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I REALLY KNOW THE BEST PLACES FOR GOOD FOOD AT DECENT PRICES
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Sorry for the long delay between blogs. I relocated and just didn't have the time to write. But now I'm back and couldn't be happier to tell you about Woodys located at 13105 Biscayne Blvd., North Miami, (305) 891-1451. You can easily spot the restaurant on the north side of the street from their beautifully hung yellow umbrellas covering the outdoor dining area. This time all the so called food critics got it right! This is simply the best "Philly" Cheese Steak I ever had including..... in Philadelphia! My introduction to the Philly Cheese Steak actually occurred at a place called Bellyfillers on Rt. 1 in Philadelphia around 1972. They were noted for the size of the sandwich more so than the taste. Here at Woodys they do it perfectly. It starts with 1/4lb. of steak sliced just right with sweet sauteed onions. You have your choice of cheese (Provolone, American, or Swiss). You can add peppers, mushrooms, bacon, and if necessary lettuce and tomato.... but why add lettuce & tomato to a good Philly steak sandwich? Ya might as well call it an Idaho steak sandwich! For me it is simply steak, onions and Provolone. The best part about Woodys steak sandwich is the toasted hogie roll they put it on. It is crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside without being too bready. The best hogie roll I ever had!
Their combo specials are a great value adding your choice of crispy thin fries, or curley fries, cole slaw or potato salad and a drink with a free refill! All this for $6.49 + tax. They have at every table two different sauces along with the usual ketchup and mustard. One sauce is similar to A-1 only better and the other is absolutely outrageous....sort of a vinager based thin brown sauce with a touch of sweet and sour flavor. Man....I put it all over my sandwich and then mix the two sauces + ketchup together for my fries. At this point I'm in heaven! There are many other items on the menu and I'm sure they are all as delicious as their steak sandwiches....I just haven't had a chance to try them....cause I'm stuck on the Philly Cheese Steak!
Carlos London the new owner of Woodys will be well advised not to change a thing! If it ain't broke....well you know the rest. Another thing that impressed me about the restaurant is the cleanliness of the whole place. Even the bathroom, located on the side of the building, is clean. This shows that the people who work there take pride in their restaurant. That just about says it all. |
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Posted by BLUE COLLAR FOOD CRITIC at
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I'm sorry it took so long to discover Thai House II, 2250 N.E. 163 St. North Miami Beach (305) 940-6075. By the size of the crowd eating there everyone else knew about this place before me. Not an empty table in sight. The decor is very authentic and beautiful. The tables are a work of art. Under the table glass is a beautiful three dimensional wood carving. The noise level is low the tables spaced just right.
My waitress informed me that there are about 30 people working in the restaurant. This is why service is smooth and unabtrusive. Never a wait just to be noticed. There is a shushi bar in the front where you may sit and enjoy the preparation. I have no personal comments about the shushi cause I don't eat it! Customers tell me it is very good. So, what about the other food items? Well, the menu is extensive and I haven't begun to work my way through it. But, what I have ordered was very good indeed, nice portions, and definitely leftovers. This is not a cheap take out Chinese restaurant. But, when you factor in the delicious and freshly prepared dishes, the mound of rice that is brought to the table separately, and the leftovers....well...I give this place two thumbs up! By the way, before they package your food to take home, have the waiter add more rice to the sauce. Ummm....the next day you'll be glad you did. |
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Posted by BLUE COLLAR FOOD CRITIC at
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WOW, it's been 29 years since I first discovered Houston's on Oakland Park Blvd. and US1 in Ft Lauderdale. Many surveys consider Houston's the best restaurant chain in America. When I first tasted their baby back pork ribs I couldn't agree more. If my memory serves me well, the baby back rib entrée came with two side dishes as well as their famous Houston's salad (in Boca Raton there was a $2.00 additional charge for the salad). The price was only $16.00. Their salad was and still is great with the usual ingredients as well as real crumbled bacon, shredded cheddar cheese, and chopped hard boiled eggs. Their signature honey mustard dressing was the best! They were one of the first restaurants to offer a "loaded baked potato" (don't count the calories) containing butter, sour cream, chives, bacon and shredded cheddar cheese. Of course, you could order a plain potato with all the goodies on the side.
Over the years Houston's has proved itself to be a winner. Just go into any of them after 6:00 pm and be prepared to wait. They must be doing something right because the people just keep coming. But, there is something subtle happening in and to the restaurants...something newcomers probably are not aware of......subtle changes......all coming down from the Hillstone Restaurant Group corporate offices. Are these changes for the better? Only time will tell...but for now the throngs keep coming.
So you may ask what are these changes? I'll tell you about a few. First of all....Houston's wants to be more upscale (read into this and it means higher prices). They have decided to do away with certain mixed drinks. For instance, you no longer can order a perennial favorite, the apple martini. Their explanation for the bar changes rests with their desire to offer what they wish, not necessarily what you want. Their drink prices are too high as far as I'm concerned with martinis around $12.00 and wine in the $9.00-$11.00 range. Their menu prices went up, one side dish was eliminated, and the included Houston's salad became and additional charge. A couple of years ago they offered their famous salad only as an entrée choice and, you were unable to get it with your dinner even for an additional charge. They began to offer instead, "a nice little salad" (read into this boring!) Well, I am happy to tell you that after a couple of years, the powers that be, changed their minds and are once again offering the Houston's salad for an additional charge. But, still only one side dish with each entrée. The price for those famous Houston's ribs are now $26.00. I also noticed that they are having more difficulty preparing the food to your order. Often, I find myself sending a dish back because it is not hot enough or properly cooked. If you ask for the pork chop entrée they will ask you how you would like it cooked? Are you kidding me? Who in their right mind wants a pork chop cooked midium rare? I have to warn you....it is nearly two inches thick. I want my pork cooked to 180 degrees! If you do order the pork chop....ask them to butterfly it. You will get two nice sized and properly cooked chops. The rest of the menu offers very good food that seems to please all who dine there.
Many years ago...Houston's had an amazing wait staff that worked in the most unusual way. No table had a specific assigned waiter. Someone would arrive and take your order and just like the fanciest of restaurants, when the food arrived brought by a different waiter, they knew precisely who ordered which dish. They never had to ask...uh...who gets the seared tuna salad? It didn't matter how many were dining at a table. The same held true for bar drinks. Then...somewhere down the road through the years they changed to a typical restaurant serving style. Too bad...the old way was one of the things that made Houston's unique.
I still call Houston's my favorite restaurant....but there are others just waiting to displace them as my favorite....can anyone say....Smoky Bones? More about them in a future blog. |
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Posted by BLUE COLLAR FOOD CRITIC at
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Well my dear blue collar friends it is 12:50am yet I can't go to sleep without telling you about PRIME 112 located at 112 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach, ("SoBe") FL. (305) 532-8112. Talk about trendy...just looking at all the exotic cars parked in front and being valeted is better than going to a car show. The place is packed with celebrities, sport stars, real estate agents, more real estate agents, and just plain filthy rich folks. All the guys wear jeans and most of the women too! But let me tell you....what a meat market this place is....and I not just talking about the beef on the plates! Mama mia this crowd is the best looking in South Florida!
An average bill for one can run around $125.00 per person. So, how can an average guy who's not a millionaire eat at this fine steak house? I'm glad you asked! For starters, forget about alcoholic drinks...too expensive. Pass on the incredible $49.00 prime rib steak, fillet mignon, porterhouse and $2.00 sauces. Forget about the $11.00 side dishes, although the sautéed spinach is wonderful. Well, what's left to eat? OK, their salads, around $12.00, are humongous and easy for two to share. Do you like lobster bisque? I hope so. Theirs is one of the best for $18.00. It comes in a large bowl loaded with a generous 3oz. of tender lobster meat. If you eat at the bar make sure the bartender serves you a basket of their wonderful bread. There's warm raisin nut pumpernickel, a soft cheesy biscuit variety, and another type to round out the trio. Also at the bar, Prime 112 puts out glasses full of crisp thick bacon strips. I've never seen another restaruant do that. Now that's class or as your cardiologist would say....dangerous! Here they serve the biggest most colossal shrimp I have ever seen, served perfectly chilled in a tall glass loaded with cocktail sauce. They are out of this world but are pricey at 8 bucks a piece. Actually, they are worth it!
So how does this all add up and what are you actually eating? Well, for the price of the $49 steak alone you can order a large bowl of their delicious lobster bisque and have two giant shrimp. After having some bread, I guarantee you will not be hungry. If two people are dining, share one of their giant salads, two lobster bisques and splurge on a few shrimp. Total bill around $75.00 before tip and tax. Not too bad for eating in one of the most expensive fine steak houses around. You'll feel like one of the privileged celebrities, magnates, and Miami Heat stars who can boast they eat at Prime 112! |
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Posted by BLUE COLLAR FOOD CRITIC at
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This is my first review as THE BLUE COLLAR FOOD CRITIC! I hope you find it informative and saves you the aggravation of being disappointed by the misleading reviews of so many restaurants. So to begin I will tell you about my experience today 11/3/06 at Le Tub, 1100 N. Ocean Dr., Hollywood, FL. This place was voted by AOL users as the #2 place for burgers. First, I must warn you that the place has the most dangerous parking lot to get into or out of. There is only room for one vehicle to go in or exit at a time. So let's say you were heading north on Ocean Dr. and were making a left into the narrow opening of their driveway. The entire lot is obscured by thick foliage so you can't see if anyone is leaving. So, you make a left to enter and suddenly a vehicle is leaving. Guess what..... you're stuck in the middle of the southbound lanes of Ocean Dr. while the exiting vehicle blocks your way in! Traffic heading south on Ocean Dr. is barreling down on you and you begin to panic (ever feel like a deer caught in the headlights?). A disaster waiting to happen!
OK...luckily you make it safely into the parking lot (very small) and go inside. The decor can best be described as Robinson Caruso meets the African Queen! All right... enough of that...what about the burgers? Here we go....I arrived at 1:58pm and sat at an outside table. Nice water view. I looked over the menu (dirty and stained piece of copy paper) and was surprised to find the burger costing $10.00! But, what the heck....#2 burger in South Florida....must be worth it....so I thought. I asked the waitress if it came with fries. Guess what? No fries! If you want fries it costs like $3.50 for a small order (about 15 fries) to over 5 bucks for a large order. I must admit that they were the thick steak fries variety and nicely browned. I didn't order them but saw other people ordering them. Now, back to the burger. If I wanted cheese it was 50 cents extra, reasonable. So I ordered a swiss burger cooked medium and an ice tea. I chatted with some people and began my wait, and wait, and wait till nearly 35 minutes passed. I asked my server what happened to my burger and how much longer it would be? She informed me that it is normal to wait 35-40 minutes for your burger regardless of how busy the restaurant is. OK, I was really hungry and 5 minutes later the #2 voted burger arrived. It was a large thick hand formed patty char grilled. It was served on a soft bun that was too small for the size of the burger. I cut the burger in half and found the outer part of the patty thoroughly overcooked and the inside raw. Nice! It was accompanied with a single warm mushy slice of tomato, one leaf of lettuce and an inch thick slice of raw onion! Yecch! I sent the burger back for further cooking and requested a better slice of tomato and more lettuce. Mind you, all this for only $10.50! The burger was returned to my table quickly and still not properly cooked. I bit into it anyway. The meat was dry and hard on the outside and better towards the center but still undercooked. It had a nice grilled flavor. I was disappointed with the experience and couldn't wait to leave. I asked for the check and saw that the charge was $11.00 for my burger. The waitress informed me that swiss cheese costs 50 cents more than American cheese although nowhere on the menu does it state that. My ice tea was overpriced at $3.00 for a 16oz. plastic cup bringing the total to $14.00 before tip. With tip the bill came to $16.25 and no fries!
I don't want to leave you hanging....so here is my recommendation for absolutely the best, tastiest, juiciest, char grilled burger in town and it comes with great fries, fresh tomato, and fresh lettuce. I recommend you ask for romaine instead of iceberg lettuce with your burger. Just perfect!.....and less than $10.00 By the way....in case you're watching your calories you can substitute their delicious fresh sautéed string beans instead of the fries. TONY ROMA'S, 18050 Collins Ave., Sunny Isles Beach, FL (305) 932-7907.
Let me know what you think. |
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Posted by BLUE COLLAR FOOD CRITIC at
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I am fed up with the people who write reviews as to who has the best burger, the best pizza, best breakfast, etc. I am sick of being disappointed from Zagat recommendations, AOL "winner surveys" newspaper critics and the like. I have decided to do something about all the hype and bullshit I have encountered when going out to eat at these so called survey winners. Overpriced mediocre food, lousy service, long waits for tables, seems to be the norm around here. Why should you be misinformed? Why go out and spend your hard earned money only to be fooled by the so called critics who claim to know who has the best food. I want to set the record straight, as I continue my quest to seek out the places that truly serve the best food and at decent prices. So, I will be starting a web site very shortly where you may find my evaluations, recommendations, and observations.
I am no food gourmet. You will not find reviews for great raw oysters, steamers, mussels, clams, sea urchins, and various other raw food items. I don't eat them and can't stand them. I don't eat tripe, brains, blood sausage, goat eyeblalls, and parts of an amimal I can't identify. What I do know is great burgers, pizza, steak, barbacue, good fish dishes, and what constitutes good service, and what is an overall good value in dining. This is what I hope to pass along to anyone who happens to read my blog and visit my web site (once it is up and running).
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Posted by BLUE COLLAR FOOD CRITIC at
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