Weekend Round-Up: Angel Azul Celebrates 20 years, Marketplace JC and more

Happy Weekend, Jersey City! Here's what's going on:

Friday
Angel Azul Cafe Anniversary Celebration, 460 Central Ave
Angel Azul Cafe, a family-run coffee shop with Colombian/Ecuadorian pastries and platters, is celebrating 20 years in business. They'll have a celebratory ribbon-cutting and other festivities beginning around 11am. Their delicious cafe con leche will be free from 11am-1pm and only .20 the rest of the day.

Corto Starts Soft Open

Photo from Corto

New Italian restaurant Corto is getting ready to open to the public with a soft opening by reservation only today (5/25) and tomorrow (5/26).

The Cliff Launches New Summer Dinner Series

Photo from The Cliff

Tonight marks the launch of The Cliff's new Summer Dinner Series.

Mision Burrito Now Open

Mexican restaurant Mision Burrito opened to the public on Tuesday in Jersey City Heights.

Pizza Vita to Open Today

Photo from Pizza Vita

The wait is over! Pizza Vita, known for their quick-cooking pizza truck, will be opening their new brick and mortar restaurant at 435 Palisade Ave today.

New Restaurant Round-Up

It's been a particularly busy season for restaurants and eateries opening in Jersey City so it's easy to have missed a couple along the way. To help make it easier, here's a round-up of everything that's opened recently.

Frankie - An Australian-inspired restaurant and bar, specializing in natural wines that opened in mid-October. Located at 264 Grove Street, Frankie is open from 5pm onwards Tuesday through Sunday.

Froth on Franklin Opens Thursday

Froth on Franklin is scheduled to launch their soft open this Thursday at 7am.

Low Fidelity Now Open (for previews)

Photo courtesy of Low Fidelity

Low Fidelity, aka LoFi, the newest bar from the team behind The Archer, has begun their soft-opening with some preview nights.

Cava and Choc O Pain Opening This Week

This week brings the opening of two new spots to Jersey City - both Cava and Choc-O-Pain will open their doors this Wednesday.

Photo by Choc-O-Pain

Riverview Market Peach Pie Contest

The Perfect Peach Pie Contest is back again for its 5th year at the Riverview Farmers Market.

A Little Gelato Now Open

A new gelato shop, A Little Gelato, opened this weekend at 280 Central Ave. Replacing Amrit Taste of India restaurant, the shop sits next door to popular pizza place Renato's and is owned and operated by Jersey City Heights residents Kenneth and Christine.

(photo from FB)

Noches De Colombia is Now Open

(Photo Courtesy of Erin A. DeLaney Photo)

Noches De Colombia, an extremely popular Colombian restaurant with various locations around North Jersey, recently opened one of a new location in Jersey City.

Choc O Pain Bakery Opens in the Heights

Congratulations to Choc O Pain on their new Jersey City Heights location which opened today.

Closing Rumors Surround Talde JC, The Kitchen at Grove Station, Orange and Olive

Over the past couple of years, Jersey City has seen a lot of growth and a lot of new restaurants open. With that rush of growth comes inevitable closings - not just of older spots being outpaced, but also of new restaurants that for various reasons just don't end up making it. Here's what is known and suspected to be closing around Jersey City.

Choc O Pain Opening in Jersey City Heights

Choc O Pain is planning to open their newest location in Jersey City Heights this week! They'd initially planned to open yesterday, February 1st, but ran into some delays and will now be opening by the end of this week or possibly first thing next week.

Who's Open Around Town

Not long ago, I did a construction round-up of a lot of the places in progress around town, and since then, a few of those places have opened, a few more have made significant progress, and a few others not mentioned have also opened.

OPEN
Bwe Kafe, a coffee shop with a social mission founded in Hoboken, opened their Jersey City location at 140 River Drive South.

Dark Side of the Moo, well-known for their exotic meats, opened their first brick and mortar location in the Heights this past weekend at 52 Bowers Street. They're still in the process of the soft opening and will be closed Wednesday and Thursday, but will be having their official Grand Opening this Saturday

Dinner in the Park Series #3

This Saturday is the third event in the Dinner in the Park Series, a program benefiting Jersey City parks and helping feed the homeless with each dinner estimated to feed over 100 less fortunate. This great project is being put on by FeedJC, a collaboration between Whealth and Andy's Market, and also act as a training ground for Jersey City teenagers hoping to work at restaurants and in food service.

Each dinner is held at a different park in a different ward of Jersey City to help celebrate that culture and neighborhood. Lincoln Park and Van Vorst Park have been checked off the list and this week's dinner is in Pershing Field in Jersey City Heights.

To get a better sense of what you can expect from these dinners, check out my photos from the dinner in Van Vorst Park :

Non-Stop Eats!

Aall of a sudden. it seems like the entire week just filled up with amazing food events! There isn't a day without something delicious and most days have multiple somethings, so I thought I'd do a quick round-up of everything food-related happening over the next several days!

WEDNESDAY

• Prato Bakery is hosting a Prosciutto di Parma tasting at 11am
• Patsey's, a new Italian American Bistro located at 93 Franklin Street in Jersey City Heights will open tomorrow. They'll be open from 6am-3pm.
• Groove on Grove is exciting enough, but on Wednesday, the'll also have the Artists & Makers Market! Milk Sugar Love, Sincerely Sweet Confections.Koro Koro, Park and Sixth, Raval, Orale, Hard Grove Cafe and more will be there with food and drinks!
• There are still a couple of spots open at both seatings (6:30pm and 9:30pm) for Raval's Live Flamenco Show and Unlimited Tapas.
• It's the 13th Annual Newport Beach Party!
• Wednesday means Bluegrass at both Union Republic and Park & Sixth

Community News

• Congratulations to Jersey City Veggie Burger, 9th & Coles, HopsScotch, Dark Side of the Moo, Maritime Parc, Park Tavern, Corkscrew, White Star, and Left Bank for their nominations in the NJ's Best Burger Competition in their various categories. Voting is now open from now until June 7th.
• Here's a first look at Raval and the story behind the restaurant.
• Congratulations to Porta for being named one of the 11 Best Patios by the Village Voice 
• If you've seen Uncle Bud's Hot Sauces at the Grove Street or Riverview Farmers' markets and wanted to learn more, check out this interview from the River View Observer.

Winter Weekend

Here's what's going this weekend in Jersey City:

Zeppelin Hall is continuing their Mardi Gras celebration through Sunday, Feb. 22nd so hopefully you didn't give up alcohol for Lent. They're offering a special Cajun-inspired menu and New Orleans cocktails. This is the last weekend, so catch it before it's gone.