Highwoods is one of Franklin Lakes’ quieter, more residential neighborhoods, so its best food destinations are not arranged along a traditional downtown main street. Instead, locals follow a handful of convenient commercial corridors—especially Franklin Avenue, Franklin Lake Road, and the nearby High Mountain Road intersection—for bagels, sushi, coffee, pizza, gelato, prepared foods, and easy family dinners.
The good news? Highwoods residents are never far from something delicious. A short drive from Highwoods Drive and Summit Avenue brings you to a compact food cluster where longtime neighborhood institutions sit alongside specialty cafés and casual takeout spots.
Start With a Classic North Jersey Breakfast
For a true local breakfast, head toward Bagel Nosh at 799 Franklin Avenue, near the Franklin Avenue and Bowers Lane area. This is the kind of place that suits Franklin Lakes mornings: quick, generous, familiar, and built around the North Jersey bagel tradition. A bagel with cream cheese typically runs about $4–$6, while egg-and-cheese sandwiches are generally around $8–$10. Specialty sandwiches, lox, and deli-style lunches can reach $12–$16.
The go-to order is a chewy bagel with scallion cream cheese, a Taylor ham, egg, and cheese sandwich, or a lox bagel when you want something more substantial. Bagel Nosh also offers muffins, croissants, crumb cake, salads, wraps, and classic deli sandwiches. The shop’s early hours and strong takeout culture make it especially useful for school mornings, weekend errands, and feeding a group.
For a more relaxed breakfast or lunch, check out Country Cafe, another familiar name in the Franklin Lakes dining mix. Expect classic American café fare—omelets, pancakes, French toast, sandwiches, salads, and coffee—with most meals in the $10–$20 range. It is the sort of dependable neighborhood restaurant where regulars settle into a booth and order without needing to study the menu.
Coffee Worth Leaving the House For
The standout coffee stop near Highwoods is Roast’d Coffee, located at 807 Franklin Avenue. This is not simply a place to grab a generic drip coffee. Roast’d emphasizes beans roasted in small batches, pour-over preparation, espresso drinks, cold brew, chai, tea, turmeric lattes, and pastries. Drinks generally fall in the $4–$8 range, with pastries adding another $3–$6.
My favorite kind of Roast’d visit is a quiet weekend morning: a carefully prepared coffee, a flaky croissant, and a few minutes to linger before tackling errands. The shop’s focus on fresh roasting gives it a more specialized feel than a typical chain café, while its welcoming atmosphere keeps it from feeling overly formal.
For convenience, Franklin Avenue also has familiar options such as Starbucks and Dunkin’. They are useful for fast drive-through coffee, iced drinks, and predictable breakfast bites, but Roast’d is the destination when the coffee itself is the reason for the trip.
Sushi, Hibachi, and Japanese Favorites
Highwoods-area diners are fortunate to have several Japanese options close together.
Naru Restaurant, at 754-B Franklin Avenue, is the choice for a livelier dinner built around sushi, hibachi, Japanese entrées, and steakhouse-style plates. Prices generally sit in the $20–$45 per person range, depending on whether you order sushi rolls, hibachi, sashimi, drinks, or a full dinner. Naru offers dine-in, takeout, delivery, and reservations, making it equally practical for a family celebration or an easy night when nobody wants to cook.
At Nigiri Sushi, near 807 Franklin Avenue, the mood is more focused on sushi and Japanese takeout. It is a good hidden-gem option for rolls, sashimi, teriyaki, and lunch specials. Plan on about $15–$35 per person, with specialty rolls and larger combination platters moving higher.
Further along Franklin Avenue, Sushi Cocoro at 856 Franklin Avenue has long been recognized locally for sushi and Japanese specialties. It is a strong pick when you want carefully prepared fish, a dinner combination, or a more traditional sushi-centered meal. Expect approximately $20–$50 per person, depending on the order. The restaurant’s longevity is part of its appeal: it has become one of those places area residents return to when they want a reliable sushi dinner rather than the newest trend.
Pizza, Italian Comfort Food, and Casual Dinner
For classic New Jersey comfort food, the Franklin Avenue cluster offers multiple pizza and Italian choices. Franklin Lakes Pizza & Restaurant, around 799 Franklin Avenue, is the neighborhood workhorse for pies, slices, pasta, subs, salads, and family meals. A slice or sandwich is generally in the $4–$12 range, while a full pizza or dinner for a family usually lands around $20–$45.
Uncle Louie’s Pizza, listed near 754 Franklin Avenue, is another convenient choice for pizza, baked dishes, and casual Italian-American fare. These are the places to call when soccer practice ends late, relatives arrive unexpectedly, or Friday night simply requires a hot pie and a crowded kitchen table.
For a more polished Italian dinner, locals can look toward Aldo’s Italian Restaurant and Travato’s Due’ in the broader Franklin Lakes dining area. These restaurants generally fall into the $25–$60 per person range and are better suited to date nights, birthdays, and dinners where you want table service and a bottle of wine.
Sweet Stops and Specialty Food
The most distinctive dessert stop near Highwoods is Gio’s Gelato & Espresso Bar at 822 Franklin Avenue. Owner Raffaele D’Angelo studied gelato-making in Italy, and the shop’s appeal comes from its authentic Italian approach rather than oversized novelty desserts. A cup or cone generally costs about $6–$10, while espresso drinks and affogato-style treats add another few dollars.
Gio’s is especially good after dinner at Naru or a pizza stop nearby. Try a classic chocolate or pistachio flavor, then branch out into seasonal fruit or specialty combinations. It is also one of the area’s most pleasant places for a small afternoon treat.
For cakes and celebration desserts, Kara Kakes is a useful local resource. Custom cakes, cupcakes, and party desserts vary widely, but typical orders range from $25 to $100 or more depending on size and design. This is the kind of bakery locals remember when a birthday, graduation, shower, or family gathering is coming up.
The Market Basket Tradition
No Highwoods food guide would be complete without The Market Basket at 813 Franklin Lake Road, near the High Mountain Road and Franklin Lake Road area. More than a grocery store, it functions as a specialty-food destination with prepared foods, a deli, bakery, seafood, prime meats, produce, cheese, catering, and gift baskets. It is ideal for assembling an impressive dinner at home without doing every step from scratch.
Prices range from $10–$20 for prepared meals and sandwiches to much more for catering, specialty meats, seafood, and elaborate platters. The local tradition here is simple: stop in before a holiday, weekend gathering, or sports-filled Sunday and let the prepared-food counter do some of the work.
What About Food Trucks?
Highwoods does not have a permanent food-truck court or a daily lineup of trucks. Instead, food trucks tend to appear through private parties, school events, community gatherings, seasonal festivals, and catered celebrations. That is worth knowing before setting out in search of one.
The neighborhood’s food-truck tradition is therefore event-driven: pizza trucks, taco trucks, barbecue trailers, and dessert trucks may show up for a particular gathering, but they are not fixed destinations in the way Bagel Nosh or Gio’s are. For everyday meals, the Franklin Avenue and Franklin Lake Road clusters remain the dependable choices.
A Perfect Highwoods Food Crawl
For an easy weekend food crawl, start with coffee at Roast’d, pick up a bagel sandwich at Bagel Nosh, browse prepared foods at Market Basket, and finish with gelato at Gio’s. For dinner, choose Naru for hibachi, Sushi Cocoro for sushi, or Franklin Lakes Pizza for a casual family meal.
That is the real charm of dining near Highwoods: there is no single restaurant district, but there is a satisfying network of local stops along Franklin Avenue, Franklin Lake Road, and High Mountain Road. Once you know where to look, the neighborhood’s food scene feels less hidden—and a lot more delicious.