***** Ruby’s Pizza
620 Glades Road
Boca Raton, Florida 33431
(561) 368-4050

I guarantee you, that unless you “MapQuest” or call Ruby’s for directions, you will never-ever find this pizza joint on your own. Ruby’s is “hidden” in a shopping center on Glades Road in Boca Raton and is literally “invisible” from the road.

Ruby’s has seating for maybe 10 people. A few booths, that’s it.

Ruby’s makes a great slice of New York Style Pizza. The rest of its “stuff” (pasta, meat and fish) is okay, but nothing to write home about.

The next time that you are “around” FAU or Boca Community Hospital (now you know the “basic” area where this joint is located), think about stopping in this joint for a couple of slices and a Coke. Just a “heads-up,” at lunch-time, noon-1:30pm (Monday-Friday) this joint is absolutely packed with college kids, docs, nurses and other medical “types” eating in or taking stuff out.

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

Tempura House
9858 Clint Moore Road
Boca Raton, Florida 33496
(561) 883-6088

Tempura House serves both Japanese and Chinese food.

Now, let me tell you a little story.

Every year, Spanish River High School which is located in Boca Raton, holds an auction to raise funds for various school activities. Members of the PTO (Parents-Teachers-Organization) literally spend months “going” to various merchants in the “area” requesting merchandise and services as donations for the AUCTION. I recently learned “first hand,” about one student’s mother who (last year) “went” to Tempura House (which by the way, is frequented by many families who have children at Spanish River High School) seeking a “gift certificate” and was told by the “same man” on 3 different occasions that, “She should come back when the owner was in.” Let’s make this story “short. Suffice it to say, the mother never got a gift certificate and the “same man” was in fact Tempura’s owner.

Now I ask you: Do you really want to eat in this joint? I know that I don’t.

End of story.

***** Friendly’s
14701 Military Trail
Delray Beach, Florida 33484
(561) 498-8873

If you check “Stocks”, back on August 2, 2006 I did a “writeup” on Friendly’s Ice Cream Corp. Rather than going into the “gorey details,” suffice it to say, that the writeup indicated that Friendly’s Ice Cream Corp, (a publiclly owned company), was a mismanaged restaurant chain that despite itself, could be a “stock play” based on its real-estate and “turn-around” possibilities.

Now let’s “talk” about the brand new Friendly’s location that opened a few weeks ago in Delray Beach.

This new Friendly’s is owned and operated by a guy named Noah Lewinger. From what I understand, this is Lewinger’s first Friendly’s franchise location and that he has plans to open an additional 13 stores in Palm Beach/Broward counites.

Now, I maybe really going out on a limb here, but based on 5 visits (2 in the evening and 3 in the afternoon), Mr. Lewinger may actually KNOW HOW TO REALLY RUN THIS TYPE OF A JOINT.

Friendly’s is open 7 days a week, Sunday-Thursday 7am-11pm and Friday-Saturday 7am-midnight.

Lewinger’s Friendly’s, is a big, beautifully designed store. It is clean, well staffed and well run. To date, I have had “Friendly’s Big Beef Burger,” “Chicken Cobb Salad,” “Chicken Parmesan SuperMelt,” Chicken Wrap” and Steak Fajita Quesadillas. In addition I “consumed” 3 “Friend-Zs” (they are similar to Dairy Queen’s Blizzards) which are soft-serve ice cream/whipped together with your choice(s) of topping. Just in case “we” go on the Dating Game TV Show, “you” should know that my favorite combination is chocolate soft serve and Heath Bar.

If you live in the Delray Beach area, give THIS Friendly’s a try. It has a “basic” diner menu at diner prices…and I “must” tell you, the food was terrific.

***** Peter Pan Diner
1216 East Oakland Park Boulevard
Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33334
(954) 565-7177

Let me start by saying, “that I am not trying to cure cancer” with this Peter Pan Diner “writeup.” This is a 365 days/24 hours a day joint. It has been around since 1978 (I seriously doubt that the decor has been updated one iota since then) and serves “basic” diner food at diner prices. If you are looking for gourmet stuff, don’t even think of walking into Peter Pan Diner. This is a very good place to know about, “like” last night at 11pm when I was driving home from AAA after watching the Miami Heat lose to the Detroit Pistons by 2 points. A cheeseburger, fries and a Coke “helped.”

End of story.

***** Dairy Belle Ice Cream
118 North Federal Highway
Dania, Florida 33004
(954) 920-3330

Dairy Belle is a “one of a kind” joint. Let me explain.

Dairy Belle looks like an “ordinary” free-standing Carvel Ice Cream Store (circa 1960). Hopefully you know what I am talking about. If you don’t, just picture a small building in a parking lot. The building has a glass window (maybe two) where you order and pickup ice-cream from a “guy” who has “soft serve” machines behind him. . Real simple. Now you know what Dairy Belle looks like. One other thing, there is no seating inside, but there are a few “picnic-style benches” outside.

Dairy Belle serves “stuff” like you find at Carvel and Dairy Queen. Good soft-serve stuff etc., but nothing that would warrant anyone “writing home” about it.

Now for the kicker. Dairy Belle is owned/operated by a couple, Gilles and Ritane Grenier, who were born and raised in Quebec. By the way, their daughter, Isabelle also works at the joint.

The Greniers in addition to selling soft-serve ice cream have a few “items” on the menu, that you absolutely-positively-”probably” can’t find anywhere else in a fast-food South Florida joint. If you have been “following” this story (this is where it starts to get interesting), Dairy Belle serves POUTINE and GUEDILLE which are dishes “indegenious” to Quebec. Poutine (I know it sounds like a dirty word) are french fries (crispy/lightly salted ) which are covered in a melted mozzarella-like cheese and brown gravy. As we say in Brooklyn, FUGGETABOUTIT. This poutine “thing” is absolutely delicious. Dairy Belle also has an “Italian version” of poutine, which has the same delicious crispy/lightly salted french fries covered in a melted mozzarella-like cheese “topped” with shredded chicken and peas in a tomato sauce. FUGGETABOUTIT! The other “dish” that Dairy Belle serves is guedille, which is a chopped salad consisting of mayo, lettuce, tomato and onion piled high into a toasted hot-dog bun. This “plain” guedille can be “topped” off with shredded chicken or egg. FUGGEABOUTIT, this guedille “concoction” is another winner.

Dairy Belle is open 7 days a week, Sunday-Thursday 11am-10pm and Friday-Saturday 11am-11pm. This joint is a “one of a kind.” You definitely “got to” try this one. By the way, this joint is located about one-block north on Federal Highway from Jaxson’s Ice Cream Parlor ( see writeup), so if you really want to be a pig, you can load-up on poutine and quedille at Dairy Belle and then eat waffles and ice-cream at Jaxson’s. By the way, just topping off this Quebec “stuff” with some simple soft-serve ice cream wouldn’t be “such a terrible thing either.”

***** Tower Deli & Diner
2315 South University Drive
Davie, Florida 33324
(954) 452-8202

Tower Deli & Diner is open 7 days a week, 365 days a year, 6:30am-3pm.

The next time that you are in Davie keep this joint in mind. Diner Menu. Diner Food. Diner Service. Diner Prices.

Tower Deli & Diner is a great place for a big-breakfast or when you crave a “nice” greasy (in the positive sense) cheeseburger with french fries loaded with ketchup. This joint has some awesome home-made baked goods and literally has “something” for everyone. Tower Deli & Diner is one of the best diners in South Florida.

If this joint was by-my-house, I would be spending a whole lot of time eating there. This is “one” that you want to keep on the radar screen.

***** Big Bear Brewing Company
1800 University Drive
Coral Springs, Florida 33071
(954) 341-5545

You do know what “a variation on a theme is” don’t you? Well if you don’t, Big Bear Brewing Company is a perfect example, of a T. G. I. Fridays or a Chili’s Grill & Bar with a “slight tweak.”

I’ll bet you, that if I blind-folded you and had you “taste food” from joints like Chili’s, Fridays, Ruby Tuesdays, Flanigan’s, or (You Name It) Ale House, you couldn’t in a million years tell me which burger, pasta, fajita etc., came from which restaurant.

In my (humble) opinion, all of these “casual dining” kind-of-joints are basically the same. Other than for “different decors,” they are all cut from the same cloth.

Big Bear Brewing Company “fits” the above described mold. You know the drill: Tons of appetizers, salads, soups, burgers, “personal” pizzas and entrees to chose from. Decent food. Fair prices. Cogenial service.

The next time you are “looking” for that easy-going lunch or dinner, keep Big Bear in mind. This joint is not worth a special trip, but like I said before, “is a nice variation on a theme” (if you are in the Coral Springs area). Oh, by the way, the “tweak” is that this joint brews a “few” of its own beers. Big steel tanks are “part” of the decor.

Big Bear Brewing Company is opened 7 days a week for lunch and dinner.

***** Five Guys Famous Burgers and Fries
871 Village Boulevard
West Palm Beach, Florida 33409
(561) 640-9555

Let me put this to you as simply as I can…if you like HAMBURGERS & FRENCH FRIES…you absolutely have to try Five Guys Famous Burgers and Fries.

Five Guys is a fast-food chain. The last time I checked, it had 118 units (located predominantly in the northeast USA). Five Guys is planning a “major push” into South Florida, so don’t be shocked to see “one” opening in your neighborhood real soon.

Five Guys makes one of the best fast-food hamburgers that you will ever taste. The same goes for its fries. The same also goes for its hot-dogs. Just so you know, this joint’s menu has burgers, hot-dogs, fries and a grilled cheese sandwich on it “and that’s it.”

I am telling you, that you don’t want to miss this one. For “right now” the only Five Guys in “our” South Florida area is in West Palm Beach. This joint is open 7 days a week, 11am-10pm.

    Bubba Gump is a small “casual dining” chain, which just happens to have a location in the Bayside Marketplace, in Miami (which is located directly across the street from the American Airlines Arena which is the “home” of the Miami Heat). Last night, before the Heat’s SEASON OPENER, (for convenience sake) I had dinner at Bubba Gump.

This is a tourist trap. The food stinks. The service stinks. The food is overpriced.

Stay away.

***** Vivo Participacoes S.A.

Vivo Participacoes is not “some” Brazilian Steak joint in Miami.

If you do some DUE DILIGENCE you will find that VIVO is one of the largest cellular phone companies in Brazil. Its stock is traded on the NYSE under symbol VIV and is currently sitting around $3.53 a share. Your DUE DILIGENCE should also reveal, that VIVO was “created” a year or so ago, by the merger of a number of companies into one entity.

My, and I repeat the word “MY” due diligence, leads me to believe that VIV is ” c h e a p” at $3.53 a share. Just maybe, it takes a little time to get things running “right” after a major merger-consolidation.

Do your own homework.