Doggie Bag: This Week in Charlie

Without further ado, This Week in Charlie…That Orbit gum girl was dead wrong: Pan Pasad is what cleans a dirty mouth.New Times is honored in the immortal halls of Sushi 1. Here’s what happens when you help yourself to your tenant’s restaurant, its employees, and concept: you get served. It’s…

South Florida Restaurants Admit to Serving Kobe Beef That Isn’t Kobe

Jackie SayetWhere’s the boeuf? Gordon Biersch’s new “German Kobe Burger” is one tasty number, but it’s neither from Germany nor Japan.​Bova Prime is one of the busiest restaurants on Las Olas in downtown Fort Lauderdale. Chic, modern cylindrical chandeliers loom over a two-story dining room, which is paneled in long…

World’s Largest Cupcake to Trounce Mizner Park at Think Pink Rocks

Tomorrow night’s Think Pink Rocks concert at the Count de Hoernle Amphitheater in Mizner Park should be full of cupcakes screaming groupie-style at hip-hop artists AKON and Shontelle. But one cupcake in particular will tower over all the rest: the 1500-pound pink-iced creation that will vie for the title of…

Craig “Pizza Expert” Agranoff on CBS 12 News

CBS 12 News did a segment last night featuring South Florida’s own Craig “the Pizza Expert” Agranoff, the man behind the pizza review website worstpizza.com. Reporter Emily Pantelides and “Really Big Stud” cameraman Chad tagged along with the Expert (or Lapp, as he’s known in certain circles) on a visit…

Rockstar Zero Carb Energy Drink: Surprisingly Drinkable

After nearly two solid decades of heavy caffeine consumption, I count myself nearly immune to the wonder drug. While my morning coffee/Diet Mountain Dew regimen gets me back to normal, sometimes that’s simply not enough. So I’ve decided to start trying out the bevy of energy drinks on the market…

Top Five Restaurants to Visit For Dine Out Lauderdale

A better headline: Fixed-price Three Course Meals Lay Claim to South FloridaThat’s what seems to be going on, anyway, when, from month to month, one version of the “meal deal” ends and another begins. Flavor Palm Beach and Miami Spice both ended yesterday — no more can diners show up…

Beer of the Week: Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale

Unrepentant beer drinkers, rejoice! Each week, Clean Plate Charlie will select one craft or import beer and give you the lowdown on it: How does it taste? What should you drink it with? Where can you find it? But mostly, it’s all about the love of the brew. If you…

Taverna Opa Channels “Animal House”

Okay, Lirim Jacobi isn’t John Belushi and Taverna Opa isn’t Faber College, but a toga party is a toga party.     And even U.S. Senator Blutarsky would have to admit that a toga party hosted by WILD 95.5 with DJs, wine tastings, a whole spit-roasted lamb, belly dancing, fire dancing, a…

Yummy! Soggy Pickles in a Can!

It is not at all hard to make pickles. All it takes is a few vital ingredients: cucumbers, some brine, a jar, and some patience. If you’re missing any of these things, your pickles won’t turn out so hot. Also, it seems I’ve just discovered if you have too much…

Side Dish: Chini’s Burritos

This four-table restaurant in a rundown strip mall in Coral Springs is unassuming, but the authentic fare tastes like it comes straight from a kitchen in Mexico. The menu features the standard taco/burrito/quesadilla boilerplate, so order from the board of specials by the register. Everything is handmade daily, like the…

The World’s Gone to Pot, So Let’s Eat Gravy

It’s a truism of the restaurant business that when the world goes to shit, diners’ taste for Indo-Peruvian Tuscan burrito sushi gratins vanishes, replaced by an intense craving for the culinary equivalent of a pat on the head, a glass of warm milk, and a thick, soft blankie to tuck…

From Romantic to Cheap Fling: Our Top Restaurants for a Date

Let’s go old school here and assume that it’s the gents who have to select which restaurant is best for wining and dining the ladies. (Or, for our gay readership, maybe you can just flip a coin or have a sexy baby-oil wrestling match to determine the chief decisionmakers in…

New Restaurants: The Most Notable Newcomers in the Past Year

If there’s anything good that can be said about the past year or so in our economy-blighted restaurant industry, it’s that we’re beginning to loosen the bonds of the mall-and-chain dining megaliths that have for so long dominated the scene in Broward and Palm Beach counties. Here’s a sample of…

Taco Bell’s Half Pound Burritos will fill you up alright…

It’s official, there is some truth in advertising. Taco Bell’s half pound burritos will indeed fill you up. But it’s not a pleasant “I won’t have to eat for at least six hours” feeling of satisfaction. No, it’s more of “I can’t be further than 50 feet from a bathroom…

Bon Appetit in Lake Worth

Old-fashioned French cuisine (or “time-honored,” depending on how you see these things) got its 15 minutes of fame last month with the release of Julie and Julia, probably the first time anyone under 90 has heard the words “boeuf Bourguignon” and “dinner” in the same sentence.  Except perhaps at L’Anjou…

Order Up: The Restaurant at 251

An excerpt from this week’s Dish review on the Restaurant at 251, formerly da Francesco’s: Picture this: You’ve been invited for dinner at a friend’s house. He prepared a lovely meal – a salad of baby lettuces and herbs from the garden, and a whole roasted pork loin dressed with…

Restaurant News: More Dearly Departed, Hefty Theft, Fat Fighter?

•    Stick a fork in ’em, they’re done. Memphis BBQ & Blues, which took over the West Palm location of the late (and inexplicably lamented) Tom’s Place, will smoke no more (not that they did that much or that well to begin with). Also gone belly up is Culinary Café…