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Guest Post from the West Coast – ABZs of South Florida

October 10, 2014 By takeabiteoutofboca Leave a Comment

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Today’s guest post is a little bit different than the others. I want you all to meet Shana, a graphic designer and total foodie who is responsible for the site Boca Locals as well as the ABZs of South Florida networking crawls. I’ve been on a bunch of her crawls and they are always a lot of fun. Shana recently moved over to the west coast, to Fort Meyers, and is still getting involved in the food scene (obviously!). Shana wanted to share some info about her west coast events with my readers, in hopes that many of you will be inspired to take a weekend trip over to her side of the state!

The famous ABZs Business-Crawls are now on two coasts of Florida!

Started in 2010, South Florida’s east coast was taken by storm as the innovative concept of Business-Crawls, created by Page One Graphics, kicked-off in Boca Raton.

A networking event that includes a short walk to visit three area restaiurants in a 3 hour time period. The allure is an opportunity to try exciting new restaurants and foods while connecting with fellow business profressionals and foodies alike.

No cap on this great idea! ABZs is proud to announce that they’ve branching out to South-West Florida with their unique

Business-Crawls. These networking events will be encompassing Fort Myers, Cape Coral and everything fit to be seen on that beautiul coastline – including trips to Sanibel Island and Naples.

The kick-off date on the South-West coast was this past Wednesday, October 1, 2014. With visits to Prime De Leon, 33 Patio de Leon, Fort Myers, FL 33901, Los Cobas Cantina and Twisted Vine Bistro, at the River District in Downtown Fort Myers.

VISIT EVENTS PAGE: For additional information; www.RNIFla.com

ABZ Networking Crawl: Mizner Park

March 28, 2014 By takeabiteoutofboca Leave a Comment

ABZs of South Florida hosted another Networking Crawl, this time in good ol’ Mizner Park. I love hanging out over at Mizner, especially since it’s so close. It’s a gorgeous closed-in area with lots of great restaurants, a few nice little boutiques, and a huge amphitheater where lots of local events take place.

This month’s crawl started out at Kapow! Noodle Bar, followed by Villagio, and ended at Jazziz. There were a lot of the same people from last month’s event in Delray, but also some new faces. I brought Kait along with me, and we both had a great time. Participating in these crawls is such an awesome way to meet other Boca locals — which is surprisingly hard to do.

Just a little disclaimer before you read on… The Delray Beach crawl was, in my opinion, much better restaurant-wise. Mizner may be one of my favorite spots…but two out of the three places we went to just did not impress.

Kapow! Noodle Bar is small, but there is a great area outside, with seats up at the bar and high-top tables. We all congregated around the long high-tops and enjoyed a drink while we waited for the appetizers to come. Waiting is the key word here… We spent more time waiting for everything than we did enjoying it. Once the food finally did come out, there wasn’t even enough for everyone to get a taste. They brought out a couple orders of steamed dumplings, wok-charred edamame, tempura asparagus, and shishitou peppers stuffed with crab and cream cheese and panko-fried. The food was good, but I think we were all a little annoyed with how long it took to come out, and some people never even got their drink orders. I guess they were a little understaffed that night. But when you know you’ve got an event with a group of people coming through, don’t you think you’d make sure you have the staff for it…?

Villagio’s was our next stop, and it was a much better time. I’ve had dinner here before and liked the food a lot. The inside bar area is very spacious with high top tables. The staff brought out plates of fresh warm flatbread and bruschetta and their calamari fritti con zucchini (fried calamari and zucchini) and marinara sauce. There was a nice assortment of half-priced cocktails to choose from, and the bartenders were quick and attentive.

Our last stop, Jazziz, was kind of a dud. There was no one there; I felt bad for the talented Jazz musician playing to an empty room. At least our group was there. The food was brought out and set down at tables where a few people were seated, but the rest of the group not at the table weren’t even notified that the food had come out. So the waiter brought out another plate of a pizza-esque flatbread type dish, but that was it. Nothing else? Uh, ok. The bartender gave us an attitude when we tried to order drinks with the free drink ticket we were given upon arrival. Apparently all it was good for was crappy draft beer and Chardonnay. None of which we wanted. Maybe it’s better on a different night during the week, but that bartender alone irked me enough to the point where I would not go back.

Thankfully we were all in good company and still enjoyed ourselves. It really does make a difference when you like the people you’re hanging out with. ABZs is an awesome network of locals who, like me, enjoy a night of good food and drinks. We don’t hesitate to make our opinions known…and we are the ones people come to when they want an honest opinion about a restaurant. So, a note to the restaurants who host us: You really should try to impress.

Downtown Delray Networking Crawl with ABZs of South Florida

March 4, 2014 By takeabiteoutofboca 1 Comment

I make it my job to be at just about every food and wine event in and around Boca, so when I was invited to join the ABZs of South Florida for their monthly Networking Crawl, you know I jumped at the opportunity! I had met the founder, Shana, at Palm Beach Food and Wine Festival in November and we reconnected again recently at one of the events for the American Fine Wine Competition. Obviously we have a lot in common, so we instantly hit it off. Shana runs a site called Boca Locals. She takes all of the best events in the area and puts them onto one local spot for you to find. Galas, festivals, cooking classes, wine dinners, and all kinds of business networking, music, entertainment and sports events… Anything you want to find in Boca, it’s all right here.

ABZs of South Florida is a networking group that takes people on a business networking “crawl” throughout a specific area. Last week we visited Downtown Delray and enjoyed free tapas and drink specials at SoLita, The Office, and Prime. I had such a great time hanging out with Shana again and got to meet a lot of other locals, including one of my new colleagues…the assistant art director from Boca Mag, Nancy!

Downtown Delray Networking Crawl with ABZs of South Florida

Shana, Nancy and I enjoying ourselves at The Office

The three hosting restaurants were so accommodating to our group in providing us with some delicious bites to nosh on while we sipped on yummy cocktails. I had never been to SoLita before and was actually blown away by how beautiful it is inside — definitely not what I imagined it to be. It has a very upscale Italian vibe, but still could be considered a casual place to hang out. There’s a really nice outdoor area in the front, and a giant bar and lounge area that wasa perfect hangout for our group. They filled the long high-top table with plates and plates of Tomato Bruschetta on crostini, their “Old School Meatballs,” and cheese ravioli. A classic Italian start to the evening!

We took a short stroll to our next stop, The Office, and were greeted immediately upon arrival by the very eager and excited manager. He made sure the bartenders knew who we were and to take good care of us. We were able to try their handcrafted cocktails for half off, so I got the first one to catch my eye: The White Blossom made with vodka, St. Germain elderflower liquer, pear, sweet gomme, fresh lemon juice, and sage. This was incredibly good… Really bright and flavorful without being overly sweet; everything you want in a refreshing cocktail. They really spoiled us with lots of fun appetizers from their menu, too: chicken wings, fish dip, baked pretzel bread, pulled pork, seafood dumplings. Nancy kept raving about their fried green tomatoes so we got an order of those for ourselves too. She wasn’t kidding; they were so good! I’ve never had this southern staple before and I’m really glad she suggested we get it.

Our ending point of the night was at Prime. This is another spot I haven’t been to, mostly because I tend to shy away from steakhouses. But Prime actually has a big selection of seafood and sushi, so I’ll have to keep it in mind. They put out an array of dishes for us including crab dip with crostini, meatballs in marinara sauce, and a beautiful display of sushi.

Photo courtesy of Shana Overhulser & ABZs of South Florida

I really enjoy events like this when you get to visit different places and try a good variety of foods. It makes for a fun night out. It’s better than sitting in one spot for the whole night and eating a one-note dish. That just doesn’t sound all that enjoyable, especially when you’re with a networking group. You want to get up, walk around, and talk to everyone. ABZs next event is going to be in Mizner Park on March 19th. They run from 6-9pm and are really reasonable in price. This one was only $12 if you prepaid and $15 at the door. AND for prepaying, you could also bring a guest for free! Not too shabby. I’ll be there in March. To all my local readers, I hope to see you too! Follow the group on Facebook to stay up to date!

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