Category Archives: Food Finds

Florida, Food Finds, Local Eats

Riggins Crabhouse and Seafood Market

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My mouth waters just thinking about this place…

It was the scene of the best date ever, one for the books. Not just for the company, of course, but also because of the atmosphere and the menu fare. Seafood. And seafood. And so much good juju packed into a small place that you really can’t help but stay all night.

Great beer, for starters. And the friendliest staff you could ever meet. Probably because it is one of West Palm’s most loved family owned establishments for over 20 years. Specializing in Maryland blue crabs, they are so well known for their crabs that there is always a steady stream of patrons at the back door where their little hole in the wall seafood market (counter 🙂 keeps a busy pace.  But we go for the love… where Mama and the kids who tend bar, cook the crabs, wait on the customers will all slide into our booth at one point or another to exchange hugs, kisses and lots of laughs. We love this place, inside and out.

Tuesday nights are all you can eat garlic crabs and I will get seriously cranky if we don’t get there pretty early because it takes time to eat garlic crabs. I enjoy the family so much, I just want time to hang out, like going to a family function or your best friends house. It’s always a good time and you are always stuffed when you leave.

It’s also a place where you can still get one of Florida’s specialties: frog legs. I won’t try to convince you if you have never had them or aren’t a fan but if you are… oh. my. ga.  I once ate so many frog legs I made myself sick one night and never regretted it for a minute. It was really due to the gorgeous garlic butter that Riggins is really known for, but you just can’t help yourself when the frog legs are done this well.

Another thing to try if you love fries… are their curly fries. Not just an ordinary fry, but one of their famous sides that will come with your entree or crabs.

Can’t say enough good things about this place, but as a closing note and worth consideration is that if you can’t finish your all you can eat crabs, guess what? Mama will pack them up to go… No lie. Leftovers here, rule and it will keep you coming back time and time again. Date or no date, I promise you that. And any date that brings you here, you better know that they are a keeper!

Riggins Crabhouse
607 Ridge Rd
Lantana, FL 33462
United States

Florida, Food Finds, Produce

Greenacres Farmer’s Market

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For the love of tomatoes, go here!  Now these are not your average tomatoes. These are the famous beefsteak tomatoes you get at one of my all time favorite Greek restaurants, Cris’ Taverna on Lantana Rd.  Cris, as you probably know if you’ve ever been there, serves the most impressive beefsteak tomatoes in its famous salads. They are so impressive, I had to ask Mama where they get them. She smiles proudly and patiently tells me in precise detail just where to go to find them. Tsunami makes a note in his phone and we carry on with our meal.

Greenacres Farmer’s Market, it turns out. I didn’t know the name of it until I finally made my way to the place, having only Mama’s crossroads description and GPS at hand. Lo and behold, it’s right in my neighborhood where we do almost all of our produce shopping. It will easily fit into our rounds and I’m so excited it’s so close to where I live.

Happily, I meander the aisles and I ask the cashier if I can get the tomatoes from Cris’ here. She smiles and says enthusiastically, “Of course!! Everyone comes here for our tomatoes. We take great pride in our tomatoes.”  As you should, I think to myself, just tickled and thoroughly excited to find the ones I’ve been dreaming about for weeks.

These are some of the best tasting storage tomatoes I’ve come across. I know they are grown locally and usually I will buy about 5-6 lbs at a time but the cashier recently told me that if I just buy them by the case, they were a lot cheaper. I buy enough, according to her to make it worth my while. So that is exactly what I did the last time I went and sure enough, for about $23 I walked away with a lot more than 5-6 lbs and it turned out to be roughly $1/lb. A super steal of a deal for these beautiful tomatoes.

No longer pressed to get it right in my own garden, I have a backup plan until I finally get my green thumb back on track.

Greenacres Farmer’s Market
3091 Jog Rd.
Lake Worth, FL
561-968-5782

Florida, Food Finds, Local Eats

Catfish Dewey’s

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Definitely a go to… Catfish Dewey’s is technically in the Fort Lauderdale hood, but given that Fort Lauderdale’s Hollywood airport is about a half hour drive from my house, it didn’t seem to be much of a stretch to drive there for some good eats.

And by good eats, I mean all you can eat seafood kind of good eats.  One of my all time favorites, Riggin’s Crabshack is still my number 1 for all you can eat garlic crabs and of course, our family friends who own and run this well known local establishment. However coming in at a close 2nd is Catfish Dewey’s. Primarily because their all you can eat daily menu changes focus and regardless of which night, and which all you can eat menu is being highlighted that night, you can always get all you can eat catfish.

Took the kids here last week as an after New Year’s treat to test the waters with them and see if they liked it as much as we did. Asked if they wanted to go back sometime, it was a resounding heck yea… All you can eat Alaskan Snow crab for $35 is a bit hard to beat, especially with 2 bottomless teenage boys in tow.

When you order all you can eat specials, you get the added benefit of getting the rest of the lower priced all you can eat items as a bonus. You simply can’t beat a table loaded down with snow crab, fried catfish, fried oysters and clam strips, peel and eat shrimp and crawfish. House rule is that there is no sharing but when you order 3 all you can eat menu items, they usually lose interest in holding you to that rule. If you don’t even put a dent into what they considered an all you can eat attempt, they will usually be gracious and load up a few to go boxes as well, especially if it’s closing time.

Just show up hungry… It’s a great family atmosphere and the place is packed every time we go. If you really have a craving for seafood, their seasonal Stone Crab all you can eat is really a special treat. However, now that I’ve found the stone and Jonah’s crab claw fishermen in Jupiter, I save the stone crabs for something we do at home. Anything else though, plan on a visit to Dewey’s. You simply won’t be disappointed and you sure as hell won’t leave hungry. Great for get togethers, special events or something fun on a week night.

Catfish Dewey’s Location:
4003 N. Andrews Avenue
Oakland Park, Florida
954-566-5333

Catfish Dewey’s Dinner Menu

Florida, Food Finds

Torero’s Authentic Mexican Cuisine

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Foodie synchronicity is running hot in my house right now… What started out as just a little venture out to find something new for dinner turned into a super cool evening at Torero’s.

The night before, I had seen an episode of Andrew Zimmern in Oaxaca, Mexico and it reminded me of something I hadn’t had in a long time. Molcajete.

I tried to convey my affection for this authentic Mexican specialty. This dish is cooked and served in a traditional molcajete, which is essentially a giant mortar style vessel made of volcanic rock that can withstand seriously high temperatures. Most often molcajetes are cooked on open flame with all ingredients simmering away cauldron-style to let the flavors and ingredients marry. Once you have one, fajitas sort of fade from view…

I’ve had the best molcajete in Minnesota, oddly enough, and it brought back some poignant memories for me when I relayed the experience to my intrigued and ever patient listener. But most of all, it made me hungry! I really wanted to share the experience with my Tsunami of Goodness, as he likes to refer to himself, so I began to research whether or not I could find this here in South Florida. My search results returned a popular chain restaurant, which I immediately ignored, but the other restaurant in the list seemed to be on the right track. Feeling satisfied that I had a place in mind, I relegated it to the list of restaurants to check out soon.

Last night after work, we decided to go out for a bite and all the usual suspects we typically haunt close to home were on the proverbial table. However, Mr. Tsunami decides we should explore a bit and we discuss several possible cuisines, locations, etc. We hit one spot, have a beer and decide to move on, not quite feeling the whole vibe or feeling in the mood for steakhouse… We jump in the car and he just starts driving, calling out local gems, testing the appetite waters. He says, “I know… you really want Mexican. But let’s just drive a bit more; I think I know an area that might just have something interesting.” We drive by a country western restaurant/bar/nightclub and giggle… perhaps another night if we want to play cowboy/cowgirl. We head down the street a bit further.

He turns into a plaza and as we drive in, I see a street sign and say, “Hey, that sounds familiar, I wonder if that Mexican place is over here somewhere…wouldn’t that be weird and cool?” I decide to get out my phone and look up the address to Torero’s, the restaurant I found online the night before. As we are meandering through the plaza he asks me what the name of it was and I can’t remember. He’s pointing out several little hole in the wall places as we make our way through the parking lot and I find the restaurant on my phone but can’t quite find the address. At exactly the same moment we both say, “Torero’s.” In shock we both look at each other and start laughing. He stops the car right in front of Torero’s and teases,”You probably don’t feel like going here do ya?” I tell him to park and do a happy dance in my seat.

We go in and can just feel it. Yes, right place. On to the molcajete. Modelo on tap, chips, salsa, queso… check. All excellent. We can’t stop oohing and ahhing over the menu. I order the molcajete, which unfortunately isn’t served family style here. Unthwarted by presentation, I order it anyway. Tsunami orders combo fajitas. Neither of us are disappointed. After the first bite, he blurts out, “I already can’t wait to come back… this place is awesome.”

As we sit and discuss how full we are, another synchro-food moment arrives. I am staring at one of the tabletop marketing thingy’s for dessert and I began to read the menu looking for sopapillas. I know he loves them but few restaurants make them around here so I don’t have any expectations really. I pick up the plastic dessert frame, eyes wide, not believing my luck. Could this place be any cooler??!! Just as I turn it around to proudly display my discovery, he says, “Wonder if they have sopapillas?? NO!! WAY!!” Of course we order some…

Again, another local Florida Food Finds worth a drive… If you crave authentic Mexican food at ridiculously affordable prices, you absolutely must check out Torero’s in West Palm. Next time we go back, I’m having one of their famous Chelada’s. Maybe two. Cheladas are beer mixed with spicy tomato juice. Sounds crazy but is extraordinarily good and supposedly, they make some of the best ones in town. Worth a trip just for that, I’m sure.

Torero’s Menu
911 Village Blvd, West Palm Beach 33409
(At Brandywine Rd)
(561) 578-6959

Florida, Food Finds

Wing Wong BBQ

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Oh baby. Quantum Physics, I love you… You know how sometimes there is such synchronicity in the Universe that it stops you in your tracks, tickles you to the bone? That is what happened this last Friday. When you are ready, the world is ready for you… I have been thinking about Peking Duck and talking about it a lot, as of late. The week before, I was googling trying to find a Chinese restaurant that served Dim Sum because in my experience, it’s always the best dim sum “palaces” that specialize in this roasted duck Chinese specialty. Distracted, as I usually get when trying to do research, I forgot about it until the weekend started to creep around… The subject comes up again, but this time, my foodie BFF and I are discussing another Chinese specialty… BBQ pork. Also known as Char Siu, I enthuse to my compatriot, who I am sure is only half listening to me as we go into our favorite Asian grocery store in search of our necessary food finds.

As is usually the case, we immediately split up following whatever pulls us down the aisles. He is on a mission, looking in the refrigerated cases for BBQ pork and I am on another mission. Assuming we may not find it prepared, I head down the prepared condiment aisles looking for the next best thing. I’m thinking that we’ll make it ourselves. After all, I have a pretty awesome pit master and 2 outdoor grills at my disposal. Why wouldn’t we try?  We meet up a few minutes later. He’s a little disappointed he didn’t find the pork but mollified by other fun finds, clutching several goodies in hand. We could spend hours here and it’s become one of our weekend treats, to make our rounds prepping for the kids we get the pleasure of cooking for over the weekends. They love Lo Mein and Chinese fried rice, so that’s what we are perfecting this particular weekend that sent us in search of the elusive Char Siu.

I’ve found the ingredients for marinating our own pork tenderloin and we excitedly discuss how we’re going to do it. On the way out to the car, we pass again, the Chinese restaurant just next door… But this time, we both stop and look in the window at the Peking Duck hanging there, invitingly. We look at each other and head to the car, Chinese goodies and a Vietnamese Cherry tree in tow. He’s putting the tree in and just says to me, “Go in and check it out. I know you want to…” I giggle and hop out of the car practically skipping. And then I see it… hanging right next to the last duck… CHAR SIU. I squeal all the way back out to the car. $16 later, half a duck and a pound of char siu in hand! My aspiring closet chef takes the bundle and says, “You freak, what else did you get??!!” Knowing me too well… I ceremoniously hand over what felt like the food find of the century. “NO FREAKING WAY!!!” Aw, yes… a gratifying moment in deed. And of course, we have to try dripping bites of both oohing and ahh-ing appreciatively in the car.

We researched recipes for Char Siu all weekend, still dedicated to making it at least once. But we obsessed and were so impressed with the beautiful roasted duck that we went straight home mid-round of running errands just to have a dinner fit for royalty but so inexpensive it felt wrong some how. Feeling like we won the lottery, we were well equipped for our family feast of authentic Chinese Lo Mein and fried rice. Look the duck out, kiddos!!

Worth a drive:

Wing Wong BBQ
Address: 5891 S Military Trail # 8, Lake Worth, FL 33463
Phone:(561) 433-2732

Florida, Food Finds

Excalibur Fruit Tree Farm, Lake Worth, Florida

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Love. Love this place. I mean love. This is what I live for. After making my rounds at Aaldmon’s Organic Farm, I head around the corner, literally, to Excalibur. My first experience with this farm took me and my hubby on a 2 hour tour via golf cart to experience this 17 acre rare and native tropical fruit tree farm just a few miles from my current haunt.

Molina’s expertise and enthusiasm captured our attention as she drove us around, jumped out of the cart and picked fruit right off the trees they offer for sale. She educated us about medicinal uses, grafting techniques and general advice on growing tropical fruit here in Florida. They are a tropical fruit farm, true, but their primary focus is on providing these awesome and rare tropical trees for sale for commercial or residential use. However, I am now “in the know” and I swing by every Friday just before they close to see what has ripened on their property as a bi-product of these gorgeous trees. Like a kid in a candy store, but better.

It was here that I fell in love with egg fruit (yellow sapote) and black sapote, aka chocolate pudding fruit. Oh yes, I can attest that it really does make superb (stunning!) chocolate desserts.  Imagine my total delight when last week, they had both for sale! Extremely rare to find this selection of fruit in any grocery store, even in Florida. What a delight, walking away with 3 lbs of apple bananas, 6 lbs of yellow sapote, 5 black sapotes and 2 gargantuan avocados. All for less than $25. A crate of oranges at Costco is about $12… a dozen apples anywhere from $6-10! I mean, I will do it, but it’s so nice to have this as an option, too. Grown here. Locally. In my figurative “backyard”. It really doesn’t get better than this.

Check out Excalibur Fruit Trees’ website to learn more.

Florida, Food Finds

Aaldmon Organic Farm, Lake Worth, Florida

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What a gem. I found Aaldmon Farm, a family run certified organic farm, when I was looking to participate in a local Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. Imagine my delight to find a certified organic farm CSA with seasonal participation that runs from October to April. They will deliver for an extra $5 if you are in their delivery area but I enjoy going out to the farm each week to pick up my large box of organic produce, which very often contains fruit also grown on the farm.

The large box runs $40/week and contains more than enough produce for a family of 4-6. This keeps me on my culinary toes and I enjoy weekly meal planning all the more knowing not only where my food comes from, but knowing it is grown well, cared for by a local family of farmers who practice organic farming within a short drive from my own home. Talk about local. This means that I can reserve my small yard space for other yummy or beautiful things while they do all the home-farming for me. I found this farm on Google before I even moved and I was convinced that I would love Florida all the more for it.

Check out Aaldmon Farm’s website to learn more.