This week on "Check, Please!

South Florida", we head to the beach for a relaxed meal in Lauderdale by the sea.

Right by the beach.

Great place to be.

We line up for affordable Southern style seafood in Pompano Beach.

Those were some of the best shrimp and grits I've ever had.

And prepare to be wowed at this jewel of a find in Lake Worth Beach.

The flavors just danced in your mouth.

[narrator] Cultural, culinary secrets and global flavors.

We have a passion for blending ingredients and seasonings from around the world.

[announcer] Additional funding for "Check, Please!

South Florida" is provided by George and Helen Weaver, and the friends of South Florida PBS.

I was actually really surprised by how tasty it was.

My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

It was nothing like I've ever had before.

It feels like a taste of Florida.

It was the size of a bathtub.

Hello, I'm Michelle Bernstein.

And welcome to "Check, Please!

South Florida" the show where regular people from all over South Florida recommend and review their favorite restaurants.

So this is how the show works.

Every week we have three guests, each recommends his or her favorite spot, and then the other two go to check them out and see what they think.

This week, health educator and regional care coordinator.

Trivel McKire lets us in on her neighborhood secret for seafood in Pompano Beach.

Whether you go for breakfast or lunch, she says the aromas will lure you in.

but the heaping portions of food and Southern hospitality will keep you coming back.

And VP of marketing Colin Shalo is here to promote his goto Palm Beach County Bistro for organic seasonal fare prepared to perfection.

He says the experience is quirky off beaten fun, but the owners are serious about providing diners a memorable night out.

But first, food service director, Daniel Diaz is serving up a beach side bistro as his choice for freshly made food in Earshot of the ocean.

He says the lively vibe and the on point service makes it great spot to meet up with friends and family for relaxed, laid back meal and good conversation.

It's in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea and it's called 101 Ocean.

My name is Anthony Delia.

I am the general manager of 101 Ocean.

Being on the beach and in Florida, we want to be open air, inside outside dining.

We have a very wide selection of food.

We don't have to go after any particular demographic, so we do offer salad, sandwiches, seafood, pastas.

101 is a happy, fun, casual place with great food, great drinks and great employees.

So this is a really busy spot and a great neighborhood.

What's unique when you come in, to the left you'll see a seating area.

Very quiet, very subdued, people talking, to the right would be the bar.

Outside, you have that cafe.

They also have pizzeria on the far end also.

One of my favorite things about 101 is it's the only place in that area where you could sit down and have a quiet conversation.

You could people watch.

So what did you eat this last time you went?

I had the shrimp and grits, with the andouille sauce, andouille sausage it's delicious.

The shrimp were grilled, the grits I loved.

They were cheesy grits.

They were served in a square.

So it was a crispy on the outside, creamy on the inside grit?

Yes.

Delicious.

Doris, my partner, she had the plantain crusted grouper, and they put it over a bed of like sweet potatoes, and then the coconut sauce over it.

Delicious.

That sounds delicious.

Well Trivel, you seemed to enjoy the stroll from the parking lot.

I liked all the people that were out.

it just felt really comfortable.

And it was a nice breezy night.

I was greeted immediately and it was very nice, a very nice environment.

It was a party of five for us.

So I tried the crispy duck.

It was two legged thigh part, it looked like it was almost air fried, but I preferred actually the asparagus and the mashed potatoes.

The party that was with me, they had mussels, they had wings with mango habanero, which is really interesting it was really spicy.

Were they fried or grilled wings?

They looked more grilled.

The sauce was just covering so it's hard to tell, and there was no coating on it.

So that was good.

Colin.

So I really loved this place.

It really surprised me how much I liked it because it's in such a great area, and it's filled with tourists and locals alike.

So, I've just become accustomed to those places being kind of mediocre a lot of time More touristy.

Yeah.

They really added some unique elements that I appreciated.

And I thought the food was really good.

We got some oysters.

And I'd never heard of getting oysters in a white wine garlic sauce.

You could get 'em raw or in that.

And I was like Oh, so they cooked the oysters for you too.

Yeah everything in the raw bar, clams, oysters, muscles, you can get two ways raw How smart.

That's interesting to eat.

And the sauce was delicious.

I was drinking it out of the shells that was really good.

That's great.

And then I got the lobster mac and cheese on our servers recommendation, which is another one that always sounds better than it is, I find this was good.

This lived up to it.

And it had sun dried tomatoes in it.

It had lobster chunks throughout and broiled grilled lobster tail on top.

Wow.

And my wife had the Greek salad and it was huge and fresh, and loads of feta.

I had the beet salad, the beet salad was wonderful.

It was cheese, the greenly like spinach, and then of course it was yellow beets.

So was really good.

Which has a very different flavor not as sweet as a red beet.

More like, the ground, the earth.

It was good.

Really good.

You had to wait a little while is that true?

15 minutes, but as Trivel was saying, it's such a great neighborhood and I mean literally steps from the beach.

Trivel tell me a little bit about the service.

The service was great.

The waitress came out with the menus, like within seconds.

Very knowledgeable of the menu which was great.

'Cause it's an extensive menu.

It's very extensive though.

Yes.

I would think it would be really hard to pick.

You're right.

We did spend a lot of time about choosing which entr es which appetizer, we were pretty much full.

So the portion size were pretty good.

So That's great.

Any drinks, cocktails, wines, anybody.

I think I had a Florida sunrise mango vodka type of thing.

That's sounds okay.

Really good.

We were talking about the extensiveness of the food menu, but I was really surprised also by the beer menu, they had like 40 to 50 beers I would say.

And they're a lot of local beers.

I was gonna ask you if they had a little local I had one from Miami, It was lovely.

It was like an Orange IPA.

I also had a half of iced from Hollywood.

I'd never had these and they were great.

I really appreciate when places down here really own the South Floridian thing.

One of the friends that joined me got real excited when she saw the beer menu, she said, "Oh my gosh, they have this."

She was quite surprised by it.

Well, Daniel 101 was your pick.

Sum it up for us please.

From little snacks to main meals, different kinds of drinks and right by the beach.

Trivel.

If you want to bring your out town guests, a nice walk and good service go to 101 Ocean.

Colin.

It will surprise you how good it is, how generous it is.

And I think how fairly priced it is given what you get.

Well, you could wander on over to 101 ocean located at 101 East Commercial Boulevard, open daily for lunch and dinner.

And for a brunch on the weekend.

Reservations are not accepted on the weekends.

And the average price for dinner without drinks is about $45.

Now health educator, Trivel MacKire brings us a spot for healthy portions of Southern style seafood.

She says locals line up for the made-to-order breakfast and lunch specials dished up by friendly folks who are truly invested in their community.

Her pick is in Pompano Beach and it's called Bojo's Seafood Kitchen.

My name is Brandon Smith, and I am the owner of Bojo's Seafood Kitchen.

My father owned a restaurant for seven years in Pompano Beach.

And once he retired, I went to college and after college, I decided to reopen the family business.

And my father's restaurant was Lambos.

They called him Lambo.

And my mother's name was Betty Jo.

So I put Bo and Jo together and created Bojo's.

Some of our most popular dishes are the shrimp and grit bowl, salmon patties, it's very popular.

One thing I could say is that we take our time and we cook it with love.

We don't through it together.

We actually care about how it comes out.

It's just home cookies, just like you would cook at home.

Bojo's Seafood Kitchen is legacy family oriented and exciting.

I am so excited to talk about this little restaurant.

What is drawing the lines and lines of crowds?

I remember their family, their parents owned a restaurant called Lambos.

And as a child, my I Knew Lambos.

Yeah.

My parents would bring fish home from Lambos.

So I was super excited that they opened the restaurant, several years ago and every weekend honestly, I would go there to get fried snapper.

Now it's all pretty, no frills right?

Fried snapper is just fried snapper right?

Fried snapper.

Exactly.

So I guess this time that I went, I wanted to try their breakfast, and I tried the salmon patty with cheesy grits and scrambled eggs.

Nice and fluffy.

It was very good, very good portion sizes as well.

Was that your first breakfast ever?

That was my first breakfast there.

And I love that they still have fish and seafood on the menu.

On the menu.

Colin, is this your first venture into that part of town?

I'm so glad we got a chance to go there.

I mean, I loved this place.

Did you?

Yeah.

I agree.

No frills simple.

What we got was Southern cooking and I mean, I'm not a seafood in the morning person, but those were some of the best shrimp and grits I've ever had.

It's just buttery in the best way.

So were the shrimp fried sauteed, grilled?

I think they're grilled.

Okay.

Huge pile of 'em and we had leftovers.

Yeah.

What else did you all try?

So I didn't even order the shrimp and grits.

That was my wife's dish.

And she just gave me a lot of it.

And she often does.

But I actually got the corn beef hash bowl on the woman at the register's recommendation.

She recommended those too.

I don't even think we looked at the menu.

It was maybe yay big, but very filling and it was like $4 or something ridiculous like that.

Were there eggs on it?

It was a layer of cheesy grits, a layer of scrambled eggs, a layer of fresh meat corny hash, which I That sounds so good Is a fav yeah.

That was my daddy's favorite.

No complaints and I very full.

I bet.

I bet.

So tell me a little bit about the neighborhood.

There's a community center across the street was very nice.

There's some new apartments next to it.

It looks like a pretty newly built building.

Daniel.

This isn't too far away from your hood right?

I passed there all the time.

I never really saw it, but I'm glad I found it and now.

They're very busy.

And I figured, let me try to shoot in around 11, before lunch.

Well, they were busy.

They got a nice parking lot, big parking lot.

You go in you order.

I had the shrimp and grits, a bowl and the salmon and grits bowl I tried the two.

Inside, all the tables were taken, but they have a lovely outside.

Patio.

It's like a covered patio type thing with the fans and all.

And then behind that, there's a huge park.

I mean, I'm sure they must take advantage of that for events and all, but that was really neat.

The young man at the front, he suggested the shrimp and grits bowl and the salmon grits bowl.

And he guided me on how to order them.

Why, is there a special way to order it?

Well, he said, how do you want the shrimp?

So I told him grilled.

Then he said, you want the cheese right?

So I was like, yeah, cheese.

And then I wear hearing aids.

So I don't hear too good sometimes.

So he said something else and I was like, no.

And he goes, "You don't want peppers and onions?"

So I was like, "Oh yeah, peppers and onions."

Nice.

And like everybody else, we took food home and it was Plentiful.

Plentiful and the price, um we had those two, and I tipped and it was under $20.

The seafood was just so fresh though.

That's wonderful.

Well, I have to say that the shrimp were beautiful.

Nice size.

We were thinking that the shrimp and grits had a maybe a more fine dining type of...

I mean, that's a 30, $35 dish.

Easily, Easily.

Easily.

How good it was, the size.

I mean... Trivel, talk a little bit about the revitalization of that neighborhood.

Hmm.

Well, I grew up in Pompano beach, so I have seen it go through changes, and for the better, and there were a lot of old buildings where Bojo's now stands.

So what they have done, have greatly improved the area and they're continuing to do so.

So, we do appreciate that.

That's wonderful.

For sure.

Definitely seemed like a neighborhood on the up and up, which is great.

And I've... it was great.

I mean you easy parking, everyone was really nice.

That's wonderful.

Yeah.

Well, Trivel, this was your pick, sum up Bojo's for us.

Well, if you want fresh seafood fried or grilled, it's wonderful.

Go to Bojo's I go all the time.

Colin.

I don't think you can beat the prices and the generous portions and just how good the simple, no frilled Southern cooking is.

Daniel.

Great food, fresh, wonderful service and awesome prices.

I love the three of you.

You can order a breakfast feast at Bojo's Seafood Kitchen located at 731 Hammondville Road in Pompano Beach.

They're open for breakfast and lunch every day but Sunday, reservations are not accepted.

And the average price for dinner without drinks is about $15.

I've decided to cook everyone's favorite breakfast inside dish?

Yeah.

Cheese grits, delicious.

There're so much easier than you think.

Now the one thing you wouldn't believe is how much liquid to grits.

I've got five cups to one cup of grits.

Two and a half cups to three cups of milk, two to two and a half cups of water.

Put all that in a pot together.

And if you wanna do like vegetarian with it or even vegan, you can use alternative style milks.

I'm also gonna add some butter to the pot to make it even more yummy, and add a little bit of salt, couple punches and a heavy pinch of pepper.

I love a lot of black pepper.

Once that comes up to almost a boil, what you're gonna do is very, very slowly, you're gonna trickle in those grits, never all at once.

'Cause the whole thing just goes to the bottom of the pot.

So little by little by little we're gonna go in there.

And this is pretty much the last time I'm gonna use a whisk.

You trade that for a rubber spatula or a wooden spoon.

And every once in a while go in there and stir.

Now, once it does come to a full boil, you're gonna wanna bring that right down to nice and low.

You wanna cook those grits as low and slow as you can.

And this is what they look like once they're cooked.

And these are just beautifully, beautifully creamy.

And for me a grit is not a grit unless it has a little bit of cheddar in there.

So I've decided to grate about three quarter, maybe 80 actually percent of a block here.

Let's go ahead and add that in and see how these look.

If you wanna get even thinner and more creamy, you gonna always add just a little tiny touch of milk to this.

And what I love is there's no lumps in here, it's just gorgeous.

So I'm letting that cheese just melt in there.

I personally don't think they need absolutely anything else.

I'm gonna go ahead and put them right into this serving bowl.

You can serve them with everybody's favorite shrimp, nice roast chicken, or just as they are with some beautiful side vegetables.

Enjoy my creamy grits.

And finally VP of marketing.

Colin Shalo wants to get the word out about his favorite spot for a funky one of a kind dining experience.

He says each dish is inventive and thoughtfully prepared, but the ambiance is also unique, and the service is personal, offbeat and fun.

That's what he's come to expect at the Jewell Bistro in Lake Worth Beach.

My name is Dak Kerprich, and I'm the owner of Jewell.

This was an old Mexican restaurant, and the woman who owned it wanted to leave.

So I picked it up and we've been here for four years, and it's a very interesting neighborhood to say the least.

It's ninth in Dixie.

You can get anything you want on night in Dixie, but it is a destination.

This is no hold's barred.

This is full front door restaurant.

You can walk in and look at something new here almost every day and it's not fake, it's real.

Most of this has been donated by customers.

In Jewell the most popular dishes are definitely the burger.

We're definitely known for the burger and the local fish.

All fish and seafood is caught off the Florida coast.

Everything is local.

Jewell is anything you want it to be.

So tell us what you see when you get there.

So you would easily miss it.

It's just off Dixie highway.

It's a quiet little stretch of Dixie.

You park off on a side street.

It's somewhat urban in that sense.

And there's just this blue neon sign that say's Jewell, which was what Lake Worth was once known as.

And that neighborhood's called Downtown Jewell.

And you walk in and it's just a small room with a small bar, maybe 10 tables, booths and tables.

And I mean, you're greeted by Jay his brother the chef owner.

Everything about the experiences personal.

He gets to know you.

It's a weekly menu.

It's changes and every dish has a story.

That's lovely.

So what did you have this last time?

So this time we got the sexy lettuces.

That's the name of it?

Yes.

We got that too.

Did you?

That's a great name.

Why are they called sexy lettuces?

I don't know?

It's pretty simple salad.

It's just lettuce.

I bet that they get those lettuces somewhere special now though.

There's a story.

Well, it's definitely farm to table because he did tell me where the lettuces came from.

It was really about the lettuce.

Very fresh.

So what else did you have other than the sexy lettuces.

Grouper they just brought in that day from Riviera Beach.

He did tell us where.

And it was only a few porches.

He could only get one grouper I guess.

That came with a kale and couscous.

Hey Daniel, I see you nodding a lot.

You must have had grouper as well.

Same dish.

Were you there the same day?

Same day.

Oh.

We were the group of three.

Didn't you see him, he was right behind you?

You were off to the side.

The group of three and up to the side.

I did see you.

Oh my goodness.

You really were there the same day.

Yes, because they don't have the fish every day.

So if you had grouper, you had to be there the same day I was there.

Wow.

You had a piece of fish from the same fish.

That's amazing.

I love that.

So did you do have a sauce to it other than the kale and the couscous?

No.

And as a matter of fact, my sister wanted more of the kale and the couscous and he said, "No, it was all portioned out for the next grouper."

So we couldn't get addition.

You couldn't take Daniel's couscous and kale.

See?

It was for Daniel.

Wow.

Did you have anything else?

Pizza, and the pizza, the mozzarella cheese was homemade cheese.

Homemade mozzarella.

Yep.

How do you make homemade cheese?

I guess we're too modern but it was amazing.

And then I wanted to try the burger and I asked him, "Would it taste okay the next day?"

And he said, "Yes."

I said, "Pack it up."

It didn't make it the next day we sliced that up.

You had it all.

It was amazing.

And you had the burger as well.

Right?

So his brother makes it on a cast iron pan that I think he's had for like decades.

So it's well seasoned, Well seasoned and they use beef tallow, and it's Do they really?

Pretty simple otherwise.

And I think it's one of the best burgers I've ever had.

But it's crispy on the outside.

Well it's because of the tallow.

So what did you have Daniel?

Pizza plain with the homemade cheese, the organic flour.

Really good.

The grouper, as we said, and I had something that was very unique there.

Strombano.

Are you familiar with stromboli?

Yes.

Okay.

And they lay out a Cuban sandwich and they roll it and they bake it into strombano.

That's hilarious for a cubano.

It's a Cuban sandwich which is stromboli.

That is so creative.

They slice it on the angle.

It was delicious.

Tell me a little bit about the decor.

They have pizza boxes all over the place with their names on it.

And then the bathroom.

They have markers.

So you could write on the wall hang it there.

That was very interesting.

What did you think of prices Trivel?

I think the prices was actually reasonable, especially for the quality of the food.

And I think that speaks to it.

The flavors just danced in your mouth.

If I could just say that.

Colin, tell me a little bit about the shrimp dish.

It was called the brown shrimp cocktail.

Certain kinda shrimpy Oh, brown shrimp.

Sure.

It's gulf shrimp.

Yeah.

Gulf shrimp.

Yeah.

And it had chunks of avocado and chunks of shrimp throughout.

And then one big.

It's called the Mexican shrimp cocktail.

It's the best.

It's so good.

And they gave you saltines for it, which Which is traditional.

Yeah.

They do have a sandwich.

I think it's called on a red shrimp salad sandwich.

That's one of their best dishes and they don't always have it.

You've gotta get that.

That sounds delicious.

And they make their own bread.

Everything's big there.

My goodness.

What don't these people do.

They make their own cheese.

They make their own bread.

What's next?

And then with dessert, we ordered the tres leches which is my favorite dessert when it's done right.

Also.

That was good.

I love that, it was delicious.

I think it's the chef's wife that does all the baking.

And we should tell everyone that it's cash only correct?

Cash only.

They do have an ATM.

Well, Colin Jewell Bistro is your pick, sum it up for me.

Yeah.

Every part of your experience, I think is personal from the service to the environment, to the food.

Trivel.

The flavors of this restaurant, the food just dance in your mouth.

It's very, very good.

I told all my family, we have to go back.

Daniel.

Family owned, family operated.

I think everything's made with love, and it's organic and local.

If you're on the hunt for a culinary and treasure, you'd just may find it at Jewell Bistro located at 830 North Dixie highway in Lake Worth Beach.

Open for dinner Wednesday through Saturday reservations are accepted and the average price for dinner without drinks is about $45.

We've had such a wonderful time and I love this group.

I wanna thank my guests.

Daniel Diaz, Trivel McKare and Colin Shalo.

For more about the restaurants and recipes featured in the show, or if you'd like to apply to be a guest reviewer, visit us at checkpleasefl.com and always find us on Facebook and Instagram.

Join us next time for three new guests recommending three of their favorite restaurants right here on "Check, Please South Florida".

I'm Michelle Bernstein, salute everybody.

And I will see you then.

Salute Salute from very far away.

Social distancing salute.

[narrator] Cultural culinary secrets and global flavors.

We have a passion for blending ingredients and seasonings from around the world.