7 Casual Restaurants With Over the Top Food

The temperature isn’t the only thing heating up this summer. Between the kids being out of school and family vacations on the horizon, so is your to-do list. To help get your through all the hustle and bustle, why not stop and refuel at one of these delicious casual restaurants?

Ma Mi Eatery

Good things come in small packages. Case in point: this tiny (but terrific!) new Vietnamese café in Closter. Offering a fast-casual environment and an all-day menu of classic and modern noodle bowls, banh mi sandwiches, southeast Asian salads, and more (the fried tofu bao buns are not to be missed), all at fantastically affordable price point ($6.95 to $12.95).

GRK Grill

Forget what you know about those big-city Gyro carts peddling mystery meat over a bed of dry rice and experience the real deal at this newly opened Greek spot in Cresskill. Take a seat inside GRK Grill’s sun-filled dining space complete with inviting leather banquettes and take your pick of authentic Greek favorites, including meat and seafood kebabs, souvlaki, pastitsio, and more. Tons of lunch-perfect salads, wraps, burgers, and sides, too. Or grab the fam and your favorite bottle of white for dinner on their newly minted patio. Opa!

Eons Greek

Chef George Georgiades (formerly of Varka) opened the Manhattan outpost of this Greek-influenced fast-casual dining spot back in 2014, but now realizes it’s just too tasty a concept not to share with those of us across the river. Build-your-own bowls are the name of the game here: Choose your base (pita, rice, or salad), add a protein (chicken, lamb, steak, seafood, or veggie), pick a side salad, and finish with all the extras and toppings you want.

Avo’s Grill

Not gung-ho on Greek food? There’s more Mediterranean dishes in the sea at this Cliffside Park café. With its menu of New American cuisine influenced from the Aegean and the Near East, Avo’s caters to even the most demanding palate, right here on Anderson Avenue.

Farmhouse Café and Eatery

We fell so hard for this country kitchen-style cafe at its original Westwood location that we almost forgot we could get that same down-home hospitality in Creskill, too! Cop a squat and order up an amazing selection of gourmet salads, deluxe burgers, stuffed-to-the-gills sandwiches, sides, and sharing plates, all at more-than-reasonable prices.

Alt EATS

Feeling vegan? You’ll find bushels of fresh, flavorful eats at this newly opened café in Ho-Ho-Kus. Owner Eric Alt (yup, the same guy behind Eric Alt Salon Untitled) snipped—er, snapped—up the space next door and come up with a menu that’s focused exclusively on seasonal and plant-driven entrees, snacks, and desserts.

White Maple Café

Owner and executive chef Ryan Brining—formerly of NYC’s legendary Daniel (FYI, that’s a VERY big deal)—has completely transformed the old Heidi’s Bakery space into a ravishingly rustic-meets-modern restaurant complete with exposed brick, white maple wood beams, mosaic tile floor, and a live plant wall. That being said, ask for an al fresco table outside—if you can get one!