Jersey City Finally Got the Punjabi Kitchen Its PATH Crowd Was Waiting For
Jimmy Rizvi’s GupShup and Bungalow team opens Punjab Meet House at Exchange Place, with Zahir Khan on a pre-partition Punjabi menu.
- opening
- jersey city
- punjabi
- chef
Punjab Meet House opened July 3, 2026, at 25 Christopher Columbus Drive in Jersey City’s Exchange Place, on the ground floor of Haus 25. It is the first New Jersey restaurant from Jimmy Rizvi’s Bungalow Hospitality group, the team behind Manhattan’s GupShup and Bib Gourmand Bungalow. Rizvi has lived in Jersey City for more than twenty years while building those rooms across the river; the pitch here is a full-service Punjabi kitchen for a city where about 12 percent of residents identify as Asian Indian, and where many diners still default to Newark Avenue takeout.
Unlike GupShup’s Bombay street energy or Bungalow’s broader India menu with Vikas Khanna, this room sticks to pre-partition Punjab. Executive chef Zahir Khan, a third-generation cook with stints at Punjab Grill, Masala Library, Farzi Café, and Made in Punjab, runs the line. The menu opens with chaat and snacks (panj dariya gol gappe, Amritsari macchi, Lahori jhinga double roti), moves into tandoor plates such as chicken chargha and Qissa Khawani barra, and lands on curries including kunna goat in mustard oil and sarson da saag. Large parties can order haneeth lamb, a whole bone-in leg with Yemeni spice, slow-roasted overnight and carved tableside with 24 to 48 hours’ notice.
Shaila Rizvi designed the interiors with Indian-sourced materials and Phulkari-minded color. The bar list includes ten signatures; press notes call out the Toshakhana (whiskey sour with pressed dates and clove) and the Sheesh Mahal (clarified chaas with vodka, roasted cumin, and black salt). Hours reported after opening are roughly 5 to 10 p.m. Sunday and Tuesday through Thursday, 5 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, closed Monday. Confirm on Resy or the restaurant site before you go; early coverage is launch reporting, not a review.