Eat Local in Jersey City! Check Out These Restaurants Showing World Cup Matches

Photo courtesy of La Bodega, Olaide’s Kitchen and Sabor a Perú.

It’s been a month full of World Cup action with locals and tourists enjoying soccer activations, World Cup watch parties and local eats.

In Jersey City, there’s a sprinkle of different cultural dishes and tunes from the Heights down to Greenville and across Downtown to the West Side or Bergen-Lafayette. With an estimated 1 million visitors that were expected to come to the area, Jersey City Restaurant Owners Coalition worked to bring visibility to the food scene in Jersey City with the Jersey City Restaurant Fest Taste The World JC initiative. 

Over 100 restaurants participated from over 25 countries like Capoeira, Namaste Momo Cottage, La Bodega Latin Cuisine and more. The five-week initiative gained over 31,000 interactions and reached over 100,000 accounts, which helped create exposure to the Jersey City dining scene. 

“From a digital standpoint it’s been great,” Melanie Rudin, founder of Jersey City Restaurant Owners Coalition, told Slice of Culture. “It was kind of hard to sustain the energy that we normally do in two weeks. I’m walking around. I’m seeing the JC Restaurant Fest signs. I’m hearing people say it really just helps to have you pushing out content and obviously people are looking and they’re dining in Jersey City.”

How The World Cup Really Impacted Jersey City Businesses

Although Taste The World JC brought attention to Jersey City, not everyone felt the foot traffic they had anticipated or hoped for.

“Good things happen[ed] for the restaurants this year despite all the nonsense around the cup,” said Rudin.

“I don’t think that the World Cup was the event that we were anticipating for local business.”

Cosy Cup Library on West Side Avenue, usually sees lots of visitors, both locals and tourists, come in and out of the cafe, but during this World Cup period, they noticed it slowed down. Instead of helping local businesses, Jess, the owner of Cosy Cup told Slice of Culture, she felt like the World Cup took away business.

“Even though [the World Cup] is so big, [customer traffic] is not like trickling anywhere,” Jess told Slice of Culture.

“It seemed like the World Cup took a little bit of business away just because even a [train ticket] is almost 100 bucks if you want to go see [World Cup matches]…. So it’s like, people are spending a lot more money just to go see the game, but that it’s not providing anything around the game area itself.”

Even though Rudin knew it wasn’t going to be easy to bring traffic to Jersey City, she knew any little push could make a difference and get people exploring the cultural food scene here. 

“Supporting local isn’t a two-week or even a five-week thing. We have to really take the time to look around, spread it around, tell other people what you experience, write good Google reviews, tip nicely…. [and] don’t use the apps [like Uber Eats or Door Dash],” she said. 

Taste The World JC ended on July 14, but there is still plenty of time to experience what eateries have to offer in Jersey City. Here are restaurants and businesses showing matches, plus local cafes to connect with the community.

Restaurants Showing Matches 

Olaide’s Kitchen – Jersey City 

Olaide’s Kitchen, who participated in the Taste The World, still has an offer active until Saturday. They are serving up a World Soccer Lunch Special for $19.99 until Saturday from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. that contains:

• Your Rice Base: Choose between jollof ice, fried rice or a combo rice mix (+$2)
• Your Protein: Pair it with spiced Beef Suya, Chicken Suya or crispy Chicken Wings (exclusive to the Jersey City location)

Olaide’s Kitchen serves up West African Cuisine by Chef Olaide, who’s inspired by her Nigerian heritage, which can be seen in their jollof rice, acheke with tilapia and Ewa Aganyin with dodo (fried plantain).

Location: 516 Paterson Plank RD, Jersey City 

WurstBar JC  

WurstBar JC in downtown serves sausages, hotdog sandwiches, poutine and burgers, which they were voted “Best Burger in Jersey City” for. At the bar, you’ll find craft beer, cocktails, ciders and more! 

Location: 516 Jersey Avenue, Jersey City 

Sabor a Peru serves authentic Peruvian food like lomo saltado, arroz chaufa and mixed seafood Peruvian paella.

Location: 280 Central Avenue, Jersey City 

Departed Soles Brewing Co. 

Departed Soles in downtown Jersey City is the city’s first modern brewery and tasting room serving up plenty of gluten free and non-gluten free beer options. This spot doesn’t serve food, but it is dog friendly.  

Location: 150 Bay Street #2, Jersey City

Cafes to Check Out

KoCafe is a West-African inspired space serving up food like jollof platter, Nigerian meatpie, and peri croissandwhich which is made with turkey, pepperjack cheese, roasted bell peppers with a dab of South Aftican Nando’s Peri sauce. The cafe also offers many coffee and specialty drinks like Caribbean latte with coconut and cinnamon and Kọ Tea, which is made with hibiscus, vanilla, cheery and rooibos.

Location: 722 Grand Street, Jersey City 

Cosy Cup is a Korean-Chinese-owned work and study cafe serving up coffee and creative drinks like violet calamansi, sunrise sago and iced black sesame cold foam latte. They also frequently host community events and pop-ups.

Location: 424 West Side Avenue, Jersey City 

Crema JC 

Crema, which resides in the McGinley Square area serves specialty coffee, pastries and food items like a BLT toast, curried chicken toast and acai bowls. The cafe is where “art and coffee come together” and where they hosts many community events and offer a space to work and connect.  

Location: 1 Duncan Avenue, Jersey City 

Legal (Coffee Co) 

Legal, formally known as Legal Grounds Coffee Co, serves breakfast and lunch foods like a BEC sandwich and smashburger as well as coffees, smoothies, protein shakes and more. 

The cozy space offers a nice space to sit down and talk with the owners or grab something on the go. 

Location: 170 Grand Street, Jersey City