*****  Fuji Asian, 22191 Powerline Road, Boca Raton, Florida 33433 (561) 392-8778.

Fuji Asian is located in Boca Raton. It is a Japanese Restaurant, but its menu does have a handful of Chinese dishes.

Last Sunday Night (8/3/08)  was my first “time” in this joint and I have to tell you that I was very impressed by the decor/food/service….I did find the menu a bit pricey for a neighborhood-strip center restaurant. Rather than my describing the joint’s decor as a combination of “Raider’s Of The Lost Ark and Aladdin” do me a favor and take a look at Fuji’s website at www.fujiboca.com which has a handful of pictures of the restaurant’s interior…the website also has menu/prices/other details.

It goes without saying, that this Japanese joint has the full gamut of Japanese stuff like sushi, sashimi, miso soup, teriyaki chicken, sake.

Just so you know, I didn’t eat any Japanese food, but “sampled” the Chinese menu…won ton soup,  shrimp fried rice, steamed pot-stickers, roast pork, General Tso’s chicken…the Chinese stuff was as good if not better than my favorite neighborhood Chinese eat-in/take-out.

As for the Japanese part of the menu, the three folks that I was with absolutely raved about the shitake mushroom soup, miso soup, yellowtail snapper, shrimp & vegetable tempura and California roll-tuna roll-salamon roll.

Now…you know and I know, that Jeff Eats has impeccable taste…As for the three folks I was with, these were the same people who just a few months ago told me  “There is no chance whatsoever that Big Brown will lose the Belmont.” Based on the Chinese food alone, I highly recommend Fuji and would bet that the Japanese stuff is also terrific.

Fuji is open Monday-Friday for lunch and dinner…and Saturday-Sunday dinner only.

*****  Panda Express, 970 North Congress Avenue, Boynton Beach, Florida 33426 (561) 375-8637.

Unless you have been living under a rock…you know what a Panda Express is…For you rock-dwellers, Panda is a national chain of fast-food Chinese joints. If you check Panda’s website at www.pandaexpress.com you will find that most of its locations are in Mall-Food-Courts…the website will also provide you with menu/prices/and other assorted details.

Now…I am going to let you in on a little secret. One of Jeff Eats’ favorite “Sunday Afternoon South Florida Outings” is to drive 26 miles from my home to Sawgrass Mills and kill 3 hours while Mrs. Jeff Eats and family shop. Before I snuggle into a Books A- Million armchair to read, I religiously “sample” all of the free food-passings in the food-court before I mosey over to Panda’s outlet and order Orange Chicken, White Rice, Egg Roll and a Large Coke…you get a ton of food for under 7 bucks. For some reason, I find that Chinese food drenched in MSG tastes absolutely great when you eat it in a food-court setting.

Now…for the really great news. Panda Express has recently “evolved” from being just a mall-food-court outlet into being a fast-food joint with in-line- locations in strip centers and free standing buildings.

The other day, I tried an in-line Panda Express which recently opened in Boynton Beach…same menu and prices as the Sawgrass Mills’ joint…same MSG…by the way, there is a Barnes & Nobles right across the street from the Boynton location, so if I had wanted to do some after-eating reading I could have done so.

Panda Express has locations all over South Florida…just off the top of my head, I know that in addition to the Boynton and Sawgrass joints there are outlets in Coral Gables, Davie, Homestead, Miami, Miami Gardens, Pembroke Pines, Sunrise…

Like I said before, I really enjoy Panda’s mall-food-court quality food…some people say that I am a reincarnated truck driver ( no insult intended to the truck drivers of the world).

If you are like me and “go” for this kind of food, I guarantee that there is a Panda Express near your home or office.

In a future writeup I will discuss my fanatical obsession with Auntie Anne’s Pretzels…but for now, that’s a story for another day.

       Oasis-by-the-Sea, 1211 A. North Surf Road, Hollywood, Florida 33019 (954) 922-4800.

This past Saturday Night (8/2/08) I was on the Broadwalk in Hollywood. Around 9:30pm I and 4 others decided to “grab” some pizza in Oasis-by-the-Sea which is just one of the many joints which line the Broadwalk…these joints are usually open 7 days a week from 8am-midnight and serve breakfast-lunch and dinner and have seating inside and outside right on the Broadwalk. You name the food and these  honky-tonk joints usually have it… pizza, chicken wings, subs…All of these joints have all kinds of “specials.”

Anyway…We ordered a $14.00 Large Pizza/Pitcher of Beer or Soda “Special.”

I have to tell you, that the pizza was one of the worst tasting pizzas that I have ever eaten. There is absolutely no question in my mind, that this pizza was a frozen piece of crap being passed-off as being freshly made…and if it wasn’t a pre-made frozen pizza, the pizza-baker should be immediately fired by the owner, assuming that they are not one and the same.

I can’t tell you about the rest of the food that this joint serves…what I can tell you, is that the pizza is disgusting.

Stay away from Oasis by-the-Sea.

*****  Fat Lou’s Sports Entertainment & Grill, 1040 W. Hallandale Beach Boulevard, Hallandale Beach, Florida 33009 (954) 458-3787.

Do me a favor and check Fat Lou’s website at www.fatlous.com. The website has menu/prices/and a ton of pictures that should give you some idea as to what this joint is all about.

Just so you know, Lou’s isn’t  exactly a sports/bar as it only serves beer and wine, in fact it doesn’t even have an actual bar…in addition, you won’t find the obligatory 40,000,000 flat screen tv sets, maybe there are 6 or 7.

Let’s call Lou’s a hoagie-grinder-sub-hot dog-hamburger-gyro joint that serves great food.  The website describes the joint as a “Chicago Eatery” and the owner is apparently a Chicago Cubs and Chicago Bears fanatic…as the decor is dedicated to these two teams. As a matter of fact, today while eating lunch, every tv set was playing the Cubs vs. Pirates game.

The website I gave you has menu/pricing details. Let’s just say, that Lou’s makes great wings, salads, burgers, subs, hot dogs, french fries, onion rings…At today’s lunch, I “sampled” a N.Y. Jumbo Hot Dog, a ribeye steak hoagie, a chicken parm hoagie, buffalo style wings, french fries, onion rings, and a hamburger…No, I didn’t eat alone.

There is wait-staff service…but you get your own “unlimited” soda- beverages from two dispensing machines…Lou’s has something that I have never seen in any other restaurant…the machines have both Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola products side by side…This afternoon, I must have had 3 glasses of Coke, and 2 glasses of Pepsi.

Casual? I think if you check Webster’s for the definition of CASUAL, you will find a picture of this joint.

Anyway…check Fat Lou’s website to fully “appreciate” as to what is going on in this joint.

Fat Lou’s is open 7 days a week…Monday-Saturday 11am-midnight…Sunday 11am-8am.

*****  Mr. Zhang’s Fine Chinese Cuisine, 4650 Donald Ross Road, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida 33428 (561) 624-2946.

The other day I gave you guys a writeup on a Chinese joint… Uncle Joe’s Chinese Restaurant. Take a look at the review…I think that it is one of the better Chinese restaurants down here in South Florida.

Now for the hook…The guy who owns Uncle Joe’s also owns Mr. Zhang’s which is  basically an upscale-white tablecloth version of Uncle Joe’s. Both joints have terrific food…Mr. Zhang’s menu is a bit more extensive and something like 20% more per dish.

So…if you want to “dine” in a regular old Chinese joint…Uncle Joe’s. If you want to “dine” in an upscale- white tablecloth joint…Mr. Zhang’s.

Either way, I am telling you, that you won’t go wrong.

Mr. Zhang’s is open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner. Check its website and www.mrzhangchinese.com  for menu/prices/details.

*****  Uncle Joe’s Chinese Restaurant, 4367 Northlake Boulevard, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida 33410 (561) 799-9883.

 If you live in the Palm Beach Gardens’ area, I got a real good Chinese joint for you…Uncle Joe’s Chinese Restaurant. No frills decor…No frills prices. Very good Chinese food…The joint passed my… wonton soup/egg roll/spare ribs/pan fried dumplings/roast pork fried rice/sweet and sour chicken/moo shu pork/shrimp in black bean sauce/pineapple chunks test with flying colors.

You can check menu/prices at unclejoeschinesefood.com

By the way, I drove a total of 69.4 miles (from my home to Uncle Joe’s) round-trip to eat at this joint. Call me a wild and crazy guy, but the food was worth the ride.

Uncle Joe’s is open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner.

*****  Bagel Tree, 9080 Kimberly Boulevard, Boca Raton, Florida 33434 (561) 487-8984.

South Florida has more “Bagel This and more Bagel That”…than there are Chins in a Chinese phonebook. Say hello to Bagel Tree…

Bagel Tree is in the back of a fairly decent size shopping center which is located right across Lyons Road from Century Village. If you weren’t expressly looking for this joint, I seriously doubt that you would find it. I am not sure how long it has been around, so I am going to guess 100 years.

Bagel Tree is your “typical” South Florida bagel joint…you know exactly what I am talking about, so I am not going to waste my time telling you that it is open 7-days a week for breakfast-lunch from 7am-3pm…that its bagels and bialys are very good…that it is always busy on Saturday-Sunday with eat-in and takeout customers…that it has decent appetizing…  that it is very reasonably priced…that it’s a very good place to know about, if you are looking for a bagel-egg-coffee type breakfast or a NY-Kosher-Style-Deli-Sandwich for lunch…

*****  Bru’s Room Sports Grill, 5466 W. Sample Road, Margate, Florida 33073 (954) 968-3663.

Bru’s Room Sports Grill is a South Florida sports/bar chain…there are currently 7 locations. Bru’s is owned by former linebacker Bob Brudznski (thus the name Bru’s, if you were  wondering) who played for the Miami Dolphin’s from 1981-1989.

Everyone and their mother knows that sports/bars literally dot the South Florida landscape…we got Duffy’s…we got Ale Houses…we got more sports/bars than you can shake a stick at. Bru’s is a sports/bar…food, booze, tvs galore, small game rooms, djs and live music.

Over the years, I must have eaten in the Margate joint at least 15 times. My most recent Bru’s outing was just last week at the Deerfield location. Am I going to tell you that Bru’s food is fantastic?…of course not, after-all this is a sports/bar. I will tell you that Bru’s menu which is loaded with appetizers, burgers, sandwiches, salads and tons of entrees is very reasonably priced and the food is decent. By the way, Bru’s prides itself on its chicken-wings and they happen to be very-very good. You can checkout Bru’s website at www.brusroom.com for menu/prices/locations/details.

Joints like Bru’s serve a very valuable purpose…decent food at very reasonable prices… relaxed and casual atmosphere. By the way, I have never been in a Bru’s (dinner time and late at night) when the joint hasn’t been packed. Bob Brudznski ain’t no Dan Marino so “fame” alone isn’t the reason that he currently has 7 of these joints and more on the drawing-board.

Bru’s is open 7 days a week from 11am-2am.

*****  Tomasso’s Pizza & Subs, 1229 W. Palmetto Park Road, Boca Raton, Florida 33486 (561) 392-8985.

Let me make this writeup as short as possible.

Tomasso’s is a pizza-subs takeout joint. It has been around since 1981. As you can see from its menu at www.tomassos-pizza.com it has all the stuff that you would expect from a neighborhood takeout…pizza, pastas, subs (you may know them as hoagies, grinders, po’ boys, oyster loaves, Italians), calzones, strombolis, veal-seafood-chicken-meat entrees, etc.

Tomasso’s food is very good. It is probably as good as your local favorite takeout, if not better…Because Tomasso’s is not “in my neighborhood” I haven’t gotten as much food from this joint as I would have liked. There is one other thing that separates Tomasso’s from the other area takeouts, namely its owners. Over the years, Tomasso’s has bent over backwards to help the local area public schools, teams and charities…this joint is always sponsering some type of fund raising event… the latest being its August 2nd “Pizzas For Pencils” which is raising money for after school supplies.

Very good food. Very community minded owners. Why wouldn’t “you” give them your business?

If you live in Tomasso’s area, this is an Italian takeout that deserves your business.

      Heart Attack Grill, 6185 W. Chandler Boulevard, Chandler, Arizona 85226.

Take a look at Heart Attack’s website at www.heartattackgrill.com.  As Laugh-In comic Artie Johnson use to say, “Very interesting”…haven’t had a chance to personally check this joint out yet. Sure looks like a joint “after my own heart.”