River View Observer Restaurant VIEWS:Brownstone Diner and Pancake Factory
A Friendly Face, a Cup of Joe and Wow!

 By Sally Deering

 New Jerseyans know diners like they know Turnpike exits. They even know the best diners at Turnpike exits. There’s something about a diner’s home-cooked fare and no frills atmosphere that conjures up images of Edward Hopper paintings and memories of 3 am conversations over coffee and pie.

 The diner mystique even has a TV following with viewers tuning in to the Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives,” where host Guy Fieri travels the U.S. eating blue plate specials from the menus of greasy spoons. A while back, one of the stops on Fieri’s show was the Brownstone Diner & Pancake Factory on Jersey Avenue in Jersey City across from the Jersey City Medical Center. But unlike many of the diners featured on the show, the Brownstone is more upscale and the menu features entrees you’d likely find in New York and at higher prices.

 The Brownstone offers diner fare, the eggs, burgers and sandwiches are always on the menu, but it’s definitely more than a diner. It’s a nice, easy-going restaurant that serves great food from traditional recipes that go back to when owners Zoe and Bobby Bournias were kids learning the restaurant business from their parents Irene and Peter who owned M&A diner back in the 1960s and ’70s. They converted it to the Newport Pancake House in the 1980s and when their father Pete was going to sell the business in 2004, Zoe and Bobby decided to leave their careers and run the business with their dad. They renovated and expanded and in 2005 re-named the eatery the Brownstone Diner & Pancake Factory, transforming it from a plain-and-simple diner to a family restaurant with a menu that goes far beyond blue plate specials.

 “My parents always believed that in this business you have to be present,” Bobby Bournias says. “There’s never a minute when this restaurant is open that one of us, either Zoe, me or my father isn’t here.  It’s not about making sure everything comes out right. It’s our appreciation for the clientele. We make it our business to say ‘hello’ and greet every customer and thank them for coming. Yes, it’s business, but at the same time it’s more than that. It’s something you enjoy doing.”

 Zoe and Bobby added Pancake Factory to the diner’s name and included an extraordinary selection of pancakes to their menu.  Choices include Buttermilk, Cran’Apple, Pecan, Peach, Strawberry and Banana Walnut Pancakes ($4.95-$7.95) and Blueberry, Cherry, Apple, Nut ‘n’ Honey, PB&J and Chocolate Chip Pancakes ($6.75 to $8.75.) There are Potato Pancakes (with apple sauce and sour cream) Coconut Pancakes, Honky Tonk Pancakes (peanut butter chunks and fresh bananas) and Black Forest Pancakes (chocolate chips and cherry compote) ($6.95-$7.95.) These flapjacks are so yummy New Jersey Monthly named them “Best of New Jersey” in its March 2009 issue.

 Belgian Waffle lovers will go crazy trying to decide which waffle to choose, like the Original Belgian Waffle, Fresh Fruit, Raisin, Banana Walnut, Peach Walnut, Blueberry, Cherry, Apple Walnut, Ice Cream, Strawberries & Cream, Chocolate Chip, Dutch Apple and Praline Waffle ($5.25-$8.95.)

Along with the pasta dishes and the meat and poultry entrees, the Brownstone serves what they call Basket Stuffers: Country Fried Chicken in a Basket, Fried Shrimp Basket, Fried Clams in the Basket, Fried Sole, New England Fish & Chips, Fried Scallops, a Hodgepodge Basket (chicken fingers, beer-battered onion rings, mozzarella sticks and French fries) and the Colossal Fried Fisherman Basket (shrimp, scallops, filet of sole and French fries ($8.95 -$14.95.)

     For the hearty diner, the steaks and chops fit the bill. The Brownstone special is the Rib-Eye Gorgonzola (20 ounce boneless cut charbroiled and smothered with aged gorgonzola) T-bone steak (24 ounces; charbroiled) NY Sirloin (20 ounce; charbroiled) London Broil (tender strips of flank topped with homemade mushroom sauce) Roast Sirloin and Beef Brisket ($11.95-$23.95.)

    For dessert-lovers, there’s Cheesecake, Triple Top Cheesecake (topped with chocolate, caramel and raspberry sauce) Lemon Meringue Pie, Triple Chocolate Fudge Cake, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cake($3.25-$3.95) and really special desserts like the Waffle Tower (waffle wedges, fresh bananas, vanilla ice cream, walnuts, caramel sauce, chocolate syrup and whipped cream) Caramel Almond Parfait and Bobby’s Treat (vanilla ice cream topped off with a shot of espresso) ($4.95-$7.95.)

     Zoe and Bobby are looking to expand the Brownstone to a new location in either Hudson or Bergen County and they’re also planning a renovation and expansion to the Jersey Avenue restaurant where they will add an outdoor patio, indoor-outdoor bar and enough space for private parties and events. But that won’t happen until 2012 and the Brownstone will remain open during the renovation.

“This is something Zoe and I both truly enjoy,” Bobby says. “When it was the Newport Pancake House back in 2004, I was practicing law in New York and Zoe was working in healthcare. My father was considering retiring and when we got wind of that we realized we didn’t want that to happen. We grew up in this place. There’s definitely a feeling here that we love.”

      And if you have any trouble finding the Brownstone Diner & Pancake Factory, it’s on the corner of Jersey and Grand blocks away from the Turnpike Extension in Jersey City.  And if you’re a New Jerseyan, you probably know that.

The Brownstone Diner & Pancake Factory

426 Jersey Avenue

Jersey City, NJ

201-433-0471

www.brownstonediner.com

 

 

 

The post The Brownstone Diner & Pancake Factory in Jersey City Takes that Old Diner Fare and Makes it New Again! first appeared on River View Observer.

One band, 21 diners, 72 hours and 1000s of Families Helped

The Kindred Souls 3D Tour:Diners to Donate Dollars to End Hunger in New Jersey March 19- March 21st.

Bobby Bournias and his family, owners of the popular downtown Jersey City Brownstone Diner and Pancake House were pleased when selected as the only Hudson County restaurant to participate in an important event this past weekend between March 19-21st that was developed to end hunger in New Jersey.

When told that last year, 250,000 new clients sought help from New Jersey’s food banks, pantries and soup kitchens, while at the same time donations declined by 20%, and that many of the newly hungry come from middle class families, hard hit by the recession and job losses. Bob and his family joined the cause.

The Goal of the overall event was to raise at least $5,250 in 72 hours for the NJ Federation of Food Banks. Enough money to buy 21 tons of food. With the wholesale buying power of the Federation, charitable organizations throughout New Jersey will receive nutritious food supplies to help feed thousands of New Jersey children, seniors and adults.

The way the event was organized was unusual and a brilliant idea. Kindred Souls, a NJ-based rock band, would perform a free 20 minute acoustic set at a diner in each of New Jersey’s 21 counties in a 72-hour period with the goal of raising at least $250 per diner. During the weekend, customers in each diner would be asked to donate a dollar per table while diner owners would be asked to donate a dollar per check. All of the money collected would be donated to the Federation. And as an added motivation to contribute, an offer to get free song downloads with every donation was also included to those who participated.

Kindred Souls, will arrive at the Brownstone on Sunday March 21st at  6:00 pm appearance

 The other diners participating in this event from around the state:

Sussex County – Andover Diner
Hunterdon County – Readington Diner
Somerset County – Somerset Diner
Mercer County – Princetonian Diner
Burlington County – Mastoris

Gloucester County – Five Points Diner
Salem County – Elmer Diner
Atlantic County – Diamond Diner
 Monmouth County – Red Oak Diner
Middlesex County – The Seville
 Bergen County – Saddlebrook Diner
Camden County – Philly Diner
 Warren County – Belvidere Diner
 Ocean County – Ocean Breeze Diner

 Passaic County- Park West Diner

 Union County- Westfield Diner

Cape May County- Dino’s Seaville Diner 
 Morris County- Brookside Diner

 Cumberland County- Delsea Diner

Essex County- The Ritz Diner

The New Jersey Federation of Food Banks, which distributed over 27 million pounds of food to more than 1,800 charitable programs serving people in need statewide last year, including the Community FoodBank of New Jersey, Food Bank of South Jersey, FoodBank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties, Mercer Street Friends Food Bank, and NORWESCAP Food Bank are members of the federation.

Who Are Kindred Souls?

New Jersey based rock band Kindred Souls is an original rock band flavored with blues, funk, jazz, and R&B. The founding members of Kindred Souls, lead vocalist and songwriter Jeff Rafferty and keyboardist Lon Bachrach have been partners for eighteen years. The band features bassist Stan Quincy Adams, guitarist Ted Heman, and drummer Paul Lavenhar.

Kindred Souls was inspired to do the diner tour after a great experience working with the The band’s CD release party for its new EP “Social Ninja” was also a “peanut butter and jelly party” to raise money for the Food Bank.

We were surprised to find out that buying power of the Food Bank enabled it buy about 1,000 pounds of food for $250. We decided we wanted to raise enough money to buy 21,000 pounds of food – 1,000 pounds for every New Jersey county

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