It’s been interesting reading the comments on this thread. Growing up in Hackensack during the 1940s & 1950s, I never went to very many restaurants, but I do remember two of them. One was located on Main Street a few doors south of the Oritani Theater on the same side of the block. I don’t recall the name of the place, but it was usually busy and the food was good.
The other place was a bar & restaurant named Cavalli’s. It was an older establishment that was in business until the early 1950s. The exact location escapes me, but it was near a bank on a busy commercial road. I’m not sure if it was within Hackensack borders or in an adjacent community. The restaurant had the tastiest pizza, and the owner/chef would make it in the kitchen on the lower level. When the food was ready, it would be sent upstairs to the main floor via pulleys on a dumbwaiter, where a waitress would retrieve it and serve it to the customers.
The first time I ever saw a TV set was at the bar of this restaurant. It was one of the first places to have a TV set, and I still remember a large “Television” sign that was placed in the window to attract patrons. It was also a popular place for sailors on leave after arriving in NYC, and the owner would sometimes accept payment for drinks in foreign coins. Then he would give a few of the coins to kids as a freebie. I got a few coins from China and South American countries, which was the first time I had seen such currency. For me, it was a memorable place.
