Food in Elizabeth

Open on Van Buren Avenue since 1993, with butchers on staff who cut the meat that goes on the charcoal grill. The menu runs through grilled fish and picanha alongside omelets and sandwiches, so lunch and dinner are the same counter. There is a bar and a takeout side.

Mon to Thu, 10am to 9pm. Fri and Sat, 10am to 11pm. Sun, 10am to 9pm

A Colombian bakery counter with a kitchen behind it on Elmora Avenue, the stretch of Elizabeth where the Colombian trade is concentrated. The case has bread and pastries and Colombian coffee in the morning. The kitchen does bandeja paisa, empanadas and sancocho through the day and stays on until half past nine.

Daily, 9:30am to 9:30pm

A Portuguese kitchen on East Jersey Street named for the Minho, the province in the far north of Portugal. It cooks coastal Portuguese plates and Brazilian top sirloin, with a full bar and a patio out the side. The place is casual enough to walk into in what you are already wearing.

Mon to Thu, 11am to 10pm. Fri and Sat, 11am to 11pm. Sun, noon to 10pm

A Dominican kitchen on the same block of North Broad Street as the venue, serving mofongo, stewed meat over rice and beans, and a Dominican breakfast from a quarter past eight. Plates are large and priced off a board rather than a menu card. You order at the counter and sit down where there is space.

Mon to Sat, 8:15am to 7pm. Sun, 8:15am to 5:45pm

A halal grill a hundred yards down North Broad, cooking chicken and lamb over rice, fried fish and burgers to order. It is built for takeout with a short counter to stand at. On Friday and Saturday it runs to two in the morning, which is later than anything else in sight of the venue.

Mon to Thu, 11am to midnight. Fri and Sat, 11am to 2am. Sun, 2pm to 11pm

A service window in the ground floor of a corner house in Peterstown, selling the Italian hot dog, which is a fried dog or sausage packed into bread with peppers, onions and thin fried potatoes. There is no seating and no table. It is cash only with an ATM on the wall, and you eat standing on Second Avenue.

Daily, 11am to 7pm

A Morris Avenue diner that has been on the corner for over fifty years and runs around the clock. The 2008 renovation put murals and painted palm trees on the walls, which is where the name comes from. There is a bakery case at the front and a diner menu that covers breakfast at any hour.

Open 24 hours, daily

A Portuguese house on Monroe Avenue, open since 1989 and large enough to seat four hundred. The kitchen does grilled fish, paella and a steak brought to the table on a hot stone you finish yourself. There is free valet out front, which is unusual for Elizabeth and tells you what kind of evening the place expects.

Tue to Sat, 9am to midnight. Closed Sun and Mon