Ever been to the Station Bar and Grill in downtown Garwood? Another one’s coming to downtown Rahway.
Continue reading Station Bar & Grill slated for Irving Street
Kim’s In The Mix, a dessert cafe, soon will occupy the corner of West Main and Irving streets.
Rafael Ortiz, who owns the property at 209-219 W. Main St. along with several other downtown sites, said some interior work still remains to be done. He estimated the shop could be in operation within a month.
The cafe signed a two-year lease with an option for three years on the 1,200-square-foot space at $1,500 a month, according to Ortiz. It will replace a camera and phone store that left in December.
Can the downtown area fit another 18 restuarants, on top of the existing handful already in business? Consultants that put together the Rahway Survey think so.
East Cherry Street will be getting “Just A Little Healthier” when the eatery moves in to replace a former soul food establishment by late August or early September.
Whether it becomes a second location or relocates from its current West Scott Avenue digs is “still up in the air,” owner/founder Ron Livingston said in a telephone interview last week.
Just A Little Healthier opened at 228 W. Scott Ave. about a year-and-a-half ago, focusing on low-fat, low-carb offerings and even got a write-up in The New York Times last October. Livingston said the location at 95 E. Cherry St. opened up some time after he started looking into a downtown space, and signed a five-year lease.
Luciano’s received three stars in a review featured in Friday’s Star-Ledger, and had a few interesting things to say about Rahway as well: “If you haven’t found yourself in Rahway recently, you’ll be surprised by the ever-increasing reasons to go. This is a city on a quest to become a vibrant community, full of urban artists and commuters, with all the energy that entails. It stands to reason, then, that the restaurant scene would enjoy an invigorating renaissance as well.”
Owner Michael Merlis is also quoted: “Merlis expects even more people to re-discover the town and sit at one of the tables that not so recently would have been in a vacant lot. ‘They can’t believe they’re in Rahway.'” Hmm, where have I heard that before?
Construction at KC Jazz restaurant could take anywhere from six to nine months and should start soon, according to developer Casey Granieri, who’s waiting for construction bids.
The former Kelly’s Pub building at Seminary Avenue and Irving Street received Planning Board approval (.pdf) last July. The renovated structure will have a capacity of about 100 people and feature a 1,400-square-foot patio and distinctive 37-foot tower. The second floor will include two two-bedroom apartments.
I’ve been meaning to check out the latest addition to the downtown, Cubanu, a new restaurant/lounge at the corner of Main and Lewis streets. Some might remember the previous tenants of the corner bar: Eighty Eights and Fat Tuesday’s.
I’m not all that picky when it comes to food (I’m one of those people who was raised to clean this plate), so it would take a real effort to serve up something I didn’t like. Given that my girlfriend Kathleen and I were excited to finally try Cubanu since it opened late last year, I expected that we wouldn’t be disappointed when we paid a visit Friday night. We were far from disappointed.
Two things jumped out at me when we got there. Though the physical layout isn’t much different from the previous bars, the decor was nice; it just fit really well. Loved the entrance way between the dining room and the bar, and later we both admired the colorful wall tile behind the bar. Maybe it was just the tableclothes and silverware, but as soon as I sat down I already had the impression that this was going to be one my best dining experiences in Rahway. Spanish versions of “I Will Survive” and “Hotel California” also just cracked me up; they embodied the whole evening, something different in Rahway.
To start, we went with the Cha-Cha Sampler so we could select three of the tapas chioces. We chose the Maria Rosa, Empanadas and Cubanitos. Kathleen’s favorite was the Maria Rosa, basically two balls of mashed potatos stuffed with meat and deep fried. I loved the Empanadas, perhaps the best I’ve ever had, though admitedly, I haven’t had all that many in my time. All in all, the apps were terrific.
For her entree, Kathleen selected the Paella el Malecon and I had the Pollo Tropicano. When I first viewed Cubanu’s menu on the Web, it was little pricier than I expected. But the portions are pretty healthy and you also get to choose two of about six sides. Though my chicken at first was a touch dry it got better and we both ended up with plenty of leftovers to enjoy for lunch the next day. I thought a very unique touch was being presented with the check in a cigar box. It’s definitely different from cookie-cutter casual dining places.
If there was anything I didn’t like about our visit, it was extremely minor, like keeping water glasses full, but the number of staff and their friendliness more than made up for that very minor critique. There weren’t many selections of wine by glass, and we probably would’ve been better off getting a bottle.
The very next night, I happened to meet friends (from Rahway and out of town) for impromptu drinks in Cubanu’s lounge. Our party of about six all had good things to say and were pretty excited about a new choice in downtown nightlife. The lounge was a bit warm and it was actually easier to have a conversation while the live Latin jazz trio played than when they were on break and the music was blaring. All in all, we had very good things to say about our experience in the lounge.
If people want to talk about Rahway being “the next Hoboken” or “the next (fill in the blank),” it needs more destinations, places that give people a reason to come. No one’s coming from out of town to go to The Waiting Room, Flynn’s or The Back Porch; all great neighborhood joints where everybody knows your name, but Cubanu seems like the first place in awhile that could be a destination. At the very least, it’s something different, and that’s what any downtown needs: diverse options.
Have you been to Cubanu? What’d you think? Good, bad, indifferent? If you plan to go, feel free to send comments this way. In the meantime, keep an eye out for a new poll question this week and maybe an update on the traffic projects downtown.
With my coffee shop rant out of the way, welcome to Part II on the most recent poll results, which had grocery/specialty food store garnering 44 percent of the vote, ahead of brewpub/bar/restaurant, 32 percent, and coffeehouse/bagel shop, 20 percent.