This summer we spent some of our weekends taking trips to a few interesting towns in our region, checking out the local museums and outdoor activities in these areas – and of course, sampling lots of different food!  One we especially liked was Easton, a college town directly west of New York City on the New Jersey-Pennsylvania border, which you can get to directly by bus.  It’s not a huge place, but there’s a lot going on in Easton:  you can walk along an art trail; you can go tubing on the Delaware River, which forms the border between the two states; you can visit a bunch of different breweries; you can cross over into New Jersey and ride a vintage train to a winery; and if you have kids you can go to the Crayola Experience and learn all about how crayons are made.  And when you get hungry, there’s tons of interesting places to grab a bite, from bakeries to pizzerias to food trucks.  Here’s a sampling of what we tried in Easton as well as Phillipsburg, its sister city across the river, and where we’d recommend you check out on a visit.  As a warning, however, we want to let you know that we feature some images of meat here.

Our very first stop, after getting off our 7am bus into town, was State Cafe and Grill, which is only open for four days a week in the morning and early afternoon.  We heard it was some of the best breakfast in town, so that’s what we got ourselves.  Miriam tried the veggie frittata, made with peppers, spinach, cauliflower, Swiss cheese, and pesto sauce, plus a side of home fries.

Cyril had this fried egg reuben.

And we also split an order of cornbread.

Later that day we made our way to Two Rivers Brewing, which is one of six breweries in Easton and Phillipsburg. This particular brewery not only makes their own beer, but they also have a restaurant with an extensive menu – so we decided to have dinner there.  Miriam had their grilled cheese, stuffed with avocado, peppers, spinach, jalapeño, and two cheeses.

And Cyril got their huge smoked bacon and cheddar burger.

The next day we discovered that Easton is home to a pizzeria that’s been operating since 1947, so we figured if it’s been around that long it must be good.  Colonial Pizza and Spaghetti House makes a very interesting pie, which they call their “upside down” pizza:  it’s got mozzarella cheese on the bottom and sauce on top of that.  Here it is!

There’s also a bunch of great bakeries around Easton, and we tried several of them – including Sweet Girlz Bakery, which specializes in cupcakes.  On the right here is the Half Baked, which is made with swirled chocolate and vanilla cake and topped with vanilla frosting, cookie pieces, and a brownie chunk.  On the left is a Heaven cupcake, with a peanut butter and cookies and cream cake, peanut butter frosting, and Oreo crumbles on top.

Nearby you can also find Cake and Corolla, which serves up some really huge baked goods.  Here’s what they’re most known for: their cinnamon roll, topped with a scoop of cream cheese frosting.

And here’s one of their donuts, with funfetti frosting and mini cookies in the middle – it’s supposed to resemble a packet of Dunkaroos.

There’s also Pie + Tart, where you can get both sweet and savory pies.  We got a slice of the peanut butter chocolate pie to go.

And if you head over near the river you’ll find Khanisa’s, which serves up a whole menu of nothing but different puddings.  This is a small cup of the Red Velvet, made out of cake layered with vanilla pudding.

Now if you walk over the Delaware River – which you can cross on foot on a half-mile path across a bridge downtown – you be in Phillipsburg, New Jersey.  While we were there tubing we came across Melt, a fairly new ice cream place.  Their most impressive creations are some over-the-top sundaes, so we tried one of them – this is the Mint To Be, made with mint chocolate chip ice cream topped with chocolate sauce, chopped Andes mints, a mint Oreo, and a mint chocolate ice cream sandwich, all served in a cup coated in chocolate frosting and more Andes mints.

And finally, Phillipsburg is also home to one of the other breweries in the Easton area, and it’s just down the road from Melt.  Invertase Brewing not only has beer but also hosts food trucks several days a week, and while we were there we had a chance to try Bucks BBQ.  Miriam got a side of their mac and cheese …

… while Cyril had their smoked wings.

All in all we were pleasantly surprised by all food Easton had on offer – we went just for the tubing and the wine train, but we ended up sampling so many different things.  We had breakfast, pizza, BBQ, burgers and sandwiches, ice cream, pudding, and treats from several different bakeries.  Considering that Easton isn’t all that big, that’s quite a lot of things on offer.  You might not have heard of Easton before, or if you have it might not strike you as a food destination, but we thought it was a fun place to visit with a lot to do and a lot to eat.  So if you’re looking for an interesting area to travel to, for the day or for a weekend, Easton might be worth a visit.