New Jersey has no shortage of restaurants, but some closings still feel bigger than a routine business update.
This month, diners across the state are saying goodbye to several familiar spots, adding to a difficult stretch for local restaurants. The losses follow other recent New Jersey goodbyes, including a wave of longtime favorites that shut down across the state.
From a 37-year Ridgewood fine dining restaurant pushed out by a new landlord to a Monmouth County Italian favorite with roots going back nearly 50 years and a Hoboken spot losing its flagship location, these closures show how different restaurant goodbyes can look.
Some are tied to retirement. Some are tied to real estate. Some are not the end of an entire brand, but still mark the end of a specific neighborhood chapter.
Village Green Restaurant in Ridgewood
Village Green Restaurant in Ridgewood served its final meals on June 6, 2026, after 37 years in business — but this was not a planned retirement.
The restaurant at 36 Prospect Street, a BYO known for refined New American cuisine, announced its closure on May 13 with only about three weeks of notice. In a message signed by chef-owner Kevin Portscher and staff, the restaurant explained that the building had been sold and a new lease could not be reached. “We recently learned that the building was sold to a new landlord, and despite our best efforts, we were unable to come to a new agreement,” Portscher wrote. “Unfortunately, everything happened very quickly, and we were not left with much time to prepare or properly say goodbye.”
Village Green opened in 1989 and built a reputation as one of Ridgewood’s more polished neighborhood restaurants, drawing customers for birthdays, anniversaries, family milestones and nights when they wanted something more special than a casual meal. Portscher, a Culinary Institute of America graduate and Bergen County resident, took over the restaurant in 2011 and ran it for the past 15 years. The menu featured dishes like miso garlic rubbed grouper, herb-marinated Arctic char, and short rib and rigatoni ragu.
That is what makes a closure like this difficult.
Village Green was not just another restaurant on a busy downtown street. It was a place with history. A 37-year run means generations of diners passed through the room. Some customers discovered it years ago and kept coming back. Others knew it as the place their parents or grandparents loved.
When asked about his next steps, Portscher said he was considering his options after 15 years at the helm. For now, no new restaurant has been announced. But the Village Green that Ridgewood diners knew is over — closed not by choice, but by a building sale.
Lubrano’s 36 in Middletown
Lubrano’s 36 in Middletown closed on June 7, 2026, serving its final customers after 10 years at 26 Highway 36 — but the Lubrano family’s restaurant history in the Bayshore area stretches back nearly 50 years.
The story began in 1979, when three Lubrano brothers from Brooklyn opened the original Lubrano’s in Navesink, New Jersey, wanting to bring authentic Italian cuisine to the Jersey Shore. That restaurant ran for decades before a family tragedy forced it to close. After roughly 15 years away from the business, the family returned in 2005 with Ciao Bella in Highlands, NJ, which became their most successful concept over its eight-year run before closing in 2013.
Paul and Traci Lubrano then opened Lubrano’s 36 in Middletown in September 2016 as the family’s third restaurant, with Paul running the kitchen as head chef and Traci managing the front of house. The BYO restaurant earned a place on lists of the top 10 Italian restaurants in Monmouth County and built a loyal local following over the past decade.
The closure was not framed as a business collapse. It was a retirement decision.
“This decision did not come easy. Lubrano’s 36 has been such a huge part of our lives and our family,” the owners wrote. “We are so grateful for all of the friendships, memories, and support that came with it.”
That does not make it any less emotional for regulars.
In its final week, Lubrano’s 36 was reportedly fully booked, a sign of how many customers wanted one more meal before the owners stepped away. There is a little good news for people attached to the space. New owners are expected to take over and reopen the restaurant in August 2026, and outstanding gift cards are expected to be honored. It is unclear whether the new owners will continue serving Italian cuisine.
When a family-run restaurant closes because the owners retire, it can feel like a proper goodbye and a loss at the same time. The business had a successful run, but the people, recipes, habits and relationships that made it familiar cannot be replaced exactly. After nearly five decades of Bayshore-area restaurant work, the Lubranos are stepping away.
Shaka Kitchen in Hoboken
Shaka Kitchen’s Washington Street location in Hoboken closed in early June 2026, after nine years operating as the brand’s original flagship.
The restaurant at 110 Washington Street served Hawaiian-inspired poke bowls, tacos, smoothies and acai bowls, giving Hoboken diners a fast-casual option focused on dietary flexibility — keto, gluten-free, vegan and pescatarian options were all part of the menu. The Washington Street spot was the brand’s first location and helped establish Shaka Kitchen in 2016.
Shaka Kitchen was founded by sisters Kiersten and Krista, who lived in Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii in 2014 and brought that approach to wholesome, active living back to New Jersey. Kiersten, the chef, has won Food Network’s Chopped. The sisters have grown the brand to three locations — beyond Washington Street, they still operate the 720 Monroe Street location on the west side of Hoboken, and a Morristown location at 62 South Street, both of which remain open.
In a letter to customers, the team said the decision came down to the Washington Street lease — they chose not to re-sign and would consolidate around the Monroe Street location in Hoboken. The closure of the original Hoboken location is more meaningful than a typical consolidation: Washington Street was where the brand began.
For Washington Street regulars, the loss matters.
Restaurants are often tied to location as much as brand. A place can continue operating somewhere else and still leave a gap on the block it leaves behind. That is especially true in walkable communities like Hoboken, where the difference between one neighborhood corridor and another can change who visits, how often they go and what role the restaurant plays in daily life.
That reflects a larger reality for small restaurants: even if customers still like the food, the physical footprint has to make sense.
New Jersey keeps losing familiar places
These three closures are not identical.
Village Green was a 37-year Ridgewood restaurant pushed out by a building sale rather than a planned retirement. Lubrano’s 36 was a Middletown Italian favorite tied to nearly 50 years of family restaurant history, ending in a chosen retirement. Shaka Kitchen lost its flagship Washington Street location after nine years, with two other locations still operating.
But together, they show how restaurant closures can hit communities from several directions at once.
Sometimes a longtime owner retires. Sometimes a building changes hands. Sometimes a lease no longer makes sense. Sometimes a restaurant brand continues, but a neighborhood still loses the location it knew.
For diners, the details matter. But the feeling is often the same.
A familiar sign disappears. A favorite table is gone. A takeout routine changes. A place that felt like part of the community suddenly becomes a memory.
This month, New Jersey is losing three restaurants that meant something to their regulars. Whether they lasted nine years, 37 years or were tied to nearly five decades of local restaurant work, each one leaves behind customers who will remember what made it special.
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