Boom Boom Chicken, Meet Fresh and HeyTea
Korean fried chicken and its mates followed by a Taiwanese dessert and a cap-it-off beverage at a place that’s become a worldwide phenomenon: It’s all in an afternoon’s eat-around at Festival Plaza. But nothing’s finer than bumping into a favorite food pro behind a counter once again.
1785 FarmDog
Ho-ho-ho and a basket full of smothered burgers and hotdogs! If you’re in the market for a Hallmark movie-ready scene for shopping and a spot of something all-American, this farm-linked storefront in one of the Garden State’s prettiest villages will suit your mood.
Pierogies House
Guess what’s on parade at this modest and modern storefront owned by its Poland-born chef who channels the dishes her babcia made and serves them forth with pride.
goodbeet
A decade-old plant-based eatery strikes notes of individuality in a bowl rallying around chickpeas, a serious take on a wrap-free burrito, and through orbs of eggplant in a sultry tomato sauce. Though there’s a bit of controversy afoot – read on – there’s reason aplenty on the menu to keep supporting what’s been a community favorite.
All’Assassina
An important dish that flourishes in Italy is defamed at a restaurant in Union County that purports to celebrate it. It’s the fault of improper execution and it’s not the only pasta (or pinsa or antipasto) that’s being mistreated.
Miss Saigon
The menu at this decade-old storefront eatery showcases classics, but the execution of dishes fails to reflect the freshness, balance and respect for high-quality ingredients fundamental to Vietnamese cuisine. It’s neither comforting to the cautious nor the adventurous.
Bright Side Kitchen
Off-season in Manahawkin, across the causeway from Long Beach Island, finds this daytime café hopping. That’s thanks to the ways the amiable crew dresses up soups, salads and sandwiches with accents designed to edify – and cheer.
Pals’ Night Out ’25
Gathering your besties during the heart of the holiday season is always a challenge of time and place. It’ll be up to you to make time for those who are dearest, but we’d like to help out with place. Here’s a heaping helping – 20! – of suggestions culled from our Restaurant Revue columns posted so far this year.
El Ganadero
Latin American cuisines reign at this family-run eatery where the customs and conventions of home-cookery are followed, the beans and stocks take much of the day to cook and short-cuts will never be in style.
Ceviche House Mi Peru
Proud Peruvian classics are on display at this downtown storefront where you can satisfy a hankering for causa, churrasco, ceviche and chaufa or, if you’re still unacquainted with a cuisine that’s making a mark throughout New Jersey, come here to be properly educated and splendidly fed.
Thymari
There are classics to praise and questions about ingredient quality and technical acuity to raise at a Greek-centric taverna in a downtown a short drive from the Delaware River in South Jersey. What’s fine, however, shows the promise of a kitchen intent on welcoming diners to a most hospitable dine-in space.
XiBei Cuisine
The terroir of Northwest China is expressed at a newcomer that’s unafraid to dig into the blended cultures that shaped the foodways of a region too often ignored in the scheme of restaurant things in New Jersey. There’s hope for change now that this destination is on the map of must-stops.