7 p.m. Dinner
Once you arrive back at the Newport Mall stop of the Light Rail, the best bites of the day await you. It’s nothing short of a rite of passage to dine at Razza, the pizzeria Pete Wells once christened the best in New York. Artisanal pizza fired from a wood burning oven—the formula isn’t groundbreaking, but the commitment to doing it right is evident in every bite. While the menu changes seasonally, evergreen all-stars include the Project Hazelnut, which spotlights Rutgers University hazelnuts as the main driver, and the Di Natale, which somehow makes raisins on pizza work. If you eat meat, I’d implore you to try the meatballs with ricotta, it’s the exact kind of dish the chef’s kiss was made for. Make sure you have a reservation ahead of time, as even nearly a decade after Razza’s glowing NYT review, seats remain hard to snatch.
Along the same street as Razza, Taqueria Downtown makes even the most discerning taco connoisseurs nod their heads in approval. There’s crowd-pleasers like carnitas and chorizo, as well as lengua and buche that reward adventurous eaters with authentic and flavorful cuts. Every meal starts off with housemade chips and salsa, and if you’re so persuaded, best topped off with one of their margs. And in JC, the fun isn’t strictly reserved for the omnivores. Gaia & Loki lays claim to an extensive vegan menu that runs a diner menu’s gamut of cuisines from red sauce spaghetti and meatballs to fish and chips to pineapple fried rice, but the quality is up there with the best of them. For a sweet treat afterwards, the Jersey City outpost of Mango Mango serves the same desserts as the NYC location without the dreaded line—try the matcha crepe cake for a slice that rounds off dinner with a bite that’s not too sweet.
This being your potential third visit to Grove Street, you might want to give another neighborhood a spin, in which case, you can easily walk over to the Heights. To hit the highlights winked at in the intro, Fortune has solid Chinese dishes best served shared on a lazy Susan that has something to satisfy even the pickiest eaters in your family; Corto might keep it simple with only five pasta dishes on its menu, but it well earns its claim to have the best pasta in Jersey City; and Rumba’s Cafe serves a mean breakfast starting at 6 a.m., but they keep the Cuban classics rolling until nine at night.
10 p.m. A Jersey City pre-game
Counting yourself amongst the crowd that’s come over to Jersey City for the World Cup games? There’s downtown’s Brightside Tavern, which not only has eight TVs to watch the games from, but also live jazz and pitchers of Sangria—it’s hard to ask for much more. For more room to stretch your legs and soak up the summer fun, The Hutton in the Heights is also streaming the games on its patio, and watch party reservations can be made here. And back on Grove Street’s Zeppelin Hall Beer Garden the games will be projected, so there’s no need to squint or bring your cheaters to keep up with the matches. Alternatively, watch the game in style at Club 26 right on the waterfront that advertises itself as a “luxury club” with 20 curated events that follow the matches all summer long. Whether you choose to stick around for another round, head over to NYC, or up to Hoboken for your next stop, Jersey City is a strong anchor to kick off a fun night out.