The 11 best things we ate at N.J.’s hottest new food hall, ranked

Nineteen restaurants under one roof, several helmed by celebrity chefs — Bobby Flay, Marcus Samuelsson, Michael Symon, Marc Murphy.

Wonder food hall in Middletown may be the coolest new dining experience in New Jersey — or at least one of the easiest; place an order on your phone, and wait for the text when it’s ready to be picked up.

The volume of orders in Middletown — about 450 a day — have surprised the folks at Wonder, which operates 46 such food halls in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.

“We’re setting records,” Robert Scannelli says of the Middletown store, which opened late March. He’s the general manager of Wonder Toms River, which will likely open in June. Lexa Ormond is GM of Wonder Middletown.

The Middletown Wonder is located in Middletown Plaza on Route 35, along with Trader Joe’s, Petco, Shake Shack and other tenants.

The other Jersey locations are in Green Brook, Randolph, Parsippany, Livingston, New Providence, Cresskill, Ledgewood, Teterboro, Midland Park, Springfield, Hoboken and Westfield. New locations in Brick, Toms River, Cherry Hill, Shrewsbury, Woodbridge, Mount Laurel, and Jersey City are scheduled to open this year.

How were the restaurants at Wonder selected? Brisket was tried at 35 different spots “before we chose the finest barbecue,” according to the website. Staffers ”road tripped the south" in search of the finest fried chicken. And so on.

NJ's hottest food hall — Wonder, MiddletownPG

Wonder is not the first food hall in New Jersey; Foodie Hall opened in Cherry Hill in 2023 and lasted about a year. International Bites in Ocean Township offers 11 restaurants under one roof.

Wonder is also not the stereotypical food hall you might find in New York City (Market 57, Urban Hawker, Vanderbilt Market, etc.) where restaurants have separate kitchens and counters.

At Wonder, it’s one central kitchen and one-stop food shopping. The orders are overwhelmingly to-go, but there are six tables for in-house dining. Tip: There are touch screens at the counter, but it’s so much easier ordering on the app on your phone.

Over three days, I ordered two dishes from every Wonder Middletown eatery. Overall, the food ranged from okay to pretty damn good. Here are the 11 best dishes, ranked. Restaurants at Middletown that do not appear in the top 11: Wing Trip, Royal Greens, Alanza Pizza, Maydan, Burger Baby, Tejas Barbecue, Detroit Brick Pizza, Walnut Lane by Jonathan Waxman.

11. Cheesesteak, Fred’s Meat & Bread

Fred’s, a market in Atlanta, specializes in classic sandwiches and hand-cut fries. Items available in Middletown include a double cheeseburger, Korean cheesesteak, fries, and chicken tenders. The regular cheesesteak combines griddled ribeye, American cheese, onions and garlic aioli. It just may appear on our next N.J.’s best cheesesteaks, ranked, list.

10. Picante bowl, Limesalt

Chips, burritos, quesadillas, and bowls are featured on the Limesalt menu. The picante bowl is an eye-opening delight: white rice, pinto beans, corn salsa, shredded cheese and hot red chile salsa. I’m not sure to call it breakfast or lunch; I’ll just call it good.

9. Grilled cheese, Bellies

Bellies is a great name for a restaurant, especially one that caters to kids. Burgers, mac n cheese, tenders (of course) and pasta are among the offerings The grilled cheese is a faithful rendition of the American classic, fit for kids or adults.

8. Zesty chicken souvlaki, Yasas by Michael Symon

The Cleveland-born Symon is another chef/restaurateur/TV personality. Yasas offers “the best of the Mediterranean,” reflecting Symon’s Greek/Sicilian background. The menu includes beef souvlaki & kalamata salad, sweet potato & feta salad, spicy pepper and feta sandwich. hummus and eggplant. The zesty chicken souvlaki, in a red wine vinaigrette, lived up to its name.

7. Spicy salmon poke bowl, Hanu Poke

Hanu Poke plays tribute to traditional Hawaiian dishes — poke, bento bowls, wakame salad and more. I ordered the tuna poke bowl and the salmon poke bowl, with the latter, in a soy marinade, my favorite.

6. Pork pepperonata, Alanza

Skip the paltry pizza at Alanza Pizza, and order from the other Alanza, which features Italian dishes. Chicken parm, mozzarella and tomato salad, and chicken Milanese are among the offerings, but the standout is the pork pepperonata, a massive hunk of meat topped with sautéed sweet peppers, onions, garlic, oregano, Calabrian chile, and pickled cherry peppers.

5. Cast-iron cornbread, Streetbird by Marcus Samuelsson

Marcus Samuelsson, winner of the James Beard rising star chef award, the youngest chef to receive three stars from the New York Times, author of the best-selling book “Yes, Chef” and owner of the acclaimed Red Rooster restaurant in Harlem — is behind Streetbird. It specializes in fried chicken sandwiches, wings and tenders. The fried chicken seems ordinary; the clear winner is the cornbread, topped with maple butter and flecked with Madagascar vanilla.

4. Chocolatier Killer Brownie, Room for Dessert

Room for Dessert is a greatest-hits collection of several well-known dessert makers: Four and Twenty Blackbirds, Magnolia Bakery, The Hungry Gnome, Dick Taylor. But top prize goes to Killer Brownie, made with Ghirardelli chocolate chips. Enough said.

3. Roasted chicken, The Mainstay by Marc Murphy

A frequent judge on The Food Network’s “Chopped” show, Murphy also owns several restaurants. Both the Mainstay and Walnut Lane by Jonathan Waxman both claim superlative roast chickens, but Murphy’s version, simple and no-nonsense, won the battle of the roast chickens.

2. Original Square, Di Fara Pizza

For me, the biggest surprise at Wonder Middletown was the appearance of Brooklyn pizzeria legend Di Fara Pizza. It’s one of the top ten pizzas in the city; I devoted a chapter to Di Fara in my book Pizza City: The Ultimate Guide to New York’s Favorite Food. I was worried how well the pizza would transition from Brooklyn pizzeria to a shared kitchen in suburban New Jersey, but shouldn’t have worried. Was it as good as the original? No. But it came mighty close.

1. Ribeye, Bobby Flay Steak

Food Network superstar Bobby Flay seems to be everywhere, with past and current restaurants in New York City, Las Vegas, the Bahamas, Atlantic City, Eatontown, and Connecticut, plus 14 cookbooks and countless TV appearances. And now a food hall in Middletown and other Wonder locations. The steaks and chops all seemed to do well at Wonder, but the ribeye at Bobby Flay Steak topped them all. Medium rare and bursting with flavor, it’s worth the $37 price tag. One note: you can get the steaks at Bobby Flay and The Mainstay cooked to order; you do not have that option at the burger stops, where the burgers are well-done, smash-style.

Stories by Peter Genovese

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Peter Genovese may be reached at pgenovese@njadvancemedia.com. On Twitter, @petegenovese. On Instagram, @peteknowsjersey and @themunchmobile.