Restaurants in Hopewell

Jim O’Toole, the son of Irish parents who immigrated to the United States in 1920, realized a lifelong dream when he opened O’Toole’s Restaurant and Pub in 1966. When Jim passed away in 1998, his third eldest son, John, took the reins and led the neighborhood institution into the new millennium. Through the years, John has spearheaded several updates: he added a sports bar, a reception room, and a VIP room, all while maintaining his father’s original vision. That extra space comes in handy, especially on St. Patrick’s Day, when the pub celebrates with kilt-wearing bagpipe musicians.

Ethiopian dining is a communal affair, involving a group of kin or friends ripping, scooping, and savoring the spicy sharable portions eaten directly off of fingertips. Guests line their hands with torn-off portions of spongy injera, Ethiopia’s signature sourdough flatbread, then hand deliver the tingling zing of Ethiopian berbere or fresh sprigs of rosemary that adorn a choice of traditional meats. The ethnic cuisine easily accommodates vegetarians, with plates packing spiced red lentils, yellow split peas with garlic, and cabbage in a mild sauce. Exotic music fills the dining room during lunch and dinner hours, with regular entertainment ensuring guests are loosened up for trips to the full bar or limbo competitions under a neighbor’s table.

Windowpanes stretch from the floors to the 20-foot ceilings at Bistro 27, flooding the spacious dining room's wood floors and white tablecloths with natural light throughout the day. This sense of refined comfort extends to Brazilian-born chef Carlos Silva's menu of French- and Italian-inspired cuisine, which draws from the passion he developed while studying classical European cuisine in culinary school.

After immigrating to America in 1993, Silva honed his techniques by manning the stovetops in a French café, an Italian eatery, and an Easy-Bake Oven focus group, polishing the skills he would eventually use to develop his menu at Bistro 27. In addition to house-made pastas, the kitchen also fills diners' plates with high-end proteins such as Wagyu Kobe-style beef, cage-free chicken, and Scottish salmon.

Cooks at The Jerk Pit season chicken, shrimp, pork, and even vegetarian tempeh with Jamaican jerk spices, crafting traditional dishes suitable for a variety of diets. Inside the kitchen, aromas of slow-cooking meats waft through the air as chefs prep classics such as oxtail and curried goat. For lighter fare, they’ll crown mild curried-chicken salad with mango chutney for a dish that combines sweet and savory, like Shirley Temple’s daily bath in Worcestershire sauce.

The cooks at Bandito's Burrito Lounge, which is situated inside a converted garage in the Museum district, add their own Californian touches to the restaurant's menu of Mexican staples. In the dining room, guests can feast on fish tacos, sizzling fajitas, and more than a dozen specialty burritos. Diners can belt out classics onstage on karaoke nights, or kick back and listen to original bands, whose songs are heard on Sunday evenings and in the dreams you have about wakeboarding later that night.

Poe’s Pub’s exterior takes on the unassuming air of a country house with its white-washed brick and steep, green-gray roof. Inside, wooden booths and walls littered with photos duly conjure up a vibe of something welcoming and familiar, unlike Windex in a briefcase. The restaurant’s bar tempts thirsty throats with Irish libations, from Guinness to Tullamore Dew. Friday fish fries can make for a pleasant precursor to games of darts, and a calendar of live performances enlivens Poe’s with the sounds of local musicians. As a further enticement, Poe’s also has Sunday brunches on an outdoor patio, unless someone puts four walls and a roof over it.