Why Jersey Is the Diner Capital of the Country | Eater NY

"Tucked in Jersey City’s West Side across from the Social Security office and the Hackensack River, this long, nearly all-metal O’Mahony-built diner dates to 1940 with the current structure installed in 1958 and has had a succession of Greek owners; it even has an added dining room from the ’90s. We sat in a sunny window booth and ordered a short stack with Taylor ham (the local, fine-grained Spam-like “national meat of Jersey”) as a side — the pancakes were a bit rubbery and the butter wasn’t real, but still pretty good in the familiar way pancakes always are. We also tried the “happy waitress” (tomato and bacon on white bread with American cheese annealed on top) and decided it was a once-in-a-lifetime dish, while the best item was a house-made corned beef hash that was more pureed than most but still showed shreds of pink meat." - Robert Sietsema