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I *wish* there was a "PJ Harveys" !
;)

Brunch, grab a table at Marco and Pepe's. Lunch, stop in at Sava (old school homestyle Polish food) or 2nd Street Bakery (old school homestyle Italian bakery/deli). Sit in Van Vorst Park and eat lunch, or just hang out (Farmer's Markets are over until spring though). Other fantastic lunch options would be Ibby's (among the best mediterranean/middle eastern food in the entire NYC area) or Taqueria on Grove Street (real, authentic Mexican/Cal-Mex taco shop). For dinner: Lighthorse Tavern and Skinner's Loft are excellent restaurants. If you're a beer geek like myself, Iron Monkey is great (nice rooftop in the summer). For solid, comfortable, chill pubs: Lucky 7, PJ Ryan's, White Star Bar. For a great wine bar: Bar Majestic on Grove Street. For more of a loungy feel: LITM and Porto Lounge. There is also a massive beer garden called Zeppelin Hall. And the Barcade, which is a great spot to hang out.

If you stroll around the neighborhood side streets, you'll get a feel for the neighborhood - almost entirely brownstones and rowhouses.

You will hear different opinions of dixon mills no matter where you ask. However I can speak from personal eperoience, it is the best place to live if you are looking to meet young professionals in their 30-40s
Since moving in I have made alot of friends.
we often get togethor for parties and talk in the streets.

I know for sure that had I moved into an isolated brown stone I woulf never have met so many people in my neighborhood.

and to shut up all the haters and to ensure this thread does not go into a dixon mills bash please start another thread as this is about social issues.

Thanks Ian. We (my finacee and I) are considering Hoboken as well. I like midtown and uptown in Hoboken but it's also a trek to the Path. I honestly want to like JC more since we can get more for the money and because the crowd seems a bit more our speed.

I'm looking at Dixon Mills (apparently a polarizing subject in itself) which seems great for the price. Certainly more than we could get in Hoboken. I like the up and coming vibe in JC and I am just trying to get a sense of where we might meet other people who are/were in similar situations to us. That is, people who are sick of Manhattan prices and would prefer to be somewhere where they can live like human beings on middle class salaries. Proximity to Manhattan is obviously a big draw but we also want to enjoy our neighborhood when we don't feel like getting on the Path.

All I have to say i when I had my family over for the first time we went to Marco Pepes. they have the "best Consistent" food out of any place I have been.

They have a great alcohal selection, however they are not really a bar.

Lighthorse etc, are down in Paulus Hook,
and as nice as that neighborhood is, its not exactly close to the grove stop, sorry guys but its true,
I would never be able to get my wife their in high heels without having to call a cab.

I did forget about Merchant and Bar majestic
oh and another Bar just opened up on Monmouth and Bright st called Brightside. They have great burgers and a nice bar. crowd seems to be growing there.

The south side of Grove street might work for you like Marco and Pepe, The Merchant, The Majestic, but in this case you might actually find the north end of Hoboken more satisfactory. Certainly the south side of Hoboken will be too recent post-college for you, but the north side like Madisons and some other places I can't recall seem more like what you are accustomed to.

IanMac - I was definitely over generalizing. In Manhattan I would typically go out in the East Village. Some place like Marshall Stack, Horseshoe Bar, Manitoba's, Mama's, or Croxleys (to watch a game). In Brooklyn my preference would be Carroll Gardens or South Park Slope. Places like Commonwealth, Buttermilk, Boat. Restaurant-wise I'd be looking for a casual spot, not a greasy spoon but not white table-cloth either. Something unique. You can probably infer the type of place by the bars and neighborhoods mentioned above. Marco and Pepe's, as Rosyln suggested, is one that's been recommended a few times to me.

On a more serious note, some of the places you should check out in addition to Lucky 7's include White Star, The Iron Monkey, The Merchant, Bar Majestic, O'Connell's, and The Light Horse. These are all Jersey City institutions which have been around a while and they all serve food as well. None give off an unwelcoming vibe, IMHO.

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Not to sound like a prick here, but "Brooklyn" has at least a dozen different neighborhoods and Manhattan more than twice that.

Are you looking for like Fort Greene or Park Slope or Prospect Heights or Carroll Gardens or Bushwick or something else entirely?

I kind of have followed the same path as you described.
unfortunatly I have never heard of any of those places, from the previous post, besides newark Chicken.

If i was going to go out, I would do the following.

dinner/ brunch
marco pepes
Butternut something, (across the street from Marco Pepes.)
skinners loft

Drinking
Marco Pepes
skinners loft
barcade
PJ Harveys
Zeppelin Hall
LITM
skinners loft

There is also going to be a great new reaturant called Thirty Acres on wayne and jersey ave. (a lot of people have expectations this will be a great hang out spot for the van vorst neighborhood) I hope they get a liquor liscense.

The places reccommended by others so far, I have to say are a little "local" and arent really a reflection of the newer crowd moving into the neighborhoods.

The Jersey City experience is about having enough space at home so you don't have to go out.

You guys are prompt!

I'll be honest: I'm going to be one of the many Manhattan transplants. I don't expect to be greeted with open arms by the "old guard" of Jersey City but I also am the type who finds the JC waterfront and it's highrises boring and sterile. From reading around it sounds like there are all of the common tensions that are found between newcomers and long time residents in a gentrifying neighborhood. I guess I'm looking for an idea of where other transplants from the city would hang out. I'm familiar with Barcade from the Williamsburg branch which is honestly a bit too young and hip for me (maybe the JC branch has a different vibe?). I've also been told Lucky 7 is a good spot and it sounds like the type of place I'd like. I grew up in blue collar Buffalo and in some ways Jersey City reminds me of the more interesting parts of that city. A plus in my book.

I'd say I'm looking for places that remind me of Brooklyn or Manhattan without the cooler-than-thou attitude. It seems to me that JC has many of the same qualities but without all the pretense. Maybe this isn't the case and I'm just imagining it but that's kind of how it seemed in my brief visits to the area.

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Hey, that's my Tuesday routine.

It sort of depends on what you are looking for as there several distinct vibes / neighborhoods in the downtown. Its unlikely you could really get a good sense of all of these in a single day.

Start the night at Hollywood Chicken on Newark. It's great because it's byob. The best chicken in town.

Afterward, go up the road to Jordans on Newark, hopping any night after 10 for some live music, comedy, or just good drinking.

Then roll on over to Indio's on 1st for some pool and coronas.

Maybe stop at the Barge Inn on Monmouth and 3rd after that for some local flavor.

And by the time you get to Guillos Place on 6th and Coles to blast the jukebox and hit on the ladies, the night will be a blur.

Hi All,
I currently live in Manhattan and am considering a move to downtown JC around Grove St. If I wanted to get a good feel for what the area is like and what the "scene" is like what would you recommend for an itinerary to see if it's for me? On a typical weekend I would normally hang around the East Village or Brooklyn, go to a decent restaurant, find a low key but cool bar, etc.

What would the analogous experience in Jersey City be? I'm sure many like me have made this same move in the past. I've lived in Brooklyn or Manhattan for 8 years and am considering a change of pace. I've visited Jersey City a few times but have never really made an afternoon and night of it and would like to give it a whirl.

Full disclosure: I'm also considering Hoboken. I like the town and the amenities but I'm in my early 30s now and worry about the post college vibe. I still haven't ruled it out, though. I am looking to buy a condo and stick around for a while whereever I decide so all of those real estate and financial decisions come in to play as well.

Thanks for any advice!