Remembering Restaurants of the Past

[Taboni]

I think the HoJo's in Asbury Park is still open during the summer...if you like to live dangerously.

[charlotte baker]

Am I the only one old enough to remember the Tavern Restaurant in Newark? Coconut custard pie, coffee Tavern, great sliced steak sandwiches and on and on. Big sigh! No other restaurant has replaced it for me.

[ranitidine]

No, you're not the only one to remember it. What about Stash's, the first place I ever had peel your own shrimp and The Roscommon House, also a place with great shrimp that never replaced the outside part of the restaurant that was burned in the riots?

[tommy]

not stash's in linden i hope.

[CooksQuest]

Bradley's (on University Place in New York City).

For the amazing jazz...not necessarily for the food.

And also for that amazing table (kind of private -- and perfect for a date) in the corner.

Do you remember the Seinfeld episode where the sax player had a special problem with Elaine? That was Bradley's!

Oh, man. I just realized this was supposed to be a NJ post. So, I vote for "The Secret Ingredient" on Washington St. in Hoboken. Great (but small) place for brunch. The marshall (or some other city official) shut it down.

Edited January 24, 2003 by CooksQuest (log)

[bearstew]

hOLY COW, TO HERE THE NAMES SAM'S MAPLE GROVE AND THE HARBOR AGAIN AFTER ALL THESE YEARS. SAM'S COCKTAILS FOR MOM AND DAD AND THE WORLDS WORST PIZZA FOR THE KID'S. GOD I LOVED THE PLACE(MEMORIES)?. AND THE HARBOR, HOW ABOUT THE ANIMALS UNDER YOUR MAIN COURSE?, ALWAYS FUN, BAD FOOD GOOD SERVICE FOR A 6 YEAR OLD

[ranitidine]

not stash's in linden i hope. 

No, Stash's in Newark or very near Newark, but definitely not in Linden.

[NJ2FLA]

The jingle just came into my head..

Your going to get spoiled.. ... at Beefsteak Charlie's tonight!

[NJ2FLA]

I was in Hoboken last night. No more Clam Broth House?

Signs in the window about reopening 2/1/2003 - is it now a bar or nightclub?

[ranitidine]

Just remembered Barbara's Pen & Pencil, in an alley around the corner from The Newark News. Not only was it the first place I ever had that signature Newark dish, Chicken Murphy, but it remains the best. Also, The Treat, near the Mosque Theatre, later Symphony Hall, where all the politicians used to dine.

[tommy]

I was in Hoboken last night.  No more Clam Broth House?

Signs in the window about reopening 2/1/2003 - is it now a bar or nightclub?

the CBH has been a bar/nightclub for probably 8 years now. it isn't what it was. not sure if they're making it even *more* shitty at this point, however.

[NJ2FLA]

Oh wow Tommy I didn't know that. I have been living out of state for a while now and this is the first time I have been down in Hoboken in years.

[Liza]

We used to go the New Englander diner on Cedar Road/Lane (?) in Teaneck - could very well be my very first restaurant experience.

And I STILL miss the old Dairy Queen in Tenafly, where I had many many root beer freezes. Now it's a bank.

[NJ2FLA]

All just thought of another one:

Wedgewood Cafeteria - Montclair, NJ

[NJ2FLA]

Clam broth house to be turn down

Story here...

[glenn]

Mixed feelings. It was gone in spirit a long time ago.

[tommy]

Mixed feelings.  It was gone in spirit a long time ago.

fuck yeah. the place, along with dying for all intents and purposes in the early 80's (as far as i understand the history and greatness prior to that), morphed into a friggin meat market dance club that completely represented everything i hated about the gentrification of hoboken. having spent a few nights myself in the "cadillac bar" and the "new" "boo-boos" (which once was a great place for local artists and bands), i can also say that 95% of the people who frequented the place didn't live in hoboken at all. great for the owners. bad for hoboken. that's what i say.

good riddance. i'm ashamed that it dragged the broth house name through the stale beer swill all of these years.

[Arpad]

Caffaro's pizza in New Brunswick

The Tico Taco on rte 22 in Greenbrook ( decor early pawnshop - so cluttered I didn't realize they had a racing sulky hanging from the ceiling that I didn't see till my third or fourth visit .

Gruning's in Plainfield with their belly buster ( eat one get one free , stomach pump optional

Tompkins Ice Cream off rte 1 in Elizabeth ( think there was one in New Brunswick too

Princes Bay Inn on Staten Island

Mcginnis of Sheepshead Bay Seafood - northwest end of Times Square

Coney Island rest. in Perth Amboy for the coney island dogs

I think I may need some Maalox!!!

[richl2214]

It's not a restaurant but when Ferrara's Pastry Shop in Newark on Bloomfield Ave. closed my heart sunk.

Callandra's is still there but they can't hold a candle to the homemade sfogliatele and cannoli from Ferrara's.

R.I.P. Ferrara's of Newark (the original)

Now a great Domino's pizzaria....whoopdee damn doo!!!!!!!!!

[pbrodsky]

Mediterranian Armenian on Main Street in Fort Lee, was family-run and had a larger-than-average menu for a middle eastern restaurant.

[ruffian8]

I remember Zaberer's near AC had a bowl full of what must have been very cheap caviar and crackers in the area where you waited to be called for a table.

Another pleasant memory of a restaurant long gone: La Finestra in Rochelle Park, where I had my first flaming Bananas Foster. The place was filled with statuary, stained glass windows (hence the name), etc.

Also the odd McDonald's (not the chain), on Kinderkamack Road just north of Montvale on the NY border was "decorated" on walls and ceilings with hundreds of old rifles, artillery shells and the like. Very bizarre (it's now the Porter House).

[LNorman]

My favorite "gone" restaurant was Wayne Pizza on the northside of Route 23 in Wayne (Mountain View section). There are condos there now but the restaurant closed when Route 23 was widened.

I remembered bugging my dad to go out to eat. With 4 kids, going out to eat in the 1970's was a real treat. Dad and I always had the "antipasto salad" plate. Iceburg lettuce, tomatoes, green peppers, hot peppers, a scoop of the best tasting tuna that my mom never made, anchovies (my first!), black olives, and canned mushrooms.

The pizza was pretty good as I remember it. Thin crust with puffy edges and a nice tomato sauce. Not a sweet sauce which is not my favorite. My siblings and I still talk about that place.

[emmaline]

Oh the memories your topic has stirred.

Here is our list and some of these places are gone 25 years or more.

Maison Billia, Scotch Plains - our first culinary love until it burned.

Auntie Mame's, Stirling - for dinner and great sing-a-long evenings

East Winds, Scotch Plains - so cool, dark and exotic on hot summer nights

Zocolo, North Caldwell - awesome Mexican grilled corn on the cob

Sisters, Randolph

Juniper, Lyndhurst - Zod did his best cooking here

Sinclaires, first in Montclair, then South Orange and then Millburn

Turkish Kitchen, Weehawken - no one cooked Turkish like they could

The Little Thai, Somerville - our love of Thai food began here

Auberge Suisse, Berkley Heights - Please reopen!

Nanina's in the Park, Newark, their price fixe dinner for 16 in the cellar was

awesome

Emmaline

[Helena Robinson]

Here is our list and some of these places are gone 25 years or more.

The Little Thai, Somerville - our love of Thai food began here

Auberge Suisse, Berkley Heights - Please reopen!

Umm... We've lived in Hillsborough since 1987. The Little Thai House opened after we moved here. Great food, lousy service - I think it was one of the first Thai restaurants we ever tried. It was destroyed by fire after it had been open only a few years.

The chef/owner of Auberge Suisse re-established Pheasant's Landing in Hillsborough about two years ago. You can get some of the items that were once on that menu (wienerschnitzel and fondue immediately come to mind) at this new place - check the website at www.pheasantslanding.com

[Ike]

Speaking of great ethnic restaurants that have burned down, here's a recent one: Little Saigon in Nutley. I really miss this place. Are they still planning to re-build and re-open? I haven't heard anything about it lately and I haven't had a chance to pass through Nutley lately either. I don't like the new Vietnamese place Binh Duong on Belleville Ave. as much, although they've got great pho.

Nanina's in the Park, Newark

Hey Emmaline, a place with that name still exists, at 540 Mill St & Franklin Ave in Belleville near the Newark border. I've only been living around here for about four years though, so I have no idea if it's the same place you're talking about, but it's the same name. I've walked past this strangely-colored restaurant (it's painted salmon pink or some such color!) many times, but I've never eaten there.

Further up-thread, I'm sad to read about all these great-sounding places that used to exist in Newark and presumably vanished long before I ever got here. Sigh.