Savor Scout › Cities › New Jersey › Clifton, NJ
Where to eat in Clifton, NJ
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A few places to eat in Clifton
- Crêpe Castle Pancake House · 0.4 miles
852 NJ-3 suite 300, Clifton - Grande Saloon American · 0.5 miles
940 Van Houten Ave, Clifton - Sombrero Tacoria Clifton Mexican · 0.5 miles
850 Van Houten Ave, Clifton - International Delights Bakery · 0.5 miles
230 Brighton Rd, Clifton - Polonia Delicatessen Delicatessen · 0.5 miles
785 Van Houten Ave, Clifton
The closest few by distance from central Clifton, not a ranking — local places listed ahead of chains. Listings from Overture Maps open data (September 2026); hours and openings change, so check before you go. Want one picked for what you're craving instead? Ask Savor Scout in Clifton.
The food scene in Clifton
Open listings put 349 places to eat within 2 miles of central Clifton, 3 within a ten-minute walk (half a mile). The most common: Mexican (31), pizza (29) and Chinese (21). 20 are fast-food counters; the rest are sit-down restaurants, cafés, bakeries and takeaway spots.
What stands out in Clifton is Peruvian, Colombian and Dominican — types that are listed here at 16 to 21 times the national rate.
By type of food — tap one for what to order and how to spot a good one:
Mexican 31 Pizza 29 Chinese 21 Bakery 20 Italian 15 Deli 15 Peruvian 15 Latin American 11 Donuts 10 Bagels 10
The food in Clifton
Clifton does not have infinite options, and that brings its own problem: you have been to most of them, and picking again is somehow still hard.
Savor Scout picks one restaurant in Clifton and tells you why it picked it. Say what you're craving and it reads menus and reviews for that specific dish, rather than sorting places by overall star rating. Free, runs in the browser, and one search needs no account.
Eating out in Clifton
Clifton has a population of about 85,390. Somewhere this size rewards knowing which places are actually worth the trip. Savor Scout searches up to 35 miles around Clifton, so places just outside the city are still on the table when they are worth the drive.
How many places to eat are there in Clifton?
Clifton sits in Passaic County, where the Census counts 411 full-service restaurants, 389 limited-service places, 116 cafés and snack bars and 75 bars — 991 places to eat or drink in all. Clifton makes up about 16% of the county's population.
That works out at 19.1 per 10,000 residents, which is about level with the national median of 19.4 — a normal amount of choice, and a normal amount of indecision. Sit-down and counter-service places are close to balanced, with the edge to sit-down.
Those county figures also cover Paterson, Passaic, all within Savor Scout's search radius from Clifton.
County-level counts from the US Census (2022) — how we got these numbers.
What are you craving in Clifton?
- tacos in Clifton — what separates a good one from an average one
- pizza in Clifton — what separates a good one from an average one
- sushi in Clifton — what separates a good one from an average one
- burgers in Clifton — what separates a good one from an average one
- ramen in Clifton — what separates a good one from an average one
- wings in Clifton — what separates a good one from an average one
- chinese food in Clifton — what separates a good one from an average one
- italian food in Clifton — what separates a good one from an average one
- thai food in Clifton — what separates a good one from an average one
- mexican food in Clifton — what separates a good one from an average one
- barbecue in Clifton — what separates a good one from an average one
- seafood in Clifton — what separates a good one from an average one
- brunch in Clifton — what separates a good one from an average one
- indian food in Clifton — what separates a good one from an average one
- sandwiches in Clifton — what separates a good one from an average one
- noodles in Clifton — what separates a good one from an average one
Near Clifton
- Passaic, NJ — about 2 miles away
- Paterson, NJ — about 4 miles away
- Kearny, NJ — about 6 miles away
- Hackensack, NJ — about 7 miles away
- East Orange, NJ — about 7 miles away
- Newark, NJ — about 8 miles away
Campuses in and near Clifton
Each has its own page: what is within walking distance and a few places to start with.
- Montclair State University
- William Paterson University of New Jersey
- Fairleigh Dickinson University-Metropolitan Campus
- Bergen Community College
- New Jersey Institute of Technology
- Rutgers University-Newark
- Essex County College
- Seton Hall University
How this differs from Google Maps and Yelp
Maps and Yelp are directories: they rank everything nearby and leave the deciding to you. Savor Scout makes the call and shows its reasoning — the match score, what it beat, and the evidence behind the pick. The underlying place data comes from the same public sources, so the difference is the selection, not the data.
Guides
- What to eat when… — 30 guides by situation, from a first date to a hangover to a group of twelve.
- Food guides — what separates a good taco, ramen or pizza from an average one.
- Eating out with a restriction — allergies, halal, kosher, vegan and more.
- Near a campus? — food around 637 US universities.