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/

Champs Americana

Friday night we had dinner with some friends from the Florida Library Association who were down to conduct several sessions discussing the new FSU program for in person classes for their Masters Degree Program. We met them at Champps Americana in North Fort Lauderdale.

Sam, our server was very good. He kept our drinks filled without us having to ask and was quite attentive to our needs.

Carol had the Bleu Cheeseburger with melted bleu and cheddar cheeses, topped with two
strips of apple wood-smoked bacon. She of course asked for medium rare and it was cooked very nicely. She loved the stake fries which were quite crispy on the outside and nice and fluffy inside.

Lisa had the Shroom Burger, a juicy burger loaded with sauteed mushrooms and
Swiss cheese. She had onion rings on the side. The meal was great. The batter an the onion rings was thicker and crispier than most and was very nice. She of course had her burger cooked medium well. There was no pink inside but she was ok with that.

All in all it was a very nice meal.
http://www.champps.com/

Emeril's Tchoup Chop

One of our all time favorites, Emeril's Tchoup Chop in Orlando at Universal's Citywalk never dissappoints. This time we had quite an adventure along with our meal.

We rode with a friend from the hotel we were staying at, virtually across the street. She has a Toyota Prius, which holds 3 people much better than my little Miata. We left the car with the valet and went in to sit with drinks until we were shown to our table.The staff at this restaurant are consistantly some of the best we have ever seen. One time we went with a group of 20. We sat at one table and when the wait staff brought our meal, there were 20 of them and they served every meal in unison! This visit was no exception. Garrett, the bar tender was working on 7 orders at one time while he fixed our drinks. He worked fast and efficiently and had all 7 orders done in no time at all. Asia, our server was quite exellent as well. We got seated at our table, met Asia and opened our menu when the valet came in saying he couldn't get the car started. Ruth went out with him and had no more luck than he did. So she called AAA. They warned that they were facing some delays but that they would send out a truck.

In the mean time, we ordered appetizers and dinner. We had the Crispy Chicken Egg Rolls with Orange-Chile Dipping Sauce. There were 4 halfs and they were quite excellent. The sauce was the perfect accompaniement with a bit of a bite to it. For the meal, Ruth ordered the Organic King Salmon Filet with Purple Potato and Sweet Corn Succotash and Yamasa Ginger Butter Sauce. She said it was quite wonderful. I had the Mongolian Barbeque Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Caramelized Sweet Onion-Orange Confit and Stir Fried Lomein Noodles. It was very good. The the tenderloin had a little less spice than I am used to but it went with the noodles well. Carol ordered the Tender Sake Braised Beef Short Ribs on Caramelized Onion Mashed Potatoes with Hoisin-Honey Infused Veal Jus. She said it was ok but the Short Ribs were not spiced as well as she would have liked. They needed salt and the whole meal lacked flavor. I must say this is the first time we have ever had a meal at this restaurant that we could not say every dish was absolutely exceptional. The kitchen was backed up a bit and it took a little longer than normal to bring our meal out but we were not going anywhere soon so we hardly noticed that. By the time we finished our meal, we still had not heard from AAA so of course we HAD to order desert! Carol and I ordered cappuccinos and were served espressos. They told us the guy who prepared it for us was new and quickly fixed their mistake. Then we ordered 2 deserts to share among the three of us. We had the Kahlua Chocolate Cake which is Peanut Butter Mousse Filled Chocolate Cake Topped with Bananas Foster Sauce, quite excellent, and Blueberry Bread Pudding Served with White Chocolate Crème Anglaise and Buttermilk Ice Cream also very decadent.

We really enjoyed our meal and the opportunity to take our time and relax while eating it.

We left the restaurant to go outside and wait for the AAA guy to come. He showed up after a 2 hour wait but we did not have to wait outside for long. He was going to jump the car but then discovered that they could not even unlock the car. Thus, a locksmith was called upon, another 30 minute wait. The locksmith arrived and set to work opening the door, then Ruth reached into her purse and discovered a second key. Evidently, the key they were working with belonged to her son's car... The second key was hers and started the car right up! We had quite a good laugh at Ruth's expense and all agreed that it was a wonderful evening in spite of the extra adventure.
http://www.emerils.com/restaurant/7/Emerils-Tchoup-Chop/

Margaritaville - Orlando

We're in Orlando for a meeting and decided to be "wastin' away in Margaritaville" for lunch. Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville Cafe is at City Walk at Universal Studios. The only negative thing is that you have to pay a $15 parking fee just as if you were going to the theme park.

Carol is a HUGE Jimmy Buffett fan and listens all day to his Radio Margaritaville channel on Sirius satellite radio. Since they broadcast most days from the Orlando cafe, she really wanted to eat there. Lisa, being the good sport she is, went along!

The interior of the cafe is outfitted with artifacts of the ocean, boats, and Buffett...oh, and there's a giant "live" volcano that erupts whenever they play Jimmy's hit, "Volcano". It's VERY cool (well, no, it's actually very HOT!).

They seated us not far from the Radio Margaritaville broadcast booth. J. D. Spradlin, the afternoon D.J. (hey, that's "J.D." backwards...) was rockin' the joint (and the country) with Jimmy's hits and other singers. Carol had to go over and meet him. She thanked him for the great music and made a request..."Jolly Mon", which we never ended up hearing. Oh, well, we did hear lots of great tunes!

We HAD to have a "frozen concoction" to "help us hang on", so Carol ordered a "Havanas Bananas", a nice mix of Cruzan dark rum, Bailey's Irish Cream, Bols Creme de Banana, and Island Oasis Coconut Mix. My, it was good! Lisa had a "Tropical Hurricane", which contained Appleton Estate V/X rum, and Island Oasis Guava, Papaya, and Mango Mixes. While we wouldn't have minded just ordering another round of these drinks and just hanging out all afternoon, we did want to eat...

On to the food...since we hadn't had breakfast, we were hungry! Menu items have names that are inside jokes for Jimmy's songs. For instance, we ordered the "Jamaica Mistaica" chicken wings, which are named for his song about his private plane getting shot at when they tried to land in Jamaica for some jerk chicken. Obviously, they have a "Cheeseburger in Paradise", and it's served with Heinz 57, french fried potatoes, and a "big, kosher pickle"! Carol's had it at the Key West location and it's delicious! Anyway, the wings are glazed with a habanero-honey sauce and come with a mango-ranch dip...they had a nice bite and were pretty messy!

Lisa had the Fish of the Day Sandwich, which was tilapia. The fish was grilled with a little seasoning, served on a wheat bun with french fries. Carol had the BBQ Pork Sandwich, served on toasted garlic French bread with Guava Barbecue Sauce, topped with onion rings, and a cup of sweet cole slaw.

Service was pleasant and efficient from Sara, who even passed Lisa's "Straw Test"! We both enjoyed our food, our drinks, and the music & videos! We got to see the volcano erupt and the "lava" flow down into a giant blender container!

Copper Canyon Grill

We have visited the Copper Canyon Grill in Boca Raton several times and each time we walk away with mixed feelings.

The service is great and always has been. Up until tonight they seemed genuinely concerned as to if we liked the food or not. (No one asked tonight.) Robert, our server tonight was very good though he didn't pass the straw test. Okay, I'll explain. I like to drink soda without a straw. Most often the glass is handed me the first time with a straw in it. The observant server will notice that I take the straw out and when they bring the drink back after refilling it, there is not a second straw. This time I ended up with 2 straws on the table, unused and unusable. Also the observant server will see when you are done with a drink and bring another glass immediately. That didn't happen either. He did bring me another drink later and it was before I had to ask for it. On the other hand, he had a good conversation with Carol to ensure that she got her steak cooked the way she liked it.

Carol had a rib eye steak with canyon mushrooms on top, with smashed potatoes and sweet glazed carrots. The steak was cooked perfectly and quite tender. And the sides were quite good. I had the chicken pot pie. I have had it before. The first time we went to this restaurant that is what I ordered. At that time I was quite shocked because it tasted like they had poured a bottle of hot sauce in it. It just seemed like two tastes that were not meant to go together. The pot pie was good but it was too spicy for me. When the manager asked how the meal was I mentioned that. He asked me if the server warned me that it would be spicy and I said no. So that night I got my dinner for free. That was a nice touch. We have had other meals in the past and found none spectacular. So you may wonder why I ordered the chicken pot pie a second time. I read in the newspaper that the restaurant had made several changes and that they had a new chef. When we went there the last time we had a discussion with our server and he said they were not putting so much spice in the pot pie any more. So I gave it a second chance... It was still quite spicy. Not quite so bad as the first time but let's just say I will not order it again.

So, while we really like the atmosphere and the service there, and we really want to love this restaurant, so far we have had only one REALLY good meal and the rest have been mediocre. Will we go back again? We'll see.

Anthony's Pizza

We watched the local paper closely as they ran a people's choice poll selecting the best local pizza. We were interested to hear that the winner of the poll was Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza in Fort Lauderdale. We have never been there. We made a note of it for the "restaurants we must visit some day" file. There are several Anthony's in the area, some of which are closer to home than the one in Fort Lauderdale. A few weeks later a close friend asked if we wanted to meet her at Anthony's in Delray. She said she knew of this awesome pizza place that also makes great wings. She knew we liked pizza and wings. Of course we said yes.

We had wonderful service! The waiter was concientious and aware of our needs. You might be surprised at how many wait staff in other restaurants really seem to have little care for their customers. We ordered a large pizza with half pepperoni and half mushrooms/onions. Our server asked if we wanted an order of wings. We said no. He brought us a small order for us to try because he wanted us to taste them. No charge to us. I loved the wings! Kathy and Carol said they were nothing to write home about. The were not anything like buffalo wings. They were oven roasted and covered with a mound of carmelized onions. The skin was nice and crispy and well seasoned. We did finish the wings.

The pizza, on the other hand, left something to be desired. I had two slices. I only got two bites from those two slices with any tomato sauce at all. Other slices had some sauce on them but it was sketchy at best. Kathy (who said this is the best pizza) said the crust was thicker than it usually is and that this was not nearly as good they usually serve it.

Bottom line, we have decided we will give Anthony's a second chance. We wonder if the increased business due to the paper's poll might have caused them to rush through making the order and thus they lost some quality. While we were not much impressed with their food, we were impressed with their service and we know that a LOT of people say they make great pizza. Hopefully the next time we will taste that great pizza.

Park Avenue BBQ & Grill

Park Avenue is the furthest south restaurant in a small chain located in southeast Florida.

I had a baby back rib and chicken combo and Carol had a combo that contained chicken, St. Louis ribs, pulled pork and pulled beef. We would call this mediocre food with very good service.

We asked about the smoking technique because the meat did not have much smokey flavor. There as also no smoke ring on any of the meat. Their smoker was designed by the owner and is electric. The ribs were quite fatty. The sauce was very good. Carol could not tell the difference by taste or sight between their pulled pork and pulled beef. She had to ask the server if the plate had both on it. We both had the collard greens and agreed that they were not spectacular and if we went back would not order them again. The corn bread and the mac and cheese was quite good and Carol said the french fries were excellent!

Our server was a very nice young lady and was very good at serving. She even passed the straw test... Okay, I guess I must explain the straw test. When I get a drink, I always remove the straw. I would rather not use a straw. The ultimate test of a good server is the one who notices that I did not have a straw in my drink and does not put another one in. There are often times when a server will bring me back a straw with each refill and I end up with a stack of unused, yet unusable straws and all it would have taken to avoid that would be a little bit of attentiveness. In any case, our server passed the test. She was quite attentive to our needs.

When all is said and done, we both agreed that if we want to get good barbecue in Boca, we will go to Whole Foods down the street from us rather than Park Avenue BBQ & Grill.

A Good Lunch is "Easy" at the Over Easy Cafe on Sanibel!

Today, our last full day on Sanibel Island, we took Poco shopping at the Olde Sanibel Shoppes. After a stop at Island Paws, a fun shop catering to pets (mostly dogs), where we bought Poco a little bandana and us a set of Maltese drink coasters, we went for lunch at the Over Easy Cafe. The manager here at the Signal Inn, where we're staying, recommended it for its good food and dog-friendly service.

We sat at an outdoor table, under a fan-cooled canopy, and Poco did his charming puppy routine...which he's very good at! The server brought us a glass of ice water for Poco, which we poured into his foldable soft bowl. Then we got down to ordering and enjoying our lunch...

Lisa chose the lemon-pepper grilled mahi sandwich, and she selected a side of pasta salad from the choices of french fries, cole slaw, cottage cheese, or the pasta salad. Although she thought the mahi tasted more of blackening spices than lemon-pepper, she enjoyed it.

I had the crunchy grouper sandwich and it was a full filet and very crunchy! The grouper was very sweet and tasty, and the cole slaw I chose had a touch of onion. The sliced tomatoes we both were served with our sandwiches were very ripe and juicy!

Since they had some special desserts we decided to try them. Lisa ordered the apple crisp, which came with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and I had the bread pudding, made from the Cafe's homemade cinnamon rolls. We both found the apple crisp to have almost too much cinnamon, to the point of being spicy. I liked the bread pudding but both portions were way too big to finish!

Check out the Over Easy Cafe when you visit Sanibel! (http://www.overeasycafesanibel.com/)

Sanibel Has "The World's Best Breakfast"!

Since we hadn't shopped last night we just HAD to go out for breakfast! We'd read that the Lighthouse Cafe has "The World's Best Breakfast" so we decided to see for ourselves...

As you might expect from the name, the Lighthouse Cafe (http://www.lighthousecafe.com/) is located right down the street from the Sanibel Lighthouse, and capitalizes on this with a decor of walls filled with photos, drawings, & paintings of lighthouses around the world. Shelves contain lighthouse figurines.

OK, to the food...Lisa selected the Eggs Benedict ($8.95), which was classic in its ingredients of the English muffin base (you could have it "Lighthouse-style" by choosing a croissant for $1.00 more) with ham and poached egg but took a different turn with a Key Lime Hollandaise sauce. You're served two "Bennies" sided by "Lighthouse potatoes", which are really delicious cubed home fries with onions. Lisa turned out be a little disenchanted with the tang of the Key Lime Hollandaise sauce and would have preferred the standard preparation.

I had the Blueberry Whole Wheat Hotcakes ($6.95) (the menu states, "Our own recipe made from Whole Wheat Flour, Brown Sugar, fresh Eggs and whole Milk")...there were three large beauties on the plate, chocked full of small fresh blueberries. They serve these with a small pitcher of warm blueberry sauce but I opted for the warm maple syrup (purist that I am). I selected a side order of smoked sausage links ($3.50), which had all the qualities one wants in a sausage...lucious links of smoky, salty, "porkiness".

The Lighthouse Cafe has tons of other breakfast items like "Pan-Handled" egg dishes, omelettes, frittatas. I filed the "Ocean Frittata" away for a future visit...it has shrimp, scallops, "krabmeat", broccoli, & mushrooms with artichoke hearts and an Alfredo Sauce topping.

Try the Lighthouse Cafe when you visit Sanibel Island! You won't be disappointed!

Gourmet Librarians go to Sanibel Island (Post #1)

We're spending the Memorial Day weekend on Sanibel Island, on the southwest coast of Florida. Since we'll be here until Monday, we'll let you know where we eat and how it was! Since we're staying at a nice little apartment we also can cook so we might create some island specialities!

Tonight we ate out since we were tired and didn't feel like shopping. Some of the guests who'd signed the guestbook in our unit recommended the Island Cow restaurant (http://www.sanibelislandcow.com/), and after reading the menu in the magazine here, we decided to try it. They also have outdoor seating and we're able to take our little Maltese, Poco, to dinner!

The menu at the Island Cow is HUGE...both in size and selections! It was hard for me to decide what to have. I eventually chose what they call the "Holy Cow!" basket ($23.99 with grouper). It was a fried seafood lover's delight of calamari, clams, scallops, oyster, shrimp, and a filet of the catch of the day. I chose grouper. Fries and Tropical Cole Slaw (with small pineapple chunks) and two hush puppies joined the seafood in the very crowded basket. Small cups contained cocktail sauce, marinara sauce, tartar sauce, and 1,000 Island Dressing.

This very ample dinner was crisply fried with not an ounce of oil anywhere! I needed a box to tote some leftovers back to our unit...

Lisa had the "Fishin' Rules" dinner, which basically lets you create your own plate...choose a fish (Lisa had mahi at $18.99), choose your preparation method (Lisa had them char-grill it), choose two sides (cheese grits & steamed veggies for Lisa).

The mahi was tasty with a pleasant grilled flavor, and the veggies were delicious. Unfortunately, the cheese grits were a bit watery.

We'll likely go back to the Island Cow before we leave Sanibel because, as their menu states, they have "Udderly Great Food"! We agree!

The Cheese Course

An aged gouda

Oma




Cabbot Clothbound Cheddar

Winnemere

Tetilla

We had heard from friends about this shop/cafe and wanted to try it so were very excited when we learned that they were opening up a shop in Boca. We went there for lunch a couple of weeks ago then ordered a cheese platter for a luncheon we were hosting the following week. We were quite pleased with both experiences.



For lunch we ordered a 2 cheese cheese course and a Black Forrest Ham sandwich. The cheese course came with 2 cheeses, baguette bread, and one accompaniment. We ordered Winnemere cheese (a somewhat stinky, washed rind cheese) and Tetilla a semi-hard, very mild cheese. The accompaniment we choose was the raspberry/cranberry relish and we added a tapanade to go with. The Winnemere was rather mild and though I am not a huge stinky cheese fan, we both really liked it. The Tetilla was VERY mild and we felt lacking in flavor. The accompaniments and bread were all excellent. The sandiwch came with brie, raspberry/cranberry relish and greens. It was very good. They also had 2 different types if cheese for sampling. While we were there, we ordered a small cheese platter to go with a luncheon we were hosting the following week.



The platter came with 3 cheeses, 2 accompaniments, grapes and a baguette. For this, we ordered Cabbot Clothbound Cheddar (aged and rather sharp), Repenauer (an aged gouda also somewhat sharp) and the Winnemere with the raspberry/cranberry relish and sundried tomato pesto. During the week I received 2 calls from the folks there saying first that the Winnemere, being at the end of its season, may not be available and asking if she could substitute Oma, also a washed rind cheese. I said yes. She called again saying that though they had the Winnemere she was not satisfied with its quality (again because it was at the end of its season) and we agreed to substitute Oma. All cheeses were great as were the accompaniments.



The staff were extremely knowledgeable and great at customer service. Definitely this has become one of our favorites and we will return often.