This was Daniel’s idea, so it is only fitting that his review goes first. Keep scrolling to see my review!

Moon’s Review

“Tonight we went to Grant Street Cafe. They are very kid-friendly. The kid menu is big and yummy. It is always decorated for the season. The staff is very nice and knows my name. I ordered the kid’s meatball. The pasta is cooked perfectly. The meatball is epic! The meal was the best! Can it kid? Yes it can!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

**Danny Gave Grant Street Cafe A Perfect Score In All Four Categories**

The Blue Collar Foodie’s Review

For our first joint epicurean adventure, Daniel chose to visit our favorite family-friendly restaurant, Grant Street Cafe, located at 25 Grant Ave. in Dumont, NJ 07628. Full disclosure, we joke all the time that Grant Street Cafe is Daniel’s favorite bar, and to be honest, it is mine too! So, spoiler alert, this place is going to get a rave review from both of us!

Grant Street Cafe is one of those restaurants that screams hometown favorite. The type of place a Blue Collar Foodie like myself yearns to be a regular. The type of eatery that not only fills your belly but also makes your soul smile, while tantalizing your need for nostalgia.

When you first walk into Grant Street Cafe, you will notice there are two paths. This fork-in-the-road is the best choose-your-own-adventure quest I have ever been on. One door will take you into the bar, and the other will lead you into the relaxed atmosphere of the dining room. Whichever way you choose, you will be met with a night of libations fit for a King served with a side of fantastic foodie fare that would make any gastropub fan drool.

Even though the bar and dining room serve the same menu, when we go out as a family, we tend to request the dining room. If you are lucky enough to have a rare night out without the kids, by all means, head to the bar and grab a stool. The friendly and knowledgeable bar staff will take care of you expertly, and you can order off the full menu while doom scrolling until your heart’s content… Or until the babysitter has to go home, whichever comes first.

With that said, if you want a table on either side of the restaurant, you must first check in with the host/hostess. Since we are creatures of habit and have a standing family date night at Grant Street Cafe every Thursday night, we check in with Mike.

Now, Mike is not just an ordinary host. If Mike were a football coach, he would be Bill Belichick! If he were a Baseball Player, he would be Babe Ruth! If he were a Cheese Roller, he would be Chris Anderson! Yes, Cheese Rolling is a thing, and Chris Anderson happens to be the undisputed G.O.A.T.! Go ahead, look it up… I’ll wait. See, I told ya!

The reason why Mike has a harder job than the PR guy at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant is that the greatness of Grant Street Cafe is not a secret. The dining room is always bustling, and the waitlist to get a table on a busy night can get longer than a CVS receipt. However, Mike remains calm and keeps everything moving on! His poise and attention to detail keep Grant Street Cafe humming like a fine-tuned AMC Javelin!

There are three things to keep in mind about waiting at Grant Street Cafe:

The bar is open, and you are thirsty!
You can make a reservation if you are not a procrastinator who is habitually late, like me.
THE WAIT IS WORTH IT!

Once you arrive at your table, there will be three menus to peruse. A standard food menu, the specials menu, and the pièce de résistance, the bar menu! I know that seems overwhelming, but relax, you raised a little human with little to no instruction manual. Some of you did without the Google Machine! That is remarkable. You will be fine.

The beer list at Grant Street is designed and curated to make even the snobbiest of Cicerones salivate. We aren’t talking run-of-the-mill IPAs that you can score at your local chain Ale House. I am speaking about sophisticated, rare, and hoptastic beers that make me audibly gasp when I read them out loud. Not one or two white whales either. There are times that I have been to Grant Street Cafe, when I feel like Meryl Streep in Sophie’s Choice, while choosing the two beers I will drink, and the many more that I may never see again.

After the very important task of beverage selection, the next mission is choosing what amazing food to order. Now, you can order whatever you like. But the first time you go to Grant Street Cafe, if you don’t try the Wings and the Pizza, I am not sure we can still be friends. Yes, you need both! Yes, it’s too much food! No, there will not be leftovers! Man, you ask a lot of questions!

First, let’s talk wings. I have always had an affinity for chicken wings. Before I found the wondrous confines of Grant Street Cafe, I could eat wings anywhere at anytime. That is no longer the case, thanks to the crispy, saucy, insanely-flavorful double-fried wings that are dropped out of heaven and land in Grant Street Cafe’s Fryolator! Now, any other wings that I try might as well be just a sad non-Dinosaur-shaped chicken nugget.

Secondly, the Pizza has been reviewed by Dave Portnoy and received a freakin’ outstanding 8.2! That is right, El Presidente himself walked into Grant Street Cafe and anointed their pie, pizza royalty. For those unfamiliar with Mr. Portnoy and his pizza reviews, scoring an 8.2 is like rocking a 1500 on your SAT with a hangover! It is stupid impressive!

Don’t get it twisted. All the other food on the menu is worth exploring! Kat loves all their soup and frequently tries the specials. I am a huge fan of their Mussels and all their Italian Specialties. Including the Shrimp Parmigiana, and I don’t care if it breaks the Italian tradition of not putting cheese on seafood. Tell your Nona to kick rocks. Shrimp and cheese belong together like Zack Morris and Kelly Kapowski. I will die on both of those hills! However, when I take friends and family to Grant Street Cafe, and I often do, I always recommend the wings and pizza, first and foremost.

I would be remiss if I didn’t discuss the kids’ menu in this review. Grant Street Cafe offers several choices for children, including Spaghetti with a Meatball, Kids Cheese Ravioli, Kids Spaghetti, Penna Vodka, Grilled Cheese, Kids Chicken Fingers, Kids Cheeseburger, Hot Dog, and Bar Pie. Danny has tried almost all of them, and he has enjoyed each one. The portions are perfect for children, and the price is spot-on.

However, let’s be honest, the perfect meal for most of our children is a tablet in one hand and a fistful of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese in the other, while sitting in their PJs hogging the entire couch. So, what really makes a restaurant Kid-friendly is the staff and the ambiance.

This is where Grant Street Cafe truly shines, and the reason we love it so much! The servers are amazing with the customers, especially the children. Daniel loves going to Grant Street Cafe because the entire staff is comprised of genuinely awesome humans. They speak to him, ask questions, get to know him, and remember him. As a child, sometimes being seen and heard is the most important part of your day. The staff at Grant Street Cafe understands this assignment so wonderfully well, and it makes him smile every time we eat there.

While you are dining at Grant Street Cafe, the above-mentioned spectacular staff members aren’t the only ones who might visit your table. Every so often, Rowdy Ray, the Balloon Guy, meanders through Grant Street Cafe and crafts epic balloon creations for the kids. Danny has been gifted many of these and loves talking to Rowdy Ray, whose sense of humor is like a fine-tuned duet between dad jokes and deadpan. It is the perfect blend to engage both the kids and adults at the table.

Moreover, you may even get to meet the owner, Chris, who expertly puts out the typical fires associated with the restaurant game, while greeting folks, helping the Grant Street Cafe team, talking all things beer, and creating epic AI art for Grant Street Cafe’s social media. Chris is a jack of all trades and the maestro of the Grant Street Cafe Orchestra.

To be honest, when Danny asked to make Grant Street Cafe his first review, I hesitated. Telling all the Blue Collar Foodies in the world just how extraordinary this eatery is may create a longer wait for me when I want an epic beer and wings that would make a member of the Bills’ Mafia forget about their team’s decades of failure.

However, that would be selfish of me, and we are trying to raise a kind and decent human. So, I highly recommend that you all make a reservation to visit Grant Street Cafe. You will not regret your decision, and you never know, you might even run into the newest Blue Collar Foodie, Daniel, AKA Moon!

Can it, Kid? Yes, It Can!!!