"For over two decades, they've served up more than just homemade vegan comfort food… they've created a space filled with love, culture, connection, and community care." Jersey City Moms posted that goodbye to Subia's Vegan Cafe after it closed earlier this year at 506 Jersey Avenue, ending a 24-year run. By August 16, the lights were back on at the same address. Gemini, a new Latin American cafe, soft-opened in that room.
That swap set the pattern for Downtown this year. Several of the season's most talked-about openings went into rooms that already had a history: a vegan institution, a sushi spot, a bar on the pedestrian plaza. One long-running brunch favorite is moving a few blocks to start over. The places a Downtown resident keeps in their head are still mostly at the same addresses. What changed is who's inside, and here is where things stand as of early October.
The old rooms and who's in them now
- 506 Jersey Avenue. Subia's Vegan Cafe is now Gemini, soft-opened August 16.
- 538 Jersey Avenue. KoroKoro is now Oda Omakase, open by late July.
- 143 Newark Avenue. Better Days is now Bembe Steak & Raw Bar and Steaks Shakes + Harmony, with a grand opening announced for September 16.
- 247 Washington Boulevard. Buddy's JC left in mid-August, and no new tenant has been announced.
- 270 Grand Street. The former Cafe Dolma space has Dutch's Express announced, with no opening date.
Subia's room, with a different menu
Gemini sits just steps from Van Vorst Park, and it's a full-day cafe. Breakfast and lunch run to burgers, protein bowls, croissant and waffle sandwiches, and huevos rancheros. At dinner there's shrimp ceviche, lime chicharron skewers, roasted corn ribs and stuffed mini peppers. An "off the counter" case holds croissants and empanadas in flavors that rotate weekly. Dessert includes a spicy Tajín fruit bowl, mango cheesecake, rice pudding and a sea salt brownie. Beside the espresso and tea list there's a mocktail menu with a hot toddy, an apple mint refresher, a strawberry basil spritz and a passionfruit mojito.
The room has a bit of film history too. According to NJ.com, as cited by The Hoboken Girl, Subia's stood in for a 1963 version of Greenwich Village's Caffè Reggio in the 2024 movie A Complete Unknown, starring Timothée Chalamet and Elle Fanning. Gemini opened in a room with two decades of neighborhood regulars and one Hollywood cameo.
A few doors up Jersey Avenue, a sushi counter in KoroKoro's space
On the same stretch, at 538 Jersey Avenue, chef JP Adora opened Oda Omakase in what used to be KoroKoro. Adora previously ran the kitchen at East Hana, another Downtown sushi spot. The format is a seasonal tasting menu. It moves through warm and cold appetizers, premium nigiri and sushi, and ends with dessert.
When Jersey Digs covered the opening in July, Oda served Thursday through Sunday with seatings from 6 to 8 p.m. Space was limited, and reservations went through OpenTable. Check those times before you go, since a restaurant's schedule often shifts in its first months.
With Oda at 538 and Gemini at 506, this block of Jersey Avenue changed two of its food tenants in one summer. You can now get Latin American brunch and a chef-driven omakase dinner on the same short walk. A year ago, that walk would have taken you past Subia's and KoroKoro.
The plaza space that sat dark all year
Better Days closed earlier in 2026, and its ground floor at 143 Newark Avenue stayed dark through most of the year. Downstairs, 143 Social, the speakeasy-style bar in the basement, kept running the whole time.
The new tenant is Bembe Steak & Raw Bar, from chef Darryl Harmon. Harmon is also a partner in Don't Tell Liv and Asbury Social. The space opened in phases. Steaks Shakes + Harmony, a more casual concept in the back, came first, and the front bar followed with cocktails and steak and seafood plates that lean Latin and Caribbean. The soft-open menu included a lobster roll, a steak burger, a pollo a la brasa chicken chimi sandwich, a coconut curry rice bowl, grilled octopus, and oysters with salsa verde garlic butter. Any dish can be finished with jerk butter, chimichurri rojo or sofrito bordelaise.
A third phase is planned, a steakhouse dining room meant to be dressier. Nothing we've seen confirms that room has opened yet. The Historic Downtown Special Improvement District announced a grand opening for September 16.
Use the restaurant's own posted hours. The 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. soft-open schedule from August no longer applies. Bembe's website now lists these kitchen hours:
| Day | Kitchen hours |
|---|---|
| Wednesday | 4 to 9:30 p.m. |
| Thursday | 4 to 10:30 p.m. |
| Friday | 4 to 11 p.m. |
| Saturday | Noon to 4 p.m. lunch, 4 to 11 p.m. dinner |
| Sunday | Noon to 9:30 p.m. |
The bar stays open later on several of those nights. For anyone who measures the plaza by whether its storefronts are lit, 143 Newark is lit again.
Buddy's goes the other way, a familiar name at a new address
Buddy's JC is the reverse case. Here the business is staying and the room is changing. After nearly a decade of brunch and burgers at 247 Washington Boulevard, Buddy's was set to close there in mid-August. Owner George Makrogiannis said it would move to 187 Warren Street as an Italian restaurant. The plan covers coffee, pastries, sandwiches, pizza, pasta, cocktails and wine.
The only target given so far is "late fall." We haven't found a name for the Warren Street concept, a firm date, or any announcement about the old Washington Boulevard space. That puts 247 Washington on the short list of familiar Downtown rooms that are empty right now.
Dutch's Express belongs on the same watch list. It was announced in May for 270 Grand Street, in the former Cafe Dolma space, and the announcement gave no opening date. We haven't been able to confirm whether it has opened.
The new storefronts in between
Not every opening reused a room people remember. These three are first-time storefronts or new arrivals, and the reports on them don't name a previous restaurant at the address.
Punjab Meet House, 25 Columbus Drive. It announced a public opening for Friday, July 3, after friends-and-family service. The menu draws on pre-Partition Punjabi cooking, including goat ribs and chicken tikka, with a full beverage program. Chef Zahir Khan leads the kitchen.
Feliz Deliz, 336 Second Street. Founders Diana Valenzuela and Victor Johnson started the bakery in 2022. Its first permanent storefront was open when Jersey Digs reported on it September 18, serving custom cakes, pastries, coffee drinks, chai, soft serve and seasonal items.
Forum Coffee, 200 Greene Street. It soft-opened September 1 near the waterfront. Patch noted that the building has housed cafés before, though it didn't name them, so this is a corner with some coffee history of its own. Founders Courtney Foti and Phelan McGreal serve house-roasted organic coffee, specialty lattes, espresso milkshakes, smoothies, protein shakes and fresh juices. Jersey Digs reported weekend hours of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., with an earlier 6 a.m. opening on weekdays.
A Saturday built from the new tenants
Every stop below is one of this year's openings, ordered by time of day:
- Morning coffee at Forum Coffee, which opens at 7 a.m. on weekends, according to Jersey Digs' September report.
- A late breakfast at Gemini, where you can try the weekly croissant or empanada flavor from the old Subia's counter.
- Saturday lunch at Bembe, served from noon to 4 p.m. on the Newark Avenue plaza.
- A cake or soft serve from Feliz Deliz on Second Street.
- Dinner at Oda Omakase or Punjab Meet House. Oda takes reservations through OpenTable, so book ahead.
Two rooms are still on the calendar this fall: Buddy's new Italian spot on Warren Street, and whatever goes into 247 Washington Boulevard once it's announced.
The storefronts on your block are part of what your home is worth, and the turnover on Jersey Avenue and the Newark Avenue plaza this year feeds into that. If you're curious how your block looks right now, Staci Manoukian can walk you through it, starting with your instant home valuation.
