There’s a bit of a restaurant/bar shuffle on the waterfront as of late, and if you’ve been reading HG’s Word on Wash, you know that Little Town New Jersey has moved to 1st street. In its place, a new Hoboken hot spot has appeared — the Ainsworth: a popular Manhattan restaurant/bar that has opened another location in Hoboken!
We recently dined here for a weekday lunch {we save brunch for the weekends}, and wanted to share our experience. Upon first look, the Ainsworth doesn’t feel thaaat much different than Little Town, maybe just a little more upscale {which includes their menu options}. For starters: we had chorizo corn chowder and a Asparagus and Jumbo Lump Crab Salad with citrus shavings. Both were delicious, and it was hard not to eat the whole thing even though we had entrees coming out!
For our entrees, we opted for a salad + chicken and a veggie burger. Perfect combo to split. This was the salad {below, we added chicken — it was kale + beets + oranges + pesto chicken}. So yum!
The burger was a veggie quinoa burger + fries. The fries were the bomb dot com, and the quinoa burger was very tasty for a veggie burger — or any burger for that matter. The spices on the bun were delicious and really made the dish pop, and the fries were a perfect crunch mixed with warm potato inside. Not half bad to look at, either:
So pretty.
After our meals, we were given a warm cloth to clean our hands, which I thought was a nice touch.
As far as decor and service, our server was very attentive and sweet — and the decor is basically similar to Little Town, but with a facelift and some added seating. We’ve been hearing the service can be a bit slow, but hopefully they’re working out some of the kinks to opening a new restaurant. I think our favorite addition to the decor were these adorable {Hoboken} wine bottles:
Sooo cute. They also have a new back room to host private parties which is a great addition to the Hoboken {large} restaurant game. Overall, the Ainsworth is a solid addition to the Hoboken bar scene with some good American fare and a great vibe. Win/win.
The best part? Ainsworth is hosting a “Bowties and Big Hats” Brunch Party THIS Saturday, May 2nd from 2-7pm in honor of the Kentucky Derby! $25 gets you entry, 2 brunch cocktails, a brunch entree, and a mint julep before the race! So fun. Get your tickets here.
Have you been to the new Ainsworth? What did you think?