Contrary to popular belief, 2025 has brought more than just congestion pricing and the end of a much-anticipated holiday break. The new year has come with an abundance of new restaurants and cuisines in the area, including the up-and-coming Journal Square neighborhood of Jersey City. Khokha is a Pakistani-American fast-food restaurant that opened its doors at 60 Sip Avenue, Store 2B in Jersey City on December 20th, 2024. This new spot, with a halal menu of burgers, sliders, paratha rolls, lamb chops, and more, is a foodie’s dream come true. Read on for more about Khokha’s recent arrival in Jersey City, New Jersey.
About Khokha
Khokha is a Pakistani-American restaurant that opened in Jersey City at 60 Sip Avenue, Store 2B on December 20th, 2024 with its official grand opening. This is the restaurant’s second New Jersey location, with one in Piscataway at 1358 Centennial Avenue being the first.
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According to the franchise’s website, Khokha means “kiosk” in Urdu. Within Pakistani culture, this word typically refers to a local eatery where people can find “delicious and comforting food along with unique and hilarious artwork.” Khokha hopes to bring that same upbeat and comforting vibe to its Northern New Jersey communities.
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The Hoboken Girl team has reached out to the business and this piece will be updated with any further information.
The Menu
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Khokha serves up a completely halal menu of fast-food favorites like burgers, chicken sandwiches, loaded fries, and more. Patrons can find signature items like wagyu beef burgers, topped with chimichurri, jalapeño aioli, and romaine, as well as Pakistani-inspired options like the paratha rolls, which can be made with crispy chicken, pulled beef, or plant-based meat.
This restaurant is a great spot for plant-based folks. The menu includes options like The Modern Burger, made with a plant-based patty and topped with cheddar cheese, grilled tomato, the signature Khokha sauce, and mint chutney, and the Anda Shami, which comes with a chicken + split chickpea patty topped with omelet, cabbage, masala, ketchup, garlic sauce, and tamarind sauce.
The menu also features grilled cheese sandwiches, wings, milkshakes, desserts, and housemade drinks like the Desi Mint Margarita and Lassi, which is a yogurt-based beverage. While the restaurant has only been open for a few weeks as of this writing, menu options like the Australian and New Zealand lamb chops have quickly become must-try items for customers.
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Jersey City locals can try Khokha’s expansive menu Sunday through Tuesday from 11AM to 9PM.
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The Common Tern, Hoboken’s Honorary Bird, Now Has Its Own Library Card
Back in July 2024, the City of Hoboken passed a designation that officially recognized the Common Tern as the honorary bird of the Mile Square after decades of efforts to protect the bird and its existence in Hudson County. A local advocacy group run by residents, called Our Tern, has since lead the effort to protect the Common Tern's nesting sites in Hoboken, with the help of the new designation. Now, the Common Tern is expanding its influence in the Mile Square. A new limited edition library card was recently debuted at all Hoboken Public Library locations, featuring a photo of the Common Tern. Read on for more about the new library card, as well as background on the Common Tern and its history in Hoboken, New Jersey.
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The Library Card
Our Tern is now "helping Hoboken to Tern Pages with the Hoboken Library." As of a few weeks ago, a new limited edition library card is now available at all Hoboken Public Library locations that features the Mile Square's honorary bird, per an Instagram post. The photo was taken by Hoboken resident and photographer, Juan Melli, who is also a member of Our Tern.
Read More: Here’s Why You Should Appreciate the Hoboken + Jersey City Pigeons
The Designation + About the Common Tern
At the Hoboken City Council meeting on Wednesday, July 11th, 2024 a resolution was officially passed that designates the Common Tern as the honorary bird of Hoboken. Jeff Train — a local teacher and Hoboken resident with a passion for birdwatching — shared with The Hoboken Girl that Mile Square is the first city in the United States to adopt the Common Tern as its honorary bird.
Photo Credit: Juan Melli
"We want to express our gratitude to Emily Jabbour and Tiffanie Fisher for sponsoring and cosponsoring the resolution," Jeff previously said. "Their efforts are an important step as we work to make Hoboken a more sustainable, ecologically diverse city."
The Common Tern has a long history in the Hudson County area and beyond. After being repeatedly hunted for its feathers, the bird was nearly brought to extinction in the early 1900s, and only a few thousand remained on the Atlantic Coast. Fast forward to 2013, and a single pair of Common Terns chose a waterfront pier in Hoboken as its nesting site — a welcome sign of the river’s improved biodiversity. Every year, more and more birds returned, peaking at 86 by 2023.
In 2024, the owners of Pier 11, where the birds nested, placed netting and other deterrents on the pier, intending to keep the birds away. The efforts led to the death of at least one of the Common Terns, the birds, but the Tern, which demonstrate a strong fidelity to their nesting sites, continued to arrive. Approximately 10 terns persisted, and successfully hatched chicks, but the number of birds at the pier was still much fewer than the previous year.
Photo Credit: Juan Melli
In an effort to protect the birds, three Hoboken residents responded to this by starting a local advocacy group — enter Our Tern. With the support of other local groups, Jeff Train, Noelle Thurlow, and Juan Melli successfully fought to remove the netting and to ensure that the birds were given adequate space to raise their young. In return, many terns have returned to the pier since to nest.
"Our Tern is an organization devoted to protecting this important, symbolic species on the shores of Hoboken," the website says. "We are committed to finding long-term solutions so that the Common Tern — a symbol of our ecology’s renewal — continues to grace our waterfront."
Floating docks have seen success in recent years when it comes to protecting endangered species of birds, including one in Maryland. Jeff previously told HG that one of Our Tern's main goals is to help find a permanent home for these birds through the funding of a dock similar to the floating one in Maryland. "In addition, we want to raise awareness and generate enthusiasm for this special creature who has made Hoboken a temporary home," he said.
Photo Credit: Juan Melli
Hudson County locals can get a glimpse of the Common Terns nesting during certain months on Pier 11 by walking to the end of Pier 12. Jeff mentioned that if you bring binoculars or a long camera lens, you can observe the chicks as they grow. Residents can also reach out to Our Tern to schedule a walk to the piers to observe the terns. The birds arrive in May and nest in the Mile Square until the end of August.
See More: All About Northern New Jersey’s Own Bat Cave
If you're interested in helping fund the floating dock as a future nesting site for the Common Terns, visit the Our Tern website here. The site is constantly being updated with images and videos of the birds. You can also follow Our Tern on Instagram and join the Facebook group.
Follow @thehobokengirl on Instagram + TikTok to stay in the know with all of the local news, sign up for our weekly newsletter here, and check out our events calendar.
