Jersey City, New Jersey, has some of the best restaurants for a date in the region, and there are plenty of options to choose from. Here are some of the best locations for a romantic meal in the area.

Hearth

At Hearth, you and your date can enjoy a genuine, top-tier Italian experience. It’s about half an hour away in New York, and the brunch menu includes toasty hot apple pecan muffins, sourdough bread, and anchovy toast. You can also get a market vegetable frittata, sausage and kale ragu, or beef and ricotta meatballs.

For a light, simple meal that’s easy to share, try the Murray’s Three Cheese Plate. It comes with spiced nuts, quince butter, olive oil crackers, and your choice of cheeses. Order Lani’s Japanese sweet potato for something a bit more interesting. It comes stuffed with golden raisins, labneh, and sesame dukkah. Labneh is a soft cheese from the Middle East, and dukkah is a spicy herbal condiment.

For a larger meal, go for the wild halibut, spiced half spatchcock chicken with turnips and garlic confit, Berkshire pork chops, or a 7-ounce sirloin steak with salsa verde. The Variety Burger comes with sweet potatoes, caramelized onions, beef brisket, beef chuck, heart, liver, and bone marrow. The strozzapreti pasta plate is a favorite among repeat customers. It comes with parsnip, sunchokes, cabbage, and pecorino.

Hearth also offers a list of special cocktails for pairing with their plates. The Kodak Moment is a combination of London dry gin, white vermouth, lemon, rosemary, and beet. For something stronger, try Imposter Syndrome, a mix of single malt scotch, bourbon, ginger, lemon, and honey. You can also have a spicy hot toddy with bourbon, honey, lemon, and a delicious mix of spices. Visit from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 9:30 Friday and Saturday. Brunch is from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday and from noon to 3:30 p.m. Sunday.

PJ Clarke’s on the Hudson

If you want to have a date in a restaurant with a wider range of options and a fantastic view of the Hudson river, try out PJ Clarke’s on the Hudson. It offers a variety of fresh seafood, including east coast oysters, Long Island clams, jumbo shrimp, Maine lobster, and cherrystone and littleneck mollusks. Start your date with one of this place’s excellent appetizers. PJ Clarke’s offers brisket chili, New England clam chowder, creamy tomato soup, jumbo shrimp cocktails, Point Judith calamari, and more.

For a classic main course, choose the hearty country chicken pot pie. It comes with white meat chicken, a rich broth base, a wide range of farm vegetables, and a buttermilk cheddar crust. Fish lovers will enjoy their cedar plank-cooked Faroe Island salmon. It comes covered in a sweet, smoky glaze with a side of charred asparagus.

The largest steak available is a 14-ounce Black Angus New York strip with creamed spinach or sea salt fries. PJ Clarke’s lobster roll comes with steamed lobster meat cooked in the classic Maine or Connecticut styles. The first comes with light mayonnaise, lemon, and chives on a warm brioche bun, and the second comes with melted butter.

PJ Clarke’s offers some great burgers for date night as well. The Cadillac is one of the most popular options, and it comes with double-smoked country bacon, American cheese, tomato, lettuce, and onion. The BBQ Bleu Burger is similar, and it adds barbecued blue cheese. If you want to split a massive sandwich, try the crispy cod, roast turkey club, or crunchy chicken sandwiches.

Madera Cuban Grill

For a date night straight out of Havana, Cuba, with a relaxing atmosphere, take your date to Madera Cuban Grill. The Caribbean-style grilled sugarcane-skewered shrimp with rum glaze is amazing, and the fried codfish cakes are rolled with onions, peppers, cilantro, and parsley to create a classic Cuban flavor that patrons love. Madera’s sauteed pork chunks are marinated in a mix of fresh garlic, onion, orange juice, salt, and pepper for a unique citrus flavor. The tropical salad is a sweet combination of papaya, mango, mandarin oranges, and toasted almonds on mixed greens with mint vinaigrette.

The Lechon Asado con Mojo Criollo is a slow-roasted pork plate with tender meat, and the Madera Style Chicken is marinated in chicken stock, white wine, lemon, garlic, and paprika before being breaded and fried to perfection. The broiled snapper is a rural Cuban classic, and it’s broiled and covered with savory, sweet mango and black bean relish. For a heavier meal, choose the massive, Argentinean-style spare rib plate.

Liberty House Restaurant

For American fare in a fun atmosphere, try out Liberty House Restaurant. You can play a game on the giant chessboard while you wait for your food. Options include east or west coast oysters, clams, or poached shrimp. The skate plate has the namesake fish with spaghetti squash and grilled lemon cauliflower buerre noisette. With the duck breast plate, you’ll get heirloom cornbread, charred onions, and red cabbage.

The coriander-scented salmon comes with einkorn berries, kohlrabi, and mustard. This place is open from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Thursday and Friday. It’s open Saturday from noon to 3 p.m. and from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. You can eat there on Sunday from noon to 3 p.m. and from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Razza

Razza is a pizza place with lots of delicious options. You can choose classic Margherita pizza, a Jersey-style Margherita pizza with locally sourced ingredients, a Burrata soft cheese pizza, a Panna pizza with cow’s cream, or the Di Natale. It comes with fresh tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella cheese, olives, raisins, pine nuts, garlic, basil, and chili oil. The Project Hazelnut pizza is also popular. It comes with fresh mozzarella and ricotta cheeses, locally sourced honey, and hazelnuts grown at Rutgers University.

All of these Jersey City restaurants are ideal choices for a romantic brunch, lunch, or dinner date. If we missed one of your favorite date spots, contact us and let us know so that we can add it to our list.