Your Guide to Labor Day Weekend - Who's Open, Who's Closed, & Events

Happy Labor Day Weekend! It's the unofficial end of summer and if you're sticking around town, there's a lot of great ways to celebrate, but also some closures for the holiday weekend.

Read on to get the full guide to what's happening and where to go this Labor Day Weekend in Jersey City:

Project Eats 2017 Meet the Vendor: Louie's BBQ Pit

The Jersey City Project's Project Eats 2017 is back on 6/24 and 6/25 with new vendors and returning favorites, all ready to serve up some delicious, indulgent eats. To help get you ready, I'm excited to be collaborating with The Jersey City Project to spotlight some of the vendors from this year's Project Eats, learning more about their business, their food, and what they love about Jersey City. 

Meet Louie's BBQ Pit, a quality barbecue spot with Cuban touches from West New York inspired by the owner's son and the desire to make other people happy by feeding them. 

Weekend Events

There are festivals and food galore this weekend starting today! Check out your list of food events for the weekend:

Community News

• Lucky 7's Annual Rock 'N Roll BBQ is next Saturday, 7/16 beginning at 1pm.
• The painting that was stolen from Two Boots last weekend has been returned and no charges are being pressed. 
• Tea NJ has announced that beginning this Tuesday, there will be vegan burgers on the menu. 
• Talde JC is hosting another Kamayan dinner this Tuesday, 7/12 and tickets are $55/person.
• Lafayette Corner Store has announced they'll begin offering delivery to parts of the Lafayette Area. 

More News on Hamilton Pork

Some more good news for Hamilton Pork! They are still hoping to open this week and I was able to get a few more details.

*EDIT* They are now officially open! They started with their soft open last night (Friday, 1/29) and will be open again tonight starting at 5pm. Current menu here (burnt ends and lamb belly included!).

Hamilton Pork to Open Soon

Hamilton Pork, the sister restaurant of The Hamilton Inn, has been under construction and have let it be known they anticipate being open as early as this weekend or next week.

Hamilton Park BBQ 2015

This Saturday is the 6th Annual Hamilton Park BBQ and it's sure to be a good time filled with lots of delicious eats. If you're new to the barbecue, check out my round-up from two years ago - although I have to say it's grown a lot since then.

Sponsored in part by Silverman, the HPNA, Sawyer Smith Residential Brokerage and others, this annual event is a major fundraiser for the Hamilton Park Conservancy and always draws a big crowd. It runs from 12pm-8pm at 232 Pavonia outside of GP's and boasts vendors like Milk Sugar Love, Taproot Organics, Just Jenny's Love, Outer Limits Hot Sauce, and Republic of Pigtails - and that doesn't even cover the barbecue vendors. There's also live music throughout the event and fun for kids with face-painting and a bouncy house.

Weekend Events

Ready for the wekeend?! Lets start making plans.

Tonight, head to WORD bookstore at 7:30pm to hear chef Dale Talde, the chef behind local restaurants Talde and Carrino Provisions,  speak about his new cookbook, Asian-American.

On Friday, O'Leary's Publik House will be celebrating one year in business with $2 domestic drafts all day and lots of other drink specials after 4pm. 

Zeppelin Hall is hosting a a country music weekend with live music Friday and Saturday nights, slow smoked barbecue, and it's also their Wonderful World of Spam weekend.

Community News

• South House opened this past Friday for drinks and a limited menu. They plan to switch to the full menu and open up the roof and basement within the next few weeks. They'll be closed tomorrow, but reopen on Tuesday. 
• This Thursday, Satis Bistro is hosting a Riesling tasting for $45/person. Call for reservations.
• Congratulations to Jersey City Veggie Burger for celebrating three years in business and to Chopping Block Food Truck on their one year anniversary, both this weekend!
• This week's Tuesday BBQ menu at Carrino Provisions is Mediterranean themed with slow roasted lamb shoulder, kafta & veggie kebabs, falafel, hummus, and more. $30 for all you can eat and drink.

Weekend Events

Hey Jersey City! Here's what's happening this weekend:

This weekend's biggest event is the two day Project Eats happening in front of City Hall from 11am - 7pm on both Saturday and Sunday. To find out more and what you can expect, check my post here about all the vendors.

This Friday, 7/17 (before the gluttony begins) is the soft open for the newest restaurant to hit Newark Avenue, Southern-insprired South House! They're planning to open around 4-5pm seving food and drinks but most likely won't have the basement or roof open for another few weeks.

Community News

• The Kitchen at Grove Station has started carrying bee pollen truffles from local favorite Busy Bee Organics.
• This week's BBQ at Carrino Provisions will be a Pork Slope-inspired pop-up! $30 for all you can eat and drink.
• Want to know more about catering company Chilltown Kitchen and their upcoming supper club at Porto? Check out this write-up from the Jersey Journal.
• Box Spring will be moving from their current location on Newark Avenue to 218 Grove Street, replacing MORE, by the end of July.

BBQ is Coming to Jersey City!

Exciting news for Jersey City -  a new Portuguese restaurant and barbecue is coming to town! Thanks to Blossom for the tip on Instagram.

Weekend Events

There's a lot going on this weekend Jersey City! Here's the line-up:

The weekend kicks off with the start of Oktoberfest at Zeppelin Hall.

On Saturday, there's a long list of options:
Pacific Flea is having one of their Big Flea events this Saturday with live music, art, and food by Nu Bar.

Hamilton Park BBQ This Saturday!

This Saturday is the 5th Annual Hamilton Park BBQ Festival!

Organized by SILVERMAN, the BBQ Festival benefits the Hamilton Park Conservancy and always draws large crowds. It runs from 12pm-8pm at Hamilton Square. The festival will have live music all day, family-friendly activities like face-painting & a bouncy castle, and even a mechanical bull.

Community News

• The Hamilton Inn and Union Republic are extending their brunch hours through tomorrow for Memorial Day and 9th and Coles will have a special menu to kick off "Hot Dog Season"!
• Thirty Acres has introduced a new brunch menu.
• Razza and Porta are hiring!

Community News

• Congratulations to ModCup on the Grand Opening of their cafe in Jersey City Heights this weekend! They are offering their fantastic coffee of course, as well as tea from Do You Tea and baked goods from Cocoa Bakery and All Kinds of Whoopie. They will be open all next week from 7am-5pm.
• The date for the 5th Annual Hamilton Park BBQ Festival has been announced. It will be held on Saturday, September 27th and will run from noon-8pm. If last year was any indication, you don't want to miss it!
• Congratulations to Jersey City Veggie Burgers whose Kiva Zip loan was officially funded last week! 
• Liberty Humane Society is hosting their 4th Annual Wine Tasting at VB3 next Sunday, March 2nd from 5pm-7pm. For a $35 donation, there will be wine, antipasti, pizza and all benefits will proceed LHS. Check Seen in Jersey City's post for more info on the event and on current adoptions.
• More congratulations go to Thirsty Quaker. After much hard work and waiting, they will officially open this Tuesday, Feb. 25th for all your local brewing and beer needs!

Event Recap: 4th Annual Hamilton Park BBQ

This past Saturday was the 4th Annual Hamilton Park BBQ. There was live music, beer, games, and of course, a lot of BBQ!

BBQ vendors included Dinosaur BBQ, Soul Flavors, Union Republic, Delaney Barbecue, and Jimmy's Barbecue from Pennsylvania and everything was priced around 7-10 dollars. Desserts included Andy's Italian Ice Truck, Torico Ice Cream, and Sophie Sophia with drinks being provided by NJ Beer Co. in conjunction with the Hamilton Inn and Lizzmonade!

 

I got there a little after 6pm and the crowd seemed like it was in full-swing. The lines for Dinosaur BBQ were really long and they didn't diminish until the very end of the night. Unfortunately, shortly after I got there, Soul Flavors started packing up so I'm not really sure what they had on offer, but there were plenty of other options to choose from.

The 4th Annual Hamilton Park BBQ Festival

On Saturday, Hamiltion Park will hold it's 4th Annual BBQ Festival from 12 pm to 8pm!




The festival is a family-friendly event with live music, games, drinks, crafts from Not Yo Mama's Craft Fair, and of course, BBQ!