A concise guide to New Brunswick’s restaurants and bars for new students and visitors
It’s easy to find yourself lost in a big and exciting city, even if you aren’t necessarily new to the area. I have lived in rural small towns my entire life, so moving to the bustling city of New Brunswick as an incoming Rutgers student was a difficult transition for me. The change of scenery, people, and places was something I bit unfamiliar to me, but after living in New Brunswick for the past three years, I am happy to say it is a city I love to call home. Being from a few rural towns, I always knew the people in my town as well as the few restaurants and stores spread throughout. I felt lost when I first moved to New Brunswick because I have never lived in a borough where there are countless places to frequent and visit, and people frequently go out
Explore New Brunswick
The more time I spent in New Brunswick, the more I ventured out and became curious about what the town has to offer. From outdoor bars and restaurants on Easton Avenue to bottomless brunches on George Street, New Brunswick has it all for any occasion!
Brunches
Starting off your weekend right with endless mimosas and bloody Mary’s is an excellent way to catch up with friends and unwind from a tough week. George Street Ale House offers Bottomless Brunches on Saturdays (12–3pm) and Sundays (12–4pm) for only $25.95 including an assortment of brunch food such as delicious Belgian waffles and oreo stuffed french toast and unlimited drinks. Besides, they offer Paint Nites that you can sign up for on their website. Delta’s also has a great bottomless brunch, and Old Man Rafferty’s may not do bottomless brunch, but they have an amazing Sunday brunch buffet if you are more considered about the food aspect of your brunch!
Happy Hour
Happy hours are always a joyful time of day and a necessity for broke college students, so being a college town, you can be sure to find a happy hour to suit you in New Brunswick! The variety of happy hours provided are endless with fifty cent pizza and $1.50 beers at Olive Branch to $4 drafts and $5 appetizers at Hub City Brewhouse. So whether you want to spend your afternoons at one of our many college bars or a more upscale bar scene in the George Street area, New Brunswick has it all.
Cocktails
Clydz is one of our upscale restaurants located at 55 Paterson Street, and if you like to try new things, it has a bar for you! Included on their menu are braised python ravioli, alligator in a blanket, duck flatbread, grilled octopus, and seared diver scallops. Their drink menu is also very extensive, and they serve cocktails such as the cucumber gimlet made with Hendrick’s, pressed cucumber, lime, mint, and sugar. Their Ayrton Senna has Cachaca, maraschino, pressed strawberries, lime, and ginger beer. Check out their drink menu that they have on their website to view their wide-ranging cocktails, wines, and beers!
Beweries
Harvest Moon Brewery and Cafe is located close by Clydz and offers unique American cuisine and hand-crafted beers. So if you’re looking for a place to drink a nice cold beer and a burger, look no further than Harvest Moon.
Pizzas
New Brunswick is well known for their pizza and fat sandwiches, and the options of where you can get them are endless with options such as RU Grill, Neubies, Daniel’s Pizzeria, Krispy Pizza, Panico’s Brick Oven Pizza, and The Original Pizza City.
Healthy Food
And although this city provides an abundance of pizza and other delicious greasy food, sometimes it’s helpful to know where to go for a healthy bite. Fritz’s is one of my favorite places to go to when I want to eat healthy since they also include a lot of vegetarian and vegan options! They offer outdoor seating and have menu items ranging from roasted tomato zoodles and superfood salads to BBQ Pulled Pork Nachos and Spinach and Artichoke Mac & Cheese. Veganized is also a great place to go to that offers all vegan and vegetarian options. This restaurant is excellent because you can have all your favorite foods like burgers, mac and cheese, hot dogs, sandwiches, and pasta but in a completely healthy and vegetarian manner! So if you are a vegetarian or vegan and missing those kinds of foods in your life, Veganized is the place to go with creative and healthy alternatives.
Outdoor Seating
During the summer, it’s nice to know which spots in your town have outdoor seating and bars. It can get a little frustrating to be stuck inside at work all day, so it is a nice break from the indoors and air conditioning to soak up some summer sunlight, even in a city. Tacoria offers a quaint outdoor seating area in their backyard, and is one of New Brunswick’s most popular Mexican restaurants even though they only recently opened! The most popular place for college students to drink and eat outside would be Stuff Yer Face. It’s the place to go to for strombolis, sharing fishbowls, and game days. And if you ever do get tired of their food and drinks, you can always walk two doors down to Evelyn’s restaurant which has a beautiful and spacious patio and outdoor bar! It’s a great little escape from New Brunswick — you can’t even tell that you’re still in New Brunswick when you’re sitting by the brick bar and enjoying Mediterranean food!
Affordable Tapas and Sangrias
Speaking of international food, one of my favorite aspects of New Brunswick is the vast selection of different foods you can try without ever leaving your town. Located right next to Evelyn’s restaurant, Barca City Bar & Cafe is the place to go to for your Spanish cuisine fix, offering a wide selection of Tapas, Empanadas, and Bocadillos! Also, their cocktails are fantastic, and I have yet to go to another place that provides the different kinds of sangria (sangria de Naranja, sangria de Guayaba, sangria margarita, sangria Cerveza, sangria de CCB, and a sangria tank) that Barca City does!
Southern Cuisine
Further downtown New Brunswick, you’ll find Old Bay Restaurant that transports you to the southern cuisine of New Orleans, with menu items such as chicken and sausage jambalaya, po’boys, shrimp creole, and NOLA inspired drinks like bacon bloody Mary’s, hurricane, and swamp water.
Italian Food
If you are in the mood for some authentic Italian food, Due Mari is the place to visit. It is rated number 4 out of 155 restaurants in New Brunswick. Their fine dining includes Brodetto di Pesce an Adriatic fish soup, shrimp, scallops, clams, mussels, and garlic croutons. In addition to Capesante (pan-roasted scallops, Brussel sprouts, crispy pancetta, and golden raisin puree). The Costata (rib eye, rosemary potatoes, broccoli, and red wine sauce), and the list of delicious foods go on and on!
So although it can be somewhat difficult to learn how to assimilate in a new town, just getting out there and walking around the city and experiencing what it has to offer will make you feel at home in no time!
