Lunch: Mon-Thu 12pm - 3pm, Friday 11am - 3pm
Brunch: Sat-Sun 10am - 3pm
Dinner: Sun-Thu 5pm - 10pm, Fri-Sat 5pm - 11pm
Bar Menu: Sun-Thu until 11pm, Fri-Sat until 12am
In 1895, five score and nine years ago, Hoboken was treated to the opening of one of its longest-running restuarant/bar spaces at 10th and Washington Streets, in what is now the newly renovated Elysian Cafe. Back then, and during the height of the industrialized era of Hoboken's history, the bar mainly catered to waves of workers heading home from their shifts at the local factories, notably the Maxwell House plant (which closed in 1992). As displayed in the picture below, the bar's name was inverted ("Cafe Elysian"), and the space looked like an enclosed wooden box... a place where tired workers went to block out the outside world, have a few drinks with fellow workers and friends, and, perhaps, to forget about the toil of the day's work.Jump forward a few decades to the summer of 2004, and the residents and workers of Hoboken have been treated to another sort of opening in the same space: the ultra-modern, European-style bistro, the Elysian Cafe. After 61 years of ownership by the Quinn family of Hoboken, Eugene and Joyce Flinn (owners of Amanda's Restaurant, another of Hoboken's classy establishments) signed a long-term lease to renovate and maintain operations of the Cafe. The Flinns gave a face lift to the Elysian's ornately decorated ceiling with countless gold-leaf touch ups, added a solid cherry-wood bar, and flooded the space with tons of natural lighting with wall-sized glass windows. They separated the space into a dining section and a bar area. And they brought to the Elysian a new, European-style formality that makes it seem like the Cafe belongs in Paris rather than Hoboken. But one year and about a million dollars later, in July of 2004, the Elysian Cafe once again opened its (glass) doors to the public.Initial responses have mostly been of praise over the sleek elegance and tidiness of the space, as well as its balanced, refined atmosphere. Both the exterior and the interior look fantastic, and the large, flat-screen televisions high above the bar provide a modern touch that does not detract from that authentic French feel of the bistro. The bar is lit by a soft blue glow, also adding a touch of modernity to the Cafe's mid-20th-century charm. In addition, the Flinns were able to sign-on executive chef Sean Fetters, previously of the Water Club in NYC and the Dining Room at the Hilton Short Hills, whose fancy seafood and simple American dishes are worth a try, not to mention the bar menu.Although the service is impeccable (nice, helpful, and friendly waitresses, complete with French-style aprons), the food at the Elysian Cafe has been getting mixed reviews. Since the Cafe opened for lunch just this past week (the third week of October), it seemed like a great time to check out what the Elysian has to offer, so off I went with a friend. While the dinner menu consists of items like Jumbo Crab Cakes with Cucumber-Daikon Salad and Red Pepper Rouille or Slow-Roasted Duck Confit with Roquefort Risotto, the lunch menu was, appropriately, a bit more subdued. I ordered the Elysian's version of a steak sandwich, while my friend thought he might give the lobster roll a try. While I honestly thought my steak sandwich couldn't have been any better - tasty medium-rare meat over a lightly toasted roll dipped in a mouth-watering au jou sauce - my friend mentioned that the lobster roll could have used some work. It didn't have the familiar New England lobster taste to which he was accustomed, and it seemed like it had more of a produced rather than a natural flavor. We both enjoyed the fries that were uniquely served in shiny metal cups (admittedly, the fries were of the frozen variety, but tasty nonetheless). The prices, while they can be a bit on the higher end of the spectrum, were manageable for a Cafe that ranks near Amanda's in terms of elegance and formality.In any case, it seems as though the food at the Elysian begs for individual opinion. In addition, I must admit that we only stopped in for a quick lunch, so we did not experience what Elysian has to offer in terms of a full no-holds-barred dinner. We will save that for another time, hopefully before the year is out. In any case, the combination of fantastic service, soft, classy background jazz, an airy french-american atmosphere, and a sense of history in the walls makes that future dinner visit something to look forward to.