Sonny's Famous Steak Hogies (Hollywood)

I've posted about Sonny's before here and on Chowhound but wanted to remind cheese steak fans and people searching for good value to check this place out.

They are located on N. 66th Ave., just north of Taft St. in west Hollywood, not far from the Hard Rock.

It's a casual, inexpensive place that serves OUTSTANDING steak hogies. (that's how they spell hogie) I'm from NY and not Philly BUT I've had plenty of cheese steaks and Sonny's is the real deal.

I always order a #90 with provolone. This is a steak hogie with fried onions. The steak is a tender, thinly sliced rib eye that's cooked perfectly with the onions and cheese. The best part may actually be the bread which is baked on site and done right. The inside is soft and chewy and the outside is perfectly crisp. Cost is $5.15 plus an additional .50 for the cheese.

You can smell them from the parking lot and you can watch them cook while you wait for a table or to go order.

I highly recommend this place.

**CASH only and closed Sundays**

Tale of Two Visits- Smith & Jones

The following are two recent Chowhound posts regarding my first two visits to Smith & Jones on Las Olas.

Visit 1 (11/21/08)
Made it over to lunch last week and the service was SO bad I don't even feel like commenting on the food. I understand that they just opened but this was Sarah Palin comical, seriously. I'll spare you the details other than the fact that I was served a coke 4x in lieu of the diet coke I ordered. Forget about not knowing the menu, I'm convinced that our waitress had no idea what a hamburger was.. It was embarrassing because I brought a group of Johnny V first timers who were looking forward to it based on my raves. I know they just opened but the mistakes we encountered were inexcusable. Anyway, menu is extensive with Johnny V's take on classic comfort food. We started with his bbq potato chips "nachos" serves with cheddar cheese, bacon and blue cheese dip which were okay but nothing special. I opted for the bbq pulled pork slider trio with mango slaw. It was good but not enough slaw on two of the three. Moreover, the bbq was a little too sweet for my palate. Nevertheless, there are several items on the menu that I look forward to trying and I will be back. I'm sure the will have the kinks worked out soon.

Visit 2 (11/26/08)

Tale of two visits... Made a special trip up to Las Olas today in order to give Smith & Jones another shot. MUCH better experience. The host was great, staff friendly and our server was perfect. I opted for the smoked beef brisket and beef sausage which was from the Kruez Market in Lockhart Texas. This was can't wait to go back good. The brisket was super tender and extremely tasty. The sausage was equally as good, cooked perfectly and very flavorful. Great dish. The caesar salad with chicken was also a hit at the table. Very glad I went back. On a side note a quick look at the wine list revealed several bottles in the $30 and under range with BTG options in the $6-$7 range.

In summary, I do not advocate waiting a couple of weeks and/ or months before visiting a new restaurant in order to allow them to find their stride. That is silly and unfair to the new restaurant trying to succeed. Go but don't write a place off after one early bad experience, especially with a well known and proven chef. Moreover, Smith & Jones has an extensive menu and I suspect there will be some hits and some misses. I'll post back as I locate them...

1313 East Las Olas Blvd. Ft Lauderdale, FL

Survivor anyone alive????? week 13

Our run had to end at some point. Still surprised Denver lost at home to the Raiders. Hopefully, some of you had Tampa and Chicago left and went with them.

There are some strong road teams this week.
Tenn should crush Detroit on turkey day.
Miami beats the Rams by double digits.
Balt beats Cincy
Colts crush Clev and the Jets knock off Denver at home.
Good luck and happy Thanksgiving
The Chowfather

and the oscar goes to

CF recently watched Tropic Thundar and Robert Downey Jr. was amazing and oscar worthy. Tom Cruise was very funny but he his role was too small to discuss oscar. Heath v Downey Jr. Loved both but Heath was mesmerizing and has to win

The Grill on the Alley

The Grill on The Alley- Aventura Mall- opened last week. Stopped by today and had a very good ahi tuna wrap for lunch, one of several daily specials. Generous portions of very fresh tuna with a tasty, no mayo asian slaw. They have some outdoor seating and a bar area in addition to the main room.
Not wild about heading to the mall for dinner but it could be a good call pre or post a movie.
The happy hour deal, M-F 4-7, sounds like a real winner with $3.95 and $4.95 plates. Menu attached
http://www.thegrill.com/pdf/AV_1008_HappyHour.pdf
http://www.thegrill.com/aventura.html

Free Vodka Tasting 11/21 Hollywood Vine

THIS FRIDAY NIGHT FROM 7-9PM FOR A FREE TOUCH VODKA TASTING.

Featuring “Touch Key Lime Pie Martini”.

FEATURES

Distilled from Wildflower Honey

Micro distilled

Artisan vodka

Uses locally grown ingredients

Small batch

All natural

Valencia Orange flavor

Key Lime flavor

80 proof

Hollywood Vine

2035 Harrison Street

Hollywood, FL 33020

hvine@comcast.net

www.hvine.com

954-922-2910

954-922-7660 fax

Survivor week12

Our official pick came in again last week as Tampa Bay pulled out the Win over the Vikings. This appears to be a very difficult week. Tampa may be the strongest play despite being on the road. If you didn't use them last week I would consider them this week. I also fully expect the Bears to bounce back this week and knock off the Rams. The best play on the board involves the Broncos at home against the Raiders. As you know, I almost always shy away from division rivalries in a survivor pool but this is a tough week and Denver is the best home play. Official pick is the Broncos.
Good luck.