Our award for best ground floor retail in a residential building goes to the Urby in Harborside. Located adjacent to the fabulous DomoDomo restaurant, Canard Café Bar has now taken over where 9 Bar used to be, just weeks after Canard’s sister café opened in the Financial District in NYC.

Congratulations and well wishes to J. Jammal Upholstery & Decor! As this third-generation family business approaches its 59th year, the client list continues to expand through devoted word of mouth and the advances of technology.

We have posted before about our love for this supreme chocolate shop in Jersey City. Back in the day they were located at 321 Marin Boulevard and after surviving multiple challenges borne out of the pandemic, they are now re-opened for business at a fabulous new location at 251 Newark Ave.

Is it closet cleanout season for you? Out with the old, in with the new? If that is the case, there are plenty of wonderful local organizations that accept gently used clothing donations. Some but not all organizations ask for clothes to be donated fresh from the dry-cleaner or at the very least the laundromat.

It’s finally Spring! After a long and unpredictable winter it’s time to clean up and clear out everything and that includes our green spaces. We have been interested in learning more about “clean” planting – whether that is the exact term, we mean plants that contribute to eco-diversity and reducing pollution.

The world has grown increasingly fond of all things Danish. Have you noticed? Articles in major publications routinely cite studies that conclude Danes are the happiest people on earth, that their bike culture should be used as a guide for all others to follow and that hygge is a lifestyle we should all aspire to.

There has been much anticipation for the opening of Into the Void, the brand-new antique store and coffee shop in The Village. The excitement was on full display at the recent grand opening of the shop which is located at 117 Brunswick.

The Paulus Hook waterfront has a trusted neighborhood local in Greene Hook. The warm wood bar is beautiful and inviting and the outside area replete with multicolored picnic tables is spacious and fun.

The guys at Departed Soles Brewing and Tasting Room are to Jersey City what Dolly Parton is to the world. Like Dolly, it is impossible to find anything remotely negative to say about them.

We love Bergen Lafayette’s Café Quetzal. Located next to the Lafayette Branch of the Jersey City Public Library on Pacific, this sunny family-owned restaurant flies quietly under the radar (no website or social media) and we love that old school vibe.

Happy March and Happy Women’s History Month. We are in continual awe of the women in Jersey City who help make this town such a diverse, inclusive and fine place to live.

We have written over the past two years with straight up awe for the long-term restaurants that managed to survive the pandemic and for the new ones that have emerged. On the latter end we include and hail Olivia, a gorgeous spot in Hoboken at the tail end of Garden Street.

At the base of 70 Hudson, to be exact. New York City’s beloved Maman Bakery will open on Valentine’s Day. The first Maman opened in Manhattan in 2014 and now has 9 locations all over the city.

Hard to believe but it has been 7 years since Short Grain opened in Jersey City. Located adjacent to City Hall on Montgomery Street, this tiny Asian-inspired eatery became an instant staple. City Hall workers, locals and commuters flocked to the shop for the excellent coffee drinks, Balthazar pastries and healthy and delicious dishes served morning to dinner hours.

Jersey City is a pizza town bar none – that incudes you, New York City. The New York Times has written rhapsodically about Razza and Bread & Salt for excellent reasons of course. But here in JC we know that there are so many other classic Italian joints worthy of praise and writeups.