Bound Brook Inn

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Home to 'America's Florist'
227 West Union Avenue
Bound Brook, New Jersey

Hines: Open all year. A tall-pillared, spacious mansion where good food is served. Lunch and Dinner a la carte; also Dinners $1.50. Liquor is served.

One of the few Hines listed a specific address for. (Typically, if there is an address, it is thru my own sleuthing efforts. Hines had a very curious sense of direction.) The building seems to date to the 19th century. While it was always large, when William Robeson acquired the property in 1900, he proceeded with alterations and additions that produced the building you see today. I understand it was intended to resemble the Longfellow House in MA.

Alfred Nangeroni bought the property in 1922 and ran the popular Bound Brook Inn on the site. The Rotary Club of Bound Brook/Middlesex had its beginnings on December 5, 1922, when Charles Manchon called the first meeting at the Inn. In May 1923, the Inn became infamous (as did many others) for being the crown jewels in a sweeping "dry raid" across Somerset County. Apparently a very large quantity of whiskey was seized (these were prohibition years). The incident was even reported in the New York Times.

These days, the gracious building still stands but it is no longer a restaurant of any kind. It is the headquarters of a large florist and is open to the public. If you are in the area, stop in—I understand they have been taking great care of the place!

www.americasflorist.com

Franklin Arms Tea Room

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Now the Bloomfield Steak
& Seafood House
409 Franklin Street
Bloomfield, New Jersey

After several changes in name & ownership – still a Restaurant!

Hines:
Open all year, every day, except Mondays and Christmas, 11:30am to 7:30pm. This Colonial dining room is closely supervised by Mr. and Mrs. Demmert who will make you glad you came. Their special dishes are steaks and chicken Dixie and they bake their own pies, cakes, and rolls. Lunch 75¢ and up, Dinner 80¢ and up.

Although the Tea Room has long closed, the building still stands and continues to operate as a restaurant: the Bloomfield Steak & Seafood House. This is nothing short of a miracle considering it was built in 1676! Originally called the Joseph Davis House; some vintage postcards had this to say:

The Homestead is 275 years old [note this was said as of 1940s—which would make it about 340 years old today!]. The Charter of Bloomfield was signed in the Pink Room by General Bloomfield in 1796. George Washington dined here but did not sleep here.

As this is pretty local to us and remains a privately run restaurant, we hope to visit soon. We also can't resist the extraordinary historical lineage of the building.