Hello (Food) World!
The Strip Mall doesn’t get much respect and in many cases it doesn’t deserve it. Its architecture: boxy, utilitarian, and overall uninspired. Its contents are banal or suspect. For clothing, we are talking write downs and knock offs – things to be bought as a good deal and worn without advertising their origin. The list goes on. In sum, a strip mall is a means to an end – a commercial berth on some highway in the Garden State (New Jersey) or some development friendly state like it.
For food, however, the Strip Mall is king.
That Italian sandwich joint in Woodbridge, NJ where they hand make the mozzarella and peppers on premises and hand cut the prosciutto that is of course from Parma (why would you even ask?).
That Thai Pho shop across the highway that specializes in that most delicious bowl of soup, brisket and raw beef (and maybe a little tendon) bedfellows on a pile of noodles covered in broth. The soup comes out 5 minutes from ordering it, but the broth has been going for a day.
The Chinese place north of King of Prussia that my wife still talks about after 8 years as the best Chinese food she has had outside of China. The silver-haired proprietor watching over us as we munched happily with silver chopsticks.
I haven’t had a decent meal in Manhattan between 145th and 14th street in the last 10 years (the exception being bagels), but I bet I could spot a 5-star strip mall meal on any highway in the US. The telltale sign of a great one is Grandma is in the back cooking and may poke her head out to see how it is. (Spoiler alert: it’s great!)
This blog chronicles my adventures through Strip Mall (and similar*) restaurants in my native New Jersey and beyond. I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoy eating and writing!
*Food courts, City Main Streets, and other similar agglomerations of Grandma-powered cooking will also be chronicled
