Bogart's Bar & Grill

Bogart's Bar & Grill is housed on the second floor of the Cinemark Palace 20 Theater here in Boca Raton. It is a great place to go for dinner just before or after a movie. We often pair this with the Premier movie experience at the theater. Tonight the Premier was booked so we went downstairs to see Secretariat. Great movie by the way!



We called early for reservations and they had none at the time we needed so we were quite pleasantly surprised to find we had only a 10 minute wait for a table. Ryan was our server and he was excellent. He was very attentive to our needs.



Carol had the Barbecue Chicken Pizza. She thought it was great. It had cheddar-Monterey jack
cheese, roasted peppers, fresh tomatoes, red onion and house made barbecue sauce.



I had the Organic Lemon Roasted Chicken which came with wild rice pilaf, broccoli and lemon thyme jus. So often when you get roasted chicken it comes quite bland. This had a ton of flavor. The rice pilaf was nutty and quite good as well.

We have frequented this restaurant in the past and we always find the food exceptional and the service great. Since it is a restaurant in a theater, they are always mindful of when your movie starts and get you out in time for the show.

We got there early thinking we would have quite a wait to get a table. Since we got in rapidly, we had enough extra time to have dessert so we shared the Turtle Ice Cream Sandwich which is layers of chocolate cake, vanilla ice cream, Heath Bar pieces topped with hot fudge and caramel sauce. The portion was enormous so we had more than enough to share. It was quite wonderful!

We think this is an exceptional restaurant that may be missed by many because of its venue. It is a wonderful treat to go with your movie. Do not miss it.

http://www.bogartsofboca.com/

Cheesecake Factory

One of our most favorite places to go for dinner out is the Cheescake Factory. We are fortunate in that there is one right down the street from us.

Last night's meal was exceptional. We started with the Cream of Chicken, Mushroom and Artichoke soup which was excellent. Be sure and try it if you are there when it is the soup of the day. Carol ordered the, Asian Carmel Chicken which was a special and not on the online menu. They have served it before when we were there so she knew she loved it. Lisa had her old standby, the Factory Burrito Grande. It used to be served with the rice and beans on the plate beside the burrito but recently the chef has been putting the rice inside the burrito. When she asked about it, our server Michelle said they could put the rice on the side. It was much better that way. It comes with chicken, onions, and many other things inside and a fresh tomato salsa, sour cream and guacamole on top. It was wonderful as usual.

We noticed last night that they were paying much more attention to service. They have always been good but last night, they went overboard. DeeDee, another server pitched in and brought us drinks when she saw we were below half way. A gentleman also came and asked if everything was ok. Several apologized for the slow service. It was not that slow but it was nice that they were concerned about it. We also noticed there was a staff member in the restroom helping out with anything that was needed.

We are almost always too full when we finish with our meal to even think about eating cheesecake and last night was no exception. However when we do order dessert, I LOVE the Warm Apple Crisp. I know, its Cheesecake Factory, but none of the cheesecakes hold a candle to the apple crisp. Try it sometime, you'll understand.

All in all, over the top service along with wonderful food made for a great evening out.

http://www.thecheesecakefactory.com/

Brewzzi's Italian-American Bistro and Microbrewery

This wonderful Boca Raton restaurant never disappoints us! Their food and service are always head and shoulders above most similar establishments. And we always let them know how great they are!

As their name says, they brew their own beer and ale. Since neither of us drink beer (well, Carol has a sip or two occasionally), we'll leave those to others more qualified. We'll stick to Brewzzi's food!

They have imaginative appetizers like Gorgonzola Chips, which are their house-made "cottage chips" (thick-cut potato chips) hidden from sight by a huge helping of "gorg" and heated in their oven. They are very good! They also have Jumbo Lump Crab Dip served with a pretzel roll for dipping. It's a relatively new item and we haven't had it yet...but we will next time!

Brewzzi's burgers are some of the best we've ever had in a restaurant, and they're one of the few places that'll still cook it rare for you...Carol LOVES that!

We like to sit at the long food bar right in front of the kitchen and wood-fired oven so we can watch it all come together!

Tonight Lisa had the Mushroom Swiss burger, done medium-well as she likes it. Choices of sides are numerous and Lisa chose the Red Bliss Smashed Potatoes.

Carol had the Marinated Skirt Steak, the smashed potatoes, and sauteed spinach with enough garlic to fill a room (umm!!).

Our server, Randy, was attentive and had a great sense of humor!

www.brewzzi.com

Maggiano's Little Italy Restaurant

We'll cut to the chase immediately...we LOVE Maggiano's Little Italy! Now for the reasons why:

We love the decor and the Frank Sinatra music...it reminds us of restaurants in New York's Little Italy. We think the service is excellent; attentive but not intrusive. And the food is wonderful!

We visited Maggiano's last Sunday with Carol's mother. We began with a couple of appetizers...the tomato caprese salad and stuffed mushrooms. Though tasty, the caprese salad could have used a bit more drizzle of balsamic vinegar. The stuffed mushrooms were medium sized, filled with spinach (there was a bit of green in there) breadcrumbs, and what the menu described as "garlic white wine sauce".

Moving on to dinner, Maggiano's has the GREATEST deal! Their "Classic Pastas" are two for one! Order one for dinner at the restaurant and get a second one to take home! Choose from Spaghetti Marinara, Spaghetti with Meat Sauce, Spaghetti with a Meatball, Eggplant Parmagiana, Four Cheese Ravioli, Gnocchi with Tomato Vodka Sauce, Coach Joey Z's Angel Hair Pasta with Sausage, Mom's Lasagna, or Taylor Street Baked Ziti.

Carol chose the Taylor Street Baked Ziti and it was delicious! Chunks of crumbled Italian sausage mixed into melted cheesy ziti and a wonderful tomato sauce made for a satisfying meal. She was only able to eat half of it! As her take-home meal she decided on the Eggplant "Parm", which was her lunch two days later. Wow! That was great, too!

Lisa had the Chicken & Truffle Tortellacci. We knew what "tortellini" were but had never heard of "tortellacci"...they turned out to be huge tortellini-like pillows "stuffed with chicken baked in a garlic and white wine cream sauce with smoked ham, Asiago cheese, and fresh spinach". Notice that no where are truffles mentioned in the menu's description. Although this was a dreamy, rich dish, there were no truffles, and Lisa didn't find any recognizable pieces of chicken.

No dessert since we were very full!

www.maggianos.com