*****  Mario the Baker, 13695 West Dixie Highway, North Miami, Florida 33161 (305) 891-7641.

Let’s get started…this writeup is about Mario the Baker a Southern Italian Red Sauce joint located in North Miami…which first opened its doors in 1969.

If you go to Mario’s website www.mariothebakerpizza.com you will find menu details…you will also “learn” that in addition to the North Miami location there are something like 11 other Mario the Baker joints in South Florida. The site will also give you “the history” of Mario the Baker with details of “who started what…and who sold what to whom and when.”

Now…let’s make this real simple. The Mario the Baker in North Miami is an absolutely great place for pizzas, pastas, subs, meat/chicken entrees. Nothing fancy…big portions…reasonable prices…very pleasant wait-staff.

To date, I  haven’t tried any of the other Mario the Baker locations…so for right now it is “up in the air” as to whether or not they are as good, better, or worse than the original. A few of them are on my “list to do”…so I’ll update you guys as needed.

If you live  in North Miami, the odds say that you already knew about Mario the Baker long before reading this writeup. Anyway…Mario the Baker is open Sunday-Thursday 11am-10pm and Friday-Saturday 11am-11pm.

*****  The Shindigs  *****

This past Friday Night (November 28, 2008) I attended a private party at the Woodfield Country Club in Boca Raton. The evening’s entertainment featured a 4-piece South Florida based 1950’s-60’s-70’s tribute band…The Shindigs.

I have to tell you, that The Shindigs had a crowd of 250 up and dancing all night. The band did absolutely amazing covers of the hits of such groups/acts as (now get ready for this partial list in no particular order)…The Beatles, The Dave Clark Five, The Zombies, The Monkees, The Grass Roots, The Bee Gees, K.C & The Sunshine Band, The Commodores, The Rascals, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, The Byrds, The Temptations, Barry White, Chubby Checker, James Brown, Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, Dion & The Belmonts, Roy Orbison, The Beach Boys, Chicago, Gerry & The Pacemakers and Bill Haley & His Comets.

Take a look at The Shindigs’ website www.theshindigs.us. If you check the members’ bios…you will find that these guys aren’t “kids” playing rock’n’ roll, but rather… are  seasoned-professional musicians with extensive music industry backgrounds. If you check “Events” you will find that in the upcoming months, The Shindigs have South Florida “free” gigs scheduled at such venues as the Hollywood Band Stand (12/3/08) and the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino (12/26/08)…

I am telling you, that if you like great classic rock ‘n roll/disco music from the 50’s-60’s-70’s, you will absolutely love The Shindigs. By the way, The Shindigs also perform a Beatles’ tribute show–costumes and all…under the name The Beatles Remembered. If you check You Tube, you will find a number of videos starring The Beatles Remembered and the performances are amazingly accurate…

The Shindigs are a band/act that you should make it your business to see. By the way, unlike many bands…The Shindigs’ music is 100% live, no tracks or tapes are used to enhance the band’s performance.

Don’t miss these guys!!

*****  Mike’s at Venetia Restaurant & Irish Pub, 555 NE 15th Street, Miami, Florida 33132 (305) 374-5731.

This is a “strange one.”

Normally, these Irish Pub joints only see me…if they have some type of “entertainment” going on. For example, over the past 18 months or so, I have seen this guy George Orr’s “Hot Rod Live Show” 4 times at four different South Florida- Irish Pubs. For sure, these joints all have the requisite flat screens tvs, but the food served… usually doesn’t garner any awards. In addition, I don’t look good in green.

Well, the other day…I found an Irish Pub named Mike’s at Venetia Restaurant & Irish Pub located in Miami. Let me send you to this joint’s website at  www.mikesvenetia.com for menu/prices/photos/details… so you have some idea of what I am talking about.

First of all, Mike’s is located on the 9th floor of a condo building (Venetia by the Venetian Causeway)…so if you are scared of riding in an elevator plan on walking-up 9 stories. This joint has indoor seating-outdoor seating-full bar-tons of flat screen tvs (20 to be exact)-a couple of pool tables-no Rod Stewart impersonator shows…and now get this, good food. Mikes’ menu is loaded with appetizers, salads, burgers, wings, sandwiches, pastas, meat/seafood/chicken entrees. I recently had a 1/2 lb. cheeseburger which was absolutely delicious…I also “sampled” steamed mussels, a tuna salad sandwich, a steak/grilled onions sub and a chicken marsala entree which were all right on the money. By the way, Mike’s prices are neighborhood sports’ bar prices.

Now…just so we are straight, we are not talking gourmet stuff here. We are talking…good sports’ bar food. So, if you live in Mike’s neighborhood, aren’t scared of elevators, or don’t get winded easily…you now know about a real good sports-bar. By the way, wearing green is optional.

Mike’s is open 7 days a week 11am-3am.

*****  Maryland Fried Chicken, NE 36th Street, Pompano Beach, Florida 33064 (954) 943-1800.

Under no circumstances are you to tell your cardiologist about this joint. This “hole in the wall” take-out (with a few indoor seats) joint makes some of the most delicious fried chicken that you will ever taste. My favorite combination…fried chicken, onion rings and french fries.

As my grandma Anna use to say…”You only go around once.”

Maryland Fried Chicken is open Monday-Saturday 11am-9pm.

*****  Kon Chau Chinese Restaurant, 8376 SW 40th Street, Miami, Florida 33155 (305) 553-7799.

Kon Chau is right up my alley…  I’m going to guess that this “hole in the wall” amazingly cheap Chinese dim sum joint has been around at least 30 years. I am also willing to bet, that the furniture-decorations today are exactly as they were when the joint first opened. Now about the food…this joint makes some absolutely delicious dim sum and must have at least 60 items…Kon Chau also has loads of top notch Cantonese dishes, so everyone is covered and no one is going to go home hungry…an hour later, that may-be a different story!

Anyway…if delicious Chinese food is your game, this is a real good joint to know about.

Kon Chau is open Monday-Saturday 11am-9:30pm and Sunday 10am-9:30pm.

*****  Whip ‘n Dip Ice Cream Shoppe, 1407 Sunset Drive, Miami, Florida 33143 (305) 665-2565.

There is an old saying…”That one picture is worth a 1,000 words.”…or something like that. Anyway…take a look at the pictures at Whip ‘n Dip’s website www.whipndipicecream.com and I dare you to give me one good reason why you wouldn’t want to get home made ice cream-yogurt- cookies- brownies-baked goods from this joint which has been around for 23 years. If this joint was closer to home, I would weigh something like 536 pounds and be on the Jerry Springer Show.

Whip ‘n Dip is open Monday-Thursday 11am-10:30pm, Friday-Saturday 11am-11:30pm and Sunday noon-10:30pm.

One final note…if you do some Googling, you will find that Japan is currently the home to the “banana diet.” Supposedly, if you eat a banana everyday for breakfast and drink a glass a warm water, you will be as thin as Twiggy (you are showing your age, if you know who I am talking about) in a few short months. Anyway…I am going to eat one of Whip ‘Dip’s chocolate covered bananas everyday for 3 months and see if this diet is for real.

*****  Pieducks, 1451 South Miami Avenue, Miami, Florida 33130 (305) 808-7888.

Pieducks is a “brick oven pizza” joint. Actually, it is a “take-out-brick oven pizza” joint, because, maybe it’s got 10 seats for in-house eating. Super-modern looking, with an absolutely awesome looking brick-oven as the focal point. Trust me on this, this joint doesn’t look anything like your favorite neighborhood pizzeria or any pizza joint that you grew-up on…when you see this joint, you’ll know what I am talking about.

Now we all know that “cool” surroundings don’t guarantee that the food is any good…well, I have to tell you, that Pieducks pizza is absolutelty terrific. If I counted right, the joint makes 16 different pizzas and the plain-old “cheese pizza” that I had was the right combination of thin-crispy-sweet…just the way I like it. In addition a “sampling” of a caesar-salad topped with slices of brick-oven roasted chicken was also right on the money…by the way, the joint has 6 different salads.

Like I said before, the game here is really take-out…checkout Pieducks’ menu/prices at www.pieducks.com. As for pricing, not exactly Papa John’s where you get deals like 7 pizzas with 32 toppings for $6.31…Pieducks is no more expensive than your favorite pizza take-out joint.

For you lucky folks that live near Pieducks…the joint is open 7 days a week 11am-11pm and delivers.

*****  Out Of The Blue Cafe, 2426 NE 2nd Avenue, Miami, Florida 33137 (305) 573-3800.

If you know anything about Jeff Eats…you know that I am basically a “truck-driver” at heart. I love diners. I love big greasy hamburgers covered in grilled onions…I love french-fries, onion rings, pizza, philly cheese-steak sandwiches…My game is good food-big portions-reasonable prices… not fancy over-priced joints that are full of themselves.

The other day (November 19, 2008) I told you about a joint named Ice Box Cafe…I called it a “Yuppie” joint. Just so you know, I also consider Panera Bread a “Yuppie” joint. I just don’t get these kinds of joints…The way I see it, they serve mediocre stuff at best and try to pass-off  the “food-ambiance” as being something special. Don’t get me wrong, many people buy into this concept, but like I said before, I just don’t get it…Starbucks is also a “Yuppie” joint…that said, in this wickedly bad economy, many are finding that McDonald’s $1 coffee is as good, if not better than the stuff served at Starbucks.

Anyway…every so often I come across what is basically a Yuppie-joint that is the exception to the rule…say hello to Out Of The Blue Cafe located in Miami. This joint, which does breakfast-lunch-dinner is absolutely terrific. Great omelettes, breakfast sandwiches, waffles, sandwiches, soups, salads and desserts…and guess what?…all at very reasonable prices. For sure, it has that “Yuppie” coffee-house ambiance with the requisite wi-fi, but the great food/reasonable prices made me forget about the “ambiance.” Take a look at the joint’s website at www.outofthebluecafe.net  for menu/prices/and photos which will give you some idea as to what restaurant is all about.

Out Of The Blue Cafe has “Yuppie” joint type hours… Monday-Thursday 8am-10pm, Friday-Saturday 8am-12am, Saturday 9am-midnight, Sunday 10am-5pm.

*****  Lil’ Ole Caboose, 204 South Powerline Road, Deerfield Beach, Florida (954) 428-1597.

Let me start by saying, that my wife won’t set foot in this joint…that said, I absolutely love this fast-food burger joint which has been around something like 25 years. You can either eat inside or on a few outdoor tables. Shaped like a caboose, this joint is as close to White Castle Burgers as you will find anywhere in South Florida. Lil’ also has great french fries similar to the ones that Nathan’s sells.

If White Castle Burgers and Nathan’s Famous French Fries set your heart a flutter, then this joint is absolutely positively for you.

Lil’ Ole Caboose is open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner.

*****  Shenanigans Eastside Pub, 1300 South Federal Highway, Dania, Florida 33004 (954) 923-3008.

About 5 minutes ago I told you about a real good sports bar named Shenanigans Sports Pub located in Hollywood. Well, the folks that own that joint also own another sports bar named Shenanigans Eastside Pub located in Dania.

The Dania joint like its “sister location” also has tons of flat screen tvs and full bar…the only difference is the MENU. Shenanigans Eastside Pub serves a handful of appetizers, but its game is “wings and pizza.” No burgers…no chicken francaise…no $9.95 “cheapo” steaks…WINGS & PIZZA…this joint makes terrific buffalo and grilled wings…the pizza is also real-good.

You now know the names of two real-good sports bars in the Hollywood-Dania area. By the way, Shenanigans Eastside Pub is open 7 days a week 11am-2am.