Baumgart’s Has Something for Everyone

It is a little difficult to decide just what makes Baumgart's one of Ridgewood's more popular restaurants. 

Maybe it's the eclectic menu–Chinese with a dash of other Asian cuisines and a dash of American diner. Maybe it is the homemade ice cream that has made the name Baumgart's familiar to North Jersey diners since 1944. Maybe it is the 1950s décor and music which are both fun and relaxing.

Manager Tracy Fong lists another reason: "The children ask their parents to come here." Their art work lines the walls around the circular window that gives diners a peek into the kitchen if they are going into the back downstairs dining room.

It is very clear this is a family restaurant, but it also seems to do a brisk, adult lunch business downstairs. One day a few days after my partner and I ventured there for dinner, I found two young men in the empty upstairs dining room snapping green beans in preparation for the dinner hour.

"We don't use anything canned," Fong said.  "It is all fresh so sometimes it is a little more expensive than other places."

With entrees usually topping out at $17 or $18, it is still less expensive than many restaurants, making it more affordable for the whole family.

I have to confess that although the Ridgewood Baumgart's has been on Franklin Avenue for 12 years, we never went there for anything but dessert until last week.  And we aren't the only ones who eat out at another restaurant, skip dessert and come to Baumgart's.

"We see it all the time, particularly on weekends," Fong said. With a row of stools at the counter and a row of booths in the front dining room, the space is like traveling back in time to the 1950s for an ice cream sundae. 

For dinner, we were in the back downstairs dining room, with pictures of 1950s icons Howdy Doody and Jackie Gleason on the walls. My partner wanted dim sum, open faced steamed dumplings.  These were very nice and through some kind of mix-up –perhaps the waiter misunderstood us—we also got an order of fried dumplings. 

These were also good so we were stuffed long before we got to the main course. But first a word about the broccoli stems marinated in vinegar.  These were great, and I intend to find out how to do them at home.  Why not use the stalks too!

For main courses we went with the healthy options. You pick what you want from a list for a stir fry.  My partner went with snow peas, water chestnuts and peppers with chicken, while I did snow peas, water chestnuts and mushrooms with shrimp.

Both the chicken and shrimp servings were generous. There was some heat in the chicken stir fry but the shrimp, while perfectly done, were a bit on the bland side.

In the past few years, the menu has been broadened to include more Asian influences –Thai, Japanese and Malaysian.

There is also an extensive brunch menu with a variety of offerings, from Eggs Benedict Florentine to Texas French toast, as well as a sushi menu.  But if the kids want hamburgers, they're also on offer.

In addition to those old-style sundaes, Baumgart's also has cakes, pies and some luscious looking cupcakes, but if you want an old-fashioned egg cream, that's on the menu too.

The first Baumgart's opened in Englewood in 1944. It was an ice cream parlor established, according to legend, by a "General Baumgart." (I could find no trace of the general online so it may require a trip to the Englewood library to get his backstory.)

Steve Wu, who immigrated from Taiwan and owned a Chinese restaurant in Manhattan, bought the Englewood Baumgart's in 1988.

The Ridgewood location came next, in 1998, then Edgewater. The latest Baumgart's is in Livingston.  Ridgewood Chef Liu Kuei Chang was vacationing in Taiwan when we came calling so the Livingston chef was filling in.

Fong, who comes from Malaysia, said that Baumgart's has plans to enclose the porch off the upstairs dining room in glass so it could be open year round and provide an additional space for private parties and overflow crowds. 

Meantime, its outdoor tables offer a nice option on pleasant evenings.   

But with or without a glass-enclosed porch, Baumgart's is a place where East meets West over the dinner table.

Food: Very Good

Service:  Very Good

Entrée Price Range: $12.00 - $18.50

Atmosphere: Casual & Very Kid Friendly

Takeout: Yes

Credit Cards Accepted

BYOB

Open Table: No