Places to Dine

Beloved by insiders and visitors alike, Trenton features authentic, diverse, amazing food.

Recommendations

Here are ten (plus one) of our favorite signature tastes of Trenton that you need to try.

• Arepa (Venezuela): a delicious corn meal sandwich roll. At Casdeluna Bar and Restaurant y arepera (800 Chestnut Avenue in the New Chambersburg), they have 14 different fillings-our favorite is the steak arepa. It might be our favorite food anywhere in the world.
• Brisket (Texas): smoked beef. It's rare to find succulent brisket north of the Mason Dixon, but there it is at the 1911 Smoke House Barbeque (11 Front Street downtown). You can locate the Smokehouse by the smell of brisket two blocks away.
• The Comeback (Soul Food): fish filet sandwich in comeback sauce. Ila Mae's Restaurant (313 Market Street in Mill Hill)
• Falafel (Middle East): fried chickpea dish. Try Gyro Express (7 E State Street downtown).
• Mititei (Romania): grilled ground meat rolls made of beef and veal with garlic and thyme. Blue Danube Restaurant - Trenton New Jersey (Elm and Adeline Streets) serves authentic mititei along with other great tastes from eastern Europe.
• Mofongo (Puerto Rico): garlic flavored mashed plantains. Towering like a dormant volcano over your dinner plate, mofungo with chicken or pork is something not to miss. Try it at Tropical Family (778 Centre Street) or Sabor Latino (293 Ashmore Avenue).
• Oxtail (Jamaica): a meat stew. You're in luck-Trenton is rich in oxtail. Try Bamboo Grill Jamaican Restaurant (911 Chambers Street), Restaurant 5oh4 (504 North Clinton Avenue) or The Hummingbird Restaurant (29 South Warren Street downtown). Try all three and report back which is your favorite!
• Pho (Vietnam): a soup featuring rice noodles. Pho Friendly (729 Brunswick Avenue) is Mercer County's only true Vietnamese restaurant, but it would stand out as the best if there were 20.
• Pierogies (Poland): Poland's national dish is stuffed dumplings. At Rozmaryn Restaurant (925 North Olden in the Polish neighborhood), you get your choice of potato and cheese, meat or sauerkraut and mushrooms served with friend onions or sour cream.
• Small-Batch Roasted Coffee: Trenton Coffee House and Records (750 Cass Avenue) uses, according to HiddenTrenton.com, "only the BEST beans that are fresh (harvested less than 15 months previously, and usually fresher."
• Tres Leches Cake (Mexico): Moist three milk cake. You can find it at the Mexican Chencha y Chola (865 S Broad Street) or the Costa Rican La Cabaña Bakeshop and Restaurant (3 Dayton Street).

Try all eleven of these authentic, diverse dishes! Take pictures of you at the restaurant and post them on the Trenton Eat Local Club FaceBook group.

Additional Information

If you want to explore the authentic, diverse Trenton food scene, check out recommendations at Hidden Trenton or join the Trenton Eat Local Club as they eat their way month by month through the Trenton menuscape.