Dania Jai-Alai Sports Center

If you don’t know what jai alai is, you’re not alone. But this faster-than-a-speeding-bullet sport is all kinds of exciting. And at the Dania Jai-Alai Sports Center, you can watch the action live, place a few bets, play some poker and generally escape the drudgery of daily life.

Davie Taco Bar

The chain of Agave Taco Bars are Tex-Mex inspired fast-casual eateries offering a healthy mix of modern and traditional dishes from the chef’s hometown of Monterrey, Mexico. The menu boasts a staggering 15 different meats for your taco, a selection of beef, chicken, and fish ranging from a carne asada and picadillo to chicken marinated […]

Design Center of the Americas

It’s hard to miss the Design Center of the Americas, aka DCOTA. This mod white building is a Dania Beach landmark, obvious to anyone passing on nearby I-95. At 775,000 square feet, this trade campus holds more than 100 showrooms boasting every kind of flooring, lighting, window treatments, furniture, paint and fabric under the sun. […]

Don Carter University Lanes

There’s nothing more frustrating that being denied a lane when you’re in the mood for some Dude-ispired antics at a bowling alley. And at Don Carter University Lanes – that’s a rare occurance. After all, this Davie alley has a whopping 64 lanes, plus a pro shop, a lounge, a snack bar and an arcade. […]

Downtown Hollywood

The celebrities here are of a… different sort. Hollywood is filled with the nation’s down-and-out second-starters who settled here because they thought the name sounded nice. They mix with those of us who revel in that kind of diversity. The locals include rednecks, trannies, yuppies, hipsters, addicts, professors, urban pioneers, and everything in between. Find […]

Dragon City

Dragon City, a Hollywood Hong Kong-style Chinese restaurant minutes west of the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, stays open really late but merits return trips at any hour. A simple, austere room with the usual hanging roast ducks and fish tanks along a wall is set apart via the sheer number of tanks filled […]

Dragon Gate Chinese Restaurant

So your sizzling Latin mate is in the mood for a spicy dinner, the couple on the couch across from you are vegetarians, and your visiting sister and brother-in-law won’t try anything they haven’t eaten a thousand times before. Give Dragon Gate a call — it serves Miramar, Pembroke Pines, and Davie — and order […]

Duffy’s Sports Grill

There is never enough team spirit at Duffy’s Sports Grill. Football helmets line the aisles, and the giant bar area boasts 13 huge projector screens that play every game and sport imaginable. If that’s not sports overload, young women in jerseys offer enthusiastic “how are yas?” at every corner while they walk past restaurant-area walls […]

East Emerald

The menu boasts that this elegant Hollywood strip-mall eatery serves “the finest and latest in Chinese cuisine.” The latest can be found in only one dish, really – a moist fillet of salmon topped with ground pork, chopped peppers and green onions, and black-bean sauce presented on a bed of spaghetti. But the finest is […]

Ed & Elaine’s Tiki Hut

And you thought you were in-the-know when you discovered Le Tub! Ha! This place is so low-rent that it doesn’t even have walls. There’s no door, no sign, no cash register

Eddie Hills and Sushi Thai

Putting the “dine” in diner, the Thai and Japanese dishes at this roadside joint are superb. Mee krob isn’t too sweet; pad Thai isn’t too fishy; curries are beautifully balanced. For Japanese fare, order any one of the numerous fresh-fish rolls or the katsu – pounded chicken or pork that’s deep-fried and served with plum […]

El Rinconcito Colombiano

Even if you don’t know what the name is in English (little Colombian nook), don’t let that stop you from trying the grilled steak with pork skins, eggs and corn cake. Hens’ (yes, that’s what I said) soup and a baked fresh pan con queso (bread with cheese) from the bakery should heighten your tastebuds […]

Ends Meat

Here’s to hoping nothing changes – as so many good fish tacos at new restaurants almost always do – with Ends Meat chef-owner Kevin Dreifuss’ satisfying combination of fresh catch married with a piquant slaw accented with a spicy chipotle aioli, cotija cheese, and large sprigs of fresh cilantro. It’s just one of many dishes […]

Esposito’s Pizza Restaurant

Proprietor Lynne Esposito, a veteran pizzeria owner from Long Island, bakes a “diet pizza,” at this Davie spot, which is made with low-fat cheeses and a whole-wheat crust (for the natural-foods sticklers among us). Of course, purists can feast on regular ol’ New York-style pizza, not to mention calzones and other Italian entrées. They just […]