Pithari

28 Woodbridge Ave Highland Park, NJ
http://www.thepithari.com/

Pithari has been on my restaurant list for a very long time; their restaurant looks super inviting and interesting and Greek food is always delicious; they have the added welcoming benefit of my favorite shade of blue as the main color scheme.

My husband and I had a day off without the kids and decided to go to a movie and a nice lunch.  We chose Pithari and what a treat it was.  The weather was still nice, so we were able to dine al fresco on their nice patio, which overlooks the neighborhood side of the restaurant rather than the busy traffic-y side.  Since it was a day when most people were at work, we pretty much had the restaurant to ourselves, so service was especially awesome.

When we sat down, we were given some of the most delicious pita I've had in my life.  I could have made a meal on it, and it's inspired me to try to make my own one day.  We were also given an olive plate which was a nice touch.

Since we were there for lunch, we intentionally chose smaller plates.  I selected the Chicken Souvlaki platter, and oh my word it was so good.  The tzatziki sauce was unbelievable, and scooping it up with that amazing pita was pure heaven.  The chicken was slightly overdone for my liking, but the rest of the dish more than made up for this. I can't remember what my husband had, but he was a pretty happy camper.

Great meal and I can't wait to try it one day for dinner!

Asian Garden

145 Woodbridge Ave. Highland Park, NJ
(732)985-8863
http://www.asiangardentogo.com/

Today, I had grand plans for dinner.  We were going to a local amusement park for the day, but since the boys nap around 1, it wouldn't be a big deal for me to stop at a grocery store on the way home to get the stuff I needed for dinner and make it.  It didn't happen, though, since we stayed at the park until 4, and it's an hour ride home.  Exhausted, we decided to with Chinese food.  I turned once again to my urbanspoon app, and came up with the highly rated Asian Garden in Highland Park.

We ordered a Chicken Lo Mein combo platter and a quart of Won ton Soup.  I was told this would be about 10 minutes, and it was ready in less than that.

My husband kept saying that each part was SO good, and it was.  I don't know if it was the best I've ever had, but it was darn good takeout Chinese food.

As a side note, we've been on the lookout for a takeout place that gives plastic containers, and Asian Garden hit the mark... they're the first in the area we've found that gives a reusable container.

The Dish Cafe Does Dinner!

I love supporting local restaurants, and I love looking for restaurants that are just a little bit different. In NJ, going to a diner for breakfast is good, but pretty standard. But not at the Dish Cafe. Their quirkiness, great food, welcoming atmosphere (go ahead and pick your own seat always makes me happy), and great prices, have made them one of my favorite breakfast spots in the area.

So, I was really excited when I saw they were going to start serving dinner. I didn't know what to expect; would it be typical diner fare for dinner?

The answer to that is a resounding no. The regular menu is available all day, so you can get breakfast stuff or lunch stuff (my husband had a panini and my son had a cheeseburger) but there's a small dinner menu. It's small, but I still felt like there were so many options that I'd happily choose (rather than so many places where I feel like I'm settling. The menu had steak, chicken, pasta, and seafood options. In all of those except steak, there were about five options.

In addition, they had a TRUE specials board--not like a "featured" item that's on the menu all the time anyway.

As I said, my family all had lunch items, but I got a pasta dish, a vegetarian one too. It came with a lovely salad--what made it lovely? It had mixed greens and no iceberg lettuce. It came with a great balsamic vinaigrette dressing. My pasta dish was $8.95 and was HUGE. I will no doubt get two or three lunches our of this. I was sort of in the mood for steak, so checked that out--I think the more expensive steak option was $18.95... still pretty reasonable!

So, if for some reason, you haven't yet checked out Dish Cafe, you absolutely have no excuse. Yum!!

Papa Johns

65 Raritan Ave
Highland Park, NJ 08904


I have been a longtime fan of Papa John's. It was an addiction in college, and I was so happy when they came to this area. I have been so disappointed since, though. The pizza is fine, I guess, but certainly not what I remember. using their online ordering SUCKS. You wait forever, so it's not even worth the time. We have stopped going to Papa John's and now just go to the local pizza places instead.

Park Deli

(732) 545-6585
80 Raritan Ave
Highland Park, NJ


Looking for lunch the other day, we happened to discover this place via yahoo local, and gave it a try. From the outside, this is probably a place I would have bypassed, but I'm glad we went in and gave it a try.

I love a place with a large selection of sandwiches made up... I'm not creative, and without such a suggestion, I go to my old standby of Italian hoagie.

They have lots of options here, which is wonderful, and these selections are certainly a Russian dressing lover's dream-- I think every one has Russian on it.

I like that they use Boar's Head too.

My sandwich, the Roller Coaster Hero, was pretty good. I forget what BAJ got, but it was good too (Of course, I had to try it). He raved about them over on yahoo local, but I think he liked it a little more than I did.

Bagel Dish Cafe

327 Raritan Ave
Highland Park, NJ

I love going to this place. It started by me on a hunt for lunch one day. I was driving around, looking for something interesting to try, when I stumbled upon the Dish Cafe. It's interesting, though, because we at one time went to the Bagel Dish, their sister store, often. Anyway, we got takeout from there and were very happy. While I waited for our order, I was intrigued by their breakfast menu, and decided we had to go there sometime.

It's your basic diner, but there's something more homey about it than typical diner. Coffee is served in mugs from all over the place; they probably get them at yard sales, but it lends a nice atmosphere to the place.

They have great specials; I love to get the Belgian Waffle special, which comes with whipped cream and strawberries and only costs $5.95... that's only available on Saturday and Sunday. I also like to try their varied and interesting array of omelettes, which can also be made into a wrap.

BAJ is happy because he gets a decent lox and bagel there, and I'm happy because I can get my eggs, pancakes, waffles, french toast, coffee, bacon, etc etc etc craving satiated... until the next weekend, that is.

Jersusalem Pizza

231 Raritan Ave, Highland Park, NJ

When we first came to central NJ, we saw this place on route 27 in Highland Park. My Jewish husband was super excited to see such a place, but we never got there.

Now, we live pretty close--about 10 minutes--and so decided to give it a try. We ordered a large pie with peppers, mushrooms, and black olives. It came to $18.99 after tax.

We decided that it was good, but far too pricey for us.

As an aside, it seemed that those coming to Jerusalem Pizza were not there for Pizza. Nearly everyone who came in got hot dishes rather than pizza; I think I was the only one there to pick up a pie.