From what I can tell, there are three people running this joint…absolutely amazing how they are able to bang-out such amazingly good food from a miniscule kitchen.

So…the next time you find yourself wandering the Festival flea-market in search of bargains, you now have a terrific Cuban fast-food joint to hit.

Padrino’s is open Monday-Friday 8:30am-5pm and Saturday-Sunday 8:30pm-6pm.

Cucina D’Angelo, 5050 Town Center Circle, Boca Raton, Florida 33486 (561) 750-2344.

The other day I saw a newspaper “ad” for Cucina D’Angelo…the deal, 25 bucks got you a 3-course meal…soup/salad or appetizer–entree with pasta–dessert/coffee. Last night, I (and 5 others) tried this semi-upscale” white tablecloth Italian joint.Take a look at Cucina’s website www.cucinadangelo.com for menu/prices/photos.

Cucina D’Angelo is a great-looking joint…inside and patio dining. When we got there around 7:15 pm there were exactly 6 other people in the restaurant. Now, we are talking Sunday night, so the lack of shall-we say patrons, should have been a tip-off of what was coming.

Anyway…

The verdict…caesar salad (fair), meat balls with fried onions (lousy), veal parmigiana (lousy), manicotti (lousy), shrimp fra diavolo (lousy), chicken francese (fair), chicken marsala (fair), service (fair)…this joint should be ashamed of itself.

Cucina D’Angelo should rename itself Ragu City (no insult intended to the makers of Ragu sauce), but the meat- balls, veal parm and manicotti were bathed in a sauce that reminded me of the Ragu stuff I use to eat as a kid. Watery-garbage. The shrimp fra diavolo had maybe 3 baby-shrimp…I think you get the picture!

My dining companions “thought” that just-maybe the $25-special was different food than the “normal menu” because nobody was happy with their meal.

With tax and tip, a meal ran $32.50 a person. I am telling you…without even “knowing” the name of your favorite “mom & pop” Italian joint, that it is better than Cucina D’Angelo. To put it bluntly, the food STUNK. Oh, one other thing, the Italian-bread that was on the table, was borderline stale.

I am not sure how long this joint has been around…I think, that it has been able to “survive” based on the fact that it is located near a number of hotels in Boca Raton…drawing the unsuspecting tourist crowd.

Don’t believe me?…Cucina D’Angelo is open Monday-Friday for lunch and Monday-Sunday for dinner.

***** Brendy’s Yogurt & Ice Cream, 5030 Champion Boulevard, Boca Raton, Florida 33496 (561) 995-2422.

Brendy’s is an “order at the counter” yogurt, ices, ice cream, gelato, carbolite, candy by the pound joint. If you can’t find something to eat, there is definitely something wrong with you. The nicest people own and run this joint…and you can “”taste” all you want. Absolutely-positively nothing fancy about Brendy’s…a neighborhood hangout for every age with inside and curbside seating.

Brendy’s is open 7 days a week…

***** J. Alexander’s, 1400 Glades Road, Boca Raton, Florida 33431 (561) 347-9875.

J. Alexanders is an “American Style” national chain joint…over the years, I have eaten in the Boca Raton location twice and once in the Plantation joint. Check J. Alexander’s website www.jalexanders.com for menu/prices/locations.

Let’s do– “chain pecking order” on food quality…from the bottom-up, we got (joints like most of the) You Name It Sports Bar, Applebee’s…then we got guys like Friday’s–Ruby Tuesday’s–Chili’s, then we got players like Houston’s-The Cheesecake Factory…just roughing this out for you.

I’m gonna put J. Alexanders one notch down the old totem pole from Houston’s and The Cheesecake Factory

J. Alexander’s menu is loaded with appetizers, salads, burgers, sandwiches, meat-seafood-chicken entrees. As for price-point, roughly in the same range as Houston’s or The Cheesecake Factory.

Yesterday’s outing netted me…bacon cheeseburger, crab cakes, roast chicken, babyback ribs (there were 4 of us) and everything was just fine.

To be perfectly honest with you, when I am “thinking” American-Style stuff, I am not usually “thinking” J. Alexanders. Personally, in the chain-category, I prefer The Cheesecake Factory…just off the top of my head, I can name three “mom & pop” American-joints which “get” my business faster than any chain out there…in no particular order, J. Mark’s Restaurant & Bar (12/7/08)–Big Pink Restaurant (7/14/08)–Granger’s Bar & Grill (2/9/08).

J. Alexander’s is open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner.

***** California Pizza Kitchen, 6000 Glades Road, Boca Raton, Florida 33431 (561) 368-2805.

California Pizza Kitchen is a “national” casual-Italian restaurant chain…it has joints all over South Florida.

Check California’s website www.cpk.com for menu/prices/locations.

Let’s make this one real simple…the food at your favorite neighborhood “mom & pop” pizza joint is probably better than the stuff that California Pizza Kitchen makes. That said, California’s food is not half-bad…it has a nice selection of soups, salads, pastas, pizzas, pastas, sandwiches, meat/seafood/chicken entrees…in addition the prices are quite reasonable.

Over the years, I have eaten at “many” locations, the most recent lunch outing…the Boca Raton joint at the Town Center Mall…let’s just say, that yesterday’s torrential-rains made California Pizza Kitchen an “easy pick” as the family was on a shopping trip (spree).

California Pizza is open Monday-Saturday 11am-10pm and Sunday 11:30am-8pm.

***** Rainforest Cafe, 12801 West Sunrise Boulevard, Sunrise, Florida 33323 (954) 851-1015.

Let me start by saying…if you aren’t feeding children ages 2-7, Rainforest Cafe is not for you. This is a national chain of “American-Style” joints which has a handful of locations throughout the United States. My most recent outing had me at the Rainforest in Sawgrass Mills, but over the years I have been at its other 2-South locations which are both at Disney World in Orlando.

Rainforest is a TGI Friday’s with a RAINFOREST MOTIF…Robotic animals…water-thunder-lightening sound-effects. Trust me, you’ll know that you are in Sawgrass or Orlalndo, but those 2-7 year olds will enjoy the action. They will also enjoy (but you won’t) the huge souvenior area which has all kinds of clothing, dolls, and other assorted Rainforest crap.

As for the food…think TGI Friday’s menu…Ruby Tuesday’s menu…Applebee’s menu…similar price-points. This is a TOURIST ATTRACTION. The joint in Sawgrass also has an enormous “ball-crawl” to keep the little tykes busy before and after eating-shopping.

The food is tourist-ok…like I said before think TGI Friday’s and you’ll know what the food is all about.

Take a look at Rainforest’s website www.rainforestcafe.com for menu/prices/locations/details.

Just so you know, the reason for old Jeff Eats recent Rainforest visit…he was entertaining his charming niece and nephew who literally ran him into the ground.

The joint is open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner.

***** Tavolino Della Nonna, 10181 West Sample Road, Coral Springs, Florida 33065 (954) 509-0046.

Last night I ate in Tavolino Della Nonna…a terrific white tablecloth Italian joint located in Coral Springs. Just so you know…A couple of you guys wrote to me and told me that I had to try this joint…so, old Jeff gave Tavolino a shot.

Anyway…Tavolino has been in business for something like 2-years. For you GPS types out there, it is located on Sample Road, within short walking distance of both Pizza Time and DeSalvo’s the well known “red sauce” joints. Tavolino is-not a pizza joint…it’s a semi-upscale restaurant with both indoor and outdoor patio seating…but don’t worry your tee shirt-shorts ensemble will work. At this juncture take a look at Tavolina’s website www.tavolinorestaurant.com for menu/prices/photos.

Like I said before, semi-upscale, but the guys running this joint make you feel like an old friend…when you eat there, you’ll see what I am talking about. The owners–shall we say, are very visible and make sure that everything is running just right. Last night, I watched as they made the rounds to each and every table, kibbitizing (in an Italian restaurant?) and making people “try” this and “that”…

Before I talk food, let me tell you about a cute “idea” that the joint has decor-wise…one little side room, is decorated Ralph & Alice Kramden, 328 Chauncey Street…there is a formica table circa 1955 that seats 6-maybe-8…so if this type of thing floats your boat, call ahead and reserve that “table.”

Onto the food…last night I “tried”– meatball appetizer ($11), tortellini appetizer ($13), veal parmigiana ($23), chicken scarpariello (on bone) ($21), snapper almondine ($23), grilled chicken/pasta ($17)…the food is absolutely delicious.

Just so you know…Tavolino isn’t a $13.95-$16.95 soup or salad-entree-pasta side-garlic rolls joint…there is no pizza, subs, calzones or stromboli. Figure on spending–something like 40-50 bucks a head for a great meal. Trust me on this one, the food runs absolute circles around most of the Italian joints down here. I know that the ala carte menu may “scare” some of you guys…the house salad is big enough to feed two as are the side pasta dishes, so if you order the “right way” you won’t have to get a second-job to pay the tab. Our waitress was super-helpful on “picks” etc…last night, they had a “strolling” magician who worked all the tables…how he changed those $1 bills into $100 bills is beyond me.

Since I am on the Hollywood Cookie Diet, I passed on dessert. I will tell you, that the dessert tray looked absolutely incredible and that everything including the joint’s bread are made in house.

You guys know that I eat in Italian joints all the time…I am telling you, that Tavolino is one of the better restaurants in South Florida. You definitely want to try this one.

Tavolino is open Tuesday-Thursday 11am-10pm, Friday 11am-11pm, Saturday 4pm-11pm and Sunday 4pm-10pm, the joint is closed on Monday.