The ultimate guide to finding really good food in North Jersey
We live in an area where it's easy to be food obsessed.
Blame it on all those restaurants in our midst. According to the New Jersey Restaurant and Hospitality Association, there are more than 25,000 restaurants in the Garden State. How many in North Jersey? Let's just say lots.
You can't eat in all of them. But we, the North Jersey Eats team, food obsessives extraordinaire, can help you sort out where to go for just about anything you're looking for: a special-occasion spot, a terrific pizza pie, a good cup of joe, a great vegetarian meal, a hearty breakfast, a hole-in-the-wall bar, a rooftop restaurant, and more.
Here is our guide to help satiate your appetite for admittedly highly opinionated but solid and practical information about eating and drinking in North Jersey.
1.
Best places for dining out
Where to begin? Some save the best for last. We believe in best first. Our list is bound to grow and even change over time. Indeed in the last two months we've discovered two more great restaurants that any self-respecting NJ food lover will want to try: The Circle in Fredon and Sushi Aoki in Fort Lee. Check our pages regularly. But for now, this is your list for the best of the best in our area.
2.
Restaurants open on Monday and Tuesday
Eating out on a Monday night in the suburbs has never been easy. Many restaurants are closed. And thanks to the pandemic, some restaurants are closed on Tuesdays too. Some are even closed on Wednesdays. The reasons vary, but primarily it's due to staffing or lack thereof. This may change whenever this still-with-us pandemic finally wanes. Until then, however, we've come up with a list of the restaurants in our region where the doors are open Monday and Tuesday for your dining pleasure.
3.
Romantic restaurants for the best date ever
Going out with your sweetheart for a special night should not be relegated to Valentine's Day only. Love should be celebrated as often as possible. And while admittedly a burger joint can be as romantic as, say, a four-star ooh-la-la French restaurant (remember how thrilling sharing fries for the first time together was?), here's our guide to the top places to dine, wine, woo and celebrate your love.
4.
Restaurants worth a drive
Sometimes a good meal is just around the corner. Sometimes it requires a drive. If you love food — creative, flavorful, scrumptious food — a few hours behind a wheel is not a deterrence; it's a badge of honor. For more bragging rights, we offer these epicurean gems that may not be in your neighborhood but are worth the schlep.
5.
Restaurants with romantic fireplaces
Ahhh, a warm fireplace. Nothing is more romantic than dining near one. Add a cocktail and delicious dishes and you've got yourself a culinary trifecta. Here are restaurants in North Jersey that offer toasty fireplaces and satisfying fare. Some even serve alcohol. What's keeping you from booking a table right now?
6.
Best vegan and vegetarian restaurants
It isn't easy to find good vegan restaurants — anywhere. But we intrepid reporters know where to look. Here are our finds for great vegan eats.
7.
Best coffee shops
In Europe, you won't find harried pedestrians sipping coffee out of plastic cups. Coffee, the enjoyment of it, is sacred. You don't rush it. The caffeinated elixir, sometimes served black and strong, sometimes with frothy milk, still other times flavored with caramel or hazelnut, is a needed excuse to sit down and take some time for yourself or with a friend or two. No need to hurry. Just enjoy that fresh-roasted cup of joe. Here's where.
8.
Best places with breakfast or brunch menus
Why not make the first meal of the day as delicious, exciting and pleasurable as those other two meals that hog our dining-out attention? North Jersey is chock-full of spots where you can break your fast with fluffy pancakes, eggs Benny, thick French toast and that quintessential Jersey breakfast: the breakfast sandwich, Taylor ham, cheese, and a fried egg all on a hard roll or, if you prefer, a bagel. You can call these joints the culinary champions of breakfast. Great breakfast and brunch restaurants.
9.
Rooftop Bars
Eating on ground level is so done. But eating above it all, above the tree line, above the madding crowd? Throw in spectacular views and cocktails? Now that's special. Best enjoyed when the weather is warm and the clouds not bursting, here's our roundup of fabulous rooftop bars and restaurants.
10.
Cheap, good bars in North Jersey
Call them dive bars. Call them watering holes. Many call them their favorite hangouts. Sure, microbrew beers and creative cocktails are nice but when we just want to hang without worrying about our hair, our clothes, our face, we head to these dive bars.
11.
Best outdoor dining
Admit it: everything tastes better outdoors. We don't know why. We just know where great alfresco dining can be had. Here is our list for fantastic outdoor dining.
12.
Heated outdoor dining
The pandemic has forced many of us to dine outdoors — and not just when the weather is balmy and the sun is shining. Dining alfresco is considered to be much safer than eating indoors. So, thank goodness, a good number of restaurants have upped their outdoor dining offerings with heaters, coverings, fire pits and even blankets. No need to dress as if you live in Antarctica. Here are the best, most toasty outdoor dining spaces in North Jersey.
13.
Best things to order
Dishes come and go but some are never ever taken off the menu. For good reason. Some dishes are just phenomenally, profoundly, positively delicious. For culinary masterpieces — the most-loved, most-popular, most distinctive dishes North Jersey chefs have created — click here.
14.
All the best pizza in NJ — from old-school, to thin-crust, gourmet, Sicilian and Neapolitan
The debate is over: New Jersey is the best state for pizza. You can accuse us of being biased, but we're hardly the only pizza aficionados to claim that the Garden State has the most delicious pies in the nation. Last year Food & Wine magazine announced that Jersey was the top "pizza state." And New York, with its fallacious self belief in its own pizza, didn't even make it to the second spot; it came in third, after Connecticut. Need we mention that several years ago, the esteemed New York Times, in a review of Razza in Jersey City, declared that the best pizza in New York is in New Jersey. So where are the best pies? It depends on what kind you like: best old-school pies, best thin-crust pizza, best Neapolitan, great gourmet pies, Sicilian and Grandma pies.
15.
Hot dogs
When it comes to New Jersey's love affair with the hot dog, Food magazine Saveur may have put it best: "Hot dogs are more than a food in New Jersey, they're a whole cuisine." The Garden State has the biggest and best hot dog culture in the nation. In North Jersey that culture is thriving, thanks to these great hot dog spots.
16.
Bagel shops
In North Jersey, we seize any opportunity to eat a bagel. A bit hungry? Grab a bagel. Pass by a bagel shop? Gotta stop in. Bad day working at home? Go out and get a bagel. Where are the best carbs for a schmear? Here are our top bagel shops.
17.
Unknown but amazing restaurants
Even the most obsessive food lover can miss a terrific restaurant that manages to perform culinary wizardry under the radar. But that's what we're here for -- to uncover them and their deliciousness. For great restaurant germs, look no further than here.
Esther Davidowitz is the food editor for NorthJersey.com. For more on where to dine and drink, please subscribe today and sign up for our North Jersey Eats newsletter.
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @estherdavido
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: The best places to eat really good food in North Jersey – A guide
