On August 8th, The Hoboken Girl reported that Pastrami House — a Jewish deli at 832 Washington Street that first opened in 2020 — had most likely closed its doors, even though the business hadn’t confirmed its own closure. Now, we’re here to confirm that Pastrami House is permanently closed, but that’s not the only news we have to share. In Pastrami House’s place comes a new restaurant from an established Hoboken business owner. The team behind Keming, a Sichuan restaurant in uptown Hoboken, has opened a new Asian-inspired restaurant called Purple Rice and its soft open now. Read on for what we know about Pastrami House’s closure and Keming’s sister restaurant, Purple Rice, taking the Jewish deli’s place.
Pastrami House Closes its Doors
Pastrami House first opened in January 2020, on what now feels like the eve of the COVID-19 pandemic. The first of its kind in Hoboken, the Jewish deli served up signature pastrami sandwiches on rye bread, and corned beef, and featured a knish and salad bar. Pastrami House also specialized in foods like matzo ball soup, stuffed cabbage, and noodle kugel. For many Hoboken locals, it filled the void of Jewish specialties.
Flash forward to summer 2023, Pastrami House began showing signs of its closure: the website abruptly stopped working, Seamless and GrubHub orders were inactive, and virtually no one was inside the building, despite Google reporting it open. Additionally, Pastrami House’s Lincroft and Berkley Heights locations are permanently closed, though another location in Jackson Township remains open.
Read More: New Italian Tapas Bar Coming to Jersey City from the Teams Behind dullboy + Orale
The owners of Pastrami House have yet to speak about the Washington Street closure, but the new owner of the space confirmed to The Hoboken Girl that it’s true — and something different is coming in its place. More on that in a second.
In Comes Purple Rice, a Keming Sister Restaurant
Keming has been serving Sichuan eats in Hoboken for the past seven years out of its 1006 Washington Street location. Since it arrived on the Mile Square food scene, owner Mr. Cui and his family have drawn inspiration from the Sichuan restaurants in their home country of China to create a vast menu of flavorful and authentic dishes like soup dumplings, Dan Dan noodles, mala casserole, etc. Oh, and it’s also BYOB.
At the time of opening, Mr. Cui noticed a gap in the market and wanted to give Hoboken a place where guests “can sit down with friends and enjoy a conversation while sharing some authentic Sichuan food.” Now, the team behind Keming continues on that journey with a new project called Purple Rice.
The owners of Keming shared with HG that Purple Rice is taking over the 832 Washington Street location and is soft open now. Inside, diners will find a grab-and-go eatery (with a few tables) featuring food items from various Asian cuisines. As of now, Purple Rice has no social media presence and has not shared a menu, but of course, we’ll update readers when that changes.
See More: A List of North Jersey Restaurants with Great Dumplings
We’re sad to see Pastrami House go, but excited for the team at Keming to expand its Hoboken presence. To stay in the know on all things Hoboken + Jersey City, but sure to follow @thehobokengirl on Instagram + TikTok.
