Broadway Burgers

56 East Main St
Somerville, NJ 08876
www.broadwayburgers.net

The great thing about being teachers is that we're ready to eat way earlier than the rest of the world.  So when the belly starts to rumble at 10:30, you get to an empty restaurant at 11:00.

Such was the case today when we visited Broadway Burgers.  By the time we left, the place was pretty full, but we got super fast service because we were the only customers.

Our first impression was parking.  I was driving around looking for parking, and it was sort of hard to find.  We ultimately found a spot with a meter right in front of the restaurant, at 25 cents a half hour.

Going to the currently trendy burger restaurants is hard for us, considering that my husband will not eat beef.  So a burger joint with chicken, turkey, ostrich, and buffalo on the menu, in addition to angus burgers, is going directly to my wishlist.

Because my husband doesn't eat beef, I don't cook a whole lot of it, so it's really rare that I'd go for something other than a straight up burger.  I didn't in this case, because the Annie Get Your Gun burger (turkey burger with swiss and cranberry sauce) was singing my name.  It was awesome; the burger was so moist and flavorful and the bun was outstanding.  So I really can't compare to some of the other burger joints we've been to recently.  But this burger was yum.

My husband went for a Jekyll and Hyde.  I tasted it and have to say I wasn't nuts over it.  The chicken needed to be pounded a little thinner for my liking; it was tough for me to bite into the sandwich because the chicken was too thick.  He liked it, and thought it was pretty tasty.

My 1 year old had a kid's burger, which came with fries and a soda.  I have to tell you, we don't like to give our kids either of those things, though we sure do love them.  So, my husband and I split them so we didn't have to order our own.  At first bite, my husband remarked that they were really good fries, though we agreed they got REALLY salty the further down we went.

I have to tell you about the Broadway Special, because it's an incredible deal.  Like I said, I didn't have a beef burger, so I didn't try this one.  The Broadway special is a 6 oz. double cheese burger with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle,ketchup,mustard and mayo. Served with fries and a small fountain beverage.  For only about $5, this is an incredible deal--considering I paid $6 for sandwich only.  This seemed to be the thing everyone who came in after us ordered, so I'd imagine it's pretty good too.

I asked my husband if he liked this place or 25 Burgers better, after he commented that this place was really good and that we could come back any time.  He replied that he liked 25 Burgers better.  I think the atmosphere is a big selling point for 25... I literally felt like I was sitting in the '60s there, but Broadway Burgers is definitely doing something right too.

And please let me comment on the service.  As I said, we were the only ones there when we arrived.  Walking in with a one year old got him lots of attention, but also the counter girl helped me find barbecue sauce (which, along with ketchup, mustard, and napkins, are sort of hidden behind the soda machine), checked in to make sure we were ok, and refused to let me return the high chair to where I found it.  Good job!

Mr Assante Pizza

201 US Hwy 22
Green Brook, NJ 08812

We were looking for something a little bit different, so I turned to Yelp to find places nearby that might be cheap and yummy.  I stumbled across Mr Assante's, which was well reviewed, and which a friend had mentioned as really good.  So we called (since I couldn't find a menu anywhere online) for the specials and was happy to discover one of them sounded absolutely delicious, so I ordered it, and hubby went for a Chicken Parm sub, his standard.


We were both REALLY happy with our dinners.  My special was pasta with eggplant, roasted red peppers, and a few other tasties, came with delicious bread and salad.  


It's kinda far, though, so we probably would only go back if we were in the area, though we DO want to try their pizza, which is totally raved all over.


But if you live close or are in the area, definitely check out Mr Assante's!

25 Burgers

552 West Union Ave (Rte. 28)
Bound Brook, NJ 08805
www.25gourmetburgers.com

We were out and about and wanted to go to another local burger joint.  Due to a town wide event, navigating the streets to get there was nearly impossible, so we went looking for somewhere else.  Since 25 Burgers was on my mental list and in the area, that's where we headed.

When we walked in, I felt like this must've been what the food joints of my parents' youth in the 60s must have been like.  The walls are decked out with celebrities of that era--Marilyn, the Beatles, Elvis, Sophia Loren, Audrey Hepburn, among others--and you feel like the music is straight out of the jukebox; I was singing along with almost every song.

My son ordered a hot dog.  He enjoyed it.  It was pretty big, I guess.  It's hard to judge how good any food is when a 3 year old is involved.

My husband had a chicken burger; I can't recall which one.  He was a little disappointed that he couldn't get a chicken with any of the toppings that go along with the burgers, which I think is a valid point.  But, he also didn't ask if he COULD; he instead read and trusted what the menu said.

I had a Maui burger.



We all enjoyed our meals.  I had a hard time refraining from eating the whole thing, despite being absolutely stuffed (we also had fries with our meal) because it was so darn perfect.  I could go on and on about how good the roll was.  I couldn't, however, really speak to the burger itself; the toppings were so great, that I don't think I really paid attention to it, you know?  If you, like my mother, won't eat a burger that's not practically mooing, this may not be the place for you (at least, not the burger part of the menu, they have lots of other choices!) because they didn't even ask how I wanted my burger cooked.
Hubby raved about his, joking that he would be stopping every night on his way home from work.
So, yeah, we'll be back again.  And we'll see if we end up back at that OTHER burger place......

Mount Holleran Towne Tavern

450 North Beverwyck Road
Parsippany, NJ 07054
www.mhtownetavern.com

We were on our way home from an event and figured we'd stop for some dinner. I used the urbanspoon
app on my phone and this came up.  It sounded interesting so we went.

It's looks really cool but laid back inside, sort of that industrial feel of exposed ductwork and the like.  The menu isn't huge, but there are a lot of decent looking choices.  There's no kid's menu published, but we asked our server, who went and got the info for us.

We started with the Caprese stack.  It was awesome.  The mozzarella was super fresh, the basil and greens were yummy, and the balsamic was perfect.



While there were a lot of great looking entrees on the menu, we both chose to go with sandwiches.  My husband got a Pastrami Reuben and said it was good, but nothing to really write home about.  I went with the cheesesteak.  I asked our server if it was Philly style, and she didn't know what I meant, so I asked if it was chopped steak.  She said yes.  And it was.  I didn't clarify my question, since I meant THIN chopped steak.  It was, indeed, chopped steak--they took a steak and chopped it up.  Or something.  I like steak, but I had a hard time eating this without gagging.  No fault of the restaurant at all, it was not what I expected.

Our server was incredible at not only noticing that I had barely eaten my food, but also correcting the issue so that we left happy customers.  Incredible service there.  That alone gives them super high marks in my book!