The best beach, eats, and drinks of Boca Raton

BEACH

Spanish River public beach:

Take a right turn out of the Boca campus at the Spanish River Boulevard exit and head east, and you’re there after the bridge.

1.The sand and the water are clean and clear, compared to Boca’s other public beach, South Beach Park on Palmetto

2.It’s not crowded, because of the limited parking

3.It’s the closest to campus, and there’s an exit onto Spanish River Boulevard.

PLUS: If you can’t find parking, ride your bike from campus or park at the Walgreens on U.S. 1 and ride your bike from there.

EATS

Cannoli Kitchen

2001 N. U.S. 1

Boca Raton, FL 33431

(561) 338-2929

Choosing a slice of pizza has now become almost as hard of a decision as picking an ice cream flavor. At Cannoli Kitchen, they offer a wide range of very random toppings one wouldn’t think to put on a pie. From Mexican and BBQ chicken to baked ziti, these toppings will make your mouth water as you peer through the glass while contemplating your food future.

It only takes one of these huge slices to fill your stomach. But it won’t empty your wallet because they offer a 15-percent discount for FAU students if you show your Owl Card.

If you save room you have to get a cannoli — it’s what the place is named for, after all.

So what the heck is a cannoli? It’s a Sicilian pastry consisting of a creamy filling made mostly of ricotta cheese inside a fried pastry dough tube. The ends are covered in chocolate chips and then it’s dusted with powdered sugar.

These little tubes of amazing are made to order so you get the perfect creamy-crunchy combination.

If you like Italian foods you’re probably already drooling, but if you’ve never had one, the taste of the ricotta cheese as a sweet frosting-like consistency can be an acquired taste. In that case, go across the parking lot to Sonny’s Gelato to enjoy their homemade Italian-style ice cream. You can’t go wrong there.

BONUS: Cannoli Kitchen’s east Boca location delivers to FAU! You don’t get the student discount with delivery, but it evens out by not spending the gas money to drive there.

DRINK

Irishmen

1745 NW Boca Raton Blvd.

Boca Raton, FL 33432

(561) 368-1129

I? might be a bit biased because they sign my paycheck every week, but the Irishmen is a great spot that’s right off campus with great drink specials during the week.

College Night is Monday and Thursday, where the best deals are pitchers of beer for $3 or a mixed-drink pitcher for $7.

Although the pitcher specials start at 7 p.m., the bar can look kind of like a ghost town before 10 p.m. on Monday nights. But during those last 3 hours of business, the DJ starts, the place gets packed, tables get pushed together for beer pong and then it’s a cool place to be.

On Thursday’s College Night you’ll probably run into the FAU Rugby team after they get out of practice. They’ll be sweaty, smelly and possibly singing or chanting but they know how to drink and have a good time.

The gift that keeps on giving can be found on Wednesdays, because it’s 2-4-1 from open to close. Not only do you get free beer, wine and mixed drinks, but you also get a wooden nickel to redeem your free drink that you can keep to use another week.