Where in downtown Flemington are you headed this Saturday morning, and where on Saturday night? A year ago, both answers would have been somewhere on Main Street. This season they point to two different streets.
Main Street has its grand hotel back, and the hotel's bars stay open late. A few blocks away, the old Stangl pottery factory on Stangl Road has grown a weekend market, a run of holiday markets and a restaurant whose ribbon cutting is on today's calendar. Planning your season around which street runs which hours will save you a lot of wandering.
Main Street got its evening anchor back in September
The Union Hotel at 74 Main Street sat closed from 2015 until this fall. TAPinto Flemington reported that about 300 people spilled into Main Street for the Sept. 14 ribbon cutting, and the hotel officially opened on Sept. 15. Neal Hart built the original in 1814 as a stagecoach stop. Local developer Jack Cust won borough approval to redevelop it in 2020, and it now operates as a Marriott Tribute Portfolio hotel with 105 rooms.
At the ceremony, Hunterdon County Chamber of Commerce president Chris Phelan called the reopening "something that for many of us has been a long time coming," according to the same TAPinto account. He also noted that the Chamber was founded in 1916 in the building that now houses Jersey Prime Steakhouse.
What matters for your calendar is the hotel's hours. Marriott's dining page for the Union Hotel lists three spots:
- Jersey Prime Steakhouse, which serves breakfast and takes reservations online
- Jersey Prime Steakhouse Bar
- JP's Lounge, on the second floor, closed Mondays, open 5 to 11 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 5 p.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday, and 5 to 10 p.m. Sunday
The lounge opens at 5 p.m. and stays open until midnight on weekends, so Main Street's late-evening hours now center on a single historic building.
The other new name on Main Street is at 120 Main Street. Mahj on Main NJ is billed as a mahjong lounge with private rooms and a boutique selling sets, tiles and accessories. It is the third Main Street business from Karen Shankoff, and its ribbon cutting with the Flemington Improvement District was scheduled for Nov. 10. The Love Flemington listing put it plainly: "Bring your mahj group, bring your friends, or just bring yourself."
Stangl Road keeps Saturday-morning hours
Stangl Road runs on an earlier clock. The Stangl Market calendar lists market mornings starting at 9 a.m. at the Stangl Factory on Nov. 21, Nov. 28 and Dec. 5. In mid-December the hours get longer. The Stangl Factory Holiday Market runs Dec. 12–13 and Dec. 19–20, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day. The calendar also marks Dec. 26 as a market day. The market's own site lists the hours for each date.
The Stangl Factory site describes the complex as a home for art, pottery, food, coffee, yoga and events. Some of that is already running on weeknights. Within Spirit, at 37 Stangl Road, has two November evenings on the Love Flemington calendar:
- The Skeleton Key, Monday, Nov. 23, 7 to 9 p.m., $35, RSVP required
- Exploring Your Intuition, Wednesday, Nov. 25, starting at 7 p.m., $25, RSVP required, with the next monthly meetup on Dec. 23
Until now, the street's biggest evening has been an event, with no restaurant behind it. The Stangl Witch Walk and Moon Market listing advertised a 21-and-over night on Stangl Road for Oct. 30, with more than 25 vendors, more than 12 food vendors, beer from Lone Eagle, and Stangl House of Curiosities inside the factory.
Stangl Road's restaurant has its ribbon cutting on the calendar today
Stangl Factory Kitchen, at 2 Stangl Road, has its grand opening and ribbon cutting scheduled for today, Thursday, Nov. 19, from 4 to 9 p.m. Its chef is Lance Knowling. His site describes the menu as his comfort food plus his Kansas City barbecue, served in a 60-seat dining room with a private dining room and a 40-seat seasonal patio.
The kitchen gave the neighborhood a preview in October. The Flemington Improvement District's event listing says it first served the public at October's Stangl Witch Walk, "and the line to order stretched all the way down the street." The same listing expects reservations to fill quickly.
Stangl Road has drawn morning crowds to its markets and evening crowds to occasional events. A 60-seat dining room would give the street a full-time restaurant, much as the Union Hotel's steakhouse does for Main Street.
How the two streets share the season through Dec. 26
Here is the season by date, with each event's street:
- Thu., Nov. 19, 4–9 p.m. Stangl Road. Stangl Factory Kitchen grand opening, 2 Stangl Road.
- Sat., Nov. 21, from 9 a.m. Stangl Road. Stangl Market.
- Mon., Nov. 23, 7–9 p.m. Stangl Road. The Skeleton Key at Within Spirit.
- Wed., Nov. 25, from 7 p.m. Stangl Road. Exploring Your Intuition at Within Spirit.
- Sat., Nov. 28, from 9 a.m. Stangl Road. Stangl Market.
- Sat., Nov. 28, 10 a.m.–3 p.m. Main Street. Santa Trolley Rides from 119 Main Street.
- Sat., Dec. 5, from 9 a.m. Stangl Road. Stangl Market.
- Sat., Dec. 5, 5–7 p.m. Main Street. Hunterdon Holiday Parade, free.
- Sat.–Sun., Dec. 12–13, 9 a.m.–3 p.m. Stangl Road. Stangl Factory Holiday Market.
- Sat.–Sun., Dec. 19–20, 9 a.m.–3 p.m. Stangl Road. Stangl Factory Holiday Market.
- Wed., Dec. 23, 7 p.m. Stangl Road. Exploring Your Intuition at Within Spirit.
- Sat., Dec. 26 Stangl Road. Stangl Market day.
Two Saturdays use both streets, and they are the days to plan around.
On Small Business Saturday, Nov. 28, the Hunterdon County Chamber of Commerce runs Santa Trolley Rides from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., leaving from 119 Main Street and traveling between Flemington's three districts. The Stangl Market opens at 9 that morning, so you can start at the market and take the trolley to Main Street for lunch and shopping.
On Saturday, Dec. 5, the same pattern stretches into the evening. The Stangl Market runs in the morning, and the Chamber's Hunterdon Holiday Parade comes down Historic Main Street from 5 to 7 p.m., with free admission. After the parade, JP's Lounge at the Union Hotel is open until midnight on Saturdays.
The early start is on Reaville Avenue
One more fall newcomer sits on neither street. Perkins Griddle & Go opened at 100 Reaville Ave. on Nov. 5. NJBIZ reported that it is the first U.S. location of Perkins' fast-casual brand, which serves breakfast, lunch, dinner and baked goods for dine-in or grab-and-go. The franchisees, Giuseppe and Nicole Lahara, have committed to 16 more New Jersey locations. That makes Flemington the test kitchen for a concept the state will see more of. For context, NJBIZ counted only two traditional Perkins restaurants left in New Jersey, in East Brunswick and East Windsor.
So a full December Saturday could start with breakfast on Reaville Avenue, move to the Stangl Factory Holiday Market by 9 a.m., and end on Main Street once the Union Hotel's lounge opens at 5.
After 36 years in Hunterdon County, I still love watching Flemington add new places to go, and this season's dates make it an easy town to show off to visiting family. If you're planning a holiday weekend around Main Street and Stangl Road, or just want to talk through how downtown is changing, Beth Harding is glad to help. Schedule your free consultation.
