Good Jersey Pizza

Anyone living in New Jersey can tell you we have good Italian food here.days I have had more . Our diners, already laden with a million different foods now have a large pizza and pasta list. I've bneen dining on all sorts here from pizza bagels to the thin crust oven baked kind. Our neighboring state, New York may claim they have the best however I think there is some competition from the Garden State here.

I recently ate at botht he HEritage Diner and Brooklyn Pizzeria in Hackensack , NJ. Hackensack is one of the state's oldest, having been a trading post between the Dutch and th e Indians during th e 1600's. Who knew that over 360 years later it would known more for its' food than anything else (beisdes a mention in a Billy Joel song). I have had the pizza bagels at the famed Heritage Diner on River Road, This is one of the towns' oldest diners (over forty years in existence) It;s known for a large variety of different types of cuisines from the standard burger and fries to Greek. However it has an extensive Italian menu . I tried their fun pizza bagels which is a jumbo size bagel laden with a ton of sauce and mozzarella. it was too huge to eat and has t be shared. I'm looking forward to their pizzas in the future along wit some of the regular diner fare.

Down the road from the Heritage is Brooklyn Pizzeria. This is a small cozy kind of place that's perfect for date night. Their pizza is phenomenal, being equal to that of th e famous John's down in New York City's Bleeker Street. The crust is super thin and crisp while the sauce is rich with spices and garlic. I love th e fact that they are so may topping.s I chose olive and my individual pie was covered with them. I plan on going back to Brooklyn Pizzeria to try their antipasto . This is done in the traditional style with cold cuts , veggies and cheeses as well as their penne in butter sauce.

The Garden State has small culinary meccas dotted through it. Hackensack is one of them, known for it's Italian food. If your;e in the area , stop into the Heritage Diner or Brooklyn Pizzeria. You'll have the best Italian food in the state!

Another Fine Jersey Diner The Coach House

I live in New Jersey where there's a diner or two in every town. There are so many but a few do stand out. One is the Coach House , which has two locations, one in my old hatching ground of Hackensack and the other in North Bergen (just outside New York City). Both offer restaurant quality food and variety. The prices are pretty OK too.


The original Coach House was on the site of the North Bergen location and started there in 1939. It was just a small joint where workers from local Jersey City, Union City and North Bergen could go for a quick sandwich or a burger. The Hackensack location as added within the last twenty years and both are currently owned by Greek lawyers. I love the North Bergen one which is more of a huge restaurant than a diner.The soup and salad bar are my lunch and dinner favorites. There are different soups designated for different days(try to get there on Saturday for the beef barley or potato leek). The salad bar is grand with a huge variety of different saladss. and green treats. You can stock up on a pea salad along with taking few dolmades or stuffed grape leaves. Every so often the salad bar offers free fresh baked banana bread. I love the Coach House on Christmas and Easter mornings when I can get a holiday breakfast after church services at my family's churches. The omelets are huge and could feed six . There's also a generous helping of hash browns and toast too.

What makes the Coach House also unique is their bakery. Their cupcakes are better than at the ones at the magnolia across the near by Hudson. They're bigger fluffier, and also have a better flavorwhich is more cakier. The icing is a wonderful mound of homemade butter cream topped off by either a strawberry or an Oreo cookie. The cupcakes come in vanilla and chocolate with either vanilla, a cookie infused vanilla or strawberry icing on top. The Coach House also produces some yummy homemade chocolate chip and cookies that they sell at the counter. Bring a bag of these home for some dessert or snacking. Theyre buttery and crisp and also are studded with walnuts to counterbalance the chips.

Jersey is known for its' plethora of diners but few stand out. The Coach House of both Hackensack and North Bergen does. Go to either location to have some of the best diner food in the state and in the NYC metro area!

Mona Lisa Bakery I Adore You

There is a new bakery not too far from me in the quaint town of Little Ferry, New Jersey. It's called the Mona Lisa and it has a variety of good pastries and cookies as well as cakes and Perugina chocolates. It's a new bakery yet it feels like it's been in the neighborhood forever.

The Mona Lisa 's owners are from Calabria Italy, in the southern part of the boot. This is a region that's known for its' variety of different dishes and cream filled pastries . The Mona Lisa offers the latter,a rich cornucopia of nocciola (hazelnut and chocolate) and delicately flavored whipped cream puffs and sfinge, clam shelled shaped mille fleurs . I love their St. Joseph's Day pastries a rich ricotta and sugar mix stuffed into a lighter than air cream puff. The cream is heavenly, studded with a generous amount of chocolate chips and orange flavoring.

The Mona Lisa has excellent cookies (which my students love. I bring in a box to my night classes ) and it's no wonder. The cookies have a real butter taste unlike some bakeries that use lard or margarine. the ingredients weather they be fruit, nuts or chocolate are tasty too , topped with a generous amount of chocolate sprinkles as well as being baked into cute Easter themed shapes such as bunny faces and bodies.

If you're in my neck of the woods, visit the quaint and historic Hackensack River town of Little Ferry. It has one of the best Italian bakeries in the area there. Visit the Mona Lisa and fall in love.