My Jersey Diner Tour continues!

After a restful night at the hotel near Newark International Airport I headed out to continue my travels in New Jersey and try some of the iconic diners that are all over the state.  I headed north to the town of Lake Hopatong, which is in the Jefferson Township.  I stopped at the "Jefferson Diner".  My first impression was that on the DDD episode the diner looked as if it were standing alone on a hill.  In reality the diner is in a strip mall, but it is very unique as it has it's own silver diner look and in fact all the shops and restaurants have their own unique look and designs.  Parked outside was a red 1967 Corvette and I learned that it was a production car that was owned and used by Page Productions, which was the first producer of DDD.  The diner owner told me that Guy has contacted them and wants to buy it back and I think ultimately they will but the Jefferson wants a return visit by Guy.

Jefferson Diner in Lake Hopatong, NJ

Guy's 67 Corvette at the Jefferson Diner

As I entered the diner it was very cool, silver stainless steel on the outside and wood and neon on the inside.  I was seated at a corner booth and was given the huge menu.  I decided on a special meal that had Guy's picture next to it.  I ordered the "Happy Waitress" which was created by a Jefferson Diner long time employee and was an open sandwich Grilled Cheese with tomatoes and bacon and came with waffle fries and a soft drink.  It was very good, although I wish I had asked for the tomatoes on the side. 

The Happy Waitress

After finishing I was able to get my book signed by the owner and spoke for a few minutes with her.  the Jefferson has been featured on a few different shows: Triple D; Unwrapped; and a TLC show which she couldn't remember bu tit was a "reality show: that she didn't care for!  From the Jefferson I headed to my next stop.  I headed into Hackensack to probably the smallest place I have been to on the DDD adventure that I have been on.  "White Manna Hamburgers" is a place that is alot like the old Little Tavern Burgers were in the DC area.

As you enter the White Manna there is a small counter, the place seats maybe 15 tops and does a rousing takeout business.  You order your slider/sliders from the grill girl and your choice is with or without onions and with or without cheese.  They then place the meat on the grill and cook the onions into the meet and steam the potato rolls into the meat.  They are inexpensive and delicious.  I ordered two sliders and a soft drink and the cost was under 5 bucks!

My Sliders Lunch

As I got my book signed by the girl on the grill, some of the other guests started to ask me about my travels and I always like to share the stories because I have alot of fun and like to tell others about it.  I thanked the staff and headed out.  The next stop was another classic Jersey style diner in the town of Clifton.  The "Tick-Tock Diner" is a large stainless diner and has the motto's "Eat Heavy!".

I went int and this place is huge with a large dining room and there is the classic lunch counter area as well.  I ordered the Kielbasa Pirogis.  It came with a choice of soup as an appetizer and I chose the Matzo Ball Soup.  It was very tasty and a nice start to the meal.  The Pirogi plate came out with 6 large pirogis, which are basically Polish Raviolis stuffed with a soft cheese.  The pirogis were surrounded with grilled onions and sauerkraut and topped with sliced Kielbasa sausages.  I am a big fan of Pirogis and was not disappointed.

Matzo Ball Soup

My Tick Tock meal

Sometimes when I ask the manager or employee to sign my DDD book, I get a sort of cynical look and even after explaining what I do there is still some trepidation from the staff and at the Tick Tock, this was definitely the case.  I did succeed in getting my book signed  and was glad for that.

As many of you know I love to take cruises!  My travel agent is Nancy and she lives in this area of New jersey.  I have used Nancy for many years and although we know each other pretty well, we have never met face to face.  I wrote to her a few days before taking to the trip to see if she'd like to meet up at a diner for dinner and actually meet.  We decided upon a place that wasn't too far from where she livers and where I was staying.  "The Ritz Diner" in Livingston, NJ is where we decided to go.  I met with Nancy and her husband Joe and their 12 year old son Lex for a very pleasant dinner.  The Ritz is another of the classic Jersey diners, with great food, huge portions and very reasonable prices.

We were seated in the back area i a round booth and then had a really great time talking about cruises, and travels.  I also learned about the world of Pokemon cards and learned that there is very competitive worldwide group of Pokemon players and Lex has been veyr successful at the game, it seemed like a very cool past time!  We all got different meals.  I decided on the very reasonably price Lobster Ravioli, which came with a huge chopped salad, which was a meal in itself.  All the meals came with a plate of Challah Bread and Rolls and a bowl of vegetables.

Lobster Ravioli

Nancy's Chopped Turkey Salad

Lex's Burger Platter

The food was wonderful at the Ritz.  Before ordering dessert, the manager came out and signed my book and talked to us about Guy's visit and how much fun the staff had with Guy.  On the episode Guy featured the desserts at the Ritz.  We ordered different desserts.  Nancy got her favorite, which is Carrot Cake, Joe and Lex tried Chocolate Fudge Cake and I got a Chocolate Cannoli, which was awesome.

Nancy's Carrot Cake



Joe's Chocolate Fudge Cake



My Chocolate Canoli

I must say that this was one wonderful dinner, great food and wonderful conversation with someone I have talked to for years but never had the pleasure of meeting.  I hope that we will be able to meet many more times in the future.  We said our goodbyes and I headed back to the hotel to recharge for my last day on this tour.

One of the places in Jersey that I have always wanted to go to is "Mustache Bill's Cafe" in the beach town of Barnagat Light.  It is on the Jersey shore and I did try to get there a few years ago.  the problem is that this cafe is open only seasonally and during the beach season is only open a few days each week.  I am bummed because it might be an elusive place for me to get to. 

I headed out on my last day that would end in my driving home.  My first stop was in the town of Linden, NJ.  The Bayway Diner is the first place that Guy ever filmed at for "Diner's, Drive-ins, and Drives" so this is a place that I really wanted to experience!  I drove to the Bayway and as I approached it there was a lack of activity around and I had always read that it was a very busy place.  I parked and walked up and hen noticed the "Closed for Renovations" sign on the door, what a bummer!  I had checked the website the prior day and it said nothing of this, but I did make the attempt!

The Bayway Diner

From the Bayway I made my way south to the town of Edison, NJ.  My final stop in New Jersey was a very cool place called "The Skylark Diner and Lounge".  This wasn't really the classic diner that you find all over "The Garden State" but really seemed like an Art Deco Coffee shop from the 1950's or 60's that you might have found at New York International Airport-Idlewild now known as JFK Airport.  Inside the Skylark were very cool art deco lighting fixtures and large posters depicting travel and dining.  The waiters wore button down white shirts and pencil neck ties, very Mad Men! 

The other thing I really noticed at the Skylark was that it lacked the huge menu that most of the diners in the area have.  They have separate menus for each meal and the Skylarks breakfast menu is pretty extensive.  I chose the Carolina Grits breakfast.  It consisted of a large bowl of grits with ham, sausage and cheddar cheese mixed into it.  It was very good and really hit the spot! 

After getting the main hostess to sign my book I headed south back home and my new DDD location visit count is 273 and the goal of getting to 300 in the next few weeks looks pretty good!

My own "Jersey Diner Tour" Day 1 (with a quick start in Annapolis

During the summer of 2012 Guy featured a place in Annapolis and I knew that since it's so close to where I live I would have to make a quick stop there and check it out.  I met my friend Tammy at "Davis Pub" a small neighborhood restaurant in what I would describe as a residential area.

Davis Pub in Annapolis, Maryland
 

The place is small and there was a very lively crowd here or a Wednesday night.  I gt a small table inside met with my friend.  We decided to share a Crab Pretzel appetizer then get dinner.  Now truth be told I love crab, I think that if given the choice between crab or lobster, it will be crab all the time!  The pretzel was cut in half and topped with a delicious creamy crab spread.  For dinner I got the Barbecue Sandwich, which is one of the specialties and the sandwich that Guy cooked on the episode.  The sandwich was ok, not real special .  I enjoyed Davis Pub, but if I have to have a go to place in Annapolis, I would choose Galway Bay.

Barbecue Sandwich

Davis Pub's Crab Pretzel

 

I knew that as October came around I wanted to make a trip somewhere to try some more places as I was at 264 visits and I wanted to get to 300 by years end.  I looked a several areas to travel to.  Getting on planes has been tough as I fly standby and alot of the places I wanted to get to have had very full airplanes.  I looked at Buffalo, Syracuse, Atlanta and no luck.  I decided to look to a place that Guy featured during the second season of the show, New Jersey and it's iconic diners!  I plotted out a driving tour and I wanted to include a place in the Bucks County area of Pennsylvania. 

I headed north out of Leesburg and after about 3 hours I was in Bucks County and intro a small town called Wrightstown to a place that looked alot like a Manor House.  "The Pineville Tavern" is nice homey place.  The walls of the tavern are adorned with signs and knick knacks and made it a very nice setting.  On the episode Guy cooked homemade ravioli with the chef and was presented with a large extended fork, for clamping the edges of the ravioli, so I knew exactly what I wanted.   

My Ravioli Lunch

I ordered the Lunch portion which was just the right size.  I found the service to be friendly but slow on some things.  The meal was ok, the raviolis reminded me of the home made ravioli that my grandmother made, so I did really enjoy them.  the bread made it nice to sop up the sauce, although the sauce needed some spices or something but Parmesan cheese really did help.  The staff was excited to hear about my travels and that made it a very pleasant visit. 

I left and headed into Jersey and the Newark area.  I have never really been to the area and after hearing so many jokes about Jersey being the concrete flatlands between Philly and NYC, I was taken aback  by the rolling hills and pretty fall colors.  A real eye opener!  After checking into my Newark Airport hotel I headed to the "shore" and try a place in the town of Belmar.

I headed to "10th Avenue Burrito Company".  It is located in a strip mall and has both inside and outside seating.  This place has a very cool atmosphere with a Harley Davidson type of feel.  One of things that I find great at some of the places are featured on DDD is the DDD icon on the menu showing which items Guy cooked while there.

I choose the Spicy Mac and Cheese with Chorizo Sausage.  The meal came with a small salad topped with an avocado ranch dressing.  The huge bowl of Mac and Cheese arrived and it was filling and totally delicious!  There were huge chunks of Choizo Sausage throughout the bowl.  I told my server why I was there and asked if I could get my book signed and she went and got Brian the owner and chef that Guy cooked with to come and sign the book.  He was excited to come out and sign and we talked for awhile about the filming and also about my travels, he is a great man! 

Spicy Mac and Cheese at 10th Avenue Burrito

My meal!

As I finished (or made a good attempt at it) he waitress came out and told me they wanted to give me a t-shirt!  WOW, very cool!  A great meal and free swag, what could be better!  For the record, they made my Mac and Cheese less spicy and t was still very spicy, so for those of you who love heat this is a great choice, because it s delicious and has a kick.  If you are on the Jersey Shore you should definitely make the 10th Avenue Burrito Company a stop on your trip!

I headed back to the hotel to rest up for day 2 of the "tour"