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.

             HOBOKEN, N.J. (January 11, 2010) – The much-anticipated pancake house, Stacks Pancake House & Café, finally opened its doors on December 11th in Hoboken on trendy Washington Street drawing record crowds and endless lines on the weekend.  Filling a void of offering pancakes for dinner, as well as other reasonably-priced American comfort cuisine, Stacks is bringing families, Hoboken professionals and the late-night bite crowd together to enjoy delicious food in an upscale, trendy atmosphere.  Stacks serves 22 different varieties of pancakes, as well as omelettes, salads, sandwiches and burgers, plus milkshakes, floats and coffee drinks.  Stacks replaces Junior’s Papaya, which closed in 2009.

            “I am passionate about breakfast food and always wanted to open my own restaurant,” said Andrew Cohen, day-to-day manager and one of the three owners of Stacks.  “Plus, there are so many restaurants in Hoboken, but no one was serving breakfast.”

Cohen and his two other partners, Elliot Cohen and Scott Handler, decided to fill that void and came up with the ingenious idea of offering a niche product around the clock: pancakes for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  In the few short weeks Stacks has been open, diners are flocking, and during the weekend, waiting in lines to get in to the newbie restaurant to try their signature dishes such as a Mama’s family-size pancake, a 16-inch pancake that serves a family of four or the pancakes wraps – appropriately named after Hoboken streets such as Hudson, Observer, Garden, Bloomfield and Washington — which are oversized pancakes filled with your choice of the standard breakfast fare:  eggs, taylor ham, sausages, cheese and vegetables, among others.  For the super sweet tooth, the Oreo Cookie pancakes are a menu standout and are served with Oreo cookies mixed into the batter, as well as crumbled on top.

Other popular dishes include the Belgian waffles and French toast, double-decker deli sandwiches, grill specialties such as a Philly cheese steak, Stack’s burgers and super salads.  Lighter alternatives are available and include whole grain and wheat pancakes and egg white omelettes.  On the  children’s menu you will find pancakes (that come in a variety of shapes:  truck, airplane, flower, Mickey Mouse and a ghost), French toast and waffles, hamburgers and chicken fingers.

 

 

 

 

“Our vision for Stacks is to become a staple household name in Hoboken,” said Cohen.  “We also want to provide our customers with a feel-good dining experience, a place where they can stop to get a great meal, socialize with family and friends and hopefully leave with a smile on their face – not to mention stuffed!”        

            Stacks’ progressive design and upscale ambience was the work Rose Meechan Interior Design of New York City.  Meechan is an interior designer with 15 years’ of industry experience, in a diverse range of styles and budgets.  Educated at Manhattan’s Fashion Institute of Technology, Meechan has collaborated on projects which have been featured in Architectural Digest, Better Homes and Gardens, Traditional Home, The New York Times, and on NBC’s “The Today Show”.  In addition to projects in the tri-state area, Meechan has worked on projects in Virginia Beach Va., Palm Beach, Fla., Carmel and San Francisco, Calif. and St. Martin. 

“My vision was to incorporate a coziness that worked with the finishes already in place, and was consistent with the comfort food on Stacks’ menu.  I stayed away from flashy, bright colors typically seen in fast food restaurants and diners so that customers feel a sense of warmth from the food and their environment, rather than ‘eat and run’,” said Meechan.

Stacks is owned by a partnership of three entrepreneurs and will be managed by Andrew Cohen.  Cohen, 25, previously worked in accounting and investment banking at Ernst & Young and Price Waterhouse Coopers.  He is a 2004 graduate of Adelphi University on Long Island and is engaged to be married in 2010.  He resides in Edgewater and grew up in Bergen County, N.J

The two other partners, Elliott Cohen, father of Andrew, is a former managing director at Banker’s Trust, and Scott Handler, is a former car wash owner and general contractor. For the senior Cohen, he left the corporate world in 1999 to become an entrepreneur after taking a buyout.  Since then, he’s been in the bagel business and has opened several shops in Bergen County.  In 2005, Cohen and his partner Handler, decided to trademark the Wide World of Bagels name and expand the bagel franchise.  Cohen resides in Park Ridge, N.J. with his wife Judy.  Handler resides in Cedar Knolls with his wife, Laurie and three children. The Wide World of Bagels store and corporate headquarters are located in Ridgewood, N.J.

The partners envision franchising the Stacks brand in New York City and surrounding boroughs. “We hope to make Stacks a dining destination around the tri-state area,” said Cohen.

Stacks is open 6:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. seven days a week.  The goal is to keep the restaurant open 24 hours a day Thursday through Saturday beginning in mid-February. Seating capacity is 49; outdoor seating will be available in the spring.  Stacks does not accept reservations.

            For more information, please visit www.stacksofhoboken.com or visit Stacks Pancake House & Café at 506 Washington Street, Hoboken, New Jersey, 07030; 201.710.5777.

The post NEW UPSCALE PANCAKE HOUSE OPENS IN HOBOKEN – DRAWS RECORD CROWDS first appeared on River View Observer.