Restaurants in Maplewood

Though their careers are rooted in the comfort food of classic diners, according to NorthJersey.com, Main Street Grille and Tavern's owners wanted to recast the dishes they knew so well in friendlier, homier environs. That's why they opened the tavern, where chocolate-colored booths welcome diners to cluster around wood tables and savor grilled steaks and burgers, pasta drizzled with alfredo sauce, and customizable pizzas. Away from the dining room, the bar's flat screens flicker with the current sports game or election arm-wrestling match, and on some evenings, the music from local bands permeates the air.

El Conuco is named for an indigenous term that refers to the locus of the Dominican Republic's planting and harvest. The restaurant's chefs live up to the name's bountiful connotation and specialize in both seafood and steak, which they prepare seven different ways. Bowls of paella overflow with shellfish and sausage, and lobster or shrimp come augmented with creole and garlic sauces. The kitchen also serves mofongos, fried green plantains that are sculpted into a tower and filled with shrimp, spanish sausage, or fried cheese. On weekend nights, live music fills the air as diners tuck into their meals.

When Karen Harrison of New Jersey Monthly visited Bourbon BBQ & Catering, she left with a new admiration for the house “meltingly tender chopped beef brisket” and “two-fisted St. Louis ribs,” promising readers that they’ll “be glad our evolutionary ancestors came down from trees, tamed fire, and started roasting fleshy beasts.”

Harrison’s admiration is well placed. The kitchen clearly knows barbecue. The staff smokes beef brisket in an all-hickory smoker for ten hours before tossing it into the slow-cooker for another six. They use fresh chickens delivered from a nearby farm for his bourbon chipotle wings, buffalo chicken wraps, and southern fried chicken. According to the Memphis tradition, the kitchen also rubs pork spare-ribs with spices before carefully smoking and steaming them until they’re fork-tender. Bourbon BBQ offers a host of options for enjoying the decadent food, from stopping in for lunch or dinner to ordering meats and sides by the pound for catered events.