Jersey City is decked out for the holiday season, with decorations all across the city’s neighborhoods. Photo by Chris Fry/Jersey Digs.
While locals have known about Jersey City’s holiday spirit for some time, the rest of the region is finally starting to catch up. With a #1 ranking recently secured on a ratings list of most Christmas activities per square mile across the country, Jersey City has certainly upped its yuletide spirit in recent years.
So where can folks best witness this unbridled holiday joy? Jersey City has a ton of decorative displays throughout, most notably near the Exchange Place Plaza, throughout Newport, and the Newark Avenue Pedestrian Plaza. A seasonal ice-skating rink called Newport Skates has also officially opened for the holiday season.
Newport Skates is now open for the season. Image courtesy Newport Skates.
For those looking to grab a bite or drink, here’s an unofficial list of some Jersey City restaurants that are best suited for getting into the holiday spirit.
San Patricios
San Patricio’s is decked out with Mexican-themed holiday decorations and inventive cocktails. Image courtesy San Patricio’s.
A recent entry into Jersey City’s dining scene, San Patricios is a Mexican-Irish cantina and pub from the team behind New York City’s The Dead Rabbit. The eatery is celebrating its first festive season with a pop-up called Las Posadas, which is named after the traditional Mexican Christmas tradition.
Las Posadas offers a festive atmosphere with decked-out decorations plus cocktails like the Sleigh Queen with Ketel One vodka, Mr. Black coffee liqueur, espresso, banana, ancho chili, and demerara. Their inventive Piñata de Navidad blends El Silencio Mezcal with Jameson Black Barrel Irish Whiskey, tangerine, guava, hibiscus, clove, and lemon, while the Que Pasa, Calabaza?! Combines red wine, Ron Zacapa 23 Year Rum, pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, orange, and lemon.
Food specials at the pop-up include a turkey-dinner street taco with mulled-spice mole rojo, cranberry sauce, and shaved Brussels sprouts, or a Guinness Mole Con Pollo with red tomato rice and warm tortillas. Las Posadas runs through January 7.
Franklin Social
Miracle on Mercer has returned for its sixth year at Franklin Social. Image courtesy Miracle on Mercer.
Celebrating its sixth year in Jersey City, Franklin Social has once again been transformed into Miracle on Mercer. The festive cocktail concept began in 2014 at the East Village bar Mace and has grown considerably since then, with the umbrella now including participants at bars throughout the U.S., Canada, Central America, Europe, and Asia.
The vibe of the pop-up involves kitschy holiday décor, professionally developed cocktails, and the nostalgic energy of the best office party you’ve ever been to. Specialty drinks at Jersey City’s Miracle on Mercer include concoctions like the Christmapolitan or a Snowball Old Fashioned with spiced brown sugar.
All drinks are $16, and if you purchase any glassware from the bar, 10% of all sales will be donated to Action Against Hunger, a humanitarian non-profit dedicated to helping malnourished children around the globe.
Cellar 335
Cellar 335 is running their annual Sleighs and Leis once more. Image courtesy Cellar 335.
The tiki bar-inspired restaurant Cellar 335 has once again been transformed into Sleighs and Leis, which keeps the tiki vibes intact but adds more than a little mistletoe. Highlights of the specialty cocktail menu include a Rum Rum Rudolph that combines gingerbread, lemon, orange, apple brandy, and rum, or an On An Open Fire that blends roasted chestnut-praline, lime, and tequila.
For those feeling a bit nostalgic, the Ghost of Christmas Past at Sleighs and Leis blends cinnamon with lemon, orange, pineapple, amaro, and rum. The restaurant also serves a few “large format” drinks, including a Mistletoe Bay, which combines pineapple, cinnamon, anise, allspice, and rum.
Liberty Science Center
Liberty Science Center is hosting a few events this month for the holidays. Image courtesy Liberty Science Center.
For those looking for less libation-driven holiday cheer, Liberty Science Center is holding a few events throughout December as well. The museum will be hosting a Santa’s Pajama Party for kids every Friday and Saturday evening until Christmas Eve, where kids can meet Santa, decorate cookies and ornaments, view the night sky through telescopes, and see special performances from Imagine Circus.
The museum also has a few holiday-themed exhibits, including a sock skating “rink” with an hourly snowball fight, a Gingerbread Express Train on weekends, a nitrogen ice cream demonstration that creates peppermint ice cream using liquid nitrogen, and holiday planetarium and laser shows at the largest planetarium in the Western Hemisphere.