*****  Dubliner Irish Pub, 435 Plaza Real, Boca Raton, Florida 33432 (561) 620-2540.

Personally, I wouldn’t give you 5 cents for most of the Irish “pubs” in South Florida…darkly lit-dark wood-beer joints, with mediocre food, at best.

Dubliner Irish Pub located in Boca Raton’s Mizner Park…is the exception to the rule. For sure, it has the dark wood interior–and dark lighting… but its food is terrific. A recent outing had me “sampling” prime rib sliders, hamburger, shepherd’s pie, french fries and macaroni & cheese…all absolutely delicious. Throw in top-notch djs and bands (Thursday-Saturday) covering the 1960’s-2009, reasonable prices/pleasant waitstaff and an out- door dining patio for “people watching” the Mizner Park crowd…and you got a real good joint.

Dubliner’s menu has all of the “Irish” standards…plus loads of appetizers, salads, burgers, sandwiches and meat/chicken/seafood entrees. It’s got a real nice beer selection and hard stuff.

Dubliner Irish Pub is open 7 days a week 4pm-2am.

*****  Tucci’s Fire N Coal Pizza, 50 Northeast 1st Avenue, Boca Raton, Florida 33432 (561) 620-2930.

Regular, Jeff Eats’ readers know that…I love a good pizza. I don’t care if it’s brick-oven, wood oven, coal oven, this oven or that oven…just as long as it tastes good. You also do know that I speak fluent Italian…”Give me two slices and a large Coke.”…don’t you?  Over the past 3-years or so, South Florida has been “hit” with a ton of new pizza joints which play the “coal oven-chicken wings” card…guys like Anthony’s, Coal Mine, Carolina’s, Mona Lisa, just to name a few…and by in large, they are all pretty decent… of course, some are better than others…that’s why Jeff Eats is here.

Anyway…last night, I gave Tucci’s Fire N Coal Pizza in Boca Raton a shot. The joint which has been open for something like 3 months… has indoor seating for about 50 and maybe 10 outside. The menu has 4 appetizers, chicken wings, escarole & beans, eggplant rollatini and sauteed broccoli rabe & sausage…2 salads, Italian and caesar…loads of coal/wood cooked pizzas…2 desserts, cheesecake and cannoli…beer and soda by the bottle.

Let’s make this review easy. I had an Italian salad, margherita/ricotta/sausage pizza, chicken wings. The food was delicious. The salad was cold, fresh, crisp… The chicken wings were seasoned with garlic and carmalize onion, The pizza was thin crusted, crisp, perfectly well-done, right on the money sweet sauce…As for service, pleasant as can be…Price-wise, small wings (10) $9.95, salad which could have feed 3 ($10.95), pizzas–depending on what you order (that’s obvious) start at- small ($13.95)-large ($17.95).

Tucci’s Fire N Coal Pizza is a really good coal-oven pizza/chicken joint.  I enjoyed its food and casual “hole in the wall” atmosphere. By the way, you can check Tucci’s menu/prices at www.tuccispizza.com.

Tucci’s is open for lunch & dinner Tuesday-Sunday…the joint is closed on Monday.

*****  The Field Irish Pub & Eatery, 3281 Griffin Road, Dania Beach, Florida 33312 (954) 964-5979.

With a name like The Field Irish Pub & Eatery…you know exactly what this joint is all-about. If for some reason you have been living on Mars for the past 50 years, check www.thefieldfl.com for menu/and so many photos that your head will spin.

The Field has a menu loaded with appetitzers, salads, sandwiches, burgers, meat/seafood and chicken entrees…and a bar with loads of beers and hard stuff. I tried the joint’s corned beef & cabbage, fish & chips, chicken pot pie and hamburger… between me and you, the food is just okay.

So Jeff Eats, if the food is just okay, why do we want to spend an evening at this Irish pub?…THE MUSIC: Tuesdays “2 of Us” Lennon McCartney tribute act…Wednesdays “The Hot Rod Show” starring Rod Stewart impersonator, George Orr…Thursdays-Fridays-Saturdays “Celtic Bridge” a 5-member band playing “real” Irish music.

So, we want to eat, drink and party at The Field,  Tuesday-Saturday nights. You are on your own, Monday and Sunday nights.

The Field Irish Pub & Eatery is open 7 days a week for lunch & dinner.

*****  Jimmy’z Kitchen 1542 Alton Road, Miami Beach, Florida 33139 (305) 534-8216.

Not exactly sure what to call Jimmy’z Kitchen…so, we’ll label it as a “yuppie hole-in the wall diner”…take a look at this joint’s website at www.jimmyzkitchen.com for menu/prices/ photos.

Jimmy’z has salads, sandwiches and meat/chicken/seafood entrees…A recent “outing” had me trying a tuna salad sandwich (mayo), chicken salad sandwich (mayo), blackened mahi-mahi, philly steak sandwich and sliders… 

Jimmy’z story is real  simple… Very-good food. Reasonable prices. Pleasant service. Take it from me, that philly steak sandwich ($9.75) and those 3 mini-burgers/cottage fries ($12.99) are absolutely sensational.

Jimmy’z is open 7 days a week 11am-10pm.

*****  Seagull’s Diner, 891 Donald Ross Road, Juno Beach, Florida 33408  (561) 775-1542.

Seagull’s Diner is my kind of a joint…neighborhood diner, where you get great breakfasts-lunches…real and I do mean real casual. Unfortunately for me, I don’t live close-enough to Seagull’s Diner, to make this joint a daily or for that matter  even a monthly sojourn …for those of you who do (live close), I am telling you, that this joint could easily become a “staple” in your life.

Just so you know…I tried this joint, after seeing its listing with  South Florida Dines www.southfloridadines.com …checkout the site and under “S” you will find a video-menu-text about Seagull’s Diner.

Seagull’s Diner is a “mom & pop” joint…like I said before, terrific breakfast & lunch menu…As expected, Seagull’s is located in a non-descript South Florida strip-center…if you weren’t expressly looking for this joint, it would not be the easiest place to find. Seagull’s menu is packed and I do mean packed with breakfast stuff, appetizers,  salads, sandwiches, burgers…I did a chicken salad on rye toast, tuna salad on white toast, cheeseburger and fries–outing…just right.

Not to beat a dead-horse…but, if you look in Webster’s under “neighborhood  small town-mom & pop diner” you’d probably find this joint’s picture.

Seagull’s is open 7 days a week from 7am-3pm. One final thought, South Florida Dines has some of that “discount money” for this joint…so you can save a few bucks, if you want to give Seagull’s a shot.

*****  Allora Pizzeria Ristorante, 420 US Highway One, North Palm Beach, Florida 33408 (561) 296-9295

Let’s call Allora Pizzeria a good local “mom & pop red-sauce” Italian joint. Not worth schleping 38-miles (one way) to eat there, but the food is probably as good if not a drop better than most of the red-sauce joints that dot the South Florida strip center landscape. Take a look at Allora’s website www.allorapizza.com for menu/prices/photos.

A recent taste-test had me sampling pizza, cheese calzone, baked ziti, chicken cacciatore, linguini with white clams sauce and veal marsla…like I said before, good joint…assuming that you live or work in the neighborhood. Allora’s menu is loaded with appetizers, soups, salads, pizzas, pastas and meat/seafood/chicken entrees. You know the basic-dinner-drill…entree comes with soup or salad/pasta side/garlic knots. Reasonable prices/pleasant service.

You now know about a good Italian joint for eat-in/take-out…Allora is open Monday-Saturday 11am-10pm and Sunday 4pm-10pm.

*****  Flakowitz Of East Boca, 1999 North Federal Highway, Boca Raton, Florida 33432 (561) 368-0666.

First…there is another Flakowitz joint in Boynton Beach, which I have yet to try.

Flakowitz is a “bagel-deli” joint that does breakfast-lunch-dinner. For the sake of brevity, let’s just say that Flakowitz is better suited for breakfast than it is for lunch & dinner. Good bagels and eggs. As for lunch and dinner, the joint is a bit of a  “stretch.”  For sure it has all kinds of appetizers, soups, salads, sandwiches and meat/chicken/fish entrees…but in 2-lunches and 2-dinners, nothing and  I do mean nothing, “rang my bell.” 7-nights a week, this joint  features $10.95-dinners which include soup or salad-2 side dishes- entree-coffee & dessert. The joint’s luncheon deli-meats are also just passable.

By now you should have the picture…a bagel joint, that doesn’t do lunch or dinner particularly well…unless we are talking price.

So…we go to Flakowitz Of East Boca for breakfast…and we go elsewhere for lunch and dinner…just that simple.

*****  The Boys Farmers Market, 14378 Military Trail, Delray Beach, Florida 33484 (561) 496-8123.

If you can “handle” its  parking-lot…with senior citizens “backing in and backing out” non-stop…The Boys Farmers Market is an absolutely great place to shop for fruits, fresh squeezed juices, vegetables, baked goods, cheeses, wines, candies, prepared  chicken/seafood/meat dishes.

Just guessing here, but The Boys’ probably has something like 30,000 square feet of indoor space jammed with top quality FOOD. All the free samples that you’d like…and everything sold, runs circles around joints like Publix, Winn Dixie and Albertsons, not to mention-probably cheaper.

My family has been shopping at The Boys Farmers Market for years…and I have been amazed by two things…namely, that we have never been involved in a fender-bender in its parking lot & the great stuff that it sells.

The Boys has its own bakery, squeezes its own juices and prepares its own “take out” food. This joint is an absolute-winner. If you live in the Delray Beach area, you probably already know about The Boys…for those of you who don’t, you got to go shopping there…just be careful in the parking lot.

The Boys Farmers Market is open 7 days a week.

*****  New York Comedy Club, 8221 Glades Road, Boca Raton, Florida 33434 (561) 470-6887.

Got a great idea for you guys…New York Comedy Club in Boca Raton.

The joint is located in the back and I do mean “back” of a  Boca Raton strip-center. Thursday-Saturday nights, New York Comedy features…headliners and newcomers. You need a “ticket” to get in…and you have to “buy” 2-menu items….either drink or food. Tickets range in price…but “just a real  good educated guess here”…if you call in advance, you can usually score complimentary passes. On the food…decent enough. Nothing gourmet…appetizers, salads, burgers, sandwiches, desserts. Trust me, you won’t get tomaine poisioning. As for food-drink prices, surprisingly reasonable.

Last Saturday night, I was comped 4-tickets to see comedienne, Judy Tenuta. Had an absolute blast at the 11pm show and the whole bill with tax-tip was $44…4 sodas-2 coffees-2 appetizers (pot stickers & chicken wings). Take a look at the website at www.nyccboca.com for schedule/menu/prices.

I repeat…you need a ticket to get in. I repeat…if you are real pleasant, you probably can get “comp” tickets, unless we are talking a major-major headliner like Robert Klein or David Brenner.

Terrific place. Real casual. Super pleasant owners, managers and waiters/waitresses.  Decent enough food-prices. As for “the show”…it all depends on who you see.

*****  Whitestone Band  *****

I recently caught Whitestone Band …a classic Rock N’ Roll Band which has been playing South Florida since 1995, in action.

If 1950’s-70’s rock/disco is your bag, you will absolutely love this 5-member group which performs dead-on covers of  recording acts such as The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Four Seasons, Jay & The Americans, The Tokens, Dion & The Belmonts, The Hollies, The Bee Gees and The Village People. Checkout the band’s website at www.whitestoneband.com for dates/video/playlist.

What makes this band exciting, is that all 5-members can “really sing”…and no tracks or tapes are used to enhance the performance. When these guys perform, you’d swear that it was Jay Black holding that “note” on Cara Mia…or Frankie Valli crooning  Sherrrry. Of note, one of the frontmen, is Nick Mancuso who also performs as a member of  The Legends Of Doo Wop who have performed on PBS-tv and major concerts in the United States and Europe.

If you check the band’s schedule, you will find that it works South Florida clubs-bars, private parties and public venues…so you should be able to catch them in action.

Like I said before, if 1950s-70’s rock n’ roll/disco is your cup-of-tea…you will love Whitestone Band.

I had an absolute blast watching this band in action.