Before we sign off each year in our year end review post, we would typically mention a few faves from the past twelve months.

This year we decided to separate the two, so here are the few bites from the 150+ new restaurants (no, we didn’t eat at anywhere near all of them) that opened in 2021 that we really enjoyed and keep thinking about.

Pastrami Sandwich from Pastrami Grill Bistro in Garfield (Website) – It’s pastrami sandwich features pastrami between two slices of bread. We want to eat one right now.

Hot Chicken Sandwich at Underdog Chicken in Fort Lee (Website) – Many local places are doing spicy chicken sandwiches, but very few are doing “hot chicken” from Nashville. Grab a sandwich and don’t sleep on that Kaleslaw either.

Kape’t Tinapay Ice Cream at Francy’s Ice Cream in Bergenfield (Website) – This is their coffee ice cream flavor, “inspired” by the traditional breakfast from the Philippines named (you guessed it) Kape’t Tinapay, which means coffee and bread. Try it and thank us later.

Patakas Fritas at Bodegón in Cliffside Park (Website) – We spent many summers in Spain as a child visiting our grandparents. Relevance? None, other than Bodgeon serves food from the country’s Galician region. Are we really recommending French fries? Yes, but in all honesty the entire menu we sampled was excellent.

Hot Honey-Butter Chicken at Hankki in Haworth (Website) – If you like Korean Fried Chicken (or fried chicken for that matter), then you’ll love it at Hankki. And Haworth is not a typo.