Touring Downtown Bound Brook with History & Booze

Did you know Bound Brook is the oldest and most historic town in Somerset County, New Jersey? Located along the Raritan River, Bound Brook was settled in the late 1600s. The town is most know for the Battle of Bound Brook in 1777, which is historically reenacted every year.

Over the weekend I checked out the 3rd Annual Battle & Brews History Tour/Pub Stroll hosted by EMI Strategy and the Bound Brook Revitalization Partnership. Bound Brook wants to get the word out about their restaurants and lively pubs, art galleries and a vintage 1920s theater, a wide variety of shops and services, and a mix of new and historic residential living options. I am happy to spread the word!

We started near the historic train station at Mama Rosina’s (350 Main St), which features fantastic Italian food.

We got to enjoy our first drinks as part of this history/pub crawl as well as their delicious bruschetta.

Bound Brook has a lot of history and while we toured the town we got to learn a few interesting historical facts including this plaque:

Located on Main St, this tavern was where they read the Declaration of Independence out loud for the first time  in 1776.

Speaking of history, the tour provided us with a historical reenactor which was a lot of fun.

AND we also learned some fun facts about Bound Brook including the knowledge that the Graham Cracker was invented there in 1929 by a local pastor, Sylvester Graham, who thought the his cracker would cure lust. It’s one of my favorite NJ facts.

For our next stop we ended up at Imperial Bar (200 Talmage Ave), a restaurant, bar, and club where you can host private events.

It was there I fell in love…with their fried chicken. They also make an amazing margarita, which came with a light up ice cube. Very fun!

Our last stop was the Westbrook Restaurant (525 Talmage Ave), a cool bar and restaurant which features live music.

They also have an outside dining area where we got to meet a rapping Ben Franklin (exclusive for the tour). He was interesting…

Other places of note in Bound Brook is the The Historic Brook Arts Center (10 Hamilton St) a classic vaudeville theater that was built in 1927. The theater remains  mostly unchanged, and recently went going a major renovation. The theater features movies nights, concerts, orchestra performances and more.

Events to look forward to in Bound Brook include a weekly Cruise Night on Main St starting Thursday, May 16, a farmer’s market held on Saturdays starting June 22,  Summer Movies in the Park held every Wednesday starting in July, a food truck festival on July 13 and the Riverfest Art and Music Fair in September.

Be sure to check out EMI Strategy, a unique marketing firm that specializes in building a relationship between tourism and economic development. They are also the founders of “Have You Met Newark” which includes a foodie tour called Nom Nom Newark. Have You Met Newark provides fun, informative public guided walking tours of Newark neighborhoods.

For more information on Bound Brook visit the Bound Brook Revitalization Partnership and Borough of Bound Brook.