With restaurant week in full swing, there is only one problem… There are just way too many to choose from:
(click below to check out each restaurants special deal this week!)
27 Mix, Chateau of Spain, Sagres Restaurant, Adega Grill, Fernandes Steakhouse, Seabra’s Rodizio, Allegro Seafood Grill, Green Street Cafe, Sixty Park Grill, Assaggini Di Roma, Hell’s Kitchen Lounge, Soul Food Factory, Beira Mar of Spain, Hobby’s Deli & Restaurant, Spanish Tavern, Boi Na Brasa, King’s Family Restaurant, The Spot Lounge, Brasilia Grill, McGovern’s Tavern, Sushi House of Newark, Brick City Bar & Grill, MiSaVi, Taste of Portugal, Calcada (@NJPAC), Mompou Tapas Bar & Lounge, Tony Da Caneca, Casa Vasca, Paleio Restaurant, Vivo Tapas Lounge and Pasta Da Formia
To help you Newark folks out, I have made a top 5 list of my favorite Newark spots.
1. 27 Mix- Alway one of my favorites… Located in the downtown arts district of Newark:
They have the outdoor patio rich with growth, jazzed up on Thurs. night’s with outdoor musical entertainment! Decent menu, heavy liquor selection, as well as nice choice of draft brews.
2. Taste of Portugal… Had my heart, when I learned about the steak on the stone.
In what I call the deep of the Ironbound, aka not on Ferry St, Taste of Portugal offers us a taste of really spectacular portuguese cooking. Never had a bad experience there!
3. Brick City Bar and Grill – Have you seen the bartenders there. Holy Cow!!!
Good Menu! Good Energy! Ton of Beers on Tap! Hot Bartenders!
4. Sagres- Right off of Ferry St.
For a excellent pitcher of Sangria, and lively Ironbound crowd this is the place to go.
5. Hells Kitchen Lounge- One of my absolute favorites! Great Food (try the Asian wings!), Amazing frozen cocktails (Lucifer’s Lemonade is where it’s at), Awesome staff! and the only place to find Burlesque in Newark.
Hoped I helped out- What are your top 5 favorite Newark restaurants?
July 7th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
I agree with most of your choices- BCBG for the bartenders, and good food. Hells Kitchen because it is our Devils pre-game restaurant, Sagres because the food is amazing, Iberia-love their rodizio, and finally Casa Vasca. There are so many amazing restaurants in Newark, more people need to go and find out. They will be pleasantly surprised.
July 7th, 2009 at 5:43 pm
in no particular order:
fernandes for rodizio.
the priory for ambience.
taste of portugal for seafood.
bcbg for eyecandy.
mompou for the back yard
July 7th, 2009 at 8:28 pm
Also in no particular order (based on food quality, decor, overall experience):
Sol Mar
Mompou
Adega
Don Pepe
Kilkenny’s
Honorable mentions (based on value for price, speed of service, no frills/no pretension):
Planet Wings
Mi Gente (Central Ave.)
House of Thai (New St.)
Queen Pizza (Halsey St.)
Theatre Square Grill
Dario’s
Philly Pretzel Factory
Golden Krust (Market St.)
Nick’s
Art Kitchen
Skipper’s
China Express (Commerce St.)
Currently on my sh!t list:
60 Park Grill – Seduced by the promise of $2 Tuesdays ($2 domestic drafts from 3-7, $2 cocktail selection from 6-9), I went after work today around 5:45. Total bait & switch. Strike one: $10 cover. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? COVER CHARGE at a bar at 5:45??? Not even Manhattan bars try something that dumb. Strike two: at the bar, no $2 beers but instead, $5 drafts. 5:45 is squarely between 3-7 last time I checked. Strike three: general incompetence, from the bartender pouring about five inches of head to the complete lack of stools at the bar.
27 Mix – I’ve been there several times and frankly I’ve just gotten tired of the overpriced mediocre to middling service. Twice they’ve gotten food orders completely wrong, and thrice I’ve waited at least 15 minutes for a drink order to be filled.
July 7th, 2009 at 9:23 pm
My Top Newark restaurants:
Elm St. BBQ
Adega
Casa Vasca
Mi Gente
Maize
Theater Square Grill
WORST Restaurant: 27 Mix
Not only has the quality of their food cut corners, Twice on the patio I saw rats, indoors a few times I saw roaches~ Good for a cocktail but thats it!
July 7th, 2009 at 9:57 pm
honorable mention to airlie for lunch sandwiches
also bbq hut on broad for all-out gluttony. insanely good stuffed potatoes and top notch fried chicken. super rough interior and exterior but well worth it.
i can’t tell you how much i miss daily soup.
July 7th, 2009 at 10:36 pm
Joe,
Apparently Daily Soup moved to a spot inside Rutgers Law School… unfortunately their website’s a mess:
http://www.dailysoupnewark.geomerx.com/
July 7th, 2009 at 11:41 pm
Thanks for the feedback! Keep it coming!
July 8th, 2009 at 10:08 am
@WL, i actually graduated from rutgers law right before they moved into the school. had to go back to school for something after that and decided to get lunch down there (i had never actually eaten lunch at the school cafeteria in the 3 years i was there before that, go figure).
the menu inside the law school is severely diminished. 2-3 soups a day down from 6-8. no real “edgy” soups any more (their beer soup, senegalese peanut soup, etc were killer), no more quesadillas (fresh chicken and salmon), and so on.
they also cut the staff, who were AWESOME, and have the standard university employees working one register inside the school. no actual employees. just self-serve soup and chilled salads.
i know they were in the process of opening a soup/wine bar in east orange but haven’t checked on that in a while.
July 8th, 2009 at 10:58 am
Oh boy, this is a tough one…but I’d have to say:
Mompou
Maize
Iberia’s
Adega
Theater Square Grill
July 8th, 2009 at 11:25 am
Joe, have you tried the soups at Coffee Cave? They have about 4 or so a day. I think I saw somewhere that they’re “imported” from Hale & Hearty. Probably can’t compare to the “edgy” soups you mentioned but still decent. Also, the music at Coffee Cave can be a bit loud, but they’re trying hard to liven up the place with a newly fixed up back patio and free wifi.
Sad to hear about Daily Soup, I wonder why they went from a pretty good Halsey Street setup to what sounds like a second-rate food court franchise.
July 8th, 2009 at 12:57 pm
WL, unfortunately i’ve bounced over to manhattan for a new job so i’m not in the vicinity any more. good to know though, thanks!
July 8th, 2009 at 2:19 pm
Definitely like the mention of Elm St. BBQ, that is my post-work, on my way home spot to get chicken and french fries for cheap.
Others, in no particular order:
Sol Mar (this is the place I take my out-of-towner friends)
Boi na Brassa (love the decor and the rodizio and the staff!)
Dickie D’s on Bloomfield Ave. (I grew up on these!)
Airlie, for the lunchtime sandwiches.
July 9th, 2009 at 11:38 am
Luigi’s Italian
Je’s Soul Food
Brick City Bar & Grill
Hamburgao
Mi Pequeno Mexico
July 9th, 2009 at 11:50 am
For those that have yet to experience the great food at the Allegro and become familiar with its facilities, Mompou is not the only place with for backyard ambiance. ALLEGRO SEAFOOD GRILL has the best backyard in the area. The waterfall on one side and the tiki bar on the other, offer a great relaxing atmosphere for those that like to eat al-fresco, yet away from the eyes of passers. Mompou offers you an plain attrium (a heaven for smokers) where the only ambiance is created by those around. Allegro’s seafood platter is phenomenal and you can ordered for 1, 2 or even 4 – and affordable!
July 10th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
I would say in order of best food, service, staff, surronding my list would be:
1. Sol del Mar
2. Tony Da Caneca
3. Assaggini Di Roma
4. Seabra’s Rodizio
5. Fernandes Steakhouse
To help
July 11th, 2009 at 12:16 am
Allegro is great. Just heard about Fernandes — all good things… can’t wait to check it out.
Hell’s Kitchen is my all time favorite, though… overall, everything about it is great.
So happy to have found this site. I’m a food nut living in Newark and I have had problems finding good Italian (Green Street is great, and I just discovered that one) and I didn’t know there were ANY ice cream places, let alone two (unless you count Baskin Robbins).
July 13th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
I think you should take 27 Mix on the list. The restaurant has bad service. I waited over an hour for a salad which never came . I finally left.
July 16th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
CAFE ITALIA ON ADAMS FOR LUNCH EVERYDAY! THE ONLY TRUE HOMEMADE ITALIAN CAFE IN NEWARK LEFT!
August 21st, 2009 at 9:57 am
My god, did the seafood night special at Fernandez on Thursday during Restaurant week. Not only did the waiter hook us up with some port to top off my Spanish Coffee, Sangria combo but I had the most rediculous amount of food. I swear by Fernandez for some of if not the best steak in the Ironbound (and Its around the corner from my house) and you must order the steak on the tile at least once.
October 23rd, 2009 at 4:40 pm
1. Taste of Portugal for the steak on a stone (2 thumbs up Pete!)
2. Pulaski BBQ for chicken, ribs, fries, and rice
3. Allegro for the outside seating on a nice night
4. Krugs for burgers, drinkd, great people, and a game. It always feels like the “good ole days” when your there.
5. Tony D’s
October 26th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
1- taste of Portugal
2- campino
3-sushi house
4-marisqueira sol e mar
5- seabras marisqueira
November 5th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
27Mix is a dive. Decent appearance, consistently terrible food. Anything in the Ironbound is better than that. However, speaking of the Ironbound, after 5 years of working in Newark, I have never finished a meal at any of the restaurants and said “Wow, that was fantastic”. Some are good, most are barely medicre. Quantity does not equate to quality, and that’s usually what you get down there.
December 14th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
Hey – whats up. Thanks a bunch for the blog. I’ve been digging around for info, but i think i’m getting lost!. Google lead me here – good for you i suppose! Keep up the good work. I will be popping back over in a couple of days to see if there is any more info.
December 18th, 2009 at 1:53 pm
Hiya!. Thanks a bunch for the blog. I’ve been digging around looking some info up for shool, but i think i’m getting lost!. Google lead me here – good for you i suppose! Keep up the great information. I will be coming back in a few days to see if there is updated posts.
January 11th, 2010 at 10:00 pm
Hi Blake,
You have a nice blog here. Thanks for posting your top 5 recommendation. I think I like to try the Asian wings in Hells Kitchen Lounge this week.
Thanks! I will definitely comeback for your upcoming posts!
January 19th, 2010 at 10:30 pm
i am curious to know peoples 5 top places that deliver!! So far, mine are La pequena (mexican); the chinese on green street . . .
February 8th, 2010 at 11:32 am
Bragman’s first of all. Because it is located just mere blocks from where my father was born. My grandfather was partial to Hobby’s.. he would go to lunch either at Bragman’s or Hobby’s at least a few days a week. When I wrote the article for NJ Life on the last Jewish Delis in Newark, NJ, I never expected any notice. I couldn’t have been more incorrect.
http://www.newjerseylife.com/dining/delis-to-die-for/
February 12th, 2010 at 4:49 pm
I simply love eating out in Newark. I think their are values everywhere and there is just something about the family owned resturants that draws me.
February 18th, 2010 at 1:12 am
I will visit again for another new interesting topic..
March 5th, 2010 at 3:57 am
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