Restaurant - Lounge - Club in NJ?

[jim07044]

Think South Beach Miami: a good restaurant with notable chefs serving dinner and then around 10:00 pm turns into a lounge/club with a seen-to-seen scene. Is there anything like this in NJ?

I've not been to Taste (Bloomfield) or Blend (Ridgewood) or Red (Red Bank) but their descriptions sound pretty close to what I'm looking for. Can anyone verify or recommend anything else?

Jim

[lano]

while it doesnt change into a club, per se, but south city grille on RT17 is very clublike. place always seemd a bit odd-- food is good, place is loud and gets very crowded. a little too NYish for me, esp for being literally on route 17.....

[Rosie]

Chakra, Paramus is not a club but may be what you are looking for. Also Flirt Nightclub should be opening soon in West Orange.

[Curlz]

Adega Grill, which is in the Ironbound (Portuguese/Brazilian/Spanish) section of Newark, is a terrific restaurant that has a lounge attached; the lounge is VERY legit club-looking--and nothing like the decor of the restaurant. I'm told the place is HOPPING on the weekends. Here's the thread about Adega Grill.

[richl2214]

Taste is not a Miami style club. They use to have Latin night one night a week. I never ate there but I heard the food is good.

I think what you're looking for is probably something like South City Grill. That have a latin salsa night at the Jersey City location although I like the Rt 17 location best.

There is no place in N J that I would consider a "Seen-and-be-seen" place with "notable chefs". You have to trek across the bridge to NYC for that.

[jim07044]

Taste is not a Miami style club.  They use to have Latin night one night a week.

FYI ... South Beach nightlife is not latin-style salsa ... think NYC with palm trees and open air parties (or Hampton summers...)

[jim07044]

Flirt Nightclub should be opening soon in West Orange.

That site has been under construction for years ... I'll believe it when I see it open and ready for business!

[richl2214]

Taste is not a Miami style club.  They use to have Latin night one night a week.

FYI ... South Beach nightlife is not latin-style salsa ... think NYC with palm trees and open air parties (or Hampton summers...)

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I'm at a loss then. I think your looking in the wrong state for something like that. There is absolutely nothing that has even close to a South Beach vibe in NJ. Save up some pennies and head down to the real deal. Stay at the Setai or The National(make sure you get a cabana room-absolutely awesome.) You won't be sorry. I know I wasn't. Airfare is pretty cheap right now too.

[jb_973]

Have you been to Diva Lounge in Montclair (www.divalounge.com) ? Definitely somewhat of a Miami-style club, and they have a regular Latin night on Thursdays. That said, I've only really tried appetizers there (which were pretty good) - I can't really vouch for the food. Maybe someone else can comment?

Also, I heard a rumor that Diva's is under new management - any truth in this?

[Rosie]

Diva's was sold but I don't know if the new management has taken over the place yet.

[menton1]

South Park Grill, in the office complex north of Paramus Park Mall, is a beautiful environment with decent food and has a club scene after dinner. (At least it used to). Call and check this place out...

South Park Grill

633 From Rd., Paramus

201-576-0888

[camper]

Try Nova Terra in New Brunswick. They have live music on Thur, Fri and Saturday. It may be just what you are looking for.

[jb_973]

Flirt Nightclub should be opening soon in West Orange.

That site has been under construction for years ... I'll believe it when I see it open and ready for business!

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There was a very interesting article in the Star Ledger about Club Flirt. It looks like the owners still have a few hurdles to overcome before they would be allowed to open the place:

[nj.com] Dance club is called out of step

[jim07044]

There was a very interesting article in the Star Ledger about Club Flirt.  It looks like the owners still have a few hurdles to overcome before they would be allowed to open the place:

[nj.com] Dance club is called out of step

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It's unfortunate that communities do not seem to embrace new business propositions, whether its a Flirt-like restaurant/bar/lounge/nightclub or a supersize Walmart/Home Depot. Residents should allow new businesses to open with the idea that the plan will succeed rather than fail. If any problems materialize after-the-fact, all parties should get together to discuss solutions, even a worst case scenario of closing the business. At least this gives the business a chance to thrive. Flirt is getting a bad deal, not even allowing itself to prove it can work within its community.

I must admit, though, with a capacity of 200 or 500 people, where are all those cars going to be parked? The site is very small. Flirt should have been built where the old Crabby Lobster restaurant was (now condos?!). More parking, and no resident neighbors to complain.

I think the lesson learned here is to not development nightlife businesses in the 'burbs, unless you have lots of land and natural buffers from surrounding residential zones.

[ejebud]

Flirt Nightclub should be opening soon in West Orange.

That site has been under construction for years ... I'll believe it when I see it open and ready for business!

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Local rumor has it that they overstepped their boundries as far as what was approved by the town. I heard something about cages suspended from the cieling for girls to dance in and stuff like that. I also heard that their approval was pulled by the town. I'm not validating my sources, just local rumor.