"...no state is more mocked, maligned and misunderstood."
August 25, 2021 7:13 AM Subscribe
The greatest thing about every single town in New Jersey, a five-part series by NJ.com food and features writer Pete Genovese. Links to each individual installment below the fold.
Every type of municipality, be it borough, township, or city, is considered to be a "town" for this project. 565 municipalities are covered in all, and their "greatest things" include historical sites, organizations, museums, restaurants, and even bridges.
- North Jersey, part 1 covers Bergen, Essex, and Hudson counties
- North Jersey, part 2 focuses on Morris, Passaic, Sussex, Union, and Warren counties
- Central Jersey, which does exist, according to Gov. Murphy, includes Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, and Somerset counties
- South Jersey features Burlington, Camden, Cumberland, Gloucester, and Salem counties
- And finally, there's the towns of the Jersey Shore, in Atlantic, Cape May, Monmouth, and Ocean counties
This series was a subscriber-only feature last week, and is now available for everyone to read and enjoy. Naturally, it's already caused some debate amongst New Jerseyans.
Every type of municipality, be it borough, township, or city, is considered to be a "town" for this project. 565 municipalities are covered in all, and their "greatest things" include historical sites, organizations, museums, restaurants, and even bridges.
- North Jersey, part 1 covers Bergen, Essex, and Hudson counties
- North Jersey, part 2 focuses on Morris, Passaic, Sussex, Union, and Warren counties
- Central Jersey, which does exist, according to Gov. Murphy, includes Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, and Somerset counties
- South Jersey features Burlington, Camden, Cumberland, Gloucester, and Salem counties
- And finally, there's the towns of the Jersey Shore, in Atlantic, Cape May, Monmouth, and Ocean counties
This series was a subscriber-only feature last week, and is now available for everyone to read and enjoy. Naturally, it's already caused some debate amongst New Jerseyans.
I have lived in both Chicago (forever the Second City, even though it's third in population these days) and New Jersey, and the inferiority complex is real. I love both these places.
Best thing about Fair Lawn, IMHO, is not Radburn -- though that is I guess the most historically notable thing. The best thing is the Kosher Nosh.
posted by HeroZero at 7:44 AM on August 25, 2021 [3 favorites]
Best thing about Fair Lawn, IMHO, is not Radburn -- though that is I guess the most historically notable thing. The best thing is the Kosher Nosh.
posted by HeroZero at 7:44 AM on August 25, 2021 [3 favorites]
New Jersey seems to have one hell of an inferiority complex.
I've had bartenders throw my ID on the ground before. People are assholes.
posted by MisantropicPainforest at 7:53 AM on August 25, 2021 [5 favorites]
I've had bartenders throw my ID on the ground before. People are assholes.
posted by MisantropicPainforest at 7:53 AM on August 25, 2021 [5 favorites]
What? No "love" for Mississippi?
posted by Billiken at 8:03 AM on August 25, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Billiken at 8:03 AM on August 25, 2021 [1 favorite]
I grew up in Camden County, let's see what he has to say about the area...
Joe's Peking Duck House yes very good ate there all the time
Air Victory Museum not at the airport that I learned to fly at, unfortunately, and kind of run down, but sure
Cruiser in the Cornfield really? Other than an oddity to look at while you're speeding down the highway, come on
Sahara Sam's nope, should have picked the flea market
Battleship New Jersey aquarium? anyone? no?
Cherry Hill Mall none more Jersey
Clementon Park yeah, sure
Pine Valley Golf Course I think it was here that I finally decided that I hated golf, so I'll allow it
Veterans Wall of Honor as accessible as the plans for the interstellar thoroughfare that destroyed Earth
Those are the only things I've even heard of, let alone visited.
posted by backseatpilot at 8:45 AM on August 25, 2021
Joe's Peking Duck House yes very good ate there all the time
Air Victory Museum not at the airport that I learned to fly at, unfortunately, and kind of run down, but sure
Cruiser in the Cornfield really? Other than an oddity to look at while you're speeding down the highway, come on
Sahara Sam's nope, should have picked the flea market
Battleship New Jersey aquarium? anyone? no?
Cherry Hill Mall none more Jersey
Clementon Park yeah, sure
Pine Valley Golf Course I think it was here that I finally decided that I hated golf, so I'll allow it
Veterans Wall of Honor as accessible as the plans for the interstellar thoroughfare that destroyed Earth
Those are the only things I've even heard of, let alone visited.
posted by backseatpilot at 8:45 AM on August 25, 2021
HeroZero, you just opened a whole new world to me.
And also I love this post.
posted by mumimor at 8:52 AM on August 25, 2021
And also I love this post.
posted by mumimor at 8:52 AM on August 25, 2021
This is a really fun list, thank you for posting it!
posted by LobsterMitten at 9:07 AM on August 25, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by LobsterMitten at 9:07 AM on August 25, 2021 [3 favorites]
Agreed, thanks for posting! Some gems on there... Kinchley's, Rutt's Hut, Great Notch Inn.
However, having grown up in Wyckoff/Franklin Lakes, I had never even heard of the two picked for them so... that's interesting. I suppose this was also 22 years ago since I moved away, so to be expected I guess.
posted by Grither at 9:11 AM on August 25, 2021 [1 favorite]
However, having grown up in Wyckoff/Franklin Lakes, I had never even heard of the two picked for them so... that's interesting. I suppose this was also 22 years ago since I moved away, so to be expected I guess.
posted by Grither at 9:11 AM on August 25, 2021 [1 favorite]
"...no state is more mocked, maligned and misunderstood."
Very New York metropolitan area-ist.
The Kentucky delegation requests an audience, while Florida Man has sent a drone.
posted by Iris Gambol at 9:15 AM on August 25, 2021 [10 favorites]
Very New York metropolitan area-ist.
The Kentucky delegation requests an audience, while Florida Man has sent a drone.
posted by Iris Gambol at 9:15 AM on August 25, 2021 [10 favorites]
I will always be forever jealous of Jersey's strong and flourishing Diner Culture. There are not nearly as many of the old school, brightly lit 24-hour diners anymore in NYC - I mean there's some, but it's nothing like NJ where it seems like there is at least one for every township.
Sometimes I just want a regular ass diner breakfast in a big squishy booth - a big menu of omelettes with a side of toast and hash browns. The food can be mediocre because it all costs like 12 bucks and we can sit as long as we want. And I want it at 9am or 1am depending on what kind of day or night I have.
posted by windbox at 9:19 AM on August 25, 2021 [14 favorites]
Sometimes I just want a regular ass diner breakfast in a big squishy booth - a big menu of omelettes with a side of toast and hash browns. The food can be mediocre because it all costs like 12 bucks and we can sit as long as we want. And I want it at 9am or 1am depending on what kind of day or night I have.
posted by windbox at 9:19 AM on August 25, 2021 [14 favorites]
Jersey is great and I always laugh when people from Indiana mocked me for being from NJ, "dude you live in fucking Indiana"
posted by Ferreous at 9:20 AM on August 25, 2021 [16 favorites]
posted by Ferreous at 9:20 AM on August 25, 2021 [16 favorites]
I would also like to argue with their definition of central NJ. To me it's south of the Raritan North of the pine barrens.
posted by Ferreous at 9:29 AM on August 25, 2021
posted by Ferreous at 9:29 AM on August 25, 2021
As a geographer and a nearly life-long resident of New Jersey, this post is right up my alley.
Ferreous, while Central Jersey obviously exists, one of the great joys of New Jersey geography is arguing about how to define it. I think there's a certain elegance to defining it as the area that people who are inarguably from North Jersey think is South Jersey and people inarguably from South Jersey think is North Jersey, but actually generating this definition faces some logical and operational problems.
And, damn, we have a lot of municipalities for a small state.
posted by mollweide at 9:36 AM on August 25, 2021 [6 favorites]
Ferreous, while Central Jersey obviously exists, one of the great joys of New Jersey geography is arguing about how to define it. I think there's a certain elegance to defining it as the area that people who are inarguably from North Jersey think is South Jersey and people inarguably from South Jersey think is North Jersey, but actually generating this definition faces some logical and operational problems.
And, damn, we have a lot of municipalities for a small state.
posted by mollweide at 9:36 AM on August 25, 2021 [6 favorites]
You know what's the greatest thing about the covered bridge in Sergeantsville? Sitting underneath it on a hot summer day with your feet in the creek when a car drives overhead.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 9:46 AM on August 25, 2021 [8 favorites]
posted by TWinbrook8 at 9:46 AM on August 25, 2021 [8 favorites]
Thanks, this is great!
I haven't lived in New Jersey in almost thirty years, but a lot of these had me nodding my head. Yes, the abandoned Nike missile base is by far the best thing about Livingston, and also an amazing place to watch shooting stars. Mitsuwa (forever Yaohan Plaza in my heart, fite me) was my favorite place to go in high school. But most of the diners of my youth closed decades ago, and it's not for nothing that the best thing in Fort Lee is the bridge out of town.
posted by phooky at 9:48 AM on August 25, 2021 [2 favorites]
I haven't lived in New Jersey in almost thirty years, but a lot of these had me nodding my head. Yes, the abandoned Nike missile base is by far the best thing about Livingston, and also an amazing place to watch shooting stars. Mitsuwa (forever Yaohan Plaza in my heart, fite me) was my favorite place to go in high school. But most of the diners of my youth closed decades ago, and it's not for nothing that the best thing in Fort Lee is the bridge out of town.
posted by phooky at 9:48 AM on August 25, 2021 [2 favorites]
The Kentucky delegation requests an audience, while Florida Man has sent a drone.
I felt this comment, having grown up in Florida. I I vastly prefer New Jersey, which I've moved to from out of state twice.
Anyway, it seems most Floridians much care about their state's reputation, perhaps because there's a bit of truth to it, whereas in NJ's case, it's overblown (IMO).
posted by May Kasahara at 9:51 AM on August 25, 2021 [1 favorite]
I felt this comment, having grown up in Florida. I I vastly prefer New Jersey, which I've moved to from out of state twice.
Anyway, it seems most Floridians much care about their state's reputation, perhaps because there's a bit of truth to it, whereas in NJ's case, it's overblown (IMO).
posted by May Kasahara at 9:51 AM on August 25, 2021 [1 favorite]
Sorry still reading this but OMG OMG OMG KEARNY. THE PULASKI SKYWAY??? better call the fire department from the next town over because KEARNY JUST GOT BURRRRRRRRRNNNNNNED
to the GROUUNNNNDDDD
posted by phooky at 10:00 AM on August 25, 2021 [7 favorites]
to the GROUUNNNNDDDD
posted by phooky at 10:00 AM on August 25, 2021 [7 favorites]
(Weehawken's similar burn is less deserved, as everyone knows the best thing about Weehawken is Hamilton Park, because how many parks do you get to visit that are named after the dude who got murdered there)
posted by phooky at 10:03 AM on August 25, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by phooky at 10:03 AM on August 25, 2021 [5 favorites]
"Cherry Hill Mall" none more Jersey
I looked it up and was interested to see that it was the oldest climate controlled mall east of the Mississippi. Curious as to the oldest in the US as a whole I learned that it's the Southdale Center in Edina, Minnesota, which "opened in 1956 and is both the first and the oldest fully enclosed, climate-controlled shopping mall in the United States". The story of its design is an example of incredible optimism, bordering on naïveté:
I looked it up and was interested to see that it was the oldest climate controlled mall east of the Mississippi. Curious as to the oldest in the US as a whole I learned that it's the Southdale Center in Edina, Minnesota, which "opened in 1956 and is both the first and the oldest fully enclosed, climate-controlled shopping mall in the United States". The story of its design is an example of incredible optimism, bordering on naïveté:
[Architect Victor] Gruen was a European-style socialist; he found individual stores in downtown venues to be inefficient, and the suburban lifestyle of 1950s America too "car-centric" and wanted to design a building that would be a communal gathering place, where people would shop, drink coffee, and socialize, as he remembered from his native Vienna.posted by jedicus at 10:07 AM on August 25, 2021 [4 favorites]
Perth Amboy: Grave of Thomas Mundy PetersonAs a son of Rector Street, I approve.
posted by ob1quixote at 10:17 AM on August 25, 2021 [1 favorite]
I'm glad they added Neptune Market for Harvey Cedars. That place is a treasure.
posted by armeowda at 10:18 AM on August 25, 2021
posted by armeowda at 10:18 AM on August 25, 2021
The best thing in Stanhope is the Stanhope House - "The Last Great American Roadhouse". I spent many many nights there dancing to The Blue Sparks from Hell.
posted by TDIpod at 10:45 AM on August 25, 2021
posted by TDIpod at 10:45 AM on August 25, 2021
Err, I meant to type "most Floridians don't much care" in my previous comment.
posted by May Kasahara at 11:11 AM on August 25, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by May Kasahara at 11:11 AM on August 25, 2021 [1 favorite]
...well, I guess the Emerson Hotel is nowadays the only really notable thing in my hometown since the Armenian Retirement Home is closing due to the passing of the generations. But it'll be missed, with all that living history gone.
(My grandmother lived in Radburn, and I can still, in my mind's eye, draw the path from Emerson to Fair Lawn, and to her house, from a first-person view, even though it's changed so much in the decades since she passed.)
But Conrad's over in Westwood, and Karl Ehmer Meats in Hillsdale, remains gems, even if I think the best meat store in the county is in Fair Lawn, now on its fourth generation in the same family.
posted by mephron at 11:12 AM on August 25, 2021
(My grandmother lived in Radburn, and I can still, in my mind's eye, draw the path from Emerson to Fair Lawn, and to her house, from a first-person view, even though it's changed so much in the decades since she passed.)
But Conrad's over in Westwood, and Karl Ehmer Meats in Hillsdale, remains gems, even if I think the best meat store in the county is in Fair Lawn, now on its fourth generation in the same family.
posted by mephron at 11:12 AM on August 25, 2021
My grandparents lived in Princeton Township (Mercer County). Terhune Orchard was always part of any visit.
posted by sfred at 11:16 AM on August 25, 2021
posted by sfred at 11:16 AM on August 25, 2021
yeah, like, I feel like every day New Jersey gets to wake up and not be Florida. I grew up in NJ from age 6-23 and take every chance to defend it. far far worse places to grow up, or live...
posted by supermedusa at 11:29 AM on August 25, 2021 [8 favorites]
posted by supermedusa at 11:29 AM on August 25, 2021 [8 favorites]
Grew up on LI, now live in Westchester. Many relatives in NJ. So I am moving back to the NY metro area after 14 years in Chicago. I tell my (now ex) wife, how about looking on LI? No way. So you can hang out with your childhood friends and smoke dope and drink beers? Sounded good to me, but I got her point. Next I say how about NJ? Know lots of people. My cousins all live there too. "Eww, NJ" was her response. "What?" I say. "You're from Buffalo how do you say 'eww NJ'?" That is how I ended up in Westchester.
Two words about food in NJ: DISCO FRIES!
posted by AugustWest at 11:46 AM on August 25, 2021 [7 favorites]
Two words about food in NJ: DISCO FRIES!
posted by AugustWest at 11:46 AM on August 25, 2021 [7 favorites]
The story of its design is an example of incredible optimism, bordering on naïveté
jedicus, there was an interesting 99% Invisible podcast episode on Victor Gruen and his mall(s). Ah, found it - and it's one of the ones they turned into a half decent text/photos article too (though I still recommend also downloading the show if you have ears): The Gruen Effect.
posted by cyrusdogstar at 11:53 AM on August 25, 2021 [1 favorite]
jedicus, there was an interesting 99% Invisible podcast episode on Victor Gruen and his mall(s). Ah, found it - and it's one of the ones they turned into a half decent text/photos article too (though I still recommend also downloading the show if you have ears): The Gruen Effect.
posted by cyrusdogstar at 11:53 AM on August 25, 2021 [1 favorite]
AugustWest: I love NJ, but disco fries are objectively just worse poutine, sorry.
posted by cyrusdogstar at 11:55 AM on August 25, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by cyrusdogstar at 11:55 AM on August 25, 2021 [5 favorites]
cyrusdogstar At 2:00am, Disco fries taste like heaven. I do not dispute your assessment, but I have never been in the right frame of mind to order poutine when I have been in Canada although there was this time at a club in Montreal...nevermind.
posted by AugustWest at 12:15 PM on August 25, 2021
posted by AugustWest at 12:15 PM on August 25, 2021
I thought I would be a smart ass and look up Camden. I had watched that depressing Kensington Avenue video in Philadelphia the other day.
Woah, the Battleship New Jersey.
posted by Bee'sWing at 12:18 PM on August 25, 2021 [1 favorite]
Woah, the Battleship New Jersey.
posted by Bee'sWing at 12:18 PM on August 25, 2021 [1 favorite]
Westview: their classic sitcom cosplay game is tight.
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:35 PM on August 25, 2021
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:35 PM on August 25, 2021
phooky: I had a similar feeling upon seeing Wayne's entry. Short Hills, American Dream, and Cherry Hill are all distinctive in some way, for malls. Willowbrook, not so much. The general impression I've gotten from Wayne is that it's what people outside of NJ think all of NJ is like.
For the most part, these lists have some strong picks. Some I strongly agreed with were for Edgewater, Glen Rock, Trenton, Neptune Township, Jersey City, Morris, and West Orange. The Montclair Art Museum seems like a safe pick for that city, though it's interesting that it edged out the Montclair Film Festival and the entire food scene there (get a tres leches donut from Montclair Bread Co. if you're ever in the area). Similarly, for Long Branch, I think Seven Presidents Oceanfront Park is a strong contender, but the Church of the Presidents ties into that same history and isn't as well known.
As an aside, I'd love to see a similar list from Weird NJ, replacing "greatest" with "weirdest", of course.
posted by May Kasahara at 1:28 PM on August 25, 2021 [5 favorites]
For the most part, these lists have some strong picks. Some I strongly agreed with were for Edgewater, Glen Rock, Trenton, Neptune Township, Jersey City, Morris, and West Orange. The Montclair Art Museum seems like a safe pick for that city, though it's interesting that it edged out the Montclair Film Festival and the entire food scene there (get a tres leches donut from Montclair Bread Co. if you're ever in the area). Similarly, for Long Branch, I think Seven Presidents Oceanfront Park is a strong contender, but the Church of the Presidents ties into that same history and isn't as well known.
As an aside, I'd love to see a similar list from Weird NJ, replacing "greatest" with "weirdest", of course.
posted by May Kasahara at 1:28 PM on August 25, 2021 [5 favorites]
Nice to see them rep the Russian Orthodox church in Jackson. It's very surreal wandering into an extremely Russian zone in semi rural NJ.
posted by Ferreous at 1:41 PM on August 25, 2021
posted by Ferreous at 1:41 PM on August 25, 2021
Grew up in South Orange (haven't lived there in 30 years), SOPAC is fine but excuse you -- Town Hall Deli with the REAL Sloppy Joe FTW
(actually the best thing about South Orange was breaking into Kiernan's Quarry on the regular for no other reason than that it was there and we had nothing better to do until we got older and could drive to Essex Green)
posted by tzikeh at 1:56 PM on August 25, 2021
(actually the best thing about South Orange was breaking into Kiernan's Quarry on the regular for no other reason than that it was there and we had nothing better to do until we got older and could drive to Essex Green)
posted by tzikeh at 1:56 PM on August 25, 2021
Hanging out in abandoned buildings and quarries was a jersey classic
posted by Ferreous at 2:01 PM on August 25, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by Ferreous at 2:01 PM on August 25, 2021 [3 favorites]
Don't forget playing on the abandoned municipal landfills! Or was that just me?
posted by mollweide at 2:17 PM on August 25, 2021
posted by mollweide at 2:17 PM on August 25, 2021
I've lived in New Jersey for about 30 years of my 33-year life so far and it's so interesting seeing these picks, contrasted with my memories. The most accurate one of the bunch is probably the pick for Jamesburg, NJ: Mendoker's Bakery. I lived in Jamesburg with my parents until I was 6, when they split up and moved out of the gorgeous white corner Victorian house we had.
Mendoker's is a truly beloved town bakery, one which I went to at least once a week for most of my young childhood. Their black-and-white cookies and cupcakes piled high with frosting are legendary. I most remember going there with my mom on summer mornings, where we'd get white paper boxed lunches to go, tied up with that red and white bakery string, and tote them to the beach.
I have some disputes with the rest of the list, but I think the thing that stands out is there are so, so many wonderful things about living here that get lost in the face of the jokes about it. I love the seasons, the autumn leaves, the hiking and boating, the shore, Wawa, the music scene and many venues, the access to NYC and Philly, the FOOD, oh my god the variety of the food here and the diverse population that drives it. I have considered moving away many times, but I honestly love this tiny little state packed full of goodness.
posted by rachaelfaith at 2:43 PM on August 25, 2021 [10 favorites]
Mendoker's is a truly beloved town bakery, one which I went to at least once a week for most of my young childhood. Their black-and-white cookies and cupcakes piled high with frosting are legendary. I most remember going there with my mom on summer mornings, where we'd get white paper boxed lunches to go, tied up with that red and white bakery string, and tote them to the beach.
I have some disputes with the rest of the list, but I think the thing that stands out is there are so, so many wonderful things about living here that get lost in the face of the jokes about it. I love the seasons, the autumn leaves, the hiking and boating, the shore, Wawa, the music scene and many venues, the access to NYC and Philly, the FOOD, oh my god the variety of the food here and the diverse population that drives it. I have considered moving away many times, but I honestly love this tiny little state packed full of goodness.
posted by rachaelfaith at 2:43 PM on August 25, 2021 [10 favorites]
I grew up in central Jersey and this confirms that we never went anywhere or did anything, because there are a lot of cool places that I've never heard of. Although half of this stuff--the ethnic stuff in particular--didn't exist. I cannot tell you how bizarre it is that Oak Tree Road in Iselin and Edison has become Little India. It was SO WHITE back then.
posted by HotToddy at 3:48 PM on August 25, 2021
posted by HotToddy at 3:48 PM on August 25, 2021
I know this is a bit of a derail; but wow that website for the koshernosh! That is some serious oldschool webdesign!
posted by msiebler at 4:27 PM on August 25, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by msiebler at 4:27 PM on August 25, 2021 [2 favorites]
Lived in Jersey for a while back in the 1990s while I was 'on loan' from my company to, then, UNIX System Labs (AKA AT&T Short Hills). It took me a while to sort out that one needed (in the days before Google) printed county-scale road maps to get anywhere, as there are only two actual 'freeways' (Garden State Parkway and the Interstate) which means for most destinations one must master secondary roads. It also meant coming to terms with jug handle-left turns and the inevitable traffic circles one encountered in most every medium-sized township. Traffic circles drove me bonkers because crappy signage inevitably meant getting lost driving anywhere. The local friends I had made during this period got used to me arriving late for dinner invitations (after missing some critical turn) and looked forward to my inevitable grousing about something that was really just a part of daily life for them.
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 4:31 PM on August 25, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 4:31 PM on August 25, 2021 [1 favorite]
Insert Clever Name Here, the problem with the county roads that people won't get if they're not from New Jersey is that their names often change every few miles. This greatly complicated finding your way around before Google Maps and GPS nav systems. Many if not most of the county roads are colonial or Federal era roads connecting hamlets and villages that have been subsumed by larger municipalities. Road names changed as they passed through these small town centers, and that's been carried through to this day, so some roads change names several times within a single municipality. It's only been the past few decades that NJ has gotten semi-serious about signing a lot of these roads with county road numbers.
posted by mollweide at 5:24 PM on August 25, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by mollweide at 5:24 PM on August 25, 2021 [2 favorites]
I grew up in Tenafly, and am simultaneously disappointed at the choice of a private park that’s barely even part of the town, yet struggling to think of something better to suggest. Maybe the annual carnival at Mount Carmel school? Yeah, my formative years were boring.
posted by Guernsey Halleck at 6:10 PM on August 25, 2021
posted by Guernsey Halleck at 6:10 PM on August 25, 2021
Grew up myopically provincial in post WWII and pre-Vietnam Passaic & Essex counties .... Holy Hat !! (as my dad used to say,) so many worthy spots exist there, mostly none of which I had the slightest inkling of !
That being said, I kinda had to force myself to thumb through the remainder of those sundry municipal-wonder thumbnails, after noting that Patersonʻs Falls View Diner, hands-down winner (IMO) of the ubiquitous North Jersey weiner/burger Secret Sauce Wars of my teenhood, failed to be mentioned. Or maybe itʻs because it had relocated out of Paterson well before the writing of the article. ("There was a shooting," my dad informed me.) Still it remains there in my mind, the place where long ago I took my Honolulu bride to, for her first True Taste of Jersey, and where she squealed in delight at hearing an authentic Italo-Jersey accent emanate from the kitchen, exhorting "Donʻt - Push - the Panic - Button!"
Eight years ago, during a last nostalgia-driven excursion through NNJ, I stumbled upon the Diner and its still-unchanged Sauce in Oakland of all places (not that it "won" that municipality), and humbly thanked my lucky stars for the stumble.
posted by Droll Lord at 6:23 PM on August 25, 2021
That being said, I kinda had to force myself to thumb through the remainder of those sundry municipal-wonder thumbnails, after noting that Patersonʻs Falls View Diner, hands-down winner (IMO) of the ubiquitous North Jersey weiner/burger Secret Sauce Wars of my teenhood, failed to be mentioned. Or maybe itʻs because it had relocated out of Paterson well before the writing of the article. ("There was a shooting," my dad informed me.) Still it remains there in my mind, the place where long ago I took my Honolulu bride to, for her first True Taste of Jersey, and where she squealed in delight at hearing an authentic Italo-Jersey accent emanate from the kitchen, exhorting "Donʻt - Push - the Panic - Button!"
Eight years ago, during a last nostalgia-driven excursion through NNJ, I stumbled upon the Diner and its still-unchanged Sauce in Oakland of all places (not that it "won" that municipality), and humbly thanked my lucky stars for the stumble.
posted by Droll Lord at 6:23 PM on August 25, 2021
mollweide: I think what got me lost most of the time was that sign indicating which road I needed to take out of the traffic circle to continue on the route was on when I entered was almost always posted after the turn rather then before.
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 6:30 PM on August 25, 2021
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 6:30 PM on August 25, 2021
P.S. NJ has (had?) drive-in White Castles so: sliders for the win?
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 6:31 PM on August 25, 2021
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 6:31 PM on August 25, 2021
some roads change names several times
I do miss those wildly diverse styles of Jersey street-name signposts: a new style would indicate that one had passed through an otherwise invisible border into a neighboring town. It was often accompanied by a changed street name.
posted by Droll Lord at 6:35 PM on August 25, 2021 [3 favorites]
I do miss those wildly diverse styles of Jersey street-name signposts: a new style would indicate that one had passed through an otherwise invisible border into a neighboring town. It was often accompanied by a changed street name.
posted by Droll Lord at 6:35 PM on August 25, 2021 [3 favorites]
Droll Lord, one naming convention prevalent in my South Jersey area, was “Town-Other Town Road.” Which sums what that road does quite well. Ex, Hainesport-Mount Laurel Road.
Speaking of Mount Laurel, I’m quite offended that all they could come up with was a bunch of hotels! Hello, headquarters of NFL Films is right around the corner!
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 6:44 PM on August 25, 2021 [2 favorites]
Speaking of Mount Laurel, I’m quite offended that all they could come up with was a bunch of hotels! Hello, headquarters of NFL Films is right around the corner!
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 6:44 PM on August 25, 2021 [2 favorites]
Another good signage thing is when you get signs for the tacony Palmyra bridge pointing down a tiny rural road in ocean county.
posted by Ferreous at 6:56 PM on August 25, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by Ferreous at 6:56 PM on August 25, 2021 [3 favorites]
And it's not as if it's a direct road to the bridge, it's just a gesture that the bridge is somewhere in that direction.
posted by Ferreous at 6:57 PM on August 25, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by Ferreous at 6:57 PM on August 25, 2021 [2 favorites]
Former child of indisputably-central Jersey checking in.
Princeton University is the the boring and obvious pick for Princeton. Yeah it’s historic and pretty and all that jazz, but they missed out on the chance to pick hands down the best ice cream I’ve ever had. Gotta get your priorities straight.
Princeton is also notable because it’s one of relatively few communities in that part of the state that has a defined, dense walkable downtown. I’m from the next town to the north, which looks like every outsider’s stereotypical vision of Jersey, and I spent tons of my high school free time in Princeton just because it was the nearest place to easily exist in public.
Also, seeing all the pictures of Hunterdon and Sussex counties reminds me that both of them are beautiful. I am deeply attached to my current, not-in-Jersey city and don’t consider myself to have a lot of Jersey pride but there are two things I will go to the mat for: the existence of Central Jersey, and the fact that New Jersey does indeed have pretty parts.
posted by ActionPopulated at 7:08 PM on August 25, 2021 [6 favorites]
Princeton University is the the boring and obvious pick for Princeton. Yeah it’s historic and pretty and all that jazz, but they missed out on the chance to pick hands down the best ice cream I’ve ever had. Gotta get your priorities straight.
Princeton is also notable because it’s one of relatively few communities in that part of the state that has a defined, dense walkable downtown. I’m from the next town to the north, which looks like every outsider’s stereotypical vision of Jersey, and I spent tons of my high school free time in Princeton just because it was the nearest place to easily exist in public.
Also, seeing all the pictures of Hunterdon and Sussex counties reminds me that both of them are beautiful. I am deeply attached to my current, not-in-Jersey city and don’t consider myself to have a lot of Jersey pride but there are two things I will go to the mat for: the existence of Central Jersey, and the fact that New Jersey does indeed have pretty parts.
posted by ActionPopulated at 7:08 PM on August 25, 2021 [6 favorites]
I grew up in the Lehigh Valley 20 miles or so from the Jersey border and really never explored my neighbor state adequately. I no longer live anywhere close by so it looks unlikely that I'll do that.
Some good memories:
Some good memories:
- Visits to Ocean City, NJ during junior high with my parents. (I was obsessed with collecting seashells and Needed A Beach.) It was a dry town at the time and my dad used to bring a bottle of bourbon. There wasn't much to do at the time other than sit on the beach or walk the boardwalk, and I'm grateful to my parents for humoring my special interest.
- Staying at an old-fashioned B&B with my mom in beautiful Hope a decade or so later, a little way across the PA border. My mom was my favorite travel buddy by far.
- A couple of recent pre-COVID stays in Jersey City for access to NYC via the PATH train, and a trip to WFMU's venerable Monty Hall.
I think there's a certain elegance to defining it as the area that people who are inarguably from North Jersey think is South Jersey and people inarguably from South Jersey think is North Jersey, but actually generating this definition faces some logical and operational problems.
That's my preferred definition as well, though sometimes I will also lean into the "what exit?" joke and say it's bounded by Route 78 to the north and Route 195 to the south. It's that or "north of the Pine Barrens, south of the Great Swamp."
A few of these are not what I'd have picked, but I'll give them the Clark White Diamond and the Summit Diner as two of the few remaining old-school diners. I have no idea if it's still true but I'd always heard that the owner of the White Diamond liked to give people recently released from Rahway (I beg your pardon - the "East Jersey State Prison") vocational training and jobs as short order chefs as a leg up.
posted by Karmakaze at 6:34 AM on August 26, 2021 [4 favorites]
That's my preferred definition as well, though sometimes I will also lean into the "what exit?" joke and say it's bounded by Route 78 to the north and Route 195 to the south. It's that or "north of the Pine Barrens, south of the Great Swamp."
A few of these are not what I'd have picked, but I'll give them the Clark White Diamond and the Summit Diner as two of the few remaining old-school diners. I have no idea if it's still true but I'd always heard that the owner of the White Diamond liked to give people recently released from Rahway (I beg your pardon - the "East Jersey State Prison") vocational training and jobs as short order chefs as a leg up.
posted by Karmakaze at 6:34 AM on August 26, 2021 [4 favorites]
It is a _cosmic_ injustice that they picked the Short Hills Mall as Milburn's entry rather than the Milburn Deli.
posted by teferi at 8:20 AM on August 26, 2021
posted by teferi at 8:20 AM on August 26, 2021
also, _surely_ Hoboken deserves its entry for the train station, or Benny Tudino's, or something you can spend actual time at rather than a little plaque somewhere.
_reads further_ Oh. The author's in Trenton. That explains everything ;)
posted by teferi at 8:28 AM on August 26, 2021
_reads further_ Oh. The author's in Trenton. That explains everything ;)
posted by teferi at 8:28 AM on August 26, 2021
By contrast with Kansas, which is mocked, maligned and understood.
posted by Flexagon at 1:26 PM on August 26, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by Flexagon at 1:26 PM on August 26, 2021 [4 favorites]
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posted by djseafood at 7:29 AM on August 25, 2021 [1 favorite]