***** Dragon Gate
11232 Pines Boulevard
Pembroke Pines, Florida 33026
(954) 438-9982

Let me explain the difference between a DESTINATION CHINESE RESTAURANT and a NEIGHBORHOOD CHINESE RESTAURANT.

A destination Chinese joint is “one” that you actually gas-the-car-up to get to. For example: The food is so terrific at “insert joint’s name,” that Jeff actually drove all the way from Boca Raton to “insert location” to eat dinner there.

A neighborhood Chinese joint is “one” that you go to, because the food is “fair to good” and the joint is 5-10 minutes from your home.

Lesson learned…Dragon Gate is a neighborhood joint. It is better than most of the “mom & pop” joints that you find in South Florida’s strip shopping centers… but it is still just a Pembroke Pines’ neighborhood joint.

I think that most of “you guys” know, that it is very difficult to find top-notch Chinese Food in South Florida. There are tons of joints that serve fair to good stuff, but only a handful that have excellent-terrific food.

Just so we are clear, Dragon Gate’s food is GOOD. If I lived in the Pembroke Pines’ area, it would be one of my favorite neighborhood joints.

Dragon Gate is open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner.

***** Hunan Gardens
4900 Linton Boulevard
Delray Beach, Florida 33445
(561) 498-1898

Let me start by saying…HUNAN GARDENS IS A GOOD NEIGHBORHOOD CHINESE RESTAURANT…The operative word in the last sentence is, NEIGHBORHOOD, capisce?

Over the years I must have eaten in this joint at least 20 times. I can’t remember a time, when Hunan Gardens failed to pass my circa 1957 Brooklyn Jewish American Chinese Taste Test of – wonton soup-egg rolls-spare ribs-pan fried dumplings-roast pork fried rice-sweet and sour chicken-pistachio ice cream!

Gourmet stuff? I don’t think soooo! This is a good NEIGHBORHOOD Chinese joint to know about. For those who live in the Delray Beach area, Hunan Gardens is located in the “middle” of a strip shopping center located at the southeast corner of the Linton Boulevard/Military Trail intersection.

Hunan Gardens is open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner. By the way, this joint is owned/run by super-nice people.

***** Don Ramon Restaurant
502 South Military Trail
West Palm Beach, Florida 33415
(561) 687-0161

If you are looking for a good CUBAN joint, I got a small chain named Don Ramon Restaurant for you. There are currently 3 Don Ramon locations in South Florida. You “got” one joint in West Palm Beach. Another joint located at 1429 Southeast Federal Highway, Stuart Florida 34994 (772) 221-7711 and a third joint at 11924 West Forest Hill Boulevard, Wellington Florida 33414 (561) 795-1932.

Don Ramon is a “casual dining” joint. Tee shirt/shorts will do just fine here. This joint serves very good Cuban stuff and has a menu loaded with all kinds of aperitivos, sopas, ensaladas, sandwiches and pollo-carnos-lechon-mariscos entrees (I took Spanish in High School & College). Big portions, good food, excellent wait-staff and very reasonable prices makes this joint a winner. Just a heads-up, be sure to try Don Ramon’s chicharrones de pollo as either an appetizer or entree, it is absolutely delicious. For those of you who are “languaged challenged,” chicharrones de pollo is fried chicken chunks deep fried and then covered in sauteed onions.

Don Ramon is open for lunch & dinner Monday-Saturday 11:30am-10pm and Sunday noon-9pm,

***** Palm Beach Fish Market & Bistro
3815 South Dixie Highway
West Palm Beach, Florida 33405
(561) 835-0300

If you check, back on February 22, 2007, I told you guys about a joint named Captain Jim Hanson’s Seafood Market and Restaurant located on West Dixie Highway in North Miami, which combines a seafood-fish restaurant and fish market under the same roof.

My uncle Sam Ting would tell you, that Palm Beach Fish Market & Bistro is a “northern” version of Jim Hanson’s, that being a seafood fish restaurant/ fish market combination. Both joints have terrific food. The “obvious” differences are, that Palm Beach’s decor looks like a small French bistro (whatever that is) while Jim Hanson’s looks like the Disney Pirates’ ride and Palm Beach uses cermaic plates and silverware, while Jim Hanson’s favors paper plates and plastic utensils.

You now have two terrific seafood-fish restaurant/markets, one in the SOUTH and one in the NORTH. Palm Beach Fish Market & Bistro is open Monday-Saturday for lunch and dinner and on Sunday for dinner only.

***** Ed & Ollie’s Diner
1313 West Boynton Beach Boulevard
Boynton Beach, Florida 33426
(561) 734-5513

First let me start by saying, that if you wear anything but a tee shirt/shorts to this joint, your nuts. Ed & Ollie’s is a small neighborhood diner which has counter seating plus a few tables inside and outside. Ed & Ollie’s has a black and white checkerboard floor and the obligatory wall photos of Elvis and Marilyn. Just so you know, this joint in a “prior life” was called Pinky’s Fabulous 50s Diner.

Ed & Ollie’s is a NEIGHBORHOOD joint. This is a great place to know about, if you live in the Boynton Beach/Delray Beach area. Like I said, this is a D I N E R, so the “game” here is breakfasts, burgers, sandwiches and salads.

Ed & Ollie’s is open 7 days a week from 7am-3pm for breakfast and lunch and Wenesday-Saturday from 4pm-9m for dinner. This is a very nice NEIGHBORHOOD joint!

***** Zeros & Ones, Inc.

Zeros & Ones, Inc (OTC: BB: ZROS) sells for about 44 cents a share. It doesn’t take a genius to know that this 44 CENTS STOCK is not a blue-chip stock/company.

If you are inclined, do some DUE DILIGENCE on this company which is involved in the internet/media space. A recent change in upper-management, the issuance of a “ton” of new shares, $.37 options to management and the launching of a “beta trial” of one of its products, peaked-my-interest.

Just so you know, I am neither long nor short this stock.

You make-up your own minds. That said, IN MY OPINION, ZROS may have some heavy-duty UP potential.

***** The Bread Box Cafe & Bistro
21334 Saint Andrews Boulevard
Boca Raton, Florida 33433
(561) 338-6300

“Out of site, out of mind.” The Bread Box Cafe & Bistro is located at the “end” of a non-descript Boca Raton strip-shopping center. If you weren’t expressly looking for this joint, I seriously doubt that you would even notice it based on its obscure and piss-poor location. I know all about rents and other expenses, but if The Bread Box Cafe & Bistro was in a better location, this terrific joint would be a goldmine.

The Bread Box Cafe & Bistro is open 7 days a week for breakfast, lunch and dinner. In a nutshell it is basically a “small diner.” This joint has all kinds of stuff on its menu, including pizzas, wings, salads, burgers etc. Over the years, I have eaten in this joint at least 5 times. The food is terrifc and the prices are “diner prices.” This is an absolutely great neighborhood-family run operation.

Like I said before, location, location, location. Move this joint to a better shopping-center…and there would be a line waiting to get in.

***** The Lobby Bar/ Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
1 Seminole Way
Hollywood, Florida 33314
(954) 327-7625

I am now going to tell you about one of the “best deals” going in all of South Florida.

For the sake of argument, I am assuming that everyone knows, that the Seminole Indians own/operate a hotel-casino-entertainment complex which is located in Hollywood, Florida.

Now…in the hotel/casino, there is an area which is called the LOBBY BAR. In addition to a “standard” bar, the Lobby Bar has various chairs and couches where ANYONE can sit and just “relax.” In addition, the Lobby Bar has a small stage/and dance floor which “hosts” some of the most terrific musical-acts that you have-ever seen. The Lobby Bar is open 7 days a week from 11am-2am, with Acts appearing from 6pm-closing.

The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino draws an extremely diversified crowd. If you don’t believe me, just walk “around” the complex on a Saturday Night and you will see every age and ethnic group represented. In addition, you will see “clothing styles” that you didn’t even know existed.

The Lobby Bar with its FREE MUSICAL ACTS draws a sizeable crowd every night. All types of music is played and the Acts change every night. For example, on Sunday Nights, a 1960s-1970s band No Matter What has the “steady gig” and performs the hits of groups such as The Beatles, The Monkees, The Zombies, The Association, The Turtles etc. To say that this group is “good” is an understatement, they are absolutely fabulous. On other nights, you will find Acts that play disco, 1940s-1950s, country western and latin music.

Like I said before, the Lobby Bar is free. You don’t have to order anythig. It costs zilch, nada, zero…On the nights that I have seen the Lobby Bar in action, I noticed many people drinking coffee and eating desserts which they purchased from a near-by, Hard Rock take-out coffee stand. I also noticed others dining on different stuff that had been purchased at the Hard Rock’s food-court.

The point that I am trying to make, is that the Lobby Bar is a great place to spend an hour or so, listening to some pretty decent bands (for nothing). If this kind of a joint interests you, give the Hard Rock a call and find out what the Lobby Bar’s schedule is (with reference to performers).

***** Mrs. Mac’s Fillin’ Station
951 Old Dixie Highway
Vero Beach, Florida 32960
(772) 564-8400

Mrs. Mac’s Fillin’ Station is my kind-of-a-joint.

In a nutshell, Mrs. Mac’s is a diner. Mrs. Mac’s decor is a combination of a 1950’s diner-1950’s gas station. Take a look at this joint’s website at www.mrsmac.com where you will find video/pictures of this restaurant and its menus.

Mrs. Mac’s is a great place for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Just so we understand each other, this joint is a diner. Nothing slick or fancy, just decent food, large portions and “really” good prices. Mrs. Mac’s has something for everything. My personal favorites are the mini-burgers and mini-cheese steaks (that are served in orders of either 3 or 6 at a time).

Mrs. Mac’s is open Monday-Wednesday 7am-3pm (breakfast-lunch),Thursday-Saturday 7am-8pm (breakfast-lunch-dinner) and is closed on Sunday.

Mrs. Mac’s is strictly a tee shirt/shorts kind of a joint. Good food. Fun decor. Really (and I do mean REALLY) good prices. Try this joint, you will absolutely “love” it.

***** Cypress Nook Restaurant
201 East McNab Road
Pompano Beach, Florida 33060
(954) 781-3464

This joint’s name says it all. NOOK: “A hidden or secluded spot.” NOOK: “A small corner, alcove or recess.” Personally, I call joints like Cypress Nook Restaurant “holes in the wall,” but it’s too early in the day, for us to be discussing “semantics.”

Cypress Nook is a great breakfast-joint. If you are in the mood for some eggs, pancakes etc., this is a terrific place to know about. Please keep in mind, that since this joint is a “hole in the wall” (or “nook”), it has extremely limited seating and is usually packed.

Cypress Nook is open Monday-Friday 7am-2pm and Saturday-Sunday 7am-1pm. Like I said before, breakfast is this joint’s specialty, but you can get burgers and other stuff.