The top three choices in our Favorite Restaurant poll grabbed more than half of the nearly 160 votes, and in the end, it was something of a nail-biter, with just three votes separating the top two choices:

What’s your favorite restaurant in Rahway?
The Waiting Room, 22 percent (35/156 votes)
Luciano’s, 21 percent (32/156)
Nancy’s Towne House, 13.5 percent (21/156)
The Rail House, 9 percent (14/156)
Little Portugal, 6 percent (9/156)
Cubanu, 5 percent (8/156)
Firehouse Eatery and Pub, 5 percent (8/156)
Beana’s, 4.5 percent (7/156)
Flynn’s Irish Pub & Steakhouse, 4 percent (6/156)
Valentina’s, 2.5 percent (4/156)
Kim’s InTheMix, 2.5 percent (4/156)
Patria Restaurant & Mixology Lounge, 2 percent (3/156)
Galaxy Diner and Cafe, 2 percent (3/156)
Rahway Fried Chicken, 0.6 percent (1/156)
Bianca’s Deli, 0.6 percent (1/156)

It’s quite a diverse selection of venues, from BYO to pub grub and pizza to a diner and fine dining. Congratulations to the winner, The Waiting Room. It might not your idea of an epicurean delight but darn if it’s not consistent with solid food and good beer selection. It’s got a great reputation and Rahway could use more places that people specifically come to town for.

The New York Times has had good things to say about recent additions The Rail House and Patria (as did The Star-Ledger) and they’re not wrong. The Star-Ledger‘s Munchmobile also raved about Kim’sInTheMix, calling it one of the best restaurants of their summer tour, especially the banana pudding cake.
There was also some love from two readers who voted for existing restaurants but specifically mentioned that they missed El Bodegon, which has since been transformed into Patria. What are your favorites and why?

There also were two write-in votes, one for Bianca’s Deli and another for Rahway Fried Chicken, which weren’t included in the original poll since they’re more of a deli and fast food. The original poll choices aimed for places that served dinner with considerable sit-down service. We could have probably found a few more options but at the same time, we could also break out another poll specifically for favorite BYO restaurant; what do you think? In the past we’ve done favorite bar, favorite breakfast place, and of course, favorite pizza place.