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Food at Piggyback Bar

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Inside Leah Cohen’s Asian American Pub in Jersey City

Piggyback Bar is the chef’s second NYC-area restaurant

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Jersey City’s increasingly hot dining scene is getting a new addition from Pig & Khao chef Leah Cohen. Opening Thursday, September 21, Piggyback Bar is a casual Asian American tavern with a whimsical menu and killer Manhattan views.

Since Piggyback is a bar, the food is appropriately light-hearted, with mash-up dishes like a mapo chili dog, disco “phories” that include a pho gravy, and a kimchi pulled pork sandwich. Cocktails are similarly Asian-inspired, like one with Thai chili-infused tequila, watermelon juice, and manzanilla sherry. There are 12 beers on tap and 12 wines by the glass. The full menu, with some hits from Pig & Khao, is below.

Mapo chili dog
Mapo chili dog
Fried calamari with blistered shishito peppers and caper butter
Fried calamari with blistered shishito peppers and caper butter
Grilled little gem Caesar salad with bonito, nori, and croutons
Grilled little gem Caesar salad with bonito, nori, and croutons
Top sirloin beef tartare with soy-cured egg and crispy shallots
Top sirloin beef tartare with soy-cured egg and crispy shallots

The 6,000-square-foot space itself is colorful and casual with 150 seats, but the real draw is the view across the Hudson River. When it’s nice out, a 100-seat outdoor patio looks directly out onto Lower Manhattan. Piggyback is a part of Harborside, a 4.3 million-square-foot network of office and apartment buildings alongside shops and restaurants.

A view of the Manhattan skyline

The view from Piggyback Bar

Piggyback is Cohen’s second restaurant, which she opened along with partner Ben Byruch. Cohen is the second Top Chef alum to tackle Jersey City — Dale Talde’s Talde has been downtown since 2015. It’s an interesting move for Cohen, but one that makes sense considering Jersey City’s hot restaurant scene, which still offers comparatively lower rents than nearby Manhattan.

Hours to start are Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Leah Cohen
Leah Cohen
Jean Schwarzwalder

Piggyback Bar

210 Hudson Street, Jersey City, NJ 07302 (201) 345-7775 Visit Website
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