How to Spend a Day in Maplewood

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Maplewood Town Hall. Photo: Courtesy of Tiger365

Maplewood looks like the kind of town that movie directors try to recreate when the script calls for an idyllic locale: tree-lined streets, commuters stepping off trains with coffee in hand, laughing friends outside cafés, bookstores and bakeries.

Just 35 minutes from Manhattan, the town has several burgeoning downtowns and on weekends the sidewalks buzz with families, shoppers, and locals drifting between boutiques and restaurants.

If you are unfamiliar with this Essex County burb, it may seem like just stop along way to nearby destination towns like Montclair and Morristown, but this municipality, 26,000 residents strong, is worth a stop—there are even municipal lots with free parking downtown.

Where to Eat

Breakfast spots like Able Baker offer fresh scones and breads, and their own variety of house-made blueberry pop tarts. Grab a tea or a coffee, or bring a box of Joe for the group along with a bag of sweet treats to be welcome at any gathering. For savory morning starts, try Village Coffee for breakfast sandwiches or generous platters, or stop in Perch Home, where you’ll be tempted to start shopping since this bistro started out as a lifestyle boutique and expanded into a shopping destination with a restaurant inside.

There is no shortage of restaurant options, along Main Street. You’ll find Thai, Chinese, Italian, American, soup, salad bowls. At longstanding Irish pub, St. James’s Gate Publick House, Guinness is listed as a starter and you’ll find a killer prime-rib French dip among other standards, including fish and chips. Down the street, Osteria LK, one of New Jersey Monthly’s top restaurants, serves red-sauce favorites and creatively elevated American dishes. For stylish cocktails and a selection of well-executed American dishes, Luna Stella is tucked just off the main drag.

Pasta at Porta Rossa. Photo: Courtesy of Porta Rossa

Across town, check out Porta Rossa Pasta + Provisions, where you can procure pastas made fresh daily for takeout or eat in, if you can score one of the dozen seats or sit outdoors in good weather. This Italian market and café, opened in 2023, caters and hosts private events. Perla Oyster is another must-stop. Mollusk lovers may pause at this seeming fish-out-of-water raw bar in the burbs, but delight will follow with the fresh changing selection of oysters, plus clams, shrimp cocktail and a menu of dips, spreads and savory snacks. Nearby is Artie’s, a pizza spot that morphed from the former well-known Arturo’s.

Where to Shop

Stroll along down Maplewood Avenue, and you’ll find a healthy variety of shops, including clothing boutiques, a book shop, florists, wine store, jewelers, toys, coffee shops and more.

Maker + Muse on Maplewood Avenue. Photo: Courtesy of Maker + Muse

Take Maker + Muse, a curated collection of jewelry, home goods, art and more, filled with finds from independent makers.

Mues Shop on Baker Street in Maplewood. Photo: Courtesy of Mues Shop

At in the emerging Baker Street area, lifestyle store Meus Shop offers an array of local artisans creating everything from self-care items, like soaps and scents to home décor, jewelry and gifts.

Handmade candles at Ceru on Springfield Avenue in Maplewood. Photo: Courtesy of Ceru

On the Springfield Avenue side of Maplewood, Ceru, a women’s boutique, has an array of clothing designers with well-known and emerging brands, plus an apothecary with beauty buys, a home section with hand-picked décor items, and a selection of jewelry.

Can’t-Miss Events

Summer brings the Maplewoodstock Music and Art Festival, now in its 22nd year. This year it is scheduled for July 11-13, in Memorial Park, and it will once again, bring together more than 20 bands, art and food vendors, for two free days of music and fun. In December, Dickens Village, a storybook recreation of scenes from Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, comes to live as a true town square of miniature houses completely and uniquely furnished for the holiday season. For the first three Saturdays of December, the village is open and Santa is house, there is tree and menorah lighting and a DJ, as well as other special events.