A list of restaurants that I like near/around Princeton NJ (and NYC??), written from a stingy grad student with no car perspective. There are some comments. The first paragraph is an overview of grocery stores, alcohol, and free food/stuff at Princeton.
At this point, I've been to most restaurants on Nassau/Witherspoon/Palmer Sq, so this is really more of a food diary than suggestions. However I generally like most of the food in the area. Some of them are also suggested by trusted friends who eat out more than I do. Suggestions from friends are denoted with 🗣️
I want to note that COS Lecturer Kevin Wayne has a much more extensive list than I do, and I think he writes more coherently than I do lol: https://www.cs.princeton.edu/~wayne/princeton.restaurants/
The list is in no way comprehensive, so use this as a good starting point and let me know if you find anywhere good. Suggestions? Feel free to make an issue or a pull request.
On Nassau st is Maruichi which is a small Japanese grocery store with a great selection of snacks and premade meals. They also have a small selection of fresh meat, seafood, veggies, Japanese seasoning. Their produce a tad pricey (Nassau st/college campus tax) but it's still reasonable and incredibly convenient. They also have some Japanese specialty cosmetics in the back.
The biggest grocery stores around here that you can get to on the weekend shopper are Whole Foods, Wegmans, and Trader Joes. Nassau Park (where Wegmans is) also has a target, home depot, michaels. However taking the bus is really annoying so if you dont have a car, I recommend making friend with a car to drive you instead.
Within driving distance is also a Costco (:heart:). If you have a costco membership and a car, please take me.
If you want (east) asian groceries and can drive, there is Woo Ri Mart (Korean) in Princeton Junction near the dinky station and Asian Food Mart (Chinese) in Plainsboro (10 min drive). If you want to go a larger store, there is an H Mart (Korean) and 99 Ranch Market (Chinese) in Edison (~30-40 min drive). I personally think asian grocery stores are cheaper for produce compared to wegmans.
Patel Brothers in East Windsor i think is the closest indian grocery store.
NJ alc thing: most restaurants are bring your own beer/beverages (BYOB) since most dont have the expensive liquor license.
There’s some law in NJ where each company can only have two liquor licenses in the whole state. You can get most beers and liquor at the stores around campus, abet for a market up. Near equad is Nassau Liquors Grape Grain and Varsity Liquor. On Witherspoon is Public Wine. On Nassau is Claridge Wine & Liquor. On Hulfish (Palmer Square) is Princeton Corkscrew Wine Shop. My personal favorite is Varsity Liquor, the owner Arun and I are pals.
Cheaper drinks can be found at the Wegmans and Trader Joes on Route 1 (they conveniently have these licenses). If you have a car, the Costco in Edison has liquor. There is not liquor or beer at CVS, Wawa, 7Eleven, etc.
Subscribe to the freefood email list! During the school year you can practically live off this email list, no joke. Undergrads get a ton of free food. https://lists.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=FREEFOOD&A=1
During the year, there is usually a weekly GSG Happy Hour (previously have been on Wednesdays) that has dinner and beers! They are announced on weekly GSG emails. Dinner is usually pizza. Food goes quickly, so go in the first 15mins if you want to get food. As of Fall 2024, I have no idea if these are still being run
On Friday nights there is usually Social Hour in grad college courtyard or old grad college (OGC) common room. Open bar with snacks! Very popular at the beginning of the school year, not as popular a few weeks in.
No car required! Sort of grouped by cuisine type, but in no particular order
Frist Food Gallery - in the middle of campus and popular with undergrads but they do take credit card/pawpoints. Good joint for burgers, chicken tenders, pizza, the like. They also have a daily/weekly(?) rotating station. They give you a lot of food for the price. Also open late night but watch out for drunk undergrads.
Tacoria - popular joint for chipotle style food (Mexican? Tex mex? Not too sure). I think of it like chipotle but better and more pricey. If you’re a chipotle fan there’s one next to trader joes on Route 1, 5 min drive from campus.
Taste of Mexico - More authentic Mexican food compared to Tacoria. Small place that is on the opposite side of Nassau St, so you need to go through the alley near KBG. The food is OK but it does scratch any mexican cravings you might have.
Local Greek - [Note this is on Leigh Ave which is a 15 min walk/5 min drive] good greek food. Sorta pricey but good for celebrations/birthdays. If you’re really into eating meat I would recommending getting a couple friends and getting the mixed grilled platter - it’s an experience.
Olives - very popular lunch spot, deli vibes. Has a fair share of greek food, sandwiches, etc. decently vegetarian friendly
Planted Plate 🗣️ - a vegan restaurant on witherspoon. I’ve never had this before but my friend Sharon recommended it to me and I think it would make her (and vegans) happy that it’s included here. If someone goes there please let me know what it is like.
Efes - Greek food but close to equad. I like their lunch stuff and good for catering!
Nassau St Seafood Co. 🗣️ - good seafood lunch spot close to equad. I’ve never been here but I know my lab mates like it.
Thai Village/Amazing Thai - two thai restaurants in 2 mins walking distance of each other. Thai village is cheaper, Amazing Thai is sit down and fancier. Both have pretty good lunch specials.
Tiger Noodles - American Chinese food close to equad and is a popular lunch spot. Lunch special is good value.
Tomo Sushi - takeout only sushi/japanese joint. I really like their lunch specials.
Ajiten - fancy place for fancy japanese food.
SC House - legit sichuan chinese food! It’s really good chinese food. Pricier than going to Edison for chinese food but it may be worth the time savings.
Pizza - Pizza Den, Jules Thin Crust, Proof are all on nassau/witherspoon. Out of these three I like Jules the most. GSG happy hour often orders pizza den or Frist pizza.
Conte’s Pizza - ok this is sorta a stretch since you have to walk ~15 mins witherspoon, but this pizza is well worth the trek (or just drive i guess)
Hoagie Haven - a really popular (and formerly late night spot) for sandwiches. They have really interesting specials if you want to eat 2000 calories in one sitting. I definitely recommend trying it out at least once!
DBar - Grad student bar in the basement of grad college. Cheap drinks and very fun if you know friends. There are often parties hosted by campus groups on Fridays and Saturdays. Can be empty during campus breaks and exam weeks.
Ivy Inn - like 2 of the only legit bars near campus. ONLY TAKES CASH! Has really cheap beers and pitchers. There’s a nice outdoor patio. Popular with grads and townies.
Alchemist & Barrister - another popular restaurant/bar where people “go out” for drinks. This is a de facto bar since there are no bars in Princeton. I've never eaten here before.
Winberies - pretty good american eats with good atmosphere. When we have faculty candidates we sometimes will take them here for lunch. I think they have a bar here?
La Mezzaluna - Italian food on Witherspoon. They have a nice area for outdoor dining. Good balance between being fancy and price.
Teresa Caffe - popular joint for casual italian food. Pizzas are good
Mistral - American fine dining with a focus on seafood. The food is actually really good abet sort of pricey (esp cocktails). I recommend going tapas style with appetizers since the entrees are overpriced.
Agricola - American fine dining with good vegetarian options.
The Dinky Bar - fine dining, I would recommend their cocktails over their food.
Ramen and Boba - More of a complaint than a suggestion, but there are like four boba cafes and four ramen restaurants all within 5 mins walking distance, what the hell.
Boba: Kung Fu Tea on Nassau St is a large standard chain, Ficus near Equad (has a food menu and pretty popular for lunch) is nice and boujee, Junbi on Witherspoon St (smaller chain) is more matcha but also has boba, an MTea on Nassau St (20 feet away from Kung Fu Tea lol), and Fresh O Tea near equad (they also have food). I like Junbi best
Ramen/noodles - Purinsu Ramen, Lan Ramen (this place is actually chinese beef noodles and other Chinese food, not japanese ramen), Ajiten, Ani Ramen, Noodle House (this is the same location as kung fu tea, they have Pho too). I personally like Lan Ramen.
Small World Coffee/Sakrid/Rojo - 3 coffee places near campus. I personally like small world best since they are closest to equad.
Princeton Coffee Club - student run cafe in the bottom of campus club (eating club on the corner of Prospect and Washington. It’s open to everyone!) and NCW/Yeh. I think they have the cheapest coffee
Murray-Dodge Cafe - on campus in the basement of Murray-Dodge and they have free coffee, tea, and cookies. It's a popular spot for undergrads to study.
Chez Alice - very cute french cafe with fancy deserts. Their cakes are tasty and good for birthdays/celebrations.
Bent Spoon - great ice cream with interesting rotating flavors - may have a long line during the summer. One of the reasons i committed to Princeton is Bent Spoon
Halo Pub - also great ice cream! More traditional flavors and usually a shorter line that bent spoon. If there’s a long line at bent spoon you can walk 2 min to halo pub instead
Thomas Sweets - I’ve actually never had thomas sweets ice cream before, but they make a great ice cream cake. For ice cream make sure you go to their Nassau St location, not the one in Palmer Sq (Palmer Sq only has chocolates)
House of Cupcakes - nice cup cakes! Sorta pricey! That’s Princeton!
Mostly chinese food lol. List is sort of organized from closest to farthest distance from Princeton campus.
Terakawa Ramen (Princeton Junction, near the dinky) - I know i just complained about how there are too many ramen restaurants in Princeton, but this is hands down the best ramen in princeton. It’s a short drive away and it’s well worth the trip.
bb.q Chicken - korean fried chicken restaurant.
Mango Mango - neat chain desert place that serves cakes, teas, boba/smoothie/sweet drinks.
Tous Les Jours - chain cafe with deserts
Bagel Nook 🗣️ - Really close in the Princeton shopping center. They have interesting overload bagel flavors
Nomad Pizza - even more pizza, it’s in Princeton shopping center but i think they do their pizza pretty well. Good for large parties.
Cross Culture - Indian food in Princeton shopping center. I actually never have been here but they often cater campus events. The food i had on campus was pretty good!
A2B Indian Veg Restaurant - Princeton - Some of the best south Indian food that's close to campus. There is also an Edison location.
Masa Sushi (Nassau Park) - Close to campus and has all you can eat sushi. You can individually order sashimi (doesn’t come with the rice) which is nice for AYCE since you can fill up directly on raw fish without the rice
Sumi Ramen (Plainsboro) - it’s pretty good ramen! But why would you go here when there’s like, 4 other ramen restaurants in near campus. It’s in the asian food mart’s shopping center
Pho Today (Plainsboro) - standard pho restaurant
Lotus Garden (Plainsboro) 🗣️ - Same shopping center as asian food market and Sumi Ramen. A good mix of traditional Taiwanese food and chinese american classics. Recommended by lab mates.
Palace of Asia - I am no expert on Indian food (i think all the places taste pretty good), but i’ve been told this is generally one of the best around. ~5-10 mins drive from campus.
Liyishou Hotpot 🗣️ - If you like hotpot this is the closest one to campus, 5-10 min drive down Route 1. A la carte ordering.
Rocky Hill Inn - I am not a big burger person, but I had a burger from here before and it didn’t disappoint and they have many different kinds of specialty burgers. My lab mates really like this place.
Hot Wok Cafe 🗣️ - I asked my Chinese lab mate from south China what his favorite authentic chinese restaurant within 10 min driving distance was and this was his recommendation.
Buen Provecho (Hamilton) - 20 min drive for puerto rican food. I would recommend making a reservation. They have this special (i dont think its’ on the menu so you have to ask for it) but it’s a whole red snapper stuff with steak. It’s amazing. Go have it and go into a food coma. As of 2023, Buen Provecho has closed :( If someone knows where to find great Puerto Rican food please let me know
Tasty Moment (Edison) - really good authentic chinese food. I think it’s sorta expensive but the food is really good and it’s a nice atmosphere. It’s a really popular spot (idk if they take reservations), so when you’re waiting for you table you can go to hmart, get boba, or tasty bread from paris baguette
Dun Huang (Edison) - next to Tasty Moment, specializing in Lanzhou/Northwestern Chinese cuisine. Good place for lamb dishes (would recommend lamb skewers and lamb soup/paomo (羊肉泡馍))
Meng Gao Yang BBQ (Edison) - really fun place for skewers that you cook yourself. You can also call ahead and they can grill a whole lamb leg for you (this is pricey but cool)
Wonder Seafood Restaurant (Edison) 🗣️ - I asked my friend if they had recommendations for push cart dim sum and they said this place has it. I think they should still have push carts?
Moghul Express (Edison / Oak Tree Road) - Delicious Indian food for good prices. This is the cheaper version of Moghul Restaurant which is more fine dining.
Fall 2024 Update - Restaurant turnover is really high in NYC, so no guarantees if any of these are still operating.
It’s a princeton rite of passage to go to nyc for a day trip. Unless you have a bunch of friends in nyc, once you’ve seen all the large landmarks nyc isnt that fun. Well if you’re there might as well have some good food. Most of these foods are Asian btw (Vaguely sorted by distance from Penn Station)
KTown is a great for Korean food and is really close to Penn Station. Some of the places I’ve been to are highlighted below
Grace Street (KTown) - classic spot for fancy desserts. Would recommend their cheesecake, shaved ice, and boba toast.
Pocha (KTown, various locations) - Pocha is a Korean style pub/bar/restaurant with various locations around KTown. Good for decently priced beer and Soju and they also have good Korean food. Lines might be long on a weekend so plan accordingly.
Gopchang Story (KTown) - sort of got instagram/tiktok famous since they specialized in intestine KBBQ. Worth trying it out if you think you’ll like it since it’s decently unique.
Izakaya MEW NYC (Midtown) - well priced Japanese food, esp their lunch menu
Artichoke Basille's Pizza (chain with many locations in manhattan, closest one to Penn Station is near Time Square (37th and Broadway)) 🗣️ - pizza chain that my friends quite like, ~$7 a slice. The slices are pretty rich and heavy, esp their namesake aritchoke pizza.
$1 Pizza (most places in NYC, esp on the south side) - There are many places with $1 pizza and although it’s not worth your time to go out of your way for it, I want to mention it since I think it’s really cool. Popular to quick eats and late nights but some are open during the day.
Liberty Bagels (midtown) - good bagel sandwiches close to penn station. It's crazy how expensive bagels can get though
Other Half Brewing Company (there’s a taproom in Midtown at Rockefeller Center, but their main locations which have outdoor seating/better vibes are in Domino Park and Brooklyn) - According to my beer drinking friends, this is one of their favorite breweries in NYC. Brews lean towards IPAs and higher ABV.
Olio e Piu (Greenwich Village) - Italian food (good for pasta and pizzas) with a really nice aesthetic, esp their outdoor dining area (if it’s still up, was up in 2021)
Sotto 13 (Greenwich Village) - they have this “social brunch” on the weekends that’s really good for a group (make a reservation). It’s $40 per person (before tax and tip) and you get to choose starters, mains, sides, and cocktails that the group shares.
Blind Tiger (West Village) 🗣️ - if you’re into drinking beers, this is a great place for a variety of microbreweries on tap.
Most of Chinatown (Manhattan) has great cheap eats! Below are a few places friends have recommended to me. bringing cash. Flushing has even more and better Chinese food but it's sort of far.
Chai Spot (Chinatown) - cool cafe with overpriced teas, but they have a very cool drinking area with lots of cushions where you can sit or lie down. Good place to chill out for a bit if you’re tired or want to do work (fast wifi)
Shu Jiao Fu Zhou (Chinatown) 🗣️ - great no-nonsense eatery for hand made dumplings and noodle soups
Wah Fung Fast Food (Chinatown) 🗣️ - delicious and cheap roast pork/chicken, veggies, and rice, i think for $8. Expect a short but well worth wait
Bánh Mì Cô Út (Chinatown) - one of my favorite banh mi places
Mei Lai Wah - internet famous bakery known for their pineapple roast pork buns.
Shuka (SoHo??) - brunch spot for mediterranean food, well priced (~$30 with tax and tip included), decently veg friendly, sorta vegan friendly??
Ample Hills Creamery (chain with many locations in Brooklyn, but have shops in Chelsea and Lower East Side) - If you havent gotten enough ice cream at Princeton, this is a solid place for scoops.
Casa Enrique (Long Island City) - Michelin star Mexian restaurant on the relatively cheap side (like $40-50 per person tax and tip included). However you have to make a reservation early in advance or go on a weekday.
Dutch Kills (LIC) - Famous cocktail bar known for their clear ice.
Meadowsweet (Williamsburg/Brooklyn) - Michelin star new american restaurant. Less than $30 brunch w tax and tip included, and $50 dinner with tax and tip included if you dont get drinks. Their mains are ok - if you’re going with friends I would recommend sharing a bunch of appetizers (their appetizers are great).
The Dead Rabbit (fidi) 🗣️ - apparently the best bar ever
Chez Ma Tante (Greenpoint) - delicious fancy french food but really expensive