Review: Mozzarita Bar on Clint Moore

mozzarita-sign
Mozzarita Bar is a small new restaurant and shop in The Reserve plaza at Clint Moore and 441. It’s in the building along Clint Moore between Starbucks and It’s All Greek on one side and Fit Foodz Cafe on the other.
We met Donato on our visit. We didn’t meet Vito but we found this picture of the two of them on their Facebook page:
donato-vito
Vito has been making cheese for decades. About 20 years ago he started making it in Pompano Beach and now they’re trying out a restaurant model for his creations. It’s small inside with maybe six tables inside and a few more outside.
mozzarita-inside
The focus is cheese, especially variations of mozzarella. Americans usually think of mozzarella on pizza but here it’s fresh and mostly served on sandwiches and in salads. There are three main varieties served at Mozzarita Bar. The main one seems to be “Fiordilatte Mozzarella” aka Fior di Latte, which is made from cow’s milk and is the closest to what you get on pizza. We had this on a Panino Caprese (sandwich):

Panino Caprese
Panino Caprese

The next most common is Bufala, made from the milk of Water Buffalo. We did not try that but we did try the Straciatella Salad which uses Straciatella di bufala, also made from buffalo milk.
Straciatella salad with beets and greens
Straciatella salad with beets and greens

Everything we ate was delicious. While not outrageously expensive it’s certainly not cheap. You’re paying for high quality fresh gourmet cheeses and appropriate accompaniments. We would love to see them add some olives to the menu.
The menu is below. The Speciali Di Vito section appears to be a menu mistake – only one of the specials was available the day we visited – the Mozzarella Burger (no beef – the burger is made from cheese). They do not intend to have all three of those items available daily and the menu was not clear about that.
mozzarita-menu1
mozzarita-menu2

Closings: Shorty's BBQ and GBS Beauty

shortys
Two businesses closed recently in West Boca, both off of 441. The most prominent is Shorty’s BBQ which was located in The Reserve shopping center on the southeast corner of Clint Moore and 441, near Ben’s Deli, Villa Rosano and Tempura House. We had been there a couple times and liked it, but somehow we didn’t make it back there that often.
There has been no official announcement but a couple of our readers contacted the Miami location and were told the closing is permanent. We don’t know for sure but we suspect that the success of Sweet Dewey’s BBQ (one of our favorite places to eat) cut into Shorty’s business.
Also, GBS Beauty in Boca Greens (west side of 441, halfway between Yamato and Glades) closed. The following message was on the door:
gbs-beauty-closed
The remaining store on St. Andrews is still in what we consider West Boca since we draw the line at Military Trail.

Million Dollar Homes in The Oaks

oaks-front-wide
Recently we had the opportunity to visit new homes ready for quick move-in. The Oaks is a gated community on the north side of Clint Moore between US-441 and Lyons Road with new homes selling for $1 million and up. It’s a great location in many ways. For shopping and restaurants it’s across from The Reserve with a Publix, Villa Rosano, Fit Foodz CafĂ©, It’s All Greek, Tempura House, Ben’s Deli and more. Delray Marketplace is just north on Lyons at Atlantic. For commuting Clint Moore is one of the easiest east-west drives during rush hour and it’s close to two Turnpike exits – Atlantic to the north and Glades to the south.

real-estate-banner1
There are two builders selling homes in The Oaks. In our recent visit we saw models from Richmond American. Click on any picture to see a larger size.
oaks-house-front
The first model we saw was large and loaded with features. The Kingsmill is over 5400 square feet with five bedrooms including guest suite on the ground floor. It starts at just over $1.1 million but the model we saw would be quite a bit more.
The kitchen is an example of the high-end features. It has a wraparound counter around a large island that includes a second sink.
oaks-kitchen
The gas range is extra wide and there are actually two dishwashers. The gas can also be extended to the dryer in the laundry room and the grill on the deck.
oaks-kitchen2
Our favorite feature in the kitchen is the walk-in pantry closet that is hidden behind regular cabinet doors.
oaks-kitchen3
The kitchen looks out on the backyard through something we hadn’t seen before – a sliding glass door that opens at a corner.
oaks-corner-slider
From inside you see a pleasant lake view.
oaks-back-view
The dining room is nicely done.
oaks-dining
The master bedroom and bathroom are gorgeous, again with the high-end features you’d expect at this price.
oaks-master
oaks-bath


After the Kingsmill we also saw the Westgate model, which is even larger at over 6500 square feet and starts just short of $1.3 million.
oaks-house-front2
Unlike the first model this one has been left wide open to let the buyer’s imagination go to work. It is, of course, spacious inside.
oaks-house2-inside
The island in the kitchen is very large.
oaks-house2-kitchen
The Westgate comes with a nice architectural feature – a curved staircase which produces the curvature on the front of the house.
oaks-house2-staircase
The size allows for a feature we have seen before and like, separate his-and-hers master bathrooms off the master bedroom.
We also saw another model, the Cheval. This is the master bath.
oaks-house2-bath
One more feature we saw in the Cheval that goes beyond interior square footage is a large second-floor balcony off the master suite. This model was still under construction when we saw it.
oaks-house2-patio
If any of our readers would like to see a home in The Oaks, please call Warren at 888-733-5299, or e-mail him at [email protected].
real-estate-banner1