The Junction at Gateway calls itself "Newark's New Restaurant Row." It is open Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. and is closed on weekends. Every food counter in its current directory follows that weekday schedule, and several now close earlier than they did when they opened. For anyone living in Downtown Newark, this restaurant row is for weekday breakfast, lunch and early dinner. Its most useful window may be the stretch between the end of the workday and a 7 p.m. puck drop at Prudential Center.
What Onyx Built Behind the Skybridge
The Junction occupies the former Gateway Center at 11-43 Raymond Plaza West. It connects to Newark Penn Station by an indoor skybridge, which links it to NJ Transit, PATH, the Newark Light Rail and Amtrak. Jersey Digs reported that Onyx Equities bought three of the complex's buildings for $300 million in 2018, hired Gensler to redesign it, and opened The Junction to the public in January 2023.
Gateway describes The Junction as a 100,000-square-foot retail and dining concourse that links its office towers, with indoor and outdoor dining and indoor connections to the train station and parking. The renovation, which Jersey Digs documented during construction, renovated the skyways, lobbies and concourses, added a street entrance on Raymond Plaza West, created roughly 13,000 square feet of street-facing retail, and added public seating that looks out on Market Street.
The new street entrance made the concourse easier to reach from the sidewalk. The schedule still follows the office towers above it.
The Hours Got Shorter as the Roster Grew
When tenants announced their openings, several published longer hours than the directory lists today. The clearest example is The Gyro Project. NJBIZ reported in February 2025 that after its grand opening it would be open from 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Monday through Saturday. The Junction's directory now lists it at Monday through Friday, 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Uncle Willie's Wings also published Saturday hours when NJBIZ covered its opening in November 2023, and today it is listed for weekdays only. Fresh & Co went the other way. It opened at 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays, according to Jersey Digs, and it now stays open an hour later.
| Counter | What it serves | Earlier published hours | Current directory hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Gyro Project | Greek street food | 10:30 a.m.–10 p.m., Mon–Sat, per NJBIZ, Feb 2025 | 10:30 a.m.–7 p.m., Mon–Fri |
| Uncle Willie's Wings | Wings | Included Saturday, per NJBIZ, Nov 2023 | 11 a.m.–7 p.m., Mon–Fri |
| Fresh & Co | Seasonal fast casual | 7 a.m.–6 p.m., Mon–Fri, per Jersey Digs, May 2023 | 7 a.m.–7 p.m., Mon–Fri |
| Barn Bird Kitchen | Fried chicken with Yaji spice | Grand opening Mon., Aug. 17 | 11 a.m.–7 p.m., Mon–Fri |
| Mŏkbar | Korean | Not published at opening | 11 a.m.–3 p.m., Mon–Fri |
| Jersey Mike's | Subs, weekday breakfast | Not published at opening | 7:30 a.m.–4 p.m., Mon–Fri |
| Dunkin' | Coffee, donuts, breakfast | Not published at opening | 6 a.m.–4:30 p.m., Mon–Thu; 6 a.m.–3 p.m., Fri |
Reading the table by time of day shows three dining windows. Dunkin', Fresh & Co and Jersey Mike's open for breakfast. Mŏkbar is a lunch-only counter. After 4:30 p.m., four kitchens are still serving, and all four close at 7. On Fridays, the coffee counter shuts down at 3 p.m.
The Four Kitchens That Reach 7 p.m.
The four counters open until 7 p.m. set what a downtown resident can get after work, so they are worth knowing in detail.
Barn Bird Kitchen is the newest tenant. Jersey Digs reported that it is the second location of a Maplewood concept started in 2024 by Chuka Morah, Jafrania Onugha and Chukwuemeka Onugha under their Butterknife & Hammer Hospitality group, which earlier ran the Argentinian-inspired Asado, also in Maplewood. Its chicken is halal and seasoned with Yaji, a smoky chili blend that originated in West Africa. The signature item is a buttermilk fried chicken tender sandwich with house slaw, dill pickles and Barn Bird sauce on a toasted brioche bun. Hot cauliflower can be swapped in, and there are five spice levels. The menu also includes a chicken and sweet potato waffle and Yaji-spiced fries. The Junction announced its grand opening for Monday, August 17, and Jersey Digs reported it open in late August.
The Gyro Project serves gyros, souvlaki, lamb chops and moussaka. Its founders are George Tenedios and Spiro Kokkosis, and TAPinto Newark reported its grand opening on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. Tenedios is also the co-founder and CEO of Fresh & Co, the counter across the concourse, so the same founder runs two of the kitchens open until 7. Fresh & Co calls itself a family-owned group founded in 2010. It works with local farmers, makes its dressings and sauces in-house daily, and plans its menu around vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free diners as well as meat eaters.
Uncle Willie's Wings is the Newark-founded counter in the group. It was started by Walter "Uncle Willie" Green, and The Junction describes it as a mix of wings and '90s hip-hop culture.
Mŏkbar closes earlier than these four, but it is the counter with the best-known chef. The directory says it is led by Esther Choi and serves traditional Korean cuisine from a menu that changes regularly. Because it closes at 3 p.m., it only fits a weekday lunch.
The Pop-Up Tables Run on Midweek Dates Only
Small-business vendors set up in the concourse on a published monthly schedule, and those dates are even more concentrated than the restaurant hours. In The Junction's October 2026 schedule, every vendor date after Thursday, Oct. 1 falls on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. The list included:
- Althea's Tropical Delights with rum cakes and tropical lemonades on Oct. 1
- Ally's Morsels, including gluten-free baked goods, on Oct. 6
- Samphel Norbu Tibet Art & Handicrafts with singing bowls and woolen goods on Oct. 8
- Millie's Exquisite Eats with frozen gourmet empanadas on Oct. 13
- The Glove Lady with winter knitwear on Oct. 20
- Cecile's Bath & Body with handmade skincare on Oct. 21
- Sweetz by Q's mini pancake dessert bar on Oct. 28
The month's schedule ends on Thursday, Oct. 29, with MBIZ selling sterling silver jewelry. The schedule notes that dates and vendors are subject to change. Anyone who wants to catch a vendor like The Glove Lady or Millie's Exquisite Eats has to come in the middle of the workweek during daytime hours.
Event Nights Add an Hour of Walkway, Not Kitchen Time
The one exception to the 7 p.m. close comes from the arena down the street. On weekdays when Prudential Center hosts an event, the concourse stays open for one hour after the event ends. That extra hour applies to the concourse itself. Every posted kitchen hour still ends at 7 p.m. or earlier, so a fan leaving a 10 p.m. final buzzer gets the indoor route to Penn Station but no food.
That makes the hour before game time the useful dinner window. Most weekday events between now and New Year's start at 7 or 7:30 p.m., which overlaps with the last hour that Barn Bird, The Gyro Project, Uncle Willie's and Fresh & Co are serving. Disney On Ice: Spotlight Magic opens its weekday run on Wednesday, Oct. 28, at 7 p.m. These are the weekday dates at Prudential Center from Oct. 29 through New Year's Eve:
| Date | Event | Start |
|---|---|---|
| Thu, Oct. 29 | Disney On Ice: Spotlight Magic | 7 p.m. |
| Fri, Oct. 30 | Disney On Ice: Spotlight Magic | 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. |
| Mon, Nov. 2 | Seton Hall vs. Saint Peter's | 7:30 p.m. |
| Tue, Nov. 3 | Devils vs. Edmonton | 7:30 p.m. |
| Thu, Nov. 5 | Devils vs. St. Louis | 7 p.m. |
| Tue, Nov. 10 & Wed, Nov. 11 | Disney Worlds Collide Concert Tour | 7 p.m. |
| Thu, Nov. 12 | Devils vs. Washington | 7 p.m. |
| Wed, Nov. 18 | Devils vs. Montreal | 7:30 p.m. |
| Thu, Nov. 19 | Motionless In White | 6:30 p.m. |
| Mon, Nov. 23 | Devils vs. Columbus | 7 p.m. |
| Tue, Nov. 24 | Seton Hall vs. New Hampshire | 7 p.m. |
| Fri, Nov. 27 | Devils vs. Calgary | 1 p.m. |
| Tue, Dec. 1 | Devils vs. San Jose | 7 p.m. |
| Fri, Dec. 4 | Seton Hall vs. Kansas State | 7 p.m. |
| Mon, Dec. 7 | Seton Hall vs. NJIT | 7 p.m. |
| Tue, Dec. 8 | Nick Cannon Presents: Wild 'N Out Live | 8 p.m. |
| Wed, Dec. 9 | Devils vs. Detroit | 7:30 p.m. |
| Thu, Dec. 10 | Penn State vs. Army hockey | 7 p.m. |
| Fri, Dec. 11 | Amor En Vivo | 8 p.m. |
| Tue, Dec. 15 | Devils vs. Rangers | 7 p.m. |
| Thu, Dec. 17 | Devils vs. Toronto | 7 p.m. |
| Mon, Dec. 21 & Tue, Dec. 22 | Jonas Brothers | 7:30 p.m. |
| Wed, Dec. 23 | Seton Hall vs. St. John's | 8 p.m. |
| Thu, Dec. 31 | Disney On Ice: Magic in the Stars | 1 p.m. |
The three afternoon starts on this list work differently. The Oct. 30 Disney On Ice matinee, the 1 p.m. Devils game against Calgary on the Friday after Thanksgiving, and the 1 p.m. Disney On Ice show on New Year's Eve all fall within regular concourse hours. On those days, lunch at Mŏkbar or a sub from Jersey Mike's fits before the event. The full arena calendar is posted on Prudential Center's events page, and Seton Hall's home dates are on the Pirates schedule.
On a Saturday, all seven counters are closed and the concourse is locked. On a Tuesday in December, Barn Bird's Yaji fries and a Devils game at 7 can both fit into the same evening.
If you are weighing a move near the Gateway towers and want an advisor who knows how this part of downtown works from one weekday to the next, The Arrived Team Compass is ready when you are. Work With Us.
