As part of our Meet the Neighbors video series showcasing local artists and business owners, we’re excited to announce A Taste of Hudson County, which goes behind the scenes to highlight the cuisine and culture of each of our twelve municipalities. In this series, you can watch video interviews with the first four of twelve interviews which explore the culture and cuisine of Hudson County through some of its best restaurants and the brilliant chefs and Hudson County families behind them. The multicultural makeup of our neighborhoods shines through the cuisine you’ll find here, with everything from authentic Mexican birria in Bayonne to hip hangouts in Hoboken.
Let’s continue our tour of cuisine through Hudson County with A Taste of Hudson County, which is part of our Meet the Neighbors series. This series showcases Hudson County’s local business owners, restauranteurs, and artists. We’ve gone behind the scenes to highlight the restaurants and culture of each of our twelve municipalities, and we are proud to have added four more interviews with the chefs, owners, and founders of these incredible eateries. Check out all the videos to learn about the multicultural makeup of our neighborhoods through the phenomenal food you’ll find here.
At Jersey City’s Skinner’s Loft, 146 Newark Avenue, you’ll find fresh and contemporary cuisine crafted by a family with roots going back well over a century in Hudson County. Here, the American bistro tradition is alive and thriving with local and regional farm-fresh food that can be feasted upon on their rooftop patio or accompanied by live jazz music.
This family-owned restaurant at 102 Kearny Avenue in Kearny, has been the go-to place for pleasing and piquant Peruvian cuisine in Kearny for the last two decades. Here, you can experience the incredible diversity of Peruvian food, from coastal classics like paella-style mixed seafood rice to inland delicacies like shredded chicken simmered in aji amarilllo pepper sauce.
Come for the food and stay for the drinks, as Mezcal Kitchen’s award-winning mixologist and extensive cocktail and tequila menu perfectly complement their authentic Mexican cuisine. Though you’ll find a bit of everything on the menu in their 482 Broadway, Bayonne and 665 Newark Avenue, Jersey City restaurants, they’re especially known for their tasty tacos, including a dozen options like beef birria, skirt steak, cauliflower, and mushroom.
Not only does Antique Bar & Bakery, at 122 Willow Avenue in Hoboken, have its roots in a 125-year-old bakery in Hoboken, but its 125-year-old coal oven is the largest in the United States and is used for far more than bread baking. This 425-square-foot oven cooks everything from coal-fired steaks, burgers, and mac & cheese to oven-seared bread pudding topped with caramel sauce.
Various Locations
Cuban immigrants Alan and Nairelys Lopez came to the US as teenagers and worked their way up through the ranks of restaurants in New Jersey before opening Rumba Cubana in 2009. Here, Cuban classics like ropa vieja (seasoned shredded beef) and lechon asado (roasted pork), pair perfectly with the bar’s mojito, which was originally invented in Cuba. Though Rumba Cubana started as a single restaurant in North Bergen in 2009, the minichain now has locations in Guttenberg, North Bergen, and Jersey City, so you’re never too far from a great meal.
700 Plaza Dr, Secaucus, NJ 07094
Forget the crowds of Midtown Manhattan, as the world-famous Carnegie Diner now has a branch in Secaucus. Voted one of the best diners in 2022 on OpenTable, Carnegie prioritizes high-quality ingredients like organic meat and locally sourced eggs, which they use to craft classic and upscale versions of traditional diner fare. Come for the buttermilk pancakes and lobster mac and cheese and stay for the 24-layer chocolate cake and skyhigh waffle-topped milkshakes. Breakfast and brunch are served all day long, and you can also add unlimited mimosas or creative alcohol-free mocktails.
24 69th St, Guttenberg, NJ 07093
New Jersey is famous for its Italian population and cuisine, and GP’s Restaurant is Italian-American food at its finest. This old-school “red sauce” Italian joint has been serving quintessential Italian-American cuisine since 1934, from its hearty meatballs with spaghetti to its indulgent chicken parmesan. Not only has the restaurant been perfecting recipes for decades, but some of its friendly staff have even been here for 45 years. The ambiance is relaxed and intimate and the food is soul-warming. GP’s restaurant feels like home and that’s exactly why people keep coming back.
31 Harrison Ave, Harrison, NJ 07029
This Spanish standby has been winning hearts through its seafood, steak, and sangria since 1976. Initially opened by Antonio and Estrella Martinez, Spanish Pavillion was the first Spanish restaurant in New Jersey, specializing in a new-to-the-area cuisine that the surrounding community wasn’t yet accustomed to. As no Spanish menu is complete without paella and tapas, Spanish Pavilion offers both, including more modern and non-traditional tapas, such as small beef empanadas and blue cheese and bacon-wrapped dates.