3 New Restaurants In FTL

Coming soon: Tap 42 (pictured above) is set to open off of Andrews Ave. and SW 14th St in September. They recently took part in the Seminole Hard Rock Rock N Roll Beer B Que (pictures here) and seem to already have a following, considering this is “just two brothers who are opening a new bar, and want to make it a cool place for you, and us to hang out”, according to their page on Facebook.  The venue will have 42 beers on tap and 100+ bottled (largely crafts), live music nightly, food, and an outdoor patio. A quick visit to their website and you can sign up for their mailing list and send over your personal beer suggestions.   Sounds like Tap 42 is making a genuine effort to become the area’s newest neighborhood bar.  Located at 1411 S Andrews Avenue, FTL.

Open: In the spot that used to be Barbara Young Bake Shop, and a different cupcake place before that, East End Eats has opened up.  The cafe has breakfast, lunch, sandwiches, pastries, coffees, and more and is open Monday through Saturday 8:00am-5:30pm and Sundays 8:00am-3:00pm. East End Eats is at 1523 Las Olas Blvd, FTL.

Coming soon: The much-anticipated, and needed since Bluejays’ closing, Old Fort Lauderdale Breakfast House that we posted about in June will be opening Friday, August 5.  Where Village Pie never opened, O-B House is just about ready to go with their breakfast menu and plan to be open 7 days a week.  While a little pricey and no coffee refills, they do have some interesting choices such as the “D-Clawed”: soft, fresh, free range egg O-B omelet filled with jumbo lump crab, cream cheese, fresh, chopped cilantro, and served with O-B oven roasted Yukon golds or cheese grits and O-B toast ($14). Located at 333 Himmarshee St, FTL.

4 Things We’re Ordering at Riverwalk’s Food Truck Rally

This Wednesday, downtown Fort Lauderdale gets to finally join in on the food truck craze. Let me tell you, it’s about damn time. The rally called Gourmet In The Park will be located at Esplanade Park (the park just in front of the Museum of Discovery and Science). While I wish Broward had more representation at some of these local rallies, I’ll just be happy that these Miami trucks are willing to drive across county lines. At this rally, the following trucks will be present: CheeseMe Mobile, The Fish Box, Nacho Mama’s Mexican Grill, Ms. Cheezious, Sugar Rush, Latin Burger, Sugar Yummy Mama, Nacho Bizness, Slow Food Truck, Big Kahuna, The Rolling Stove, and Dim Ssam A Go-Go.

Here are 4 food items we have our eye on at this Wednesday’s food truck rally:

Ground Beef Nachos @ Nacho Mama’s Mexican Grill 

the food truck Nacho Mama

photo from FoodTruckCatering.com

As an appetizer, we’re going to order some nachos from Coral Springs-based food truck Nacho Mama’s. Ordering tex-mex seems like a no-brainer when it comes to food trucks. Since Nacho Bizness is usually outside of Fat Cat’s on any given weekend night, we figured Nacho Mama’s might be worth a shot. In an article on Miami New Times, one of the owners recommended the shrimp burrito or the skirt steak nachos. Both those items are not listed on their online menu, but if they’re available on Wendesday, we’re might switch our order to one of those.

Custom Grilled Cheese @ CheeseMe Mobile

a grilled cheese from CheeseMe Mobile

photo from Yelp.com

I must admit that when I planned on writing this post, CheeseMe’s Mac N Cheese Pancakes were on the top of my list. However, after reading a lot of negative reviews, I’ve changed my mind. The best aspect about this truck is the ability to custom order your own cheesy creation. My eye’s on the Texas Toast with vintage cheddar and roasted turkey. I will add that prices are a little steep (cheese + bread is $6, add $2 -$6 for insertions).

Short Rib Sandwich @ Slow Food Truck

Short Rib Sandwich from Slow Food Truck

photo from BurgerBeast.com

While a lot of happy reviewers spoke highly of a sandwich called The Ono, I couldn’t find the sandwich on their online menu. So I’m opting to try their other highly praised sandwich Short Rib Sandwich.

G.O.A.T. Cookie @ Sugar Rush

Sugar Rush GOAT Cookie

photo from BurgerBeast.com

Almost every online reviewer loves this cookie, so I must try it. It’s a chocolate cookie with fudge inside. With reasonable prices on the menu, there’s no doubt I’ll be ordering more than one item. I’m looking at you Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding. This food truck appears to be a sure bet. Make this your final evening stop to cap off a greasy dinner.

Side note: There are so many good food trucks coming this Wednesday, and just because we didn’t include a food truck in this post doesn’t mean they aren’t good– chances are that we have tried them before or will include them in the next food truck post. For reviews of the other food trucks, search Burger Beast. That guy is the aficionado of South Florida food trucks. 

The 6th Annual Red Eye Has Arrived

Tonight, ArtServe in Sunrise will be lending its 20,000 square-foot space to host the 6th annual multi-platform art event known as Red Eye.  View  live painting, bands, body painting, spoken word, 175 pieces of art, a graffiti challenge, short films, fashion,  and  various eats including three food trucks, all for a $5 donation.  Below is a taste of what you might see (click on the photos for more artist info):

Live painting by Kazilla

Henna Tattoos By Lori

Watercolor By Tatiana Suarez

Grilled Cheese From Ms. Cheezious

Graffiti By Virginia Cuellar

Body Paint By Way Wicked Art

Red Eye Main Event is Friday, July 22, 2011 from 6-9pm.  It’s $5 and is at ArtServe which is located at 1350 E Sunrise Blvd., FTL.  Free parking at ArtServe, War Memorial Auditorium (800 NE 8th St), and St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church (815 NE 15th Ave.)

Ray Lewis Real Estate Closes; Stanley Cup Never Coming To Broward

By Fat Hand

It seems like only yesterday that Ray Lewis, UM alum and Super Bowl XXXV MVP, was opening a new real estate office/art gallery on Las Olas. I cannot vouch for his real estate business, but the art gallery was kind of funny. The one time I stopped in, the vast majority of the art was either photographs or paintings of big number 52 himself. But sadly RL52 Realty on Las Olas Boulevard has closed down. We at the FTLC are not sure exactly when this happened, but we did notice this past weekend that although the “RL52” is still visible on the awning, the realty office/art gallery has been replaced with baby clothes and related crap. I know what you’re thinking: ew, babies.

In other sort-of-local sports news, Nathan Horton of the NHL champion Boston Bruins disappointed local sports fans when he chose to take the Stanley Cup to his small hometown of Dunnville, Ontario rather than to his hockey-mad transplanted home of Fort Lauderdale, Florida as had been previously reported, and where he lives with his smokeshow former Playboy model wife. Outrageous! Luckily JetBlue Airways has our back and took their sweet old time processing the Stanley Cup through the baggage check, causing the Cup to miss its flight and arrive several hours late for the Dunnville celebration. Don’t tread on us Dunnville, Ontario. You’re lucky it was just hockey, and not something really popular down here like jai alai.