The Hidden Gems of Paterson, New Jersey

With a population of over 150,000, Paterson, New Jersey lies almost 20 miles northwest of Midtown Manhattan. It straddles the meandering Passaic River, tumbling over a picturesque waterfall in the center of town. Paterson has been commemorated by a Williams Carlos Williams poem, and a film by Jim Jarmusch, but its lure for a friend and me was the food of South Paterson’s Arab American community — their numbers haven’t been counted, but among them are tens of thousands of Syrians, Lebanese, Iraqis, Palestinians, Jordanians, and Egyptians, operating dozens of restaurants, grocery stores, and bakeries.

After a 45-minute drive, we arrived in South Paterson just off a rail yard in a stretch of warehouses, factories, and sanitation depots. In the middle sat Al-Mazaq Bakery and Restaurant (46 E. Railway Avenue, near Kentucky Avenue) in a cinderblock building advertising “special Iraqi bread” on its façade. Inside was cozy, with a half dozen neatly arranged tables, and photos of Baghdad circa 1957.

The menu was mainly kebabs and all-day breakfasts: We chose makhlama ($12), eggs finely scrambled with ground lamb, tomato, and onions, seeping a bit of sunflower oil. It was served with two breads, one round, the other diamond shaped, and a bowl of mixed pickles with copious brine, into which we dipped the warm bread again and again. We also ordered an Iraqi kebab ($19), which featured four smoky ground-lamb kebabs wrapped in a pita with grilled tomatoes and onions. We washed it down with a minted drink called smoked yogurt ($6), possibly for its foamy white appearance.

Through a maze of one-ways, we approached Main Street, the business district of South Paterson. Five blocks of Main Street has recently been renamed Palestine Way by Paterson’s mayor, Andre Sayegh. There were colorful neon signs in English and Arabic, and wonderful smells of grilling meat.

Photo by: Ken Welsh/Design Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

The city of Paterson was founded by Alexander Hamilton in 1792, and the first Syrians arrived in the early 19th century to work in the textile mills along the river. By 1900, over 30 mills were owned by Syrians, and other Middle Easterners soon followed. Many Palestinians and Jordanians arrived following the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

One of the most famous restaurants in Paterson is the Palestinian Al-Basha, founded in 1998 by an immigrant from Ramallah, and recently reviewed in the New Yorker. We visited instead its sleek fast-casual branch, Al-Basha Quick Serve (1076 Main Street, corner of Buffalo Avenue); a long counter diagonally bisects the room, which is outfitted with touch-screens for ordering.

We sat in the austere adjoining dining room and enjoyed cylindrical falafels rolled inside a laffa with french fries, pickled vegetables, and garlic aioli; hummus dotted with fava beans, irrigated with fruity olive oil; flute-shaped cheese bureks; and a glass of minty frozen lemonade. Total cost: $33.

We also made a quick stop at another Palestinian standout, the pastry shop Nablus Sweets, which is a block to the northeast at 1050 Main Street, at Dey Street. The place was hopping midafternoon, with all the tables along the picture windows occupied with chatting patrons. It ended in a station where the shop displays its signature pastry called kanafeh, filled with Nabulsi cheese. We bought a wedge along with other custard- and nut-stuffed pastries to take home, hoping to save room for at least one more meal.

That meal was as exciting as the the earlier stops: Mansaf Baladna (939 Main Street, corner of Thomas Street) that features mansaf, a popular dish of lamb cooked in a yogurt sauce dribbled over rice. Here, the dish is strewn with toasted almonds, and furnished with a bowl of the yogurt reconstituted into a soup for dipping or drizzling, along with a separate plate of green onions, cracked green olives, and fresh jalapenos. Layered with plenty of lamb, it was a feast.

We went back to the car toting leftovers, and delighted with our afternoon in Paterson. Not only had the food been consistently great and inexpensive, but the restaurants themselves had been very relaxing and old-fashioned, with no aggressive upselling, no overcrowding, no garish decor, no time limits, and the feeling that we were truly welcome.