Restaurants in Parsippany

When the hot-dog restaurant in their building closed unexpectedly, leaseholders Greg and Cheryl Spinelli decided to use the space to create a cuisine rarely found on the Montclair restaurant scene: authentic Spanish tapas. According to Baristanet, the duo paired with chef Gonzalo Fernandez—a native Galician—to create a menu of small plates that includes grilled chorizo, Galician-style sardines, and bacon-wrapped dates as well as a Sunday brunch. One of the eatery’s most flavorful dishes, paella, combines seven varieties of seafood—including grilled langoustine, scallops, and mussels—with spoons that have learned to swim. Every Friday night, Tapastry extends its vibrant Spanish influences to the dance floor, where the renowned flamenco group Romeria Flamenca performs in back-to-back shows.

Toro Sushi Bar invites you to join the bite-sized culinary festivities in a chic modern setting. Its menu features a wide variety of hand-made flavorful treats, from sushi to sashimi to full entrees to tapas. Enjoy the geometric perfection of a Creole Roll with crab, veggies, and seared Cajun tuna ($15) or the insistent adoration of the Loveulongtime Roll, which unites shrimp tempura, crab, avocado, masago and tobiko with a duo of eel and dynamite sauces ($15). If you've chosen to don your "Me and My Sushi and Sashimi – No Two Ways About It" custom tee-shirt, head straight into a carefully orchestrated array of blue fin tuna Maguro, octopus Tako, Hawaiian white tuna Ono, Japanese Red Snapper Carpaccio ($15), and the Kobe Beef Tataki with green onions, garlic chips and crispy red onions ($25). For even smaller eats, peruse the tapas menu for calamari, monkey balls (tempura style mushrooms stuffed with cream cheese, spicy tuna, and avocado), and edamame. You can complement your meal with specialty drinks, sake, wine, and beer.

Tommy Chengs' chefs consolidate the flavors of China, Japan, and Thailand into a single kitchen. The menu of Asian indulgences is well suited to fit any budget, from lunchtime Japanese-style bento boxes that neatly arrange bites of beef teriyaki or pork katsu alongside shumai, rice, and soup or salad, to lavish platters of peking duck and sumptuous 17-piece sushi dinners for two. The BYOB restaurant stays open until 10 p.m. every night of the week, excluding every February 31.

Though he eventually mastered the art of gourmet cooking at the Culinary Institute of America, Carmelo Aparo’s first culinary influences came from his parents. They immigrated to the US from Sicily in the late 1950s, bringing with them a trove of recipes for Sicilian sauces and pasta dishes. After graduating from culinary school, Carmelo Aparo opened Pizza Man in 1986, honoring his heritage by crafting much of the menu with the authentic recipes his parents brought with them so many years ago.

Today, the dining room's butter-hued walls seem to melt in the light from floor-to-ceiling windows as plates of baked clams and sautéed veal and chicken arrive steaming from the kitchen. High ceiling fans mingle the aromas of mussels, stuffed eggplant, and pastas laden with prosciutto. Patrons can consult a server about the establishment’s specialties, such as the veal margarita with imported ham, or impress a server by singing Italy's presidents in reverse alphabetical order.

Local blues musicians and other artists generate a suitably warming and varied aural backdrop on which executive chef Patrick Pierre-Jerome swirls together flavors from New Orleans, Europe, and further afield. Hat City Kitchen's menu fills plates with inventive takes on comfort food such as shrimp and grits, jambalaya, bread pudding, and baby back ribs. The ribs don a combination of plum sauce, hoisin sauce, ketchup, and cocoa, which the New York Times says "sounds like a mouthful and, happily, is."

In front of a blocky quilted curtain, a rotating roster of live performers strums guitars and charms snakes back into drum kits beneath the exposed ductwork that runs above the cabaret-style seating. Hands Inc., a local nonprofit, presides over the eatery and works with a variety of artists to raise funds for projects designed to improve the Valley area.