t for dinner with friends or family I would specify the place to which we were going. “Tonight we are eating at Rabica,” I would announce to my family. Now with the amazing food options on West Englewood Avenue in Teaneck I simply state, “We are eating on West Englewood Avenue.” The entire family is excited because there are so many great options and everybody has a place or a favorite dish at one of the West Englewood stores.

I thought I was alone in my routine, until one Friday when I was out for lunch I was sitting in the window at Dougies BBQ Grill eating some delicious dark meat grilled chicken and I saw a friend who was pushing a Glatt Express shopping cart. I asked her what she was doing and she mentioned that she and many of her friends have the same Friday routine. First they get their nails done at Donna’s VIP Nail Salon, then they shop for most of their Shabbos items at Glatt Express, and then they walk West Englewood Ave. and pick up different food items at each store: She gets the sushi platter from Sushi Metsuyan for her husband; she picks up wine from the Filler Up Liquor Store; she makes a stop at Chopstix that has all of her food in metal tins ready to be slipped into the oven for Shabbos; she picks up some salads and sides at Dougies and then goes to the candy store for some sweets and treats. She said she and her friends have been doing the “West Englewood Diet” for years.

I started to inquire and I realized that Poppy’s Bagels & Pizza has everything one needs for Shalosh Shuddis, and between Chickies, Chopstix, Filler Up, Sushi Metsuyan, Rabica, Royal Grill, Candy Store, Dougies and Glatt Express, West Englewood has everything for everybody. Why should anyone have to go someplace else? In addition, the great thing is that West Englewood always has lots of parking. [Just be aware of the restriction about parking less than 25 feet from the cross walk.] So now when I ask my family where they want to eat for dinner, they just say…”Take us to the West Englewood Diet.”

By Abe Sussman