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Kona Bay Café has an impressive assortment of breakfast and lunch offerings: omelets, pancakes, wraps, burgers, salads and more.

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This lively diner in downtown Lantana offers Hawaiian décor and views of the Intracoastal Waterway. Although it’s been around a short while in its current incarnation, it has the feel — and crowds — of a local landmark. Read the full story

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The Rum Shack offers a variety of surf and turf options — both in sandwich form and straight to the plate. You can try mahi mahi or steak, ahi tuna or barbecued chicken.

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The Rum Shack’s name conjures pirates and Jimmy Buffett, and the ambiance does little to dissuade that image. Surfboards, fish and beach umbrellas adorn the walls. Diners and drinkers crowd the tables along the sidewalk and a band often plays rock covers inside by the bar. Read the full story

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At Dave’s you can indulge in seafood dishes such as oysters, shrimp and dolphin or go turfside with burgers, wings or prime rib. The versatile menu, with a range of choices and prices, offers something for everyone.
ATMOSPHERE
Dave’s is a casual hangout popular with locals on Lake Worth’s downtown strip, a seafood-themed eatery with a full bar, sidewalk seating and at least 10 flat-screen TVs for sports fans.
OUR FAVORITE FOOD/PRICE
I wolfed down the seared tuna (listed as market price, it went for $16.99 in early June). It was a substantial steak seared with sesame seeds and served with sesame dipping sauce, wasabi and pickled ginger.
REASON TO GO
Dave’s is a laid-back eatery perfectly situated and equipped for people-watching or sports watching. The food is reasonably priced and frequent drink specials make it an attractive place to dine with family or friends.
SERVICE
Our server was friendly and came by often to check on us.
NOISE LEVEL
Outside diners at Dave’s sit on the downtown Lake Worth strip and will hear passing cars, diners and shoppers. Inside, rock music plays at a moderate level while diners watch sporting events on the TVs.
KID FRIENDLY
Dave’s offers a kid’s menu and families often dine there. But later in the evenings the locale takes on more of a bar feel.

Dave’s Last Resort and Raw Bar
632 Lake Ave., Lake Worth
(561) 588-5208
Hours: Sun.-Thu., 11 a.m.-midnight; Fri.-Sat. 11 a.m.-2 a.m.

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For a place known more as a nightspot than eatery, The Cottage offers a surprising array of gourmet dining options. Think filet mignon kebabs, racks of lamb and tilapia. Simpler options such as sandwiches, salads and pitettaz, pita breads topped with various toppings, are also offered. Read the full story

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The menu at The Taco Lady features homemade versions of the best-known Mexican staples: tacos, tamales, taquitos, quesadillas, burritos, rice and beans, and chips and salsa.

ATMOSPHERE

It’s a vintage hole-in-the-wall Tex-Mex joint in the heart of downtown Lake Worth, authentic, unpretentious and reasonably priced. There’s a few tables, inside and outside, and counter service. 

OUR FAVORITE FOOD/PRICE

You can’t go wrong with a dinner of two hard-shell tacos with rice and beans ($6.50). Choose your meat and order it “all the way” to load up on cheese, lettuce, tomato, sour cream, onions and fresh salsa.

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, the giggly, oversized actor who helped his pal Burt Reynolds liven up the Cannonball Run movies, has died. He was 75.
The self-effacing character actor, comedian and cook appeared in scores of movies and TV shows and voiced characters for cartoon shows. He starred frequently on the big screen alongside Reynolds, including in The End, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Smokey and the Bandit II and The Cannonball Run.
Locally, Mr. DeLuise was known for palling around with Reynolds in Palm Beach County, where he acted, directed and taught classes at Reynolds’ old Jupiter theater. In the 1980s, he kept a condo in Jupiter and visited frequently.
If he was funny, he also could cook. He wrote two cookbooks — Eat This … It’ll Make You Feel Better! and Eat This Too! It’ll Also Make You Feel Better — and often appeared on TV shows demonstrating his favorite recipes. He resembled famed New Orleans chef Paul Prudhomme and joked he once impersonated him at Prudhomme’s restaurant.
The problem was that Mr. DeLuise loved to eat as much as he loved to cook. His weight ballooned to well over 300 pounds. The cause of his death late Monday in Santa Monica, Calif., was not released, but he had been suffering from high blood pressure and diabetes, agent Robert Malcolm said.
“Dom always made you feel better when he was around,” Reynolds said in a statement. “I never heard him say an unkind word about anyone.”
Writer-director Mel Brooks also admired Mr. DeLuise’s talent for offbeat comedy and cast him in a number of movies, including Blazing Saddles, Silent Movie, History of the World Part I and Robin Hood: Men in Tights.
“Dom DeLuise was a big man in every way,” Brooks said in a statement. “He was big in size and created big laughter and joy. He will be missed in a very big way.”
In Palm Beach County, the lovable, fiery icon of dietary excess left an unforgettable impression on locals he encountered.
“He just loved to talk dirty,” Greg Hauptner, former hairstylist for the Burt Reynolds Theatre, told The Palm Beach Post in 1998. “His favorite thing was to be in a situation like opening night, when everybody’s in tuxedos, and he’d wear these old Italian shirts with the stripes down the middle. He loved to get women who were in furs and diamonds all chuckling by saying the filthiest and dirtiest things.”
In 1983, Mr. DeLuise stayed at The Breakers while working on the script for a movie and scouting filming locations. In his spare time, he regaled the opulent hotel’s guests with impromptu opera and cracked up the reception staff with endless jokes.
“He made me laugh so hard that I couldn’t answer the phone,” a hotel receptionist told the Palm Beach Daily News at the time. “I went into the closet because I was laughing so hard, and I invited him to my Christmas party.”
Mr. DeLuise was born Dominick DeLuise in New York City on Aug. 1, 1933, to Italian immigrants. His father, who spoke only Italian, was a garbage collector, and those humble beginnings stayed with him throughout his life.
“My dad knows everything there is to know about garbage,” David DeLuise once said of the father he followed into show business. “He loves to pick up a broken chair and fix it.”
Mr. DeLuise graduated from the famed School of Performing Arts in Manhattan and attended Tufts University near Boston. He found work at the Cleveland Playhouse, appearing in stage productions that ranged from comedies such as Kiss Me Kate to Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
In 1965, he married actress Carol Arthur, who survives him. In addition to David, he is survived by sons Peter and Michael and three grandchildren.
Mr. DeLuise’s toughest acting assignment was his first, he told Ronald L. Smith in 1992 for the book Who’s Who in Comedy. He was handed the role of a penny in that school play.
“The part called for me to roll under a bed as soon as the curtain went up and stay there until I was found in the very last scene,” he said. “It was my hardest role to date. I detested having to be quiet and out of the action for so long.”
The New York Times, The Associated Press and staff writer Jose Lambiet contributed to this story.
andrew_marra@pbpost.com