Newly opened Mojo’s restaurant is beautiful and spacious, with seating for up to 120 people. A private party room for up to 80 people has its own kitchen, beer station and bar on wheels, grill and separate entrance. Formerly Nobo, Mojo’s has been completely remodeled and redecorated with a new look and different vibe.
Executive chef Jacob Goldberg described the menu as a modern steakhouse with Mediterranean and Japanese influences. Steaks range in size from mini to maxi. Mojo’s first gives them the sous vide treatment (slow cooking in a regulated hot water bath) and then finishes them on the grill.
The steaks are all from American sources and under a Chasidishe hechsher.
Mojo’s, under RCBC supervision, is blazing a culinary trail by introducing creatively conceived meat pizzas with vegan “cheese” made at a pizza station with two ovens. Another innovation is a wide selection of small tapas or appetizer plates of delectable dishes meant for sharing. Almost everything is made in house including slider buns, pizza dough and all desserts. Each table gets a batch of Mojo’s made in-house focaccia bread. There is a full bar with a two-page curated wine list.
Mojo’s is owned by Tzvi Maller, who lives in Israel but formerly lived in Teaneck. After Nobo closed during the chaos of the COVID lockdowns, it took Maller some time to navigate creating a new restaurant from that distance when social life began returning to normal. “I have a restaurant in Jerusalem called Mojo’s and we ended up thinking, ‘Why not just keep it aligned,’” said Maller, who was in Teaneck recently to launch the restaurant.
Maller lit up when he spoke about what Mojo’s is bringing to Teaneck. “We’re filling the void that Nobo left here; we’re starting over and doing something different, exciting and fun. We’re trying to disrupt the market.” He glowed when talking about Mojo’s meat pizza. “Someone had it the other day and they were like, ‘I didn’t even know that wasn’t dairy!’ We got our mojo back here. We’re starting to cook again. And smile.”
Mojo’s had a soft opening just before the Nine Days and then opened full steam ahead after Tisha B’Av. With several weeks of serving customers under their belt, Mojo’s is smoothing out the inevitable bumps of opening a new restaurant. But Maller doesn’t want the staff to get too comfortable. “I hope we’re going to continue to strive to be better than we were yesterday. That’s the goal. If I can implement that mindset into all the staff here, I think that will be a huge success. Even when we don’t hit a home run on everything, I want to be better than I was yesterday.”
Maller’s longtime friend Joey Folkman, also a former Teaneck resident now living in Israel, is a partner in the restaurant. He travels in the U.S. frequently for his other business, so he will be the stateside partner. “This is a unique project,” said Folkman. “It’s a quality product being done by a guy with a tremendous reputation. I’m a numbers guy. I never realized just how much artistry and energy go into making a restaurant successful beyond the food and service. Everything Tzvi does, he does special. The reviews we have gotten are way ahead of what the curve would be for the opening of a restaurant. I think that’s largely due to Tzvi’s influence on the product and the fact that he had a drop-in team here of people he has worked with closely over the years in his restaurant in Israel. They’re on the ground here. We largely didn’t have to create a kitchen from scratch, so we could hit the ground almost running.”
Folkman raved about Mojo’s menu. “The appetizers are fantastic. We have chicken focaccia which is delicious. The lamb riblets are delicious. The sliders are delicious. The pizzas are unusually great. And then you still actually have room for a main dish, the steaks or the chicken or the fish. You have to come here hungry and you have to pace yourself. Otherwise, you’re going to miss out on something, which is fine for me. You’ll come back another time and try something different.”
Check out the menu and reserve a table at mojosteaneck.com.
Mojo’s
1400 Palisade Ave., Teaneck
Sunday-Thursday, 4-11 p.m.
