*****  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.”

       Cheeburger Cheeburger, 5030 Champion Boulevard, Boca Raton, Florida 33496 (561) 241-4472.

Cheeburger Cheeburger is a small retro-1950’s hamburger chain with locations in 19 states. There are currently 12 of these joints in Florida. Take a look at Cheeburger’s website at www.cheeburger.com for menu/prices/locations/detais.

I am very conflicted here…sometimes I love this joint and sometimes I don’t. Over the years, I must have eaten in Cheeburger Cheeburger something like 10 times. I have eaten in the currently listed Boca Raton location twice. The other 8 or so meals were consumed at “locations” in Delray Beach and Boca Raton which are no-more.

Sometimes, I love the burgers, fries and onion rings that this joint serves. Other times, while eating the same burgers, fries and onion rings, I say to myself “Jeff Eats, boy there sure is a ton of stuff here, but it’s just okay, nothing great.” What I think the story here is…is that Cheeburger Cheeburger on the food-front is very inconsistent. Why, I don’t know?…but that’s the call.

Now, I may be way-off-base on this “inconsistent” thing, but in recent years Cheeburger Cheeburger locations in Delray Beach, Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale and Sunrise have all closed.

Take a look at Cheeburger’s website…as far as I am concerned, it’s got the perfect menu…burgers-fries-onion rings-shakes. You may want to give this joint a try…hopefully it will be on a day that it has its act together.

Cheeburger Cheeburger is open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner.

*****  Zuckerello’s, 3017 E. Commercial Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33308 (954) 776-4282.

Zuckerello’s is a Southern Italian Restaurant that has been around since 1989. Take a look at its website at www.zuckerellos.com for menu/prices/hours…also take a close look at the joint’s photos.

The food is very good. The prices are no more expensive than your favorite neighborhood pizza joint. Now about those photos…you have to admit that Zuckerello’s is an absolutely gorgeous looking place, don’t you?

Over the years, I have eaten at Zuckerello’s maybe 5 times. Never had a bad meal. What I like, in addition to the food and prices…is the atmosphere…a great looking joint, a certain hustle-bustle to the wait-staff and crowd…and that I can wear my tee shirt/shorts’ ensemble and feel right at home.

Zuckerello’s is open 7 days a week for dinner. I think that you will really enjoy this upscale looking “mom and pop” joint.

*****  Krystal, 901 West Sunrise Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33311, (954) 524-9994.

Let me make this write-up short and sweet.

There are no White Castles in South Florida. Krystal is as close to being a White Castle as you will find in South Florida. Krystal is a “national” fast-food hamburger chain which has been around since 1932. White Castle has paper-thin- square shaped-burgers called ” SLYDERS” and Krystal has paper-thin- square shaped burgers called “KRYSTALS.” I like “slyders” better than “krystals”…but it’s a close call. Sort of like Coke and Pepsi.

Like I said before, there is one Krystal joint in South Florida– Fort Lauderdale…there is a whole bunch of them in Orlando. Check Krystal’s website www.krystal.com  for menu/locations. The joint in Fort Lauderdale is open 7 days a week from 7am-midnight.

If you don’t know what a White Castle is…GOOGLE.

*****  El Rey de las Fritas, 1821 SW 8th Street, Miami, Florida 33130 (305) 858-4223…421 W. 29th Street, Hialeah, Florida 33012 (305) 863-0880…9343 SW 40th Street, Miami, Florida 33165 (305) 223-9944…13720 SW 88th Street, Miami, Florida 33186 (305) 387-5656.

El Rey de las Fritas is a Cuban diner. There are currently 4 South Florida locations. There is counter-only seating. The joints are open Monday-Saturday 8am-10:30pm.

The literal English translation of El Rey de las Fritas is something like “The King of the Cuban Hamburgers.” Keep in mind that I got a “D” in High School Spanish.

Anyway…El Rey de las Fritas makes a hamburger that has to be one of the most delicious burgers that I have ever eaten. The burger is real thin… grilled… covered in onions and a sauce which tastes like a mixture of ketchup-mayo-paprika… the burger is then covered in a mound of shoe-string french fries and placed on a nice soft-hamburger bun. I am telling you, it is incredible.

In addition to the burgers, this joint has all kinds of amazing stuff, like a  hoagie-style sliced steak sandwich (pan con bistec) which gives the burger a run for its money…there are tamales, Cuban sandwiches, fresh fruit shakes, hot dogs…trust me, you won’t go home hungry.

This is a joint that you have to check-out. By the way, El Rey’s prices are no more expensive than your favorite fast food joint.