Xocolatz in Westfield, NJ - Highly Recommended
During Westfield's weekly summer jazz festival we had dinner once again at Xocalatz last Tuesday and I was reminded how good this small, often overlooked place actually is. Interestingly enough no other chow hound has posted about it before.
With its narrow storefront you might not even recognize it as a restaurant. The atmosphere inside is decent but nothing special. Service is attentive, warm, friendly but still efficient. But the food is what counts. At a very reasonable price level (in particular for Westfield) you get innovative, refined high quality dishes. They have a variety of innovative salads and sandwiches that you can get (at the same price) also for dinner. The entrees are often Xocolatz special version of traditional dishes. They do have a good selection of daily specials that are posted on their web site. The place is BYOB. They have lots of outside seating most nights. On Thursday when the store next door is open late, outside seating is limited however.
More details in two recent blog entries:
http://westfieldblog.blogspot.com/2007/08/sweet-sounds-downtown-and-dinner-at.html
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I haven't been to Xocolatz in a while, but the times I was there, I loved the food. I continue to be confused about their bathroom situation, however. Customers go behind the counter, through the kitchen/food prep area, between the stoves, counters and sinks, to the little bathrooms off the kitchen. As much as I like the place, I feel awkward and uncomfortable doing that. I am not a big person, but imagine that some people might not fit through the kitchen. I was a bit surprised that this passed the health inspectors.
Meagan›5 Replies-
re: meagan
sivyaleah
Aug 17, 2007 05:18 PM
I SO totally agree with this! Very odd situation for a restaurant. I wonder if it's because originally, there were very few tables there, or maybe it was meant more to be a catering/take out type of place, therefore providing a handy bathroom for customers is not a requirement? I work for an architect in NYC and I'm so focused on accessibility issues and it always struck me as unusual, but maybe NJ has different requirements than NY? Something to do with the size of the establishment? "Grandfathered" into the code for the original building? The store is so narrow, where else could it possibly be moved?
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re: meagan
FoodFetish
Aug 18, 2007 09:38 AM
Fully agreed. The bathroom situation is weird at best. I remember when we moved to Westfield in 2000 there was a Dunkin Donut in that space. For a restaurant, the very narrow but deep layout of the building is everything but ideal. That is probably also why the rent is reasonable and they can afford to offer great food at reasonable prices.
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re: meagan
I have NO idea what you are talking about. I work at Xocolatz and have since they opened. No patron enters the kitchen. If you took the route you described, you would have had to enter from the back parking lot through a non-public entrance. The bathroom is near the kithcen, but in the main dining area not accessed through the kitchen area.
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re: HillJ
sivyaleah
Aug 17, 2007 12:09 PM
Aren't they? Thanks for the recipe :-) I'm going to try that one out. I have family coming next weekend, and I actually was thinking of making a tray of brownies and when Food Fetish posted this, it reminded me about that I've been wanting to find a recipe for brown sugar ones. Maybe I'll get motivated to try it out next week.
The Owner of Xocolatz was friendly with the Owner of the doll house store that used to be in town, who we had gotten to be friendly with - so we got to know him a bit too when he would stop in. Nice guy, nice seeing that he was able to take that tiny store and turn it into something really charming, delicious and sucessful.
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