Although German is the largest ancestral group within the United States, German cuisine is not necessarily as commonly found in the North Jersey area as Italian, Chinese, or Mexican. Many classic American dishes — such as hamburgers, hotdogs, pretzels, and apple pie — actually have German origins and are now considered staples at barbeques, sporting events, and taverns. Though it may not seem it, Newark and the Oranges were a popular settlement area for Germans and home to many German churches, breweries, and even a theological school (present day Bloomfield College). Whether its beer, strudel, sausage, or pickles, German cuisine is flavorful, colorful, and mighty tasty. Read on for a guide to German restaurants, breweries, and bakeries in North Jersey.
Alpine Deli + Pork Store | 1141 Greenwood Lake Turnpike, Ringwood
Ringwood’s Alpine Deli + Pork Store specializes in German food. This quaint location run by Gisela and Eddie Busch has comfortable booths to sit in, a deli counter, and shelves filled with treats and trinkets. The menu offers breakfast sandwiches, cold sandwiches, salads, a hot menu, daily specials, and more. Here you can order German potato salad, black forest ham sandwiches, and even four types of wurst. You may also find rice pudding, pickles, liverwurst, spaetzle, sauerkraut, and Frikadellen (similar to meatballs).
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Charley | 202 Angelo Cifelli Drive, Harrison
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Austrian chef Kurt Gutenbrunner is serving up Viennese cuisine at his Harrison bistro called Charley. While this restaurant specializes in Austrian cuisine, there are many dishes they share with Germany. Dishes and desserts eaten in Germany include flammkuchen(sort of like pizza), pretzels, Berlin currywurst, smoked bratwurst, cheese spaetzle(sort of like gnocchi), Black Forest Cake, linzertorte, and apple strudel. Charley’s offers brunch, lunch, and dinner as well as happy hour deals.
Deutscher Club of Clark | 787 Featherbed Lane, Clark
The Deutscher Club of Clark is one of the largest German clubs in North America. They offer catering and takeout services to the public which include appetizers, wursts, salads, entrees, sandwiches, and desserts. They offer dishes such as Kassler Ripchen (bone in smoked pork chops) and Königsberger Klopse (Swedish meatballs with capers) as well as schnitzels and wursts. Their desserts include Heiße Liebe (vanilla ice cream with raspberries and whipped cream), Coupe Danemark (vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce and whipped cream), and apple strudel.
Launcher Cafe Bakery | 632 Main Street, Towaco
This gourmet bakery and cafe run by Christina Renfer is a Towaco staple that offers classic German-style baked goods. Tasty treats are made from scratch on location such as Linzer tarts, crescents, wafers, sugar cookies, and a large variety of handcrafted truffles. They also offer sweet and savory crepes, waffles, soups, smoothies, coffee, tea, yogurt, and granola. They have a variety of specialty lattes with unique flavors such as tiramisu, toasted marshmallow, hazelnut mocha, creme brulee, chocolate chip cookie dough, Irish cream, cupcake, and chocolate mint. Launcher Cafe Bakery is open six days a week and across from the Towaco Train Station.
Old German Bakery | 322 Washington Street, Hoboken
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In 2011 Armenian-German Haytad Urachyan founded the Old German Bakery in Hoboken. All desserts and pastries here are made by original recipes just like Oma (Grandma) made them. Here you can purchase crunchy bread loaves, strudel, Kipfer (like a croissant), sandwiches, and cakes. Old German Bakery offers a variety of strudel flavors including apple, tomato, leek, spinach feta, strawberry cheese, blueberry cheese, and cherry cheese. They also have six flavors of kipferl and over 20 cake options.
Pilsener Haus & Biergarten | 1422 Grand Street, Hoboken
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You can enjoy drinks and a variety of wursts at Pilsener Haus + Biergarten in Hoboken. They have numerous weekly events such as Sunday, Monday and Thursday Night Football as well as Tuesday Trivia and comedy on Wednesday. Choose amongst their drink options of beer, cider, wine, hard seltzer, hard kombucha, and cocktails. Pair it with their savory German dishes such as warm pretzels, bratwurst, schnitzel, flammkuchen, and kielbasa in a blanket.
Ramstein Beer | 22 Park Black Building 7 + 14 Kiel Avenue, Butler
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Ramstein Beer is a New Jersey-based brewing company that proudly follows the German Purity Law in which their beer contains nothing more than malt, hops, water, and yeast. From Wednesday to Sunday they hold tasting hours and they recently debuted the Ramstein Winter Wheat.
Redd’s Biergarten Newark | 220 Market Street ,Newark + 37 Edison Place, Newark
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Redd’s Biergarten is the home of the “5 Hour $5 Happy Hour,” which runs six days a week. Menus vary based on location but they all have Angus burgers, french fries, salads, potato pancakes, and calamari to name a few. If you dine at their Newark location you should order one of the dishes from The “Wurst” Platters. The options are German Wurst Platter, PruCenter Platter, Highlander Platter, and Pirate BBQ Platter which include an assortment of German fare and other tasty American foods. They have a variety of gluten free and vegetarian options as well. All locations offer a variety of imported and domestic draught bier and have gluten free and non alcoholic options as well.
Styertowne Bakery | 1039 Bloomfield Avenue, Clifton
Since 1949 Clifton’s Styertowne Bakery has been serving delicious baked goods. Here you can find many typical German desserts such as blueberry and cheese crumb cake as well as poppyseed and walnut strudel. They also sell Christmas Stollen (similar to the Italian Panettone) which is a German fruit bread traditionally eaten during the Christman season.
See More: Where to Find Struffoli in North Jersey this Holiday Season
Würstbar | 516 Jersey City Avenue, Jersey City
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Würstbar offers a variety of German and American dishes and drinks to sample from such as fried cheese curds, bratwurst, burgers, rum, whiskey, and more. We suggest ordering from their impressive list of “sausage and dogs” and choose the Haus Wurst option. This dish comes with your choice of German bratwurst or smoked kielbasa and is topped with kraut, mustard, pickles, onions, and relish. Pair it with the Canadian classic poutine, specifically the Chicken Masala option which comes with hand cut fries, chicken wurst, spicy masala gravy, mango chutney, cashews, and cilantro.
