Food

Love Breakfast, Brunch & Lunch? Then You Need to Visit Toast in Downtown Cranford!

This morning, Downtown Cranford held the ribbon cutting for Toast Cranford, located at 10 Walnut Avenue, welcoming them to the community! Toast Cranford is owned by founder Amy Russo and her business partner Adam Torine. Amy and Adam had been searching New Jersey for the perfect location for Toast's next location, and when they came to Cranford they knew they had found the right place.

Toast officially opened for business this past Monday and the owners said that the reception has been overwhelmingly positive. “We joke that we make money ‘1 pancake at a time,’ which just means that every customer is important to us," said Adam. "We want all of our customers to have a terrific experience and dine with us in the future."

Toast’s Cranford location is the first iteration of what Adam and Amy refer to as “Toast 2.0.” Toast Cranford brings in elements from each of the other three locations in Asbury Park, Montclair, and Red Bank. “The design in our Cranford location is very deliberate. It has a certain feel and incorporates what we’ve learned in the past 15 years,” said Amy. "This is also the first location that I’ve opened with Adam and it was so nice that our partnership allows me to share the experience with someone.”

Adam and Amy have already become familiar with many of the neighboring businesses and business owners. They’re frequent customers at Perrotti's, Pastosa, Sweet & Fancy Emporium, and Cranford Hotel. “We’ve received warm welcomes in other towns, but Cranford has surpassed them all,” said Amy.

Toast is open Monday through Friday 8AM-2PM and on the weekends from 7:30AM-3PM. The restaurant includes a room that can be reserved as a private party space after hours, seating 40-60 people. You can visit Toast’s website, https://toastcitydiner.com/, or give the Cranford location a call at 908-312-9333. Thank you to Toast for choosing Cranford - we're thrilled to have you join our community!

2023 Summer Restaurant Week Menus Are Here!

Come downtown for Downtown Cranford Summer Restaurant Week August 6-12! Participating restaurants are offering lunch and dinner specials and prix-fixe menus Sunday through Saturday. This is a great opportunity to try a new restaurant or visit an old favorite. Downtown Cranford is also sponsoring a Snap, Share & Win Photo Contest, so just email DMC@cranfordnj.org a picture from your meal and you’ll be entered to win! Thank you to Adam Overmyer Insurance for sponsoring the prize, three $25 Downtown Cranford gift cards!

Here is a list of the participating restaurants:



















Summer Restaurant Week Starts Sunday, August 6th!

Save the date - Summer Restaurant Week returns this Sunday, August 6th! Restaurant Week will run through Saturday, August 12 and Downtown Cranford restaurants will have prix fixe dinner menus, lunch specials, special menu items, and more! Stay tuned for more information, including a list of participating restaurants and their menus.

Reserve Your Tickets for Dinner & a Movie!

Grab your family and friends and reserve your tickets for our upcoming Dinner & a Movie series with Cranford Theater and Garlic Rose Bistro! Tickets for all of these events can be purchased on our Eventbrite, and you'll find the links on our Events page here: https://downtowncranford.org/events.

Here is the Dinner & a Movie schedule through the end of the year:

• July 16: National Lampoon’s Vacation

• August 13: Enter the Dragon

• September 17: Rain Man

• October 22: The Birds

• November 12: Scarface

• December 3: White Christmas

• December 10: A Christmas Story

• December 17: It’s a Wonderful Life


Lokal Coffee Offers Customers a Place to Gather While Enjoying Breakfast, Lunch & Coffee

Lokal Coffee & Co. has officially opened its doors at 103 Miln Street! Lokal Coffee is owned by Jorge Arriola, who started his culinary career as a chef at top restaurants around the world. Though Jorge loved being a chef, working 16 hour days became mentally and physically exhausting and he decided to make the pivot to opening a coffee shop. He wanted his coffee shop to provide customers with a welcoming, laid back, and unpretentious space where they could enjoy coffee and food. The first Lokal Coffee opened in Iselin in 2019, and in a few years Jorge felt ready to open a second location.

Jorge was drawn to Cranford and its reputation for being welcoming to small businesses. “Lokal Coffee is a place where people shouldn’t feel rushed,” said Jorge. “It’s a place to meet and gather while enjoying breakfast, brunch, or lunch with one of our specialty coffee drinks.”

Jorge’s mission is to bring specialty coffee to the suburbs. His family is from Costa Rica, and he also visits coffee farms throughout Latin America a few times a year to check the quality of the beans and develop relationships with the farmers. “All of our coffee is fair trade and it’s a specialty, small batch product. We obtain the beans and then roast them at a roasting facility. We’re there for the whole process, from farm to cup.”

Jorge learned about coffee by reading extensively about it, meeting with farmers, and through a fair amount of trial and error. He’s happy to educate consumers about what makes Lokal’s coffee stand apart, and also operates the business as a learning environment for his staff. “I want our employees to care as much about our product as I do,” said Jorge. “I look for people who want to learn and also aspire to do more, which includes opening their own business down the line.”

Lokal Coffee offers an extensive menu of breakfast, brunch, and lunch options. If customers are in the mood for breakfast they can choose from omelets, pancakes, waffles, french toast, and smoothies. If they’re looking for lunch, Lokal Coffee serves a large variety of sandwiches, including avocado toast, grilled cheese, tuna, and their most popular, turkey club, as well as salads, soups, and more. When it comes to drinks, Lokal Coffee is known for its lattes, which come in flavors like Brown Sugar, Caramel, Raspberry Mocha, and Tate’s Cookie (a customer favorite).

Lokal Coffee is open 7 days a week from 7AM-4PM. For more information, you can follow them on social media or just stop in and see the space for yourself. Welcome to town Jorge and the Lokal Coffee crew. Thank you for choosing Cranford!