Fans of Creolina's rejoice! John Tanasychuk at the Sun-Sentinel reports that the restaurant is definitely re-opening in Davie in September.

His new restaurant, Creolina’s Dixie Take Out, will be located at 13150 W. State Rd. 84 in the Randal Plaza. There’s a Dunkin’ Donuts and a McDonald's in the same plaza.

...

The house specialties—étouffée, jambalaya, beans and rice—will remain. But prices will be lower. Jambalaya was $8.95 a lunch and $12.95 at dinner. It will be $6.95 all day at the new Creolina’s.

The chef will also add classic Southern dishes, many of which he’s offered as specials. Look for country fried steak, chicken and dumplings, pulled pork and country-style ribs. Sides will includes corn bread, greens, black-eyed peas as well macaroni and cheese.

We got word today that Creolina's in Fort Lauderdale is closed. The restaurant, open since 1991, served Louisiana-style Cajun food for 17 years and now is likely another casualty of the recession. It seemed popular, and it's not like there's much competition on the Cajun food front.

There's no answer at the restaurant, and an attempt to reach owner Mark Sulzinski was rebuffed, so we're not quite sure what's going on, but if you have any information, let us know!

UPDATE: Thanks to Pete and Mike, who left comments below, we learned that the building's owners didn't renew Creolina's lease so that they could expand their bar next door. But there's hope: apparently Sulzinski is looking for some space to re-open in one of the western suburbs.

Creolina's [MenuPages]

Looks like Try My Thai in Hollywood is closed less than two years after the city government funded a new kitchen for the restaurant:

Owner Tai Vaz said the 15-year-old business "was not for me anymore."

"I didn't want to punish my customers for having lost my passion," she said, adding that tough economic times eased her decision.

For years, the restaurant was popular with critics, police officers, residents, tourists and many of the city's movers and shakers.

The family business first opened at 2003Harrison St., but in 2006 asked commissioners for an $80,000 grant to help move a block east. A number of influential people, including lobbyist Alan Koslow, took turns vouching for the owners.

...

Try My Thai is the latest in a string of businesses that have vanished from downtown despite financial help from the city. In March, the city hired a law firm to start collection proceedings against the owners of nationally acclaimed restaurant Michael's Kitchen and baby boutique The Casa Collection. The downtown redevelopment agency gave the two businesses a combined $175,000 in incentive grants, but they later closed.

Hollywood restaurant that got $65,655 from city is now closed [Sun-Sentinel]

I still love dating my husband. Recently, we had a date at the Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood. We began the night with dinner at Tatu Asian Bar & Grill. I fell in love with the decor immediately. It's a mix of deep red meets IKEA meets funky with old kung-fu movies projected on one wall.

We started off with their signature cocktail, the lychee-tini, a perfect blend of peach vodka, white cranberry juice, and lychee fruit. The wild mushroom potstickers paired nicely with the drinks.For dinner, we shared assorted sushi rolls (fresh and fabulous) and the Shanghai beef which was cooked perfectly and came with tempura fried onion slivers that melted in our mouths. Our waitress brought us a huge cone of sour-apple cotton candy and two fake tattoos with our bill — which somehow eased the pain of putting down the credit card. After dinner we caught an hysterical comedy show at The Improv, which was luckily just a few steps away from the lychee-tinis . . . I mean, Tatu. We topped off the night with a trip to the Casino — if only we'd had the sour-apple cotton candy and tattoos then. . .

Tatu Asian Bar & Grill [MenuPages]
Tatu Asian Bar & Grill [Official Site]

Photo: KTP Design Group

There are two things that I love to do — eat and sing. Give me a way to put those two together and I'm in heaven — which is why I'm a karaoke junkie. Am I a good singer? I've been told "NO," but singing karaoke fulfills my need to be on stage performing in front of a live audience, whether they like it or not. If you're like me and want to enjoy some good food in between belting out power ballads, then head to one of your local eateries for "Karaoke Night." Here are a few ideas for every night of the week:

Mondays: Neighborhood Sports Grill, from 8:55 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Tuesdays: Bru's Room Sports Grill from 8:55 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Wednesdays: Quarterdeck Seafood Bar from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Thursdays: Duffy's Sports Grill from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Fridays: Upper Deck Ale & Sports Grill from 9 p.m. to midnight
Saturdays: Landlubber's Raw Bar & Grill starting at 8 p.m.
Sundays: The Coffee Scene (15955 Pines Blvd in Pembroke Pines, (954) 441-2364) from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Always call the night of to confirm. Fill your bellies and sing your hearts out!

Photo: Suzanne Gaudet Benefit

This Friday, Bruce Springsteen and the world-famous E Street Band finally returned to Fort Lauderdale for their tragically deferred, but well-worth-the-wait concert. Getting another chance at a tail-gate, we decided to upgrade our fare with soup, salad, and sandwiches from 1909 Café. The savory chicken bayou sandwich on crusty French bread paired nicely with the soups of the day: lobster bisque and creamy carrot. The carrot was our favorite, nice and buttery with lots of beta-carotene, essential for belting out vibes at the concert. We also enjoyed a lovely pasta salad with artichoke and sun-dried tomatoes, perfect with the lemony-ness of our Blue Moon beer. The culinary adventure didn’t stop at the parking lot, but continued at the Bank Atlantic Center (background). It was our first visit to the BAC, and we were sufficiently awed by the posh-setting. Its array of concert/arena fare well exceeds the usual pretzels, pizza, and popcorn found at other venues. These favorites are there to, but the BAC boasts a dessert bar with chocolate cake, cheesecake and key lime pie, as well as several swanky bars featuring premium drinks. The leather seats are just the place to enjoy your concert goodies as you sit back to enjoy the show.

1909 Cafe [MenuPages]
1909 Cafe [Official Site]
Bank Atlantic Center [Official Site]

It's Cinco de Mayo. We hear it's not a huge holiday in Mexico, but on this side of the border, you're pretty much obligated to consume Mexican fare and drink as much beer as possible on this day. It's a Monday this year, so it's probably best to not overdo it on the beer front, since the office is not the best place to nurse a hangover. Here, we offer a few good places to get your fill of Mexican food tonight:

• Don Burrito in Kendall serves up some great taquitos and fajitas, and tonight they've got mariachis after 8:30 p.m. and a special on the Coronas: six for $15.

• Rosa Mexicano in Palm Beach Gardens is doing a special Cinco de Mayo menu that will have eight choices of appetizers, 10 entrees and a handful of desserts, all a la carte. The regular margaritas will be available, but tonight you can get them prepared tableside, just like the guacamole.

• The party starts at 5 p.m. at Cantina Laredo in Plantation. There will be a tent, a deejay, lots of food and plenty of drinks: $7 margaritas and $2 beers.

• Cheen Huaye is also hosting a party outside with a mariachi band after 8 p.m. and plenty of beer. They're also featuring a special menu with tuna shrimp ceviche, homemade chicken tamales and carne asada, among other things.

Photo, of the pomegranate margarita at Rosa Mexicano: yummyinthetummyblog [Flickr]

Something is very, very wrong in the Mark Militello South Florida empire. Three weeks ago, his restaurants on South Beach and in West Palm Beach closed, and yesterday the Las Olas location unexpectedly shuttered:

The mood among employees at Mark's Las Olas on Thursday was somber.

"We're all heartbroken. It's really a shame," said John Marron, a Mark's Las Olas server for 14 years.

Marron said a manager notified him of the closure Thursday but offered no explanation for the decision. "Everyone's kept in the dark," he said by phone, noting that employees had been fearing the announcement since the other locations closed.

Militello on Thursday downplayed the newsworthiness of the closing. "This whole thing is so unimportant," he said, when asked about the string of restaurant closures.

Your last option in the area for Militello's cuisine is Mark's Mizner Park in Boca Raton.

Las Olas restaurant becomes third in Mark's group to close in recent weeks [Sun-Sentinel]
Afternoon Roundup: Mark's South Beach Closing Tonight [MP: South Florida]
Mark's Las Olas [MenuPages]
Mark's Mizner Park [MenuPages]
Mark's Las Olas [Official Site]

Photo: Babyfro [Flickr]

That's pretty much all of you, no? Does anyone really dislike olive oil? Perhaps not everyone is so fanatic about it that they'd go to the International Olive Oil Fest this weekend in Fort Lauderdale. We're not sure how large the event is, but we imagine that it's a good opportunity to sample some interesting olive oils from small producers around the world. The website also promises wine tastings and food samples.

In terms of entertainment, it sounds like there will be plenty, from flamenco guitars to belly dancers to opera singers. If you prefer dancing, the Havana Soul Orchestra will be there also to play some mambo, salsa and big band. Several movies will also be shown as part of the event inside Cinema Paradiso. We're intrigued by the olive pit spitting contest, in which Italian rules apply. If anyone can shed light on what exactly these Italian rules are, we'd very much appreciate it.

Tickets are $15 per day in advance or $20 on the day of the event. Children under 12 are free; teenagers will cost you $5.

International Olive Oil Fest [Official Site]

Photo: sweaty photos [Flickr]

We were first introduced to lomo saltado by a Peruvian-Japanese woman who gave us a wonderful recipe for it. The dish, popular all over Peru, is a stir fry of beef, garlic, onions and peppers topped with French fries. The particular version of the dish featured above is from Aromas del Peru. Here are a few other places where you can try it:

• Chalan on the Beach comes well-recommended by MenuPages users. The menu is very seafood-heavy, but the restaurant features a $10 lomo saltado entree. Pair that with a ceviche, and that could be a pretty satisfying meal.

• Las Totoritas on NW 36th St serves a $8.85 lomo saltado. They also have an appetizer of "leche de tigre," which is described as a glass of ceviche juice. We're intrigued.

• At La Granja Parrilla in Hollywood, you can get a single portion of lomo saltado for $11.95 or a family-sized portion for $29.

Aromas del Peru [Official Site]
Chalan on the Beach [MenuPages]
Las Totoritas [MenuPages]
La Granja Parrilla [MenuPages]

Photo: Masala Cha [Flickr]

• Tonight's the last night for Chef Mark Militello on South Beach; his restaurant in the Nash Hotel is closing its doors. Is this a case of a chef spreading himself too thin? (Militello has three other restaurants in Boca, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm.) The restaurant has a great reputation, but as one chowhound put it, people often forget about it when making reservations or giving recommendations.

• How do you pronounce RA Sushi? We always thought it was "R-A," but when we called today to ask about new locations, we were corrected. It's "rah." At any rate, South Florida is getting two more "Rah" Sushis in the coming months: one in Pembroke Pines, which is already hiring and should be open by early May, and another in South Miami. The latter is taking a bit longer, and we were told the company is hoping for a July opening.

Mark's South Beach [MenuPages]
Mark's South Beach [Official Site]
RA is set to open our 2nd Florida location!! (Pembroke Pines) [Craigslist]
RA Sushi [MenuPages]
RA Sushi [Official Site]

Photo of the lobster pasta at Mark's South Beach: The Blissful Glutton [Flickr]

Look at the color on that thing. All sorts of seafood and rice in a gorgeous broth. You'll find this moqueca, a Brazilian seafood stew, at Sushi Samba Dromo on Miami Beach, where it comes with shrimp, squid, cod, crayfish, coconut milk, cashews, dende (palm) oil and chimichurri rice. The restaurant offers a lunch portion of the stew for $20 (it's $24 at dinner time). Cacao Restaurant in Coral Gables also features a lunchtime moqueca for $15. And for $14, you can get the catch of the day cooked moqueca-style at Oba Oba in Coconut Creek.

Moqueca [Wikipedia]
Sushi Samba Dromo [MenuPages]
Cacao Restaurant [MenuPages]
Oba Oba [MenuPages]

Photo: Masala Cha [Flickr]

Jeffrey Chodorow opens his second South Florida branch of China Grill in Fort Lauderdale today. The menu is much like the one at China Grill Sobe. Here are a few of the more intriguing items:

• Thai shrimp cakes with cactus-mango salsa and black mole vinaigrette
• Plum- and sesame-glazed lamb spare ribs (pictured above)
• Duck two ways: pan-seared breast, confit of leg, caramelized Asian fruit salsa, and lychee black vinegar reduction
• Sake-marinated "drunken" chicken with ponzu sauce, sweet crispy onions, and Asian slaw

Dinner service starts at 6 p.m. tonight, and lunch won't begin for another couple of weeks. But, unlike other China Grills, this location will start serving breakfast on Monday, since it's inside the Fort Lauderdale Grande Hotel.

China Grill [MenuPages]
China Grill Sobe [MenuPages]
China Grill [Official Site]

Photo: Kat n Kim [Flickr]

We just stumbled upon this photo of the coconut creme brulee at Dolores, but you can call me Lolita, and we were reminded of just how much we adore creme brulee and its Spanish cousin crema catalana. Most of the creme brulees at restaurants are pretty standard versions, but we looked around and found a few interesting takes on it:

• Max's Grille in Palm Beach Gardens serves a mixed berry creme brulee in pie form. We're not quite sure how that works.

• At Prime One Twelve in Miami Beach, the Tahitian vanilla creme brulee comes with a stack of peppermint brownies.

• Talula in Miami Beach serves a sweet potato creme brulee with burnt marshmallows.

• And if dessert isn't quite your thing, Le Bistro serves a dinner entree of sea bass creme brulee that's caramelized on top with champagne cream underneath.

Dolores, but you can call me Lolita [MenuPages]
Max's Grille [MenuPages]
Prime One Twelve [MenuPages]
Talula [MenuPages]
Le Bistro [MenuPages]

Photo: Flickr

If you have a valid voter registration card, Hurricane Grill & Wings has some free wings for you. Five free wings, in fact. The restaurant's Florida locations are serving registered voters a free appetizer portion of wings in support of re-holding the Democratic presidential primary in this state.

"We just want to do our part to show our fellow Floridians that their vote counts with us," Lori Cuonze, a spokesperson for the company, told the Jacksonville Business Journal. Which is a noble idea, really, but ... this isn't the general election, right? If the Democratic Party wants to re-hold the Florida primary, that's the party's prerogative; there is, unfortunately, no inalienable right to vote for a party's nominee. The whole idea behind this promotion strikes us as odd.

Anyway, hooray for free wings!

Hurricane Grill offers free wings to voters [Jacksonville Business Journal]
Hurricane Grill & Wings [Official Site]

Photo: Flickr

In case you didn't drink enough at last weekend's South Beach Wine & Food Festival, there are two more wine events this weekend. Ready?

• The Boca Bacchanal begins today and continues until Sunday. It's like the South Beach festival but without the celebrities: wine seminars, a grand tasting, vintner dinners and a cooking demonstration. And like the other more well-known festival, these tickets won't come cheap; the grand tasting is $85 at the door, the cooking demonstration is $125, and everything else starts at $250.

• The second annual Dan Marino Weston Wine and Food Festival is a much smaller event. It's only on Sunday, from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m., and while they'll take your money ($40 general admission/$50 at the door/$1,000 for VIP access), at least it's going to a good cause; 100 percent of the proceeds go directly to the Dan Marino Foundation.

Photo: Flickr

Sure it's totally kitschy now, but did you that in its height, Mai-Kai was one of the top-grossing restaurants in the country and the largest consumer of rum in Florida? That's what this Sun-Sentinel article about the death of Mai-Kai co-founder Jack Thornton says:

The location now sits along a noisy, traffic-clogged artery, just north and across the street from a Target-anchored shopping center. But at the time it was on a two-lane road with no other development or street lights.

Ex-wife Diane Thornton described the novelty of driving up to the restaurant upon her first visit. It looked like a torch-lit island in the dark.

"If there was no moon, you felt like you were in black hole. Then you saw a light ahead," she said.

"It got brighter and brighter and — remember in those days there was no Disney World, no theme parks — you were suddenly in these lush exotic gardens and there were rushing waterfalls and sumptuous dishes that only world travelers had ever tasted."

The inspiration for the Mai-Kai came from the brothers' favorite restaurant, Don the Beachcomber, an island-style eatery they visited with their father during their childhood in Chicago. Their mother put up everything she owned to secure the loans to help her sons open the restaurant.

It became a runaway hit.

Co-founder of famed Mai-Kai restaurant dies at 78 [Sun-Sentinel]
Mai-Kai [MenuPages]
Mai-Kai [Official Site]

Photo: Flickr

As far as we know, Las Olas is a typically gay-friendly area, so we were surprised to hear of a hate crime right outside the door of The Floridian, the popular 24-hour diner at 14th and Las Olas. Here's the story:

According to the police report, Melbourne Brunner, his partner Mitchell Mart and a friend visiting from out of town sat down to breakfast about 3 a.m. at an outdoor table. They ordered sandwiches, tea and juices.

Police said a man got out of his pickup truck, walked by them and promptly began yelling slurs at the three.

''He was yelling, `Were you looking at me, if you were, I'm going to come back there and break your neck. . . . And then he twisted his hands together,'' Mart recalled.

Words were exchanged, and the man repeatedly used a derogatory term aimed at gays.

The men decided to cancel their order.

They told the waiter to call the police, Mart said. 'He said, `What are they going to do?' ''

The men started to get into their car, which was parked two feet from the table.

More slurs were yelled.

As Brunner tried to climb into the passenger seat, the man punched him several times, pushing the car door on him, police said. Brunner fell to the ground, striking his head.

''I came around and he was bleeding,'' Mart said.

Mart helped Brunner into the car and then attempted to get the pickup driver's tag number.

The man ripped off his shirt and threw it over the plate as he yelled, ``I'll kill you before you get my tag number!''

The pair dropped their dismayed friend, who represents an agency that caters to GLBT travelers, off at his hotel.

They then drove to Broward General Medical Center.

Brunner suffered severe bruising but no broken bones. ''His jaw is out of whack,'' said Mart, a retired dentist.

According to the Herald article, the restaurant has called to apologize to the couple. Could they have done more? The attacker began yelling insults to the men as they were sitting down eating at an outdoor table. There's no mention of anyone requesting that the man leave or calling the police at that point. Instead, Mart, Brunner and their friend felt the need to cancel their order and leave. While the restaurant shouldn't have to be completely responsible for the safety of its patrons, one might think they could have done something a little earlier before it escalated to the physical level.

Beating was a hate crime, couple says [Miami Herald]
The Floridian [MenuPages]

It's one of our favorite times of the year, when pitchers and catchers report to ball fields across Arizona and Florida, and the promise of another baseball season is on the horizon. Spring training has arrived, and very shortly, the games will begin. And for Marlins fans, given the sheer number of rookies on the roster, it's going to feel like spring training all season long!

We're fortunate enough to have two stadiums, which host three teams, right here in South Florida. The Baltimore Orioles train at the Fort Lauderdale Stadium, while the St. Louis Cardinals and Florida Marlins split time at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter. Of course, if you're going to the game, you'll have to eat, and while a fourth-inning hot dog is great, sometimes you just need a bit more than that. If you're headed to see the Orioles play in Ft. Lauderdale, here are a few ideas for pre- or post-game grub:

• Frog & Toad Pub uses categories like "pond water," "little leaps," and "the whole lily pad" to separate its menu items. We find it quite charming. In addition to staples like spinach dip, quesadillas and chicken fingers, they've also got a number of traditional British items on the menu. Think bangers 'n' mash, sheperds pie, and Guinness-marinated beef.

• If it's pizza you're craving, Gino's Italian Ristorante isn't too far away. There's pizza, with all the usual toppings, pasta, and meat and seafood dishes. Gino's also makes a number of hot and cold subs that we're thinking could fit easily into a purse or other bag to take into the stadium.

• Where there's a stadium, there's a Hooters not far away. Wings, beer, cleavage, short shorts -- you know what to expect here.

• Head to the Moonlite Diner for burgers, melts, egg creams and or one of the 29 different milkshakes. We can't think of a better way to end an afternoon of baseball than to indulge in typical Americana diner food. The fare can get a bit greasy here, but the burgers and shakes are solid.

Tomorrow, we'll go over some restaurants closer to the Marlins' and Cardinals' spring home: Roger Dean Stadium.

Marlins pitchers and catchers start workouts [Miami Herald]
Frog & Toad Pub [MenuPages]
Gino's Italian Ristorante [MenuPages]
Hooters [MenuPages]
Moonlite Diner [MenuPages]

Photo: Flickr

These buttery crabs are making us swoon right now. So the Rustic Inn isn't exactly the typical romantic date place, but it's definitely fun, and that is some good-looking shellfish. A to-go order for a candlelit dinner at home might be a good idea.

Rustic Inn [MenuPages]
Rustic Inn [Official Site]

Photo: Flickr

Miami Beach is getting another steakhouse. This time, it's Morton's, which announced today that it signed a lease for a space at The Crown on 40th and Collins. From the press release:

With a total indoor seating capacity of approximately 240, the new Miami Beach Morton's will seat 135 guests in the main dining room, 65 in Morton's exclusive private boardrooms and 40 in Bar 12*21, Morton's new bar dining concept, the place for specialty cocktails and Morton's appetizing Bar Bites menu. The restaurant will also feature a 1,000 square-foot outdoor patio with seating for 36 guests. The new Morton's is expected to open in late 2008/ early 2009. It will be the third Morton's The Steakhouse in the Miami/Miami Beach market and the eighth in Florida.

Morton's to Open New Steakhouse in Miami Beach [Sun-Herald]
Morton's, The Steakhouse [Official Site]
Downtown Coral Gables Restaurant Gossip [MP: South Florida]

We prefer to stay home on Valentine's Day and cook a lovely meal for our sweetie (on the menu this year: coffee-marinated bison short ribs). But if you prefer to head out on the town, here are a few good options for treating your valentine:

• Blue Door at Delano is having a four-course dinner for $95 per person between 7 and 11 p.m.

• If you're going the vegan route, there's Sublime of course. Their dinner is $59 per person and includes three courses; for the entree, you can choose between artichoke tofu quiche or seitan steak wellington. There's also a champagne and sea caviar supplement for an extra $20.

• At Kavanagh & Morrissey's, they'll be serving fresh oysters, three special entrees, and a special dessert of a frozen heart-shaped mousse topped with cherries and white chocolate truffle. YUM.

• If you're in the mood for steak, Morton's has a $69 per person menu that includes a salad and an entree of filet mignon and Alaskan king crab or filet mignon and Australian lobster tail.

• The price is a little higher, $150 per person, at 3030 Ocean, but the menu looks really good. Oh, and that includes one glass of champagne. You get oysters or shrimp, bison tenderloin carpaccio or Maryland crab, Tasmanian salmon or Hawaiian mero, grilled beef tenderloin or roasted rack of lamb, and if you're still not full, you can choose a cheese plate, a winter lemon tart or chocolate fondue.

• If you'd rather stay at home but not cook, L & L Market Bistro will do the cooking for you for $50 per person. You get beef, lamb chops or Chilean sea bass with polenta 'hearts' (awww) and chocolate-covered strawberries.

• Social Miami at Sagamore is offering a special tasting menu in addition to its regular menu for $75 per person. That gets you three courses; the entree options include pan-seared duck breast with candied pecans and butter poached rock lobster tail with jumbo lump crab gremolata.

• And finally, Andu Restaurant & Lounge, which just opened yesterday, will also be offering a Valentine's Day menu that will include four courses, an amuse and a glass of champagne, all for $80 per person. The goat-cheese crusted lamb loin caught our eye. Sounds good.

We know food isn't miami fever's specialty, but his food photos still manage to make us salivate and make us crave whatever it is in the photo. In this case, it's fajitas from Tijuana Taxi Co. According to the menu description, the meat in that skillet is skirt steak cooked with onions, bell peppers and tomatoes and served with cheese, pico de gallo, guacamole and tortillas. Yum.

Tijuana Taxi Co [MenuPages]
Tijuana Taxi Co [Official Site]

Photo: miami fever's Flickr

Stories like this one make us thankful that we toted our own lunch to school and rarely ever had to eat whatever the cafeteria was providing. (And especially thankful to our dad, who made excellent lunches for us every morning for many, many years.) It seems there was a bit of a problem with one of the beef suppliers for a good number of Broward schools:

Students at Fort Lauderdale High School were mostly shocked to learn Thursday morning that their cafeteria beef will not be served because the meat had come from a company where food inspectors found "egregious violations of humane handling regulations."

In response to those reports of extreme animal abuse, the federal government closed a California slaughterhouse that supplies meat to many of the nation's schools, including hundreds across South Florida. The suspect beef was pulled this week from the schools' cafeteria menus.

"That's kind of nasty," said Neville Smith, 18. Students enjoy burritos, double cheeseburgers, and tacos on a daily basis, he said.

"I wish they let us know what exactly we're eating," he said. "Maybe we would try to eat healthier, like a salad."

...

Investigators say they have yet to uncover evidence that shows tainted meat has entered the country's food supply. But because the investigation is ongoing, federal authorities told school officials to yank Westland's products just in case.

"It's strictly precautionary," said Lori Dornbusch, operations manager for Palm Beach County food services. "The meat has not been declared dangerous."

Dornbusch and her counterparts in Broward and Miami-Dade counties were told to place beef "on hold," immediately after the federal government started its investigation on Jan. 30. That set off a flurry of e-mails to food managers with product codes and packing numbers.

"We told everybody not to serve them. But have we? Yes," said Broward's nutrition manager Barbara Leslie. "We've been receiving these products for over a year."

Broward has received more than 40,000 pounds of Westland beef since January 2007. The most recent delivery arrived a week before the federal investigation began, Leslie said, adding that no students or employees have reported any illnesses as a result of their meals.

And now her staff, along with campuses in all three districts are scrambling to rewrite lunch menus, replacing meatballs with chicken tenders and cheeseburgers with ham and cheese sandwiches. Principals will post the substitutions in classrooms and mentioned during morning announcements.

Last year, more than 27 million pounds of Westland's beef found its way to lunch trays in 36 states, including Florida, through the National School Lunch Program, according to the Humane Society of United States. The group released a video on Jan. 30 showing workers dragging and pushing cows with bulldozers as the animals squeal in pain.

At least four sick animals were slaughtered for food, the organization said.

...

Slaughterhouses are prohibited from butchering "downer" cows, or those that can't walk because their leges are broken, tendons severed or nerves paralyzed because they tend to have a higher incidence of what's known as mad cow disease, an illness that devastates the brains and nervous system of the animals.

Suspect beef pulled from South Florida schools [Sun-Sentinel]

The Pier Coffee Shop, which has sat on Anglin's Fishing Pier in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea for 46 years, closed its doors yesterday after a whole lot of drama between the restaurant's manager and the landlords.

Nancy Pisarzewski, 62, the diner's longtime manager, had been battling with the building's owners over extending its hours past 3 p.m. and other issues. The last straw was their dispute over who had to pay a $3,515.25 water bill in December.

''I thought, that's it -- I'm not going to take it anymore,'' Pisarzewski said.

Its closing will end a long chapter in the pier's history at the end of Commercial Boulevard.

Once known as Tony Calderone's Pier Coffee Shop, it brought in snowbirds as well as regular locals. Calderone, the original owner, died in 2001, leaving the business to his son.

During high season, snowbirds migrated to the five outdoor booths or took a seat at one of the 10 bar stools or three booths inside.

''How good is life when you can sit on a pier, stare at the ocean and eat a wonderful breakfast?'' said Judy Swaggerty, executive director of the Lauderdale-by-the-Sea Chamber of Commerce. 'Everybody now is like, `What are we going to do?' ''

Pisarzewski said her decision to close comes after three tense years with the landlords, who recently added $1,000 to her $3,000-a-month rent.

Brothers Spiro and Louis Marchelos, the diner's landlords who also own the nearby Athena-by-the-Sea restaurant, said Pisarzewski went three years without a rent increase and that they have done their best to accommodate her.

They wanted her to extend the diner's hours past 3 p.m., to see the place use its potential.

The Marchelos brothers were passing out fliers outside the restaurant on Thursday, giving their side of the story.

''Rather than accept the increase or even discuss it, the Pier Coffee Shop has, with great drama and angst, and with the spreading of much misinformation, elected to leave the pier,'' the flier read. ``We regret their leaving but we cannot be held hostage by their failure to adapt to changing time and to take advantage of new opportunities.''

Landmark diner in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea is shutting down [Miami Herald]

We apologize for being a bit slow on the blogging front; we've been doing lots and lots of work on the site, updating menus, and adding new ones. Here are a few that we've added just recently:

• Good Eats Deli, 645 NE 79th St in Miami, 305-757-2731

• Metronome, 5090 PGA Blvd in Palm Beach Gardens, 561-775-1919

• Foxy's Ice Cream & Dessert Cafe, 12 SE 5th Ave in Delray Beach, 561-276-9379

• Five Guys, 7268 W Atlantic Blvd in Margate, 954-975-4818

• Cafe Le Glacier, 7295 Biscayne Blvd in Miami, 305-754-6551

Hey! That's our waiter! We recently went to Le Tub, and we were happy to see the same man who brought us our cheeseburgers and fries in this Plum video. Those burgers are huge. We tried valiantly to finish, but couldn't. About two-thirds of the way through, we dumped the bun and focused just on the ground sirloin, but even then, we couldn't finish those last few bites. Next time, we might share. But, we definitely agree that it was tasty.

Get in Le Tub [Plum]
Le Tub [MenuPages]

Miami Fever answered the call. Here we have a lovely photograph of Taqueria Doña Raquel's menu, which has now been updated online.

Taqueria Dona Raquel [MenuPages]

We Need More Menu Photos. Please [MP: South Florida]

Photo: miami fever

The party will be shutting down early in Sunrise from now on. In order to keep alcohol-related violence in check, the city has decided to require that bars shut down by midnight, effective immediately. But businesses will have six months to apply for permits that would allow them to stay open a few hours more:

SUNRISE - Hoping to curb alcohol-related violence, the city's bars and nightclubs are now required to shut by midnight unless they receive a special city permit to close later, according to new rules.

Sunrise Commissioners on Tuesday Jan. 22 gave final approval to an ordinance that will require businesses serving alcohol to close by 12 a.m.

Businesses wishing to stay open later may apply for a special exception from the city to close at 2 a.m. Monday through Thursday and 3 a.m. on weekends-the last calls permitted prior to the new rules.

...

Among the factors city officials will consider in granting special exception permits are how often police responded to emergency calls at a given business.

Bars and nightclubs where police have responded three times in a given year will be required to hire off-duty police detail to patrol their property.

"It gives the city the leverage to offer the special exception," said Commissioner Joseph Scuotto. "If we do have someone that had a lot of police calls responding to fighting and violence, now we have the ability to pull their special exception license.

New rules require bars in Sunrise to close by midnight [Sun-Sentinel]