Hackensack, NJ: Houston's

Houston's
1 Riverside Square
Hackensack, NJ
Bergen County

Houston's is an upscale chain restaurant that feels more upscale than chain.  They make their own bread (a fabulous brioche bun as seen in the picture) and have true quality in their products.  Their prices however certainly reflect this. 

Tips: A noticeable after work hot spot for young yuppy professionals.  Arrive as early as possible.  There is perpetually a wait here particularly after work hours, on any given night.  The bar area is particularly hopping, as is the counter behind the bar and the community high tops next to the bar, but be aware that as the night goes on, it can get very crowded in these tight quarters. 

Food: I had the hardest time deciding between their House-Made Veggie Burger, Grilled Fish Sandwich, or Asian Noodle Salad.  I finally chose the Grilled Fish Sandwich on their wonderfully light housemade Brioche bun.  I absolutely love that they had a grill option; not often available at busy chain restaurants where flash frying is fast.  Grilling the fish really allowed me to taste the freshness and flavor, while the brioche added a light sandwich option.  From their choice of sides, I went with the cous cous that had an abundance of flavor from the inclusion of mint leaves, parsley, raisins, grape tomatoes, almonds, and perfectly cooked cous cous.  I certainly could have eaten more bowls of this side dish.  They used vegetables, nuts, and herbs unsparingly and it really added to the flavor of generally blan cous cous.  The server was fantastic and patient in explaining each of the items, and did a great job navigating through the crowd.

Houston's also has a great selection of wines.  We had an excellent J. Lohr Pinot Noir, but at almost $75 a bottle.  I then had a pomegranite martini that may have been the worst I've ever tasted.

Final Thoughts: Houston's is the place is a great place to stop by after work with your co-workers or for a casual date.  I'm a huge fan of the bar area since the long waits can dampen how long you can linger and take your time catching up at the table.  Though the martinis can use some more work, the care in the freshness and selection of their food is top quality.

Happy Eating Bergen County, NJ!

Englewood, NJ: East West

East West
35 C West Palisades Avenue
Englewood, NJ
Bergen County

Japanese and Mexican?  To go?  Yes, with one side of the menu offering your typical to inventive sushi/handrolls and other fish, chicken, and noodle entrees with miso soup, the flip side of the menu offers tacos, burritos, and enchiladas.  To top it off, East West offers a method to order online, equipped with "special instructions" for each item you select.

Tips: This is a great option if you're craving fast food that doesn't involve hamburgers and fries.  We ordered our food online Sunday night during a peak dinner hour (6:45 PM), and received our food at our front door in less than 45 minutes.  The online order process is really easy and simple, and they offer the option for each entree you select to write in "special instructions."  I was able to specify that I wanted brown rice (with my eel don) and no sour cream (with my chicken taco). 

However, be warned that their English is terrible and parts of their menu online is not absolutely clear.  We forgot to enter the 10% promotional discount when you order online, and when we called them by phone to have this corrected, they said it no longer existed.  We also ordered certain items a la carte (ie. no soup), got the confirmation online, and confirmed final amount, but when they delivered the food, the final cost was almost $10-13 more than what was originally confirmed online.  The delivery man could not speak any English, so we had no choice but to pay the amount and call them again.  After several attempts to convey my issue, the woman said that we had selected the lunch prices, however the online menu does not make a distinction between the lunch and dinner menu (just lunch specials).   I suggested they check this online and make the changes, but they still haven't.

Food: From the Japanese menu, we ordered the Eel Don with Brown Rice, Chicken Katsu Don, and Red Dragon Roll.  Besides loving the brown rice option, the seaweed salad on top of the Eel Don, and the decent sized portion of the Chicken Katsu Don, everything else was mediocre.  The quality and amount of fish was mediocre at best.  The avocado was the smallest and thinnest sliver I've seen, and I don't even remember tasting much of the Tuna in my sushi roll because it was overpowered by the eel sauce.  The radish (daquan) in my Eel Don was chopped up into the smallest cubes possible, and the Eel Don was push in a plastic container that was way too big for the smaller amount it was.

From the Mexican menu, we ordered a Chicken Taco and Grilled Chicken Enchilada.  The Chicken Taco wrapped in tinfoil with all its fixings was a decent three bite item, though a bit soggy by the time it got to us.  The Grilled Chicken Enchilada had a flavorful rice and bean accompaniment, but barely any chicken in the actual entree. 

Final Thoughts: While it's exciting that East West exists an alternative fast food option, I was really felt duped by having to paid over $50 rather than less than $40 as we had expected (as confirmed to us online).  While initially ordering online served as a wonderful and fun convenience, if we had anticipated this kind of misunderstanding, I would have been happy to pick up the phone and order directly with a person.  I'm not sure if we'll order from them again since there are better Japanese and Mexican places in Englewood that also deliver, and we know that their quality of food is far superior.

Happy Eating Bergen County, NJ!

Hackensack, NJ: The Cheesecake Factory

The Cheesecake Factory
197 Riverside Square Mall
Hackensack, NJ
Bergen County

An extensive menu showcasing a range of flavors and generous portions (an understatement), dining at the Cheesecake Factory is an adventure from the moment you're waiting for a table (at almost any hour of the day) to looking through the menu to remembering that you can take leftovers home.

Tips:  I haven't had to wait in line for a table in years because I...a) never go here with more than four ppl; b) avoid going on weekends and peak hours; c) always sit at the first come first serve bar area where they always have a handful of high tops.  Don't resist their warm fresh baked bread, especially the whole wheat one.  They offer a fabulous happy hour M-F, 4-6 PM with $5 cocktails, wine, and decent sized portions of some of their appetizers.  If you're an American Express holder and gain points, you can redeem a gift card.

Food: Now this is where foodies who are strongly quality over quantity may have a problem with this establishment.  They use quality ingredients in their dishes, but their pastas are sometimes overwhelmed with oil, tamales topped with too much sour cream, and guacomole made with pre-frozen tasteless avocados.  However, there are still really delicious dishes to have here.  The chicken samosas (which can be ordered from their cheap small plates menu) bursts with flavor;  the tamales (which is part of the $5 happy hour menu) with the sour cream on the side has a fantastic pieces of sweet corn; the chicken littles are perfectly fried pieces of boneless chicken breast with a great spice; and their thai lettuce wraps come with a delicious variety of dipping sauces.  I always enjoy a good fish taco, and while you won't necessarily find the freshest of fish here being used, it's good enough.  Their mashed potatoes are also creamy goodness, which just enough chunks of potato, and their non-acoholic strawberry lemonade rimmed with sugar is perfect on a hot summer day. 

I don't often leave room for dessert, but have no problems grabbing a slice of something to go.  Now everyone often picks the cheesecake - how can you resist, there are a variety of flavors ranging from white to chocolate to red velvet cake to peanut butter cheesecake, but I've started reaching towards their almost foot high speciality cakes, specifically their Black - Out cake.  You must love chocolate, because it also includes chocolate chips, but it's also finished on the side with crushed almonds.  Whichever dessert you go with, you must make sure they include blobs of their whipped cream.  I'm not sure if it's homemade, but it is extra creamy (and probably fatty) and delicious!

Final Thoughts: True, there's probably no need to write a blog entry about the Cheesecake Factory and it might even discount me as a foodie, however hopefully my tips above are some helpful suggestions of how to manuever this monster and enjoy the vastness of the Cheesecake Factory!

Happy Eating Bergen County, NJ!

Jersey City, NJ: Zeppelin Hall Restaurant and Biergarten

Zeppelin Hall
88 Liberty View Drive
Jersey City, NJ

Bergen County

An authentic European style Biergarten with 155 beers on tap to enjoy out of a mug or liter inside or outside the restaurant.

Tips: Never miss a visit to Zeppelin in the summer!  The space inside is huge, but outside is even larger with picnic table settings and food and beer ordered and picked up by you (save on tip!).  A great place to have a group of friends meet and not worry about a messy bill to figure out at the end of the night since its every person for themselves to order, pay, and then share at the table, including pitchers of beer.  It gets crowded as the night goes on and their free large parking lot does eventually become limited, because with festive music, and undoubtedly friends running into other friends, folks eat, drink, and be merry all night long!

Food: You cannot go to a Biergarten without ordering the giant pretzel.  It's not as buttery and doesn't come with a selection of various mustards like they offer at Radegast Hall & Biergarten in Brooklyn (133 N. 3rd Street (Williamsburg), Brooklyn), but big, doughy, and great to munch on while getting your drink on nonetheless.  One also cannot leave a German establishment without trying a bratwurst.  As a pollo/pesco semi-vegetarian, I had their chicken bratwurst, and thoroughly enjoyed it on a rye bread top with sauerkraut and french fries, my weakness.  The chicken schnitzel on the otherhand isn't anything special than a thinly pounded breaded piece of chicken breast.

Final Thoughts: It's not easy to find a place where you can sit outdoors with a large group of friends, eat, drink, and be merry, without being worried about the bill at the end of the night, being to rowdy, or being kicked out for not ordering a certain amount of food.  I do hope in the future that they'll consider amping up their mustard selection like other Biergartens though!

Happy Eating Bergen County, NJ!

Ridgewood, NJ: Country Pancake House

Country Pancake House
140 East Ridgewood Avenue
Ridgewood, NJ
Bergen County

Ranked 49th on the Travel Channel's "101 Places to Chowdown," the Country Pancake House is truly the "Home of the Hearty." 

Tips:  Located in Ridgewood Center, expect to wait.  I went at 2 PM on a Saturday, and still waited a good 20 minutes.  The restaurant is small with barely a waiting area.  Most of the tables are two-tops or four-tops, and they'll do their best to accommodate a larger party, but that will undoubtedly increase your waiting time.  Another important note - CASH only!  Most items are less than $10, and small fees associated to any type of substitutions.

Every table gets a basket of cornbread.  It's far more exciting than a dinner roll, but because of the mass quantity they make it, let's just say I've had better.  My suggestion to you - try to hold your appetite for your meal - the dry, flavorless cornbread will just fill up your stomach, and trust me, you'll need that space!

Food:  Let's start with the pancakes.  With over 90 homemade pancake options, ranging in flavors from moist buttermilk to whole wheat peaches and honey to cornmeal onions peppers and onions, there isn't a flavor (or diner) they didn't think of.  I personally am always thrilled when a restaurant offers fiberous (whole wheat/whole grain) options.  You can get two LARGE (I'm talking pizza box size and definitely larger than a plate) sized pancakes, or four (slightly smaller version). 

These pancakes are also thick so we're talking quantity all around.  To give you an even better sense - I had #21-The Maine Delicacy which were blueberrys on whole wheat.  The blueberries were the size of grapes!
Surprisingly, the pancake, even made with whole wheat, was surprisingly moist, and of course undeniably HUGE.  Nothing can prepare you for the monsterous size of these pancakes placed in front - more like in the center - of your table.  No one expects you to finish it all in one sitting and take out containers are all around the sides (though these standard boxes will not hold a pancake without bending it). 

Aside from pancakes, they have many other breakfast (and lunch) options.  They have over 30 omelet options - and we're talking a 9-egg omelett - that you can get over a waffle or with a side of homefries.  I opted for the broccoli chicken tomato omelet with whole wheat toast and hashbrowns. 

The same way you must love pancakes to order pancakes, you must love eggs to have an omelett here.  The whole grain bread was delicious and gets a fiberous thumbs up.

Final Thoughts: I think the Country Pancake House is definitely a place worth adding to your foodie bucketlist.  I'm glad I checked it out, but after the excitement of the gigantic portions wore off and I realized I had polished off the amount of food I did, I was slightly regretful.

Stop in during an off time (and remember, that even that off-time may not be off enough to immediately get a table) and have cash and your appetite handy!  Again, resist the cornbread and would recommend getting more than just water to help something flavored wash down the food.

Happy Eating Bergen County, NJ!