What’s in a name? Or two?

For 50 years, Pete & Elda’s has been a mainstay of thin-crust pizza in Neptune, and almost always ends up on pizza “Best Of” lists for New Jersey.  We had to check it out.

The building and location is certainly nothing special, but it was packed…PACKED with people, so we had high expectations. After a very long wait in a very crowded and noisy bar area, we were seated. We really wanted to be wowed, not by the surroundings, or even by the wait, but by the pizza. We kept the order short and to the point: two famous thin crust pies, one plain and one with fresh garlic.

We were quite hungry and were pleased that the long wait in the bar area was not duplicated for our table service. We dug into our pies and were…not wowed. Admittedly, it was very thin crust. And admittedly, it did not taste bad.  But a Best Of in the pizza stronghold of New Jersey? We think not. Federici’s in Freehold…Conte’s in Princeton…Esposito’s in Matawan…Brothers in East Brunswick…DeLorenzo’s in Trenton…and so many others are better. Leaps and bounds better.

Undercrusted and underwhelming

You could starve while waiting in line til 1 a.m.

There’s lots of other stuff on the menu, but honestly this place, which oddly is also known as Carmen’s Pizzeria, is really about the crust, cheese and sauce. They are known for their “eat a whole large pie, get a free T-shirt” policy, which, once we saw how thin the pizzas really are, seemed too easy. And seemingly to prove our point, several teenagers left holding their Hanes Beefy prizes right under our noses.

The takeaway? Sadly, not worth the wait.

Kaya’s Combo–yum!

We love Kaya’s Kitchen. This Belmar restaurant is one of the only places in New Jersey that has an organic, all-vegetarian menu that goes well beyond Asian cuisine. Comfort foods like lentil loaf with mashed potatoes are the real stars here, as well as Kaya’s Combo for an appetizer–an appealing mix of vegetarian hot wings, riblets, and crispy nuggets with a fabulous bowl of cooling potato salad alongside. There is always a wonderful array of soups, chili, salads and burgers, as well as artfully dressed entrees featuring vegetables and soy proteins. The vibe is laid back, evolved and eclectic, with live music on weekends (shout-out to The Stringbeans, the jazzy trio playing during our last visit) and a Sunday all-you-can-eat buffet we are dying to try. Prices are not cheap, but the portions are huge and there’s really no other place like this in the state that we can think of. It’s also a popular spot, so make reservations if you are targeting a Saturday dinner.

Belmar was ravaged during Hurricane Sandy and as of this writing all access to the beach was still cordoned off, but likely will be opened soon. Kaya’s was not damaged, with the exception of power loss, and its proprietors very graciously offered a “pay what you can” policy for diners in the weeks following the storm. Plenty of good karma (the name of another vegetarian restaurant in Red Bank!) and good food going around at Kaya’s, go and enjoy!

The anchor tomato pie joint in Trenton’s Chambersburg area

Trenton is not only the capital of New Jersey, it is also our state’s capital of “tomato pie” production and ingestion. A tomato pie is more or less a pizza that has a thinner, crispy crust, an abundance of sauce and of course some mozzarella, quite tasty in its own right. In the Trenton neighborhood of Chambersburg, there is an unusually high ratio of tomato pie purveyors as compared with other parts of the state–and it proudly (and rightly) promotes this gustatory quirk. Since 1938, the apex of Trenton tomato pie dining has been DeLorenzo’s on Hamilton Avenue.

The restaurant has never left the hands of the DeLorenzo family, starting with Pasquale and Maria who emigrated from Naples, to present day under the ownership of Nick DeLorenzo, Jr.  It is an unassuming dining room in a rough-around-the-edges community, but is warm, friendly and perfect for pigging out with friends. Note:  it is BYOB, and there is a scary liquor store nearby for convenience.

The sign for the “correct” DeLorenzo’s

Only one of our party had ever previously been to this establishment, despite its high word-of-mouth ranking and media darling reviews, so we decided to give it a whirl together. If you don’t like pizza, don’t come here, as it is the sole item on the menu, albeit in many different incarnations. We numbered 4 diners and ultimately needed 3 pies (ok, we were hungry)–a plain, an onion and a fresh garlic–ordered well done for extra crispiness.  They were all delicious, although the garlic pie was the clear winner–yum, yum, yum! We were all very happy and full.

DeLorenzo’s can cause confusion.  There is a satellite outpost in Risoldi’s market on Quakerbridge Road that, though owned by the same outfit, by all accounts doesn’t hold up to the same taste standards, and there is an alternative DeLorenzo’s Tomato Pies on Rte. 33 in Robbinsville–totally different operation–so make sure you are visiting the real thing on Hamilton Avenue.

No doubt, we enjoyed our meal at DeLorenzo’s. However, we have yet to find any pizza establishment–in New Jersey or beyond–that can beat Brothers Pizza at 1020 Rte. 18 in East Brunswick. They don’t have a website, or much to our chagrin any logoed t-shirts anymore, but have been making the best pizza in the world, without any doubt, since the early 1970s.  But that is for another post…

Girl Scout cookie shakes beckon from the diner counter

The Colonial Diner on Route 18 has been a staple in East Brunswick for decades–many a high-school lunch has been eaten there, many a late-night afterparty snack chowed down, and many a family Sunday breakfast devoured.  We have eaten so many meals there it is impossible to count. The restaurant offers classic diner fare, some with a gourmet tweak, as well as a salad/soup/baked potato bar and a variety of oversized cakes and pastries.  It used to be part of the Americana group (see other posts…) but we recently learned it has gone solo (oddly not reflected on the website).  That doesn’t stop it from offering tasty pancakes, great feta crepes, burgers (veggie and non), salads and more.  We visited recently and finally ordered something we’ve been eyeing on the menu for years–the Girl Scout Cookie milkshake, a concoction of chocolate chip mint ice cream, oreos, milk and whipped cream–a decadent indulgence.  Next time perhaps the Granny Smith apple pancakes…  Open 6 am to 11 pm weekdays, til midnight Friday and Saturday.

Drink and mouth-watering salsa at Surf Taco in Belmar

A NJ-only chain with 10 locations in and around Monmouth and Ocean counties, Surf Taco quite simply has delicious Mexican food.  The menu includes all sort of traditional items such as burritos, enchiladas, tacos, salads, etc., and a variety of daily specials.  The salsa bar exceeded our expectations in a very pleasurable way–the mild salsa was addictive, the salsa verde was delectable, and hot salsas were HOT indeed (ie: not for the faint of heart).

We visited the Belmar location on a darkened and stormy afternoon along with hordes of damp and bikini-clad beachgoers escaping the rain for a tasty lunch.  The atmosphere is beach-shack casual–perhaps a little too casual, as we do wish there were a shirt required stipulation for dining in…  Ordering is done at the counter, where service was friendly, and brought to the table based on a number system.  The wait time was reasonable and allowed us the opportunity to raid the salsa bar multiple times even before our food arrived.

Our meals were fresh and flavorful, and prices were fair.  Would definitely return, especially on a less humid and rainy day with fewer patrons and more clothing.

Mex and Indo-Mex in Parlin at Mango’s

Mango’s Mexican Grill, tucked into a nondescript strip mall in Parlin, does a lot of takeout, but we bucked trend and ate in.  The ambience is a bit on the dreary side, with old wallpaper that has been only partially removed, a few lonely tables and the TV volume fighting with an overhead music sound system.  There is a reason, we learned, why most take out from this establishment.

However, on the positive side, the service was friendly, the food was fairly good, and the prices were reasonable. The menu includes a few unusual choices, such as an Indo-Mexi fusion curry chicken enchilada, masala chicken fajitas, and mint-coriander sauce, which are nicely executed. Plenty of vegetarian options, and there is a liquor store next door for last-minute BYO. Not a bad stop.

The Americana Diner sign

The anchor diner of the Americana group, this East Windsor treasure improves on the ubiquitous NJ diner experience with a gourmet flair.  Owned by one of our old schoolmates, Constantine Katsifis (who we remember getting us in trouble in the 6th grade for talking out of turn), the menu is not quite as large as most diners, but what it may lack in breadth is made up for in food quality.

Burgers (including veggie) are offered in about 8 styles, each more delicious than the next.  The fries are old-fashioned, not coated, and perfect.  The Greek salad is divine, with large triangles of piquant feta and plenty of vinegar and oregano.  Don’t miss the Athenian Feta Crepe, which blends spinach, feta, tomatoes and basil into a thin, non-eggy crepe–served with grilled zucchini and tart tzatziki sauce.

For an extra nice touch, as soon as you sit down, the waitstaff brings you a half-loaf of crusty bread and a never-large-enough pat of cold butter topped with kosher salt.  The dessert case is filled with delicious looking cakes, as well as a unique selection of locally-made artisan chocolates, and there is a full bar.  Yum.

We wish we could include a picture of Spotswood’s Cambridge Inn, but the interior was too dim and depressing to capture a photo.

How many times have we passed this place and not thought to go in?  Uncountable, and that’s not even a word.  So we figured why not give it a shot?  Alas, we may have been on to something with our initial instincts.

Like a Perkins chain locale, but with worse lighting, we sort of wanted to like the Cambridge Inn.  In fact, the food, though totally unsophisticated, was passable-Flounder Franchaise was plain but neat (don’t fall for the “vegetable risotto” side-dish claim which is really from a dehydrated box mix) and the Gardenburger was grilled and presented on a reasonably good whole-grain bun with crispy condiments.  But service was slow, and the eating environment could beat the sunshine out of Annette Funicello.

The place has been around for ages, and there seems to be a very busy schedule of open mike nights and musical appearances at the bar, as well as dinner specials and kids-eat-free promotions in the dining section.  So we suspect someone must be coming here on a regular basis even in spite of the bleak surroundings.  For us, however, it was likely a one-time visit.

A fake owl stands guard over the sign for Rutt's

In Clifton, people have been chowing down on “rippers” (hot dogs that split down the middle during the deep frying process) since 1928, when the roadside stand called Rutt’s Hut was opened by Royal “Abe” Rutt and his wife Anna.

To enter this bastion of unhealthy foodstuffs is to travel not only to a different time, but also a different place.  It’s like a slice of backwoods 1937 Carolina bowling alley was picked up in a tornado, swirled over Lyndhurst and landed, thwump, on a patch of grass next to Route 21. The exterior is unmitigated red brick; the interior is a mish-mosh of checkered floors, unflattering lighting, weary paneling and a completely incongruent booze-bar with beaten up stools (with concomitant beaten looking patrons). The tornado apparently left nothing behind from its nostalgic origins, including the wait staff, who are bruskly efficient and totally old-skool, and a separate takeout area reminiscent of a 50s drive up diner.

We showed up off-hour on a Saturday, but there were still plenty of people–from all walks of life–face-filling on fresh-from-the-fryolator fare (try repeating that 10 times fast). Half of our group opted for classic rippers, extolling their greasy goodness and copious condiments with happy smiles.  The non-aorta-eaters among us ordered grilled cheeses, which were about as no-nonsense and white-bread forgettable as it is possible to get.

Rutt’s Hut is listed in the book 1000 Places to See in the US and Canada Before You Die.  And frankly with this menu, it might just be the last stop you make on that bucket list. That said, the unapologetically no-frills Hut is indeed an experience in itself, for world-famous hot dogs and amusingly quirky staff, clientele and surroundings.

Rutt’s Hut is located at 417 River Road in Clifton.  The website seems to be perpetually under construction and contains little more than a map.

A 10-minute, straight shot from Sandy Hook down Ocean Avenue will bring you to Brighton Avenue in the West End section of Long Branch, and a few corners later to Jesse’s Cafe.

Be not fooled by the simple exterior, for deliciousness lies within

We had trouble pinpointing our impression of this eatery–it is vegetarian, but also not, since it offers chicken and fish dishes among the fancified tofu, beans and tempeh. The outside looks really plain, but when you enter it is warm and homey. It is also, for lack of a better word, loose.  By loose we mean, a little rough around the edges. Works by presumably local artists were displayed on the walls, but each was hung crooked, without fail. The lighting was dim even in daylight. And the restaurant at our off-hour of arrival was manned by a single woman (Jesse perhaps, we were too shy to ask). There was a small associated lag time in the arrival of our food, but honestly it wasn’t like the ambiguous wait at a chain restaurant.  This truly felt like we were in the kitchen of a long-lost aunt, or someone else’s mom, and we could see her–alone–actually preparing our dishes in the very exposed kitchen. It left us in a state of anticipation instead of agitation.

Pianos and armoires in the dessert half of the restaurant

And the tiny wait was worthwhile, for our orders were uniformly delicious: pureed root vegetable soup; health sub with hummus and veggies; fakin-bacon/lettuce/tomato/sprouts/avocado sandwich on whole grain bread; vegan meatball sub with mozzarella, mushrooms, tomatoes and peppers. Several people came in to buy whole pies that looked divine. Our sweet endnote was a vegan chocolate chip cookie and iced pomegranate zinger tea.

The prices were average, neither a bargain nor too expensive, and Jesse only takes cash or checks, no credit.  We felt relieved to see an employee show up to help “Jesse” prior to the dinner hour. Would definitely go back again to try more of the tons of things on the menu that piqued our interest.

Random sidenotes:  If you are ever in the market for canned lentils, they are almost impossible to find. We were thrilled to find the Goya brand at a Brazilian market across the street from Jesse’s.

Purveyor of Guarana, farinha, smoked meats, dried fish, pao de queijo, and yes, canned lentils!

Our last image, however, will be of the sign next to our parking spot.  Not the giant spectacles of Fitzgerald’s Dr. T.J. Eckleberg, but the large tooth of Dr. Gokberk. What a name.

Paging Dr. Gokberk