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The Bergen Record
Fort Lee Restaurant Week 2024: A culinary trip around the globe at a discount
By Matt Cortina, NorthJersey.com,
6 hours ago
Visit Fort Lee with an empty stomach.
On almost any block, you’ll be tempted by a diverse array of culinary options: from traditional Italian to Cajun seafood, ramen bars to Szechuan cooking, and Korean spots that folks go specifically for soups, katsu, kimbap, dumplings or barbecue.
Not to mention all the spots that fuse the diverse cuisines of this city beside the George Washington Bridge.
Indeed, in its roughly half-square-mile downtown, Fort Lee provides a mouth-watering diversity of cuisine. A good way to try a lot of it is during the seventh edition of Fort Lee Restaurant Week , which runs Sept. 16 to 29, where more than 40 restaurants will offer specials, discounts, prix fixe meals and other deals.
The deals vary, so check details with individual restaurants.
In concert with Restaurant Week is a special showing of two food-centric films at the Barrymore Film Center in Fort Lee: "Big Night" on Sept. 20 and "Ratatouille" on Sept. 27. For dinner and a show, just bring a receipt from your meal at any participating restaurants to the Barrymore and you’ll get tickets to either showing for just $9.
A diverse city ready for a renaissance
Fort Lee has such diverse cuisine available because the city has welcomed a diverse and evolving population, says Denis Glennon, vice president of the Fort Lee Business District Alliance, which organizes Restaurant Week. In its history, it’s had large Italian, German, Irish, Jewish, Japanese and Korean populations, and their presence has helped Fort Lee weave a unique cultural fabric.
Fort Lee has also enjoyed the spotlight in its history. In the early 20th century, it was the motion picture capital of the world as more than a dozen early film companies were either located in the city or shooting films in Fort Lee.
In the 1960s and ‘70s, Glennon says, professional athletes, musicians and artists moved to Fort Lee, creating “an aura” that it was the place to be. “I always kind of looked upon it as the beacon on the hill,” recalls Glennon, who grew up in Dumont but moved to Fort Lee 30 years ago.
Flash forward to the turn of the century, and the luster had vanished a bit. Two main lots in the center of town sat vacant. “You couldn’t be attracting people to town based on the way it looked," Glennon says. "It couldn’t have been worse.”
So Fort Lee administrators and the BDA set about revitalizing the town — those two vacant lots are now new high rises, there are several small parks downtown and the Barrymore Film Center opened in 2022.
“One of the questions we ask [restaurant owners] is, why did you choose Fort Lee?” Glennon says. “The responses are not only consistent but they’re overwhelmingly positive. They do see it as growing, they do see it as diverse, they do see it as upper income.
"They do see it as progressive, and they see it as a place where things are going on and where things will be going on and they want to be at the center of it,” Glennon says.
There are also unique restaurant concepts in Fort Lee, such as 9 Degree Golf Bar and Restaurant, which marries golf simulator rooms with high-end cocktails and Korean-tinged, elevated pub grub. Think Top Golf, but with better food and a whiskey selection unrivaled in the area.
“We make sure to have knowledge of Scotch and single malt whisky,” says bar manager Hyun Kim. “I’ve noticed the customers like that when they come in. It’s the best cocktails they can get around here.”
Some of our favorite Fort Lee restaurants
The only real recommendation we’ll give you is to listen to your gut when you’re in Fort Lee. If a place is calling out to you, give it a try; it'll probably be pretty good. But if you want more guidance?
The Korean BBQ at Dongbang Grill is hard to beat: get a plate of bulgogi (marinated ribeye steak) or golbi tang (beef short rib soup with radishes and scallions). At Gayeon , start with inventive cocktails and then dive into a bowl of Mool Naeng Myun (cold buckwheat noodle soup) or bibimbap with bulgogi, octopus or mixed seafood.
For a quick Japanese bite, head to Katsune Donkatsu for magnificently crispy chicken, pork or shrimp katsu, or level up with cheese katsu topped with sweet potato mousse. For Japanese-Korean fusion, Fresh Bites Dosirak has salads, sushi, soups, noodles, vegetarian dishes, Korean lunch boxes and fresh-made kimbap.
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It’d be a shame to miss out on Dumpling Den ’s “Shanghainese” food, which skews a bit different from more the Szechuan or Cantonese Chinese spots in the U.S. Try the soup dumplings — crab and pork is hard to beat.
And that’s just cuisine from one continent available in Fort Lee. Head to In Napoli for seafood, steaks and comforting pasta dishes (and don’t miss the irresistible garlic bread). At It’s Greek to Me , you’ll find fried zucchini croquettes, grilled octopus, sesame-crusted feta, shrimp saganaki and more.
There’s clean-eating (though no less delicious) organic breakfast, sandwiches, burgers and more at Füdgarten . And for a sweet treat, you'll want the macaron gelato sandwiches from Jun's Macaron Gelato .
So yes, go hungry.
Fort Lee Restaurant Week 2024 Participants
9 Degrees Golf Bar and Restaurant. 1642 Schlosser St. 2nd Floor, Fort Lee; 201-585-0080, 9degreegolf.com
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