*****  Mario The Baker, 2220 North University Drive, Sunrise, Florida 33322 (954) 742-3333.

Mario The Baker has been in business since 1973. This “mom and pop” Southern Italian Red Sauce joint is a great place to know about…terrific pizzas, pastas, veal-meat and fish-sea food dishes. You know the drill…soup or salad, garlic rolls, entree, side of pasta.

Let me put it to you this way, you don’t stay in business down here in South Florida for 35 years if you are doing something wrong.

This joint has a tremendous following. Over the years, I must have eaten at Mario The Baker at least 20 times…always busy. Real laid back, so wear your tee shirt/shorts. The garlic rolls alone are worth the price of admission.

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

*****  Pizza Time, 11504 West Sample Road, Coral Springs, Florida 33065 (954) 753-7828.

If you live in Coral Springs you probably know all-about Pizza Time…the joint is or should be a landmark.

Rather than beating around the bush, Pizza Time is one of the best “mom and pop” Southern Italian Red Sauce joints in all of South Florida. There is nothing fancy whatsoever about Pizza Time…terrific pizza, pastas, fish-seafood, chicken and veal-meat entrees. Good prices.

This joint is open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner. While you are waiting to get in, checkout the takeout business that Pizza Time does. Pizza Time’s website is at www.pizzatimeinc.com.

By the way, in Parkland there is a joint called Pizza Time Caffe, 6620 Parkside Drive, Parkland Florida (954) 345-8665. Rather than going into lengthy detail (because I have forgotten the whole story), this joint was in the past somehow connected/related to the original Pizza Time Italian Restaurant, but isn’t anymore. Anyway…I just wanted to let you know, that this Pizza Time Caffe isn’t half-bad. As a matter of fact it was pretty good the 2 times that I tried it. So you now have two joints for pizza etc., in the Coral Springs/Parkland area to choose from…the Pizza Time Caffe website is at www.pizzatimecaffe.com.

     Casa D’Angelo, 1201 North Federal Highway, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33304 (954) 564-1235.

I just don’t get it.

If you do a Google Search of Casa D’Angelo you will find loads of rave professional/customer reviews about this Tuscan/Southern Italian joint. Your search will also indicate that celebrities galore love Casa D’Angelo.

Last week I “paid” my 3rd dinner visit to this joint. Spread over 18 months, I found on  each visit…the food to be just fair. I found the service to be just fair. I found the joint to be overpriced. I found the reception area to have the old  “their sh#t don’t stink attitude.”

This joint ain’t for me.

Since there are literally tons of people who disagree with me on this call, you may want to check this joint out for yourself.  Now I could be wrong, but I think that this is a joint that for some reason or another caught on with the “in crowd” and has been riding the gravy train every since.

Casa D’Angelo’s website is at www.casa-d-angelo.com. The site will give you details on menu/pricing/hours.

Let me know what you think.

*****  Cafe Vico, 1125 North Federal Highway, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33305 (954) 565-9681.

Cafe Vico is one of my favorite Southern Italian Restaurants in South Florida. Over the past 10 years or so, I have eaten in this joint something like 12-13 times. Do yourself a favor and check Cafe Vico’s website at www.cafevicorestaurant.com for menu/pricing/hours/photos. Although not exactly a tee shirt/shorts kind of a joint, I have been known to show up at Cafe Vico in that very costume and never felt out of place.

Cafe Vico is maybe a dollar or two more expensive than your favorite neighborhood Italian joint…the few bucks-more are well spent. The food is absolutely terrific as is the service. If you check the website, you will also find that Cafe Vico is a very attractive looking joint with a decor of a small Southern Italian Country Inn.

Cafe Vico’s menu features all of the standard favorites…mine being veal parmigiana. There are loads of pasta, fish-seafood, chicken and meat-veal dishes to please all tastes.

Cafe Vico is worth making a special trip for. Be smart and make a reservation, because it is an extremely popular restaurant and is always busy.

Cafe Vico is open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner.

Try this one!!

*****  Station House Restaurant, 233 W. Lantana Road, Lake Worth, Florida 33462 (561) 547-9487.

Station House is a very well-known casual seafood restaurant located in Lake Worth. If lobster-shrimp-swordfish etc. are your game, you will really enjoy this joint. Station House also has plenty of pasta and meat dishes, but a recent sampling of a 16 ounce bone in rib eye and veal parmigiana with linguini, tells me that you should absolutely-positively stick with fish/seafood when you  eat at this joint… Last night’s sampling of a broiled lobster, broiled shrimp and swordfish were delicious.

Station House is a very low-keyed joint, so tee shirts/shorts are just fine. Over the years, I have eaten at this joint maybe a half-dozen times. If memory serves me correctly, most people were wearing bibs, holding metal cracker things, eating lobsters. Just so you know, the lobster prices are all over the place…based on size (this joint has more sizes that a shoe store), time of the year, how it is prepared and the TIME that you eat…for example, last night a 2 lb lobster before 5:15pm was $31.95 and between 5:15pm and 6pm was $35.95…to be perfectly honest with, I was so busy checking my watch, that I forget how much that 2 lb. lobster was going for at 6:01pm…Anyway, if you eat at Station House  make sure that you have an accurate watch…. Lobsters come with a nice house salad served family style and vegetable side dish.

Station House is a very popular joint. I would suggest making a reservation. The joint is open 7 days a week for dinner.

Make sure your watch works.

*****  Stevie B’s Rib Cafe, 10299 Royal Palm Bouelvard, Coral Springs, Florida 33065 (954) 510-0384…2116 North Flamingo Road, Pembroke Pines, Florida 33028 (954) 432-3322…141 Weston Road, Weston, Florida 33326 (954) 349-6636.

Last night I ate dinner at Stevie B’s Rib Cafe in Coral Springs. If you check Stevie’s website www.steviebsribcafe.com you will find that there are currently 3 South Florida locations…Pembroke Pines, Weston and Coral Springs. The site will also provide you with menu/hours/and other assorted details.

Let me put this to you as simply as possible…Stevie B’s is one of the best bbq ribs/chicken joints in all of South Florida. The food is absolutely terrific. Tons of appetizers, salads, sandwiches, rib/chicken bbq entrees and side dishes to stuff your face with.

 Over the years, I would bet that I have eaten in/taken out food from Stevie B’s at least 30 times. Just so you know, as a creature of habit I absolutely love Stevie B’s appetizer basket of sweet corn nuggets (lightly fried and dusted in powdered sugar) and its full rack of St. Louis ribs and french fries…absolute HEAVEN.

Stevie B’s ribs are my “style.” I don’t care for smoked bbq…Stevie B’s ribs are more like Chinese-Style ribs with a fantastic sweet sauce. Now, bbq is a personal preference, but I have yet to find anyone who didn’t love the bbq ribs-chicken that this joint has been making for years. I guess you will have to try Stevie B’s to see if we are on the same bbq page.

Like I said before…the food is terrific. Stevie B’s is a real easy going joint. The Coral Springs’ decor is loads of table/chairs and Rock N Roll posters…Tee Shirt/shorts are the dress of the day… Big portions…young energetic competent wait-staff…very reasonable prices.

Stevie B’s is a great joint.

***** Lucille’s American Cafe, 2250 Weston Road, Weston, Florida 33326, (954) 384-9007.

Before I start yapping about Lucille’s American Cafe, do yourself a favor and check its website at www.lucillescafe.com for menu/pricing and other details about this 1940’s style diner.

This joint is terrific. It looks like a real 1940’s in-line diner. It has all of the “blue plate specials” that 1940’s diners had plus a “million” other things. It has great food. Large portions. Terrific wait-staff. Very reasonable prices.  I absolutely love this joint’s meatloaf, chicken pot pie and country fried steak.

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

*****  Doc’s All American Restaurant, 10 N. Swinton Avenue, Delray Beach, Florida 33444, (561) 278-3627.

Doc’s has been around since the 1950s…As a matter of fact, a few years ago, the City of Delray Beach actually gave Doc’s building landmark status, which means that the building can’t be torn-down etc.

Doc’s is a fast food joint. There is no indoor seating, but there is a nice-sized out-door patio with tables/chairs and umbrellas.

Doc’s is a place that you go to for burgers, fries, onion rings, soft-serve ice cream and milkshakes. There is no wait-staff…you order/pickup at the same counter.

I think that if you do some checking, you will find that in the 1950s every small town in America had its version of Doc’s…a neighborhood meeting/hangout place.

Doc’s is a throwback to another era. Just so you know, the burgers, fries etc are not gourmet stuff…this is a fast food joint.

Give this joint a try. It is real easy-going place and is a nice change from today’s modern fast-food burger joints.

Doc’s is open Sunday-Thursday 11am-11pm & Friday-Saturday 11am-1am.

*****  Jason’s Deli, 870 North Congress Avenue, Boynton Beach, Florida 33426, (561) 738-1820.

Last night I ate dinner at Jason’s Deli located in Boynton Beach.

Jason’s is a chain operation that currently has 188 oultets located throughout the United States. Check its website at www.jasonsdeli.com for other South Florida locations and menu/pricing details. By the way, #189 is set to open any day now in Pembroke, Pines.

Imagine a very large (about 4,500 sq.ft.) old fashioned  NYC “kosher style” deli circa 1950…that’s the design. You order at a huge counter and the food is delivered to your table. There is a salad bar (which you can buy alone or with a meal), beverage station and a free ice-cream bar. Jason’s menu is loaded with all kinds of soups, salads and sandwiches. There are all kinds of specials, like a 1/2 sandwich and a cup of soup for $6.99. From what I saw, you absolutely-positively will find something to eat at this joint. The salad bar had enough stuff to warrant it being a stand alone meal.

Jason’s physical layout is extremely attractive…I just love the old 1950’s look (there are a few flat screen tvs to let you know what century it really is). The Boynton Beach location has been around for about 6 months and appears to be extremely well run and is very clean. It also appears to do an enormous takeout and catering business.

 Last night, I had 1/2 pastrami sandwich and 1/2 corned beef sandwich and I have to tell you, that the sandwiches were piled high with meat and were delicious. I also tried the  beef-gumbo and potato soups and both were also very good.

This deli hybrid…self serve/almost wait-staff is a homerun of an idea. Not quite a buffet joint and not quite a sit-down restaurant, I found Jason’s to have a very novel approach to feeding people. If you try Jason’s, you’ll better understand what I am yapping about.

Like I said before, Jason’s has a huge menu. On price-points, Jason’s is in the same ballpark as your neighborhood deli or sandwich shop.

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

*****  Arbetter Hot Dogs, 8747 SW 40th Street, Miami, Florida 33165 (305) 207-0555.

Arbetter is a HOT DOG STAND. Arbetter has been in business for something like 40 years. Arbetter always has lines. Arbetter has limited seating inside and outside. Arbetter’s hot dogs (boiled or grilled) and french fries are terrific…I usually don’t say that about “boiled” dogs (grilled is my preference.) Arbetter is open 7 days a week from 10:30am-8:30pm.

You should try Arbetter Hot Dogs.