Jersey City/Journal Square & McGinley Square
Journal Square, McGinley Square and India Square: few posted happy hours, one very good one, and the best food in Jersey City if you bring your own bottle.
Cafe Alyce is half off all drinks, 3–6pm, Wednesday to Friday.
The best happy hour around Journal Square right now is Cafe Alyce in McGinley Square: half off every drink, 3–6pm, Wednesday to Friday (and Monday, if it’s open). After that, the honest answer is that this part of Jersey City barely does happy hour. The Wanderer is reported to do $5 pizza, beer and margaritas on Tuesdays; the Bergen Avenue row of Carvao BBQ, ITA and Wing Bar is where the neighborhood goes for dinner with a drink; JJ Sports Bar is the only real bar at the PATH; and India Square, the best food stretch in the city, is almost entirely BYOB. With the restored Loew’s Jersey Theatre reopening across the plaza this fall, expect that to change. We’ll update this page when it does.
Journal Square PATH and the plaza, south to McGinley Square on Montgomery Street and Bergen Avenue, and north to India Square on Newark Avenue.
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Every spot on this page, deals first. Tap a name to jump to it.
| # | Bar | The deal | When | $ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cafe Alyce | Half off all drinks | Mon, Wed–Fri 3–6pm | $$ |
| 2 | The Wanderer | $5 pizza, beer, wine & margaritas | Tuesday $5 specials (reported) | $$ |
| 3 | JJ Sports Bar | Bar at the PATH plaza | No happy hour | $$ |
| 4 | Carvao BBQ | Open-pit BBQ & margaritas | No happy hour | $$ |
| 5 | ITA Italian Kitchen | Casual Italian with a full bar | No happy hour | $$ |
| 6 | Wing Bar JC | Wings & sports | No current happy hour posted | $ |
| 7 | The Café at Journal Squared | Beer, wine & After Hours menu | No happy hour (beer & wine Thu–Sat until 7pm) | $$ |
| 8 | Swadist | BYOB Indian | BYOB, no bar | $$ |
One posted, one reported. That’s the honest count.
Verdict: uptown’s best deal. Half off every drink, 3 to 6pm, Wed–Fri (Monday too, if it’s open), in a restored luncheonette on Montgomery St.
Verdict: Tuesday is the night, $5 pizza, beer, wine and margaritas, per a local newsletter. Honest caveat: reported, not posted.
The bar at the PATH, the Bergen Avenue dinner row, an early-evening café and the BYOB move in India Square.
Verdict: the one at the station. Bar food, Indian dishes and the game at 4 Path Plaza. No posted happy hour.
Verdict: the barbecue dinner on Bergen Ave, margarita in hand. No happy hour.
Verdict: the sit-down Italian on the Bergen Ave row. Full bar, patio, no happy hour.
Verdict: wings and the game on Bergen Ave. No current happy hour we can confirm.
Verdict: a glass of wine before 7, not a night out. Beer, wine and an evening menu Thu–Sat 4–7pm.
Verdict: bring a bottle. India Square is almost entirely dry, and Swadist is the BYOB dinner.
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Not right at the station. JJ Sports Bar in the plaza doesn’t post one. The best nearby is Cafe Alyce in McGinley Square, about 15 minutes’ walk: half off all drinks, 3–6pm, Wednesday to Friday.
JJ Sports Bar is across the plaza. For a better deal before a show, Cafe Alyce on Montgomery Street is half off drinks until 6pm on weekdays.
Mostly, yes. The strip’s best-known restaurants, including Swadist, don’t serve alcohol, so bring your own.
The best cluster near Journal Square: Cafe Alyce, The Wanderer and One World Pizza on Montgomery Street and Baldwin Avenue, and Carvao BBQ, ITA Italian Kitchen and Wing Bar on Bergen Avenue.
Last updated . Deals and hours change, so confirm with the venue before you go. Spot something out of date? Tell us.
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Answers come only from the 1,384 bars and restaurants we track, with the date each deal was last checked.