Palm Beach County will now be hosting its own restaurant month in September called
Flavor Palm Beach. You know the routine: an appetizer, an entree, and a dessert for one low fixed price: $20 for lunch and $30 for dinner. The list of participating restaurants won't be released until August 15, but in the meantime, you can get on the mailing list and register to win a Flavor meal for two.

Flavor Palm Beach [Official Site]

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

Deborah Hartz-Seeley over at the Sun-Sentinel's food blog Chew on This let us know about an interesting deal at Coal Mine Pizza in Boca Raton: spend $25 or more per table and get a free gallon of gas. Or rather, a reimbursement in the amount of the day's average cost of a regular gallon of gas. The program continues until the end of August. It's an interesting idea, and one that might actually bring in crowds during the slow summer months.

Will eat pizza for gas/ Coal Mine Pizza pay you for a gallon of gas [Chew on This]
Coal Mine Pizza [Official Site]

We love the name. We're a bit...ambivalent...towards anchovies, but it wasn't long ago that we were in the vehement "no anchovies!" camp. The restaurant isn't new to northern Palm Beach County residents, but it's just re-opened in its new spot on Alt A1A in Lake Park. No seats here; it's strictly take-out. They pack enough food for two, unless you specify for more, and come with detailed cooking instructions. The menu is filled with Italian-American standards; the best options, we think, are the baked pastas (ziti, stuffed shells and lasagna) and dishes like chicken or eggplant parmesan would likely hold up well to reheating. We also like the idea of "take & bake" pizzas, which are prepared on-site and cooked at home. Pizza is always best right out of the oven anyway. And you can even get anchovies on it!

No Anchovies! To Go, 9339 Alt A1A in Lake Park, 561-840-7771

We've got two openings of note today. First, the much-anticipated Philippe is now serving food at the new South Beach hotel Gansevoort South. It's fitting that the southern outpost of this posh Manhattan hotel would also feature a New York restaurant. The menu will most likely very closely resemble that of the original restaurant in New York, which specializes in peking duck.

The Capital Grille also opens today in Palm Beach Gardens. The steakhouse chain already has locations in Miami and Fort Lauderdale, so with this new opening, it's saturated the South Florida market.

Menus for both restaurants should be online tomorrow.

Philippe, 2305 Collins Ave in Miami Beach, 305-674-0250
The Capital Grille, 11365 Legacy Ave in Palm Beach Gardens, 561-630-4994

Gansevoort South [Official Site]
Philippe Chow [Official Site]
The Capital Grille [Official Site]

The last remaining Mark's is gone:

Mark's at the Park in Boca Raton's Mizner Park unexpectedly closed its doors Thursday, the last of four restaurants led by award-winning chef Mark Militello to shutter in the past two months.

The much-heralded South Florida chain has disappeared quietly. Both Militello and the restaurant's owner, Michael Freundlich, are mum on the reason for the closings.

Freundlich, managing partner of the Mark's restaurant group, on Monday referred calls to Militello, who in turn, directed questions to Freundlich's corporate offices in Boca Raton.

"Mark was the operator. He was responsible," Freundlich said.

Militello's response: "They made all the decisions."

Mark's Restaurant no longer at park [Palm Beach Post]
Afternoon Roundup: Mark's South Beach Closing Tonight [MP: South Florida]
Closed: Mark's Las Olas [MP: South Florida]
Mark's Mizner Park [MenuPages]

Things are not looking good for the West Palm Beach-based Roadhouse Grill. Yesterday the company got court approval to liquidate its assets, which mainly include the leases of its 20 remaining restaurants.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Paul Hyman granted a motion by Roadhouse to use liquidation provisions of Chapter 7 of the federal bankruptcy law, according to court papers filed Wednesday.

"There remains no ability for the debtor to continue operations as the debtor's only asset was the remaining 20 leased stores," Roadhouse said.

The company said it failed to cure defaults on the leases by May 9 in accordance with a May 5 court order allowing it to assume the leases. Roadhouse said a $1.3 million loan from MCF Development LLC didn't come in time to make the payments.

Roadhouse and RHG Acquisition Corp., owner of 85.5 percent of Roadhouse Grill shares, filed for court protection for the second time on Oct. 7. It listed assets and debt of less than $100 million in a Chapter 11 filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in West Palm Beach.

Roadhouse Grill gets court OK to liquidate [Bloomberg News via Palm Beach Post]
Roadhouse Grill [Official Site]

Photo: edublogger/flickr

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]

That lunchtime burger just seems like it tastes better when delivered in a brightly painted fuel-efficient little car, don't you think? The cars in the photo are the ScootCoupes — little two-seaters that top out at 35 mph and get 80 mpg — owned by Roxy's Pub in West Palm Beach. The restaurant uses them for local deliveries, according to this Sun-Sentinel article. We find them absolutely adorable.

South Floridians seek cheap wheels as gas prices soar [Sun-Sentinel]
ScootCoupe [Official Site]
Roxy's Pub [MenuPages]
Roxy's Pub [Official Site]

Photo: Scott Fisher for the Sun-Sentinel

The Hungry Man informs us that the CityPlace location of the famed Columbia Restaurant is closing its doors. In fact, it's already been deleted from the company's official website; the West Palm Beach location is no longer listed on top. Here's what Charles Passy had to say about it:

I can’t say I’m surprised. Or disappointed.

I made it only once to the West Palm Columbia. I loved the airy space — and I loved the wine list (probably the deepest collection of Spanish wines in all of the Southeast, if not all of the United States) — but the food was no great shakes. A Spanish restaurant lives and dies by its paella. Columbia’s version was middling at best. In fact, it wasn’t as good as the paella I’ve had at Cabana, the hip Cuban eatery in downtown West Palm.

Moreover, I’m not so certain that Columbia’s other locations are worth the hype. I haven’t been to the Tampa original, but I did visit a Columbia in Clearwater once. The food was so bad I ended up writing management a letter of complaint. Methinks there’s been a fair bit of coasting-on-the-legend going on…

Another CityPlace casualty: Columbia crashes [The Hungry Man]
Columbia [MenuPages]
Columbia [Official Site]

The former owner of the Cheeburger Cheeburger restaurants in Boca Raton, Delray Beach and Lake Worth pleaded guilty on Friday to stealing $177,390 in sales taxes, according to the Sun-Sentinel:

Paul Darrow, 52, must perform 480 hours of community service and spend the next 20 years on probation, according to court records. He also must repay $177,390.

Darrow owned three Cheeburger Cheeburger restaurants — in Boca Raton, Delray Beach and Lake Worth — when in 2006 authorities charged him with failing to file tax returns and pay taxes. The Florida Department of Revenue said that between 2003 and 2005 Darrow failed to send the state all of the sales tax he had collected.

Former restaurant owner owes state $177,000 [Sun-Sentinel]
Cheeburger Cheeburger [MenuPages]
Cheeburger Cheeburger [Official Site]

Photo: dgphilli [Flickr]

Slainte Irish Pub opened in Boynton Beach just in time for St. Patrick's Day. They've been partying all weekend with music, Irish dancing and tons of bangers and mash, corned beef sandwiches and fish and chips, but you can still catch the tail end of the festivities today.

Slainte [MenuPages]
Slainte [Official Site]

Who doesn't love free pizza? Even bad pizza is still pizza, which is inherently awesome. We've never tried the pizza at Grotto in Palm Beach, but it does have something going for it: it's free during happy hour. The chef makes thin-crust pizzas with different toppings, and the slices are then handed out to those enjoying the drink specials: $2.50 draught beer (Moretti and Peroni), $5 house wines (a cabernet, a chianti, a pinot grigio and a chardonnay), and half-priced well drinks. And this happens every day between 3 and 7 p.m.

Grotto [MenuPages]
Grotto [Official Site]

Photo: Grotto Restaurants

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

We just got our first review for Forte Di Asprinio, the much-anticipated restaurant from Top Chef Season 1 cheftestant Stephen Asprinio:

I have just tried Forte Di Asperinio on Clematis Street. I was hoping for something really great. While the concept is there (sort of) the vibe is very lacking. The stark white combined with cool purple and pink tones is simply not comfortable or hunger inducing. I found it hard to "indulge my senses" with the uptight vibe coming from the obviously stressed out (and over dressed) staff. This restaurant was clearly thought out in exact detail. I think the problem is with the (immature) perspective. The owner is obviously very young, stark and uptight himself. His presence made me uncomfortable. The food was pretty tasty. However, I would have enjoyed it more if the dining room wasn't so uncomfortable. The tables are too close together and the service is too in your face. This place needs to soften up and relax. Maybe then the food could stand out.

Forte Di Asprinio [MenuPages]
Forte Di Asprinio [Official Site]

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

It is scary out there. One minute you're heading back into Wendy's because the kid's meal you got for your four-year-old is missing, and the next minute you get a bullet to the head. That's what happened to the firefighter who took a lunch break at a Wendy's in West Palm Beach with his wife and son at the most inopportune moment:

Sandra Jackson of Palm Springs was filling her tank at the Cumberland Farms gas station across the street when the frantic customers began running out of the restaurant. Jackson said a woman rushed out with her young son, screaming that her husband, a firefighter, was still inside.

"I said 'what happened? what happened, its going to be ok,'" she said.

"She said, 'No there is a guy in Wendy's shooting and my husband hasn't come out.'"

The victim's wife works for the Palm Springs Police Department. She was hired in 2000 as a dispatcher for Palm Springs Police. In 2005, she became a corporal and now runs the midnight shift. She was uninjured. She had just stepped outside to put their 4-year-old son in the car. Apparently she was at the front door. After hearing gunshots, she took cover behind another car farther from the shooting. The couple has a number of children.

Two killed in shooting at Wendy's near West Palm Beach [Palm Beach Post]

The long-awaited restaurant from former Top Chef contestant Stephen Asprinio finally opened this past Saturday in Palm Beach. Forte Di Asprinio offers

We just got a copy of the menu -- it's extensive. There are two lunch menus, a "pronto" and a "prezzo fisso." The former has more options and is $15; you choose one antipasti, an entree (from paninis, salads and pizzas) and a dessert, and they're served all at once. The "prezzo fisso" is $25 and includes three courses, which are served one after the other. No sandwiches or pizza on this menu.

On to dinner. There's an a la carte menu as well as a "menu degustazione" for $65 or $95 with wine. Here's the "menu degustazione:"

• Kona kampachi with sunchokes, oregano-caper salsa verde, and pear
• Quail saltimboca "Lyonnaise" with pomegranate, guanciale croutons, and sage leaf
• Risotto al Chianti, with black truffle, porcini, and parmiggiano espuma
• Berkshire pork duet with almonds, golden beets, and borlotti beans
• Cioccolato: Amedai Tuscan torta, banana-dulce de leche gelato, and malt foam

But wait! There's more! The menu continues with an after hours selection of mussels, fish and chips, sliders, pizzettes, pork belly frites (!!!!), fries, popcorn and sweets to accompany your cocktails. We'll have the whole menu online tomorrow morning.

Forte Di Asprinio [Official Site]
Stephen Asprinio [Official Site]

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

We were in the process of updating Who's Restaurant & Lounge when we came across the restaurant's MySpace page. Here's the message that greeted us:

Who’s is Closed Due To CHEAP and NON LOYAL people

Who's Lounge [MySpace]
Who's Restaurant & Lounge [MenuPages]
Who's Restaurant & Lounge [Official Site]

L'Anjou in Lake Worth offers a $20 dinner every day of the week during the season, but you've only got a 45-minute window to get it. Show up between 5 p.m. and 5:45 p.m. and make sure to bring cash; no cards are accepted for the early dinner. Here are your options (choose one for each course):

First Course
• soupe du jour
• vichysoisse
• onion soupe gratinee
• pate de canard
• rillettes de canard
• tomato and blue cheese tart
• fresh fruit cup
• house salad

Second Course
• pasta of the day
• veal francaise
• veal cordon bleu
• sole meuniere
• tilapia a l'estragon
• seafood crepe
• snapper and seafood en croute
• beef bourguignon
• chicken basquaise
• veal liver lyonnaise
• NY bordelaise ($24)
• duck a l'orange ($26)

Third Course
• house dessert with coffee or tea

We're pretty impressed by the number of options. Even if the portions are on the smallish side, if you order correctly (i.e. don't get the house salad or the pasta of the day), it could be a really great deal.

L'Anjou [MenuPages]

Spring training games at Roger Dean Stadium kick off on February 26 with the now-annual Marlins-University of Miami game. We're hoping the fish can duplicate their win from last year.

Both the Marlins and the Cardinals play at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, which means that when they play each other, they take turns being the home and away teams. If you're headed to a game this spring to see either (or both!) teams play, here are a few places you might want to consider for a meal nearby. The most obvious place to eat is the Abacoa Town Center, which is pretty much next door to the stadium and hosts a number of restaurants:

• JJ Muggs, a sports bar that serves the usual wings, burgers, nachos and sandwiches.

• Thai Grand Palace lacks atmosphere, but the food is solid, and they offer a lunch special under $7.

• If you're looking for an Irish-themed pub, Rooney's Public House is a good bet. They've got some tasty-looking burgers and a good selection of fish sandwiches.

• Jumby Bay Island Grill is a good place for drinks, if you're into the loud, raucous crowd, which you very well might be after a good ballgame.

JJ Muggs [MenuPages]
Thai Grand Palace [MenuPages]
Rooney's Public House [MenuPages]
Jumby Bay Island Grill [MenuPages]

Photo: Flickr

Post columnist Frank Cerabino has a humorous take on how to get the golden arches onto the island, despite the Palm Beach City Council's recent vote to ban chain restaurants. Just imagine: Cafe Ronaldo, with valet parking and McCaviar.

Big Mac can use sneak attack to elbow onto island [Palm Beach Post]
Palm Beach Bans Chain Restaurants, Fun [Palm Beach Post]

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.

All right, so they're not really banning fun. But the city council is considering a zoning ordinance that would ban televisions and recorded or live background music in restaurants after 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday and 10:45 p.m. every other night. Which fits in nicely with the moneyed fuddy-duddy image we have of Palm Beach.

The council also unanimously voted yesterday to ban any restaurant with more than three locations and a standardized menu:

The ban is an effort to "lock the barn before any more horses get out," as William Guttman, chairman of the planning and zoning board, said in December.

The horse that got out is Starbucks, which operates a 25-seat shop at 150 Worth Ave. The coffee giant opened in March amid worries of the flip-flop-wearing crowd it would attract.

The move to preserve the town's character would have prevented the upscale Italian eatery Grotto Ristorante from opening on Royal Poinciana Way last year.

The restaurant is one of at least four of the same name operated by Dallas-based Landry's Restaurants.

The change in the zoning code that the council approved defines "formula" restaurants as three or more of a chain with either similar names and trademarks; standardized menus and food; or similar architecture, interior design or uniforms.

Still, a chain operation could move into town in disguise, as Houston's did in 1999 by tweaking its menu and changing its name in town to the Palm Beach Grill.

The ban must be approved by two votes on an ordinance in April and May.

Palm Beach moves to bar chain eateries to protect character [Palm Beach Post]

There's a new California Pizza Kitchen down here, this one in Boca Raton's Town Center. It opened yesterday at 4 p.m. and is already quite busy, or so we gathered from the cacophony of noises in the background when we called. We're sure they serve the favorite barbecue chicken pizza, pictured here. We will never understand the appeal of chicken on pizza, but, well, if that's your thing, head on over there.

California Pizza Kitchen [MenuPages]
California Pizza Kitchen [Official Site]

Photo: Flickr

Ready for this weekend's Garlic Fest in Delray Beach? We have never been to a garlic festival (we've always thought it would be fun to visit Gilroy, Calif. during garlic festival time), but we are huge fans of the odiferous bulb, so festivals that celebrate garlic are all right in our book. There will be cooking demonstrations and even a Garlic Chef Competition featuring some local chefs. Add tribute bands, games for the kids and, of course, lots of garlicky dishes. It sounds like fun on paper (or rather, on the computer screen), but the chowhounds didn't seem too enthusiastic about it; there are complaints about underwhelming food, expensive food and a $2 charge per kid per ride in the bounce house. So go, but understand that it might strain the wallet a bit.

Delray Beach Garlic Fest [Official Site]
Garlic Festival, Delray 2/8-10 [Chowhound]

Every year, sometime in February, our parents would drive us down to the Homestead area to pick tons and tons of strawberries. We'd usually get two big boxfuls of red, juicy berries, most of which wouldn't even last past dinner that night. We were just thinking about those wonderful berries today, so we thought we'd make a few calls and find out if the strawberries are ripe yet. Turns out that they are, at every single farm we called. Lots of local farms have strawberries, but unfortunately fewer and fewer are doing U-Pick, likely because of higher insurance rates. Most u-pick farms also let you pick other fruits and veggies, like tomatoes, lettuce and eggplant. Here's a good list with which to start:

• Knaus Berry Farm 15980 SW 248th St in Homestead, 305-247-0668. Our personal favorite, if only because you can finish an afternoon of berry picking with a sticky cinnamon bun and a thick strawberry milkshake. The u-pick strawberries are $2.25 per pound.

• Beefy U-Pick Farm 9865 Boynton Beach Blvd in Boynton Beach, 561-441-9721. U-pick strawberries are $2.10 per pound.

• Hydro Delight U-Pick Farms 15550 Okeechobee Blvd in Loxahatchee Groves, 561-792-4800. The strawberries here are organic and grown hydroponically, which means they're kind of stacked one on top of the other. It uses less land, less energy and less water, and involves a lot less stooping and crouching for the picker. (We couldn't get someone on the phone, so we don't have any idea about the price.)

• The Girls Strawberry U-Pick 14466 S Military Trl in Delray Beach, 561-496-0188. When we called and asked if the strawberries were in, the person on the phone chuckled and said, "We've got a ton of them." These are also hydroponic, so no bending necessary. (On the site, it's advertised as "senior citizen friendly.") Berries are $4.99 per pound.

UPDATE: JD told us about another u-pick place, which seems to be smack-dab in the middle of Kendall. It's called U-Pick Fresh Produce, and there are two locations: at 137th Ave and 95th St and at 167th Ave and Kendall Dr. They have an ad in The Miami Herald, and if you can find it and bring it in, you get a 10 percent discount on the produce.

Photo: Flickr

We saw this photo in miami fever's Flickr recently. Blue ice cream isn't really our thing, but that photo still makes us want to dig right in. We love ice cream, and we always like learning about new places that do it right. You know, the kind of place where the ice cream is thick and creamy and .... mmm. Yum. Anyway, this particular cone comes from Sloan's, which we are ashamed to admit we had never heard of before. The fact that the four-location ice cream chain (all in Palm Beach County) has a Wikipedia page makes us think we probably should have known of it and should schedule a visit sometime soon. Other things we learned, thanks to Wikipedia: Sloan's was ranked #4 in a list of the most unique ice cream parlors in the country and was ranked #10 by the Travel Channel on its list of the top best bathrooms in the world.

The bathroom has clear glass doors that look right into the parlor. When you turn the door handles, the glass fogs up and becomes completely opaque. The doors are made of two panels of glass. Between the panels is a mixture of polymer and liquid crystals. A constant electrical current keeps the crystals in line and the glass transparent. But when the door handle is locked, the current is stopped, the crystals fall, and the glass looks clouded.

Sloan's Ice Cream [Official Site]
Sloan's Ice Cream [Wikipedia]

Photo: miami fever's Flickr

We have a pretty great system of gathering menus, but sometimes, we just can't get some of them, for a variety of reasons. And we have only so much time on our hands to canvass the large area from Jupiter to Key West asking for menus, so this is where you guys come in. If you happen to dine at one of these establishments and can send a menu our way (fax 561-892-5771), we'd appreciate it. A lot.

• Cafe Frankie's, 640 E Ocean Ave in Boynton Beach
• Abacoa Snack Bar, 105 Barbados Dr in Jupiter
• Acapulco Restaurant, 10419 Southern Blvd in Royal Palm Beach
• Swampgrass Willy's Smokehouse, 9910 Highway A1A Alt in Palm Beach Gardens

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

We'd been keeping an eye on
Bonefish Grill, which has been expanding at a breakneck pace. The newest location, in Boynton Beach, was supposed to open last fall, but you know how these things go. We have yet to see a restaurant open anytime near its scheduled date. But we did just learn that the Boynton location will be open for business at 1880 N Congress Avenue on February 11.

Bonefish Grill [Official Site]