Mastoris

Posted By Bruce Bilmes and Susan Boyle on January 1, 2009 12:59 PM

New Jersey is the land of diners, and in the land of diners, Mastoris is king. An enormous place with many dining rooms, this is one of the busiest restaurants we've ever seen. It's a gold mine! During normal dining hours, a wait is not uncommon. Waiting for your table, however, provides you with an opportunity to browse the bakery cases (and, if you're lucky, sample some of the broken cookies the bakery often puts out on the counter). The bakery cases are stocked with all sorts of good-looking pastries and cakes which, unlike the baked goods at most diners, are generally good-tasting too.

Diner may not be the proper term for Mastoris, as many people from the area treat it as the place for a special occasion, with large tables of happy families occupying large tables. There is a dark lounge, airy sunny patios, and even one room that looks like a traditional diner: booths opposite a counter with stools.

Mornings are our favorite time to visit, weekday mornings in particular, as Mastoris plates some terrific breakfasts accompanied, if you wish, by fat, taut breakfast sausages or that local mid-NJ passion, pork roll. Pork roll comes in thick slices, and is kind of like a supercharged bologna. It's always grilled or fried, and is usually served in a sandwich with eggs and cheese, but it also makes an enjoyably porky breakfast meat.

The omelets, sided by good potatoes, are well-made and come in innumerable varieties. Ask for toasted sunflower bread on the side. There are breakfast sandwiches, pancakes, waffles and French toast galore, and probably anything else you might dream up to eat for breakfast (including breakfast pizzas and potato skins). We've also had some nice club sandwiches and open-faced hot turkey sandwiches here (although we aren't fans of the mashed potatoes, real as they are).

One more thing: before all meals, including breakfasts, they serve cheese bread and cinnamon bread, one small loaf per person. These are soft, warm white bread-based loaves filled with either a cinnamon-sugar filling (good) or gobs of Italian cheesecake-like filling (extraordinary). Many people leave the breads untouched, and bring them home for tomorrow's breakfast, but we usually find it hard to resist tearing into them right away. Larger versions of these breads are available for purchase in the bakery.

Cheese Bread

Pork Roll

Pork Roll And Egg Sandwich

Chicken Pot Pie

Cheese Bread French Toast - Short Stack

Breakfast Sausage

Cinnamon Bread

Scrambled Eggs With Pork Roll

French Toast

Western Omelette Sandwich

Baked Macaroni

Baked Acorn Squash

Swiss Cheese Omelet

Scrambled Eggs

Pork Roll, Egg, And Cheese Sandwich

Scrambled Eggs With Ham

Pancakes

Italian Sausage Omelet

Blueberry Pancakes Short Stack

BBQ Boneless Chicken Salad Platter

Sausage And Egg Sandwich

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake

Special Melted Chicken Parmigiana Sandwich

Meatloaf Sandwich

Potato Skins/Omelet/Sweet Sausage/Sliced Tomatoes

Seafood Chowder

Chef's Salad Bowl - Large

Mediterranean Sampler

Onion Soup

Irish Omelet

Scrapple

Barcelona Pizza

Potato Skins/Filet Mignon/Poached Eggs/Hollandaise

Breakfast Pizza

Breakfast Potato Skins

Posted By John Murray on February 11, 2013 10:40 AM

This is a great New Jersey diner institution. The portions are huge and the food, in general, is excellent. My favorite is the pork roll, egg, and cheese on a roll. Any of their breakfast items are a sure bet, and their mac and cheese and seafood chowder are staples when having lunch or dinner.

Pork Roll, Egg, And Cheese Sandwich

Cheese Bread

Breakfast Sausage

Pork Roll

Seafood Chowder

Chef's Salad Bowl - Large

Scrapple

Bone In Prime Rib

French onion soup

Chicken Pot Pie

Posted By A. Douglas Ray on June 8, 2012 9:20 PM

If you are on the NJ Turnpike, get off at exit 7 and find your way to Mastoris. If you stop for lunch, you probably won't need to stop later for dinner! Put the address in your GPS and you'll be glad you did. Everything I've tried at Mastoris has been delicious. If you're traveling, it's always great to find a great place to eat. Mastoris is worth the stop.

Cheese Bread

Cinnamon Bread

Onion Soup

Posted By Scott Hornick on May 10, 2008 6:04 AM

I made a point of heading off the NJ Turnpike to try Mastoris, a surprise to my wife Faith who was nagging me for the detour the length of our time on route 130. I found the surefire way to put an end to the nagging: the Mastoris cheese and cinnamon breads, served fresh as soon as you are seated. Phenomenal. Faith could not stop talking about it the whole weekend in DC.

She had the personal breakfast pizza: eggs, fresh leaf spinach, and mushrooms, all smothered in mozzarella and layered on a soft pizza crust (almost reminded me of a Boboli crust). I can't wait to try the other combinations of this dish. I had eggs Benedict. Here's the twist: they were served in the most perfectly homemade potato skins, with a homemade, serious no-powder mix hollandaise sauce. Each of the above was served with a perfect wedge of fresh honeydew.

Our waitress Eveleen was a doll. She made sure she sent us on our way with an extra loaf of cheesebread and cinnamon bread with a wink and a smile: "don't tell." Outstanding customer service; I can't wait to visit again and try something else on the menu. Thanks Mastoris, and thanks Roadfooders for advising us to check it out.

Posted By Joel Barmann on August 6, 2007 11:43 AM

Mastoris is a great destination for dinner. I rarely eat anything besides fish, and Mastoris always has an incredible variety of fish, prepared in a multitude of interesting ways. Even their salads are exceptional. For those who know better than to be satisfied with the usual insipid, nutritionally worthless iceberg lettuce salad, Mastoris has a very nice arugula salad with a balsamic vinaigrette dressing. There are several other nice salads to choose from too.

On the downside, the vegetables frequently suffer from sitting on the steam table, but asking questions and ordering carefully can sometimes avoid that situation. Don't think of Mastoris as "just" a diner, as their food has more sophistication than many restaurants charging high prices. The presentation of their dishes is usually pleasing also.

Overall, I recommend the Mastoris Diner highly. I drive about 40 minutes to get there, and it is well worth the trip.

Posted By Akavar Dylutra on November 7, 2005 9:38 PM

I've lived in New Jersey for over 10 years now, and it's unfortunate that I haven't visited Mastoris until now. I discovered I've been missing out on some fantastic meals. My dining partner and I went there for a late afternoon Sunday dinner. Fortunately for us, we arrived just before the crowds, so we were able to avoid any wait for a table. We had one of the best meals either of us have had in a long time.

The meal started with the cheese bread and cinnamon bread, both of which were fresh and outstanding. Then we each had a mesclun salad (mixed field greens, chopped pecans, crumbled blue cheese, and strawberries). I had mine with the standard ranch dressing, which was excellent, and my partner had hers with the blue cheese dressing. She thought that the blue cheese dressing made the salad very cheesy, which she enjoyed. I felt that you could make a meal out of the crumbled blue cheese in the salad.

For dinner, my partner had an amazing bone-in prime rib with sides of steamed mixed vegetables and baked potato. She enjoys prime rib and said this was one of the best (I admit to stealing more than a couple of small tastes, and I agree). In the end we were unable to finish the almost two-inch-thick slice and took the leftovers home. I had the yellowfin tuna Vera Cruz, a large piece of properly cooked fish that was topped with a tasty mixture of celery, onions, tomatoes, olives, capers, and herbs. My side of cauliflower came in a nutmeg-touched white sauce, and I enjoyed the forthrightly garlicked mashed potatoes.

I know a lot of people go to Mastoris for breakfast, and I'm looking forward to visiting them very soon for a nice weekend morning breakfast. However, I strongly recommend this restaurant if you want a nice Sunday dinner.

Bone In Prime Rib

Mesclun Salad

Baked Yellow Fin Tuna Vera Cruz

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Fried scallops

Cowboy steak

French onion soup

Cauliflower Savanna

Top sirloin