Restaurants in Manville

The chefs of Darna Falafel, set on bustling Court Street, whip up freshly fried falafel spheres and crisp strips of turkey bacon to snuggle within the soft pitas and ciabatta bread of its Mediterranean sandwiches. Each dish is freshly made to order, and six salads boast drizzles of tart lemon and other dressings to help customers to attain their daily intake of vegetables and increase their daily output of healthful bragging rights. A side salad accompanies each of the menu's seven pita-wrapped sandwiches, including the popular chicken BLT and the french fry–stuffed kifta wrap.

Behind a counter of steaming vegetables and homespun side dishes, Bed-Stuy Fish Fry's cooks grill and deep-fry a menu of pan-regional comfort foods to order. Equally adept at battering catfish and roasting pans of meatloaf, the cooks weight down plates with a host of blackened, barbecued, and broiled meats that parade around palates with Southern-style sides, including collard greens and potato salad. The sounds of sizzling fish mix in with spirited conversation as guests settle into the dining room, surrounded by sage-green walls made homey by white molding and framed mirrors. Additionally, a handful of outdoor tables nestles beneath the restaurant's brown awning, where guests dine alfresco or taunt the sun with their ability to eat things.

Ornate paper flags and glimmering stars are suspended from Fiesta Ole Mexican Restaurant’s colorful, tiled walls, accenting plates of authentic Mexican dishes that appear from the cocina. Chefs crease tortillas into tacos, fajitas, burritos, and enchiladas while sautéing a variety of meat, seafood, and vegetarian specialties. Bartenders pour cups full of Mexican beers and cocktails as dinner conversations blossom at tables and booths in the cheerful dining room. The restaurant hosts regular salsa nights, offering diners a reprieve from trying to dance with strangers’ great danes at the dog park.

The very first International House of Pancakes opened its doors in Toluca Lake, California back in 1958 with the noble aspiration of serving hot breakfast to a hungry nation nearly two decades before colloquially shortening their name to IHOP. Now, more than 1,000 franchises populate all the country's states and territories, whipping up lunch and dinner alongside signature breakfast dishes such as the Rooty Tooty Fresh N' Fruity, a pancake stack topped with a hot fruit compote that spells out seven more words that rhyme with "fruity."

Behind Brownstone Lounge's doors, exposed brick, neon lights, and thumping beats underscore patrons' bubbly conversations over plates of tapas-style fare and ice-cold drinks served straight from a chilled drink dome. On comfy couches scattered throughout the restaurant, diners nosh on small plates ranging in style from Latin or French fusion such as mango fish tacos with chipotle sauce and sautéed mussels in white whine sauce, to comforting pub grub such as buffalo chicken wings and mac 'n' cheese wedges. Beer, wine, sangria, and cocktails complement meals, and all of the lounge's vodka flows straight from a drink dome chilled to negative 32 degrees, the precise temperature of a broken heart. The space is also decked out with jukeboxes, allowing guests to express musical preferences without climbing onto the bar and belting out their favorite showtunes.

When George Garrity opened Pour George in July of 2011, he sought the culinary services of chef Will Rogan. Mr. Rogan honed his palate and ignited his interest in cuisine in earliest childhood, when family travels took him from the West Coast to the Middle East, up through Europe, and finally into the American Midwest. During an extended sojourn in London at the age of 13, he first witnessed the showmanship of cooking at a street-side crêpe stand, which kindled his future interest in food service and his compulsion to fill the pockets of passersby with lingonberry compote.

Together, Mr. Garrity and Mr. Rogan craft a menu rich with seasonal, locally raised foods, transformed into New American–style cuisine. They complement dishes of oyster, rabbit, or chicken with a varied collection of craft beers, wines, and more than 50 whiskeys. A working stone fireplace crackles warmly beneath its earthy arch, heating the nearby leather-clad booths. Though they installed brand-new seating, the owners took pains to preserve the most intriguing original materials in the space, such as the exposed-brick walls and reclaimed wooden beams into which Vasco da Gama once planted his flag. Flat-screen TVs hover over the heads of the nightly assembly, which gathers to watch as eight DirecTV cable boxes stream an octet of sports events.