*****  Brooklyn Boys Pizza & Pasta, 9967 Glades Road, Boca Raton Florida 33434–(561) 477-3663

Yesterday had two delicious slices and a Coke at Brooklyn Boys. This joint is as close to a neighborhood Brooklyn  pizza joint circa 1950-1960 that you will find down here in South Florida. You order from a counter and the joint has a few tables where you can sit. I try to get over to Brooklyn Boys at least once a month. It reminds me of the days, when I would stop for 2 slices and a large Coke on my way home from Erasmus Hall High School. Of course, back then a slice cost 15 cents and a large Coke was a dime!

You can check meny/prices/info at- brooklynboysboca.com.

*****Steak N Shake Co.

Steak N Shake is a “steakburger” chain that has been around since 1934. The company’s stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under symbol SNS and goes for about $8.20 a share. This retro 1950’s hamburger/shake joint has inside wait-service/ and drive thru service. There are about 450 restaurants, most located on free standing real estate pads. The food is pretty decent. The service is borderline horrendous. The bulk of the stores are located in the southeast/midwest.

SNS’ common stock is currently trading close to it’s  8 year low. Based on MY due diligence, with the operative word here being, MY, the management of this company is totally incompetent. Of the 450 locations, 50 are franchised and 400 are company owned. Personally, I think that  the aforementioned numbers should be reversed with franchisees owning most of the restaurants. In addition, the real estate which is being carried on SNS’ books at acquisition cost, is not adequately being monetized through sale/leasebacks.

If you do some due diligence here, you will find that a proxy fight is currently underway, in which a young 30 year shareholder activist named Sadar Biglari who owns about 8.5% of the common stock is trying to secure 2 out of 9 Board of Directors seats. This guy Biglari had two recent  great “hits” when his shares in Friendly’s were bought-out by Sun Capital and his Applebee’s shares were bought-out by IHOP.

SNS could prove to be a very interesting stock situation. MY due diligence indicates that “if” the right guys were running this business and “if” the stock market was stronger and “if” the general economy was in better shape, this $8.20 stock could be worth well north of $20 a share. Then again,  “if” my father was my mother…

If you like this sought of stuff, do some reading and studying and maybe SNS will prove to be more than a steakburger joint for you.

*****  Granger’s Bar & Grill, 215 NE 6th Avenue, Delray Beach Florida (561) 276-7881

Granger’s is a 38 seat bar-grill located on Federal Highway. The joint has something like 10 seats at the bar and  a handful of booths and tables…one waitress-one busgirl-3 in the kitchen and that’s the whole shooting match. By the way, the waitress and busgirl are also the bartenders. The bathrooms are out-houses in the parking lot.

Granger’s food is absolutely great. Appetizers, burgers, salads, main dishes everything is delicious. How that little kitchen bangs out so much delicious food is beyond me, but in the 30-40 times that I have eaten at Granger’s everything was right on the money.

I am telling you, that this little joint is a MUST for you. Wear tee shirt/shorts so you don’t look stupid. The joint is open Monday-Saturday for lunch and dinner. The prices are also dirt cheap and if you are there on a Saturday Night you have to try the brick of meatloaf that is one of this joint’s specialities.

From the outside, Granger’s looks like a D U M P. Try it, you will love it.

*****  Renzo’s Cafe & Pizzeria

This joint is located in Boca Raton, Florida. Back on September 19, 2006 I wrote Renzo’s up. That writeup was lost in the debacle when this site crashed. The other evening I had dinner at Renzo’s and it is as good today as it was back in 2006. To save me the time and effort of doing another writeup from scratch, just go to www.renzosofboca.com and you will find my original September 19, 2006 article. Obviously, it was very positive as Renzo’s uses it to advertise the joint.

*****  Big Anthony & Guido’s–1142 North University Drive, Coral Springs, Florida (954) 753-4445

For all of you folks who live in Coral Springs, I got a real good mom & pop RED SAUCE ITALIAN JOINT for you…Big Anthony & Guido’s.

This hole in the wall joint has been around for something like 20 years. You know the drill… soup or salad, garlic rolls, main dish with a side of pasta.

Really informal joint. If you wear anything but a tee shirt/shorts you will look like a fish out of water. Nice sized portions. Terrific pizza. Very good other stuff. You will easily get out of Big Anthony’s for less than $20 a head for a soup to nuts meal including tax and tip. By the way, the waiters and waitresses couldn’t be better, super pleasant.

Open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner.

*****  The Hot Rod Show: A Tribute To Rod Stewart

If you don’t like Rod Stewart, then just skip this writeup.

There is a guy by the name of George Orr who lives in South Florida. He looks just like Rod Stewart and more amazingly sounds/sings just like Rod Stewart. For years, he has been making a very good living performing a Rod Stewart Tribute Show at various South Florida bars/pubs, private parties and  out-of-state joints. In the past 6 months I have caught his act twice at John L. Sullivan’s Pub & Sports Bar in Lighthouse Point, Florida and I have to tell you that the guy is absolutely fantastic. Just so you know, that when he works at John L. Sullivan’s the show is absolutely FREE and there is absolutely no pressure to eat or drink. The two times that I saw him, my party of 4 had salads, burgers, chicken wings and desserts that were all modestly priced and very good. This guy Orr was literally on for hours and the crowd both times out went absolutely nuts for him.

Do yourself a favor and go to his site at www.hotrodlive.com and check this guy out. A full schedule of appearances is listed. To give you some idea of the type of joints that he “works” recent appearances include, The Field Irish Pub & Restaurant (Dania), Paulo’s 3’s Company Restaurant & Pub (Dania Beach), The Emerald Pub (Hollywood) and  The Wishing Well Pub (Boca Raton). Like I said before, John L. Sullivan’s lets you watch the show all night for “free.” As for the policies of the other joints, you got me there.

This guy George Orr is terrific. I am telling you, that he is an absolute must see. I had an absolute blast eating/drinking and watching his show at John L. Sullivan’s.

*****  Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza

Anthony’s is spreading like wildfire.  Its first location in Fort Lauderdale opened about 2 years ago and since then 8 other locations have dotted the South Florida landscape. Last night I ate at its newest location in Boca Raton which opened about a week ago. For right now, there are other spots in Fort Lauderdale, Coral Springs, Delray Beach, Pompano Beach, Weston, Palm Beach Gardens, Aventura and Plantation. 

Anthony’s is owned by the guy who owns Anthony’s Runway 84, which is a very well known “upscale” Italian joint in Fort Lauderdale.

Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza’s menu is simple…basically coal fired pizza, coal fired chicken wings and salad. Soda is sold by the bottle and there are full bars.

Last night’s dinner for 4 ran $55 (tax and tip included) and consisted of a large pizza (with toppings), large chicken platter, large salad and 3 bottles of soda. The pizza was good but not great. I found the sauce a “drop” on the bitter side. The chicken was excellent. The salad was excellent. I have eaten in the Delray Beach, Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale (at least 5 times) and Pompano Beach joints and I will tell you, that they are spotless and the servers  are as professional as they come.

One quick observation, you would think that a joint that features the word “pizza” in its name, would have fabulous pizza-that’s not the case here. Anthony’s pizza is good but like I said 5 seconds ago, not great.

In recent years a number of these coal oven pizza joints have opened. Red Rock and CoalMine in Boca Raton and Vic & Angelo’s in Palm Beach Gardens immediatley come to mind. Apparently, the public likes this type of food and the price point.

Anthony’s is open for lunch and dinner. Guaranteed if there isn’t one currently near you, there soon will be.

       Christine Lee’s–Gulfstream Park, 901 South Federal Highway, Hallandale Beach, Florida 33009…(954) 457-6255

Christine Lee’s is an “upscale” Chinese-Steak Restaurant that is located on the 3rd floor of the Gulfstream “racino” complex. This joint use to be located in North Miami and for years was one of the finest Chinese-Steak restaurants in all of South Florida. Back then, it was the “home” to all kinds of celebrities and was absolutely terrific.

Christine’s latest venture is  a DISASTER. The Chinese food is absolutely horrible. Trust me on this,  your local neighborhood takeout joint makes better stuff for a quarter of the price. The Steaks and Seafood are borderline horrendous and overpriced beyond belief. As for the service, not too good.

How Christine Lee’s went from great to horrible, is anyone’s guess, but what is, is.  

Take it from this Brooklyn born guy, you absolutely want to stay away from this joint, unless you enjoy lousy food and ridiculously high prices.

*****  Brick Oven Pizzeria–5869 West Atlantic Avenue, Delray Beach, Florida…(561) 5300

This weekend I found a terrific RED SAUCE ITALIAN JOINT in Delray Beach. Brick Oven has only been open a few months, but the word of mouth is really spreading and making this joint a very popular lunch and dinner place. It is family operated and the service is as terrific as the food is.

Brick Oven is a moderately priced joint that makes some really delicious pizza, calzones, stromboli, salads, subs and  meat-chicken-seafood main dishes. You know the deal, soup or salad/garlic rolls/main dish/ side of pasta. Main dishes run between $9.99-$13.99 a head.

Like I said before, this joint is open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner.

       Basil Garden–5837 North Federal Highway, Boca Raton, Florida–(561) 994-2554

Over the years, I have eaten in this moderately priced Boca Raton Landmark–Southern Italian Joint  something like 15 times. Never had a bad meal.

Well…sorry to report, that the last 3 outings all within the past 6 months were extremely disappointing. The food was fair at best as was the service.

Now, this all means that you want to S K I P this joint, until I give you the greenlight. I’ll recheck it in coming months.