"The Loew's Jersey Theatre was built for this city in 1929 and it's reopening its doors to this city in 2026," Jersey City Mayor James Solomon said in the reopening announcement reported by Pollstar. That reopening is now about two weeks away. Trey Anastasio Band headlines Friday, November 13, at 54 Journal Square Plaza.
While the scaffolding was still up, the neighborhood around the theatre kept changing. Between mid-2025 and this fall, the blocks around the Journal Square PATH picked up a Korean-American cocktail bar, an Italian market, an espresso bar, a relocated burger shop and the first New Jersey location of a New York street-food brand. None of them opened with theatre crowds in mind. On show nights, all of them become the pre-show circuit.
A 1929 Wonder Theatre, rebuilt to flex
The Loew's first opened on September 28, 1929. Rapp and Rapp designed it as a 3,021-seat "Wonder Theatre," one of only five flagship palaces Loew's built in and around New York City, and the only one outside the city's boroughs. Hoboken Girl's history of the building traces how it was split into a triplex by 1974 and closed in 1986. The last film it showed was Friday the 13th, a fitting bit of trivia for a theatre that reopens on a Friday the 13th. After the closure, the Friends of the Loew's formed to save it from demolition, and restoration work began in 1993 once Jersey City bought the building. It was named a National Historic Landmark in 2022.
The version opening next month is a different machine. Harris Blitzer Sports + Entertainment, known as HBSE, leased the theatre from the city to renovate, manage and operate it, and Bruce Wheeler serves as general manager. According to Pollstar, the house now has flexible seating for roughly 2,600 to 4,000 guests. The original fixed count was 3,021. The renovation covered the exterior facades, every public space, the stage and support areas, and the mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems, and it added new audio and lighting.
That top figure matters for the street outside. A sold-out 4,000-guest configuration would hold about a thousand more people than the 1929 palace could seat, at a theatre sitting directly across from the Journal Square Transportation Center.
The first nights on the marquee
The opening calendar mixes genres on purpose. Will Langolf, the theatre's senior manager of booking, told Pollstar the goal is "to make the theatre a home for unforgettable moments across genres and generations."
| Date | Show | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Fri., Nov. 13, 2026 | Trey Anastasio Band | Grand Opening Weekend |
| Sat., Nov. 14, 2026 | The War On Drugs | Grand Opening Weekend |
| Wed., Nov. 18, 2026 | Jodeci | |
| Tue., Dec. 8, 2026 | Derek Hough's Dance For The Holidays | |
| Wed., Dec. 9, 2026 | Unwrapped: An Acoustic Holiday | |
| Thu., Dec. 10, 2026 | Christmas with Chris Tomlin | |
| Sat., Jan. 9, 2027 | Jeff Dunham | |
| Sat., May 8, 2027 | World of Warcraft: 20 Years of Music |
Look at the dates. Six of the eight announced shows fall in a five-week window, and four of them land on weeknights. Half of the announced shows fall on Tuesday-through-Thursday evenings. Tickets for every announced show are sold through LoewsJersey.com and Ticketmaster, and Pollstar reports that more programming is still to be announced.
The dinner options arrived first
Most of what follows opened before HBSE announced a single act. It sorts into three clusters, each a short walk from the theatre doors. Local coverage of these spots runs from 2025 into 2026, so check current hours before you plan a show night around one of them.
Summit Avenue
BRBQ, 532 Summit Avenue. Jersey Digs reported a June 20, 2025 opening for this Korean-American restaurant with a full cocktail bar. Its own site calls it a café, bar, restaurant and event space. With food and a full bar under one roof, it is the most natural sit-down dinner on this list for a weeknight show like Jodeci on November 18.
Two doors are still dark on Summit. MENSHO Ramen at 505 Summit and Paris Baguette at 531 Summit are covered in the section on what's coming.
Sip, Pavonia and Chestnut
Barrio Barista Espresso Bar, 60 Sip Avenue. Hoboken Girl covered its November 8, 2025 grand opening and its coffee, specialty drinks and baked goods.
Cangiano's Marketplace, 615 Pavonia. This deli, market and sandwich shop soft-opened June 30, 2025 and officially opened that July, per Hoboken Girl. For a Saturday show like The War On Drugs, a sandwich here makes a lower-key alternative to booking a table.
The Cafe at Journal Squared, 595 Pavonia Avenue. Hoboken Girl's 2025 write-up describes coffee, baked goods, wraps, matcha and salads, with daytime hours that close in the afternoon. With those hours, it's a weekend-matinee stop, not an evening one.
Speedy's Burgers + Bowls, 154 Chestnut Avenue. Speedy's relocated here with a soft opening in fall 2025 and a grand-opening celebration in early 2026. Thomas's Homemade Ice Cream runs out of the same space, and Hoboken Girl places it a few minutes' walk from the Journal Square PATH. It's the only place on this list with burgers and ice cream under one roof.
Bergen Avenue and PATH Plaza
The Kati Roll Company, 924 Bergen Avenue. NJ.com reported a July 1 opening for the New York Indian street-food brand's first New Jersey location. The company's Journal Square location page lists daily hours. Kati rolls are handheld, which suits anyone eating on the walk to their seats.
JJ Sports Bar, 4 PATH Plaza. Jersey Digs reported in 2025 that this concept was planned for the former Emma's space, then without an opening date. Its website now posts a menu and table booking. Steps from the PATH, it's the easiest stop for anyone arriving by train.
Still on the way
Two of the next three announced openings are on Summit Avenue, a few doors from BRBQ.
- MENSHO Ramen, 505 Summit Avenue. As of Hoboken Girl's September 28 fall roundup, it was still listed as opening "this fall." An earlier Hoboken Girl story on the shop placed it in the context of the Loew's reopening and the wider Journal Square revival.
- Paris Baguette, 531 Summit Avenue. Named in Hoboken Girl's March 2026 Journal Square roundup as planned near the PATH.
- Wonder Bagels, 626 Newark Avenue. Jersey Digs reported in February 2026 that it is coming to the building's ground floor, with no opening timeline announced.
Planning opening night
For anyone with tickets to the Trey Anastasio Band show on November 13, the evening can stay within a few blocks:
- Start with coffee at Barrio Barista on Sip Avenue in the late afternoon, if its hours allow.
- Have dinner and a cocktail at BRBQ on Summit, or a quick kati roll on Bergen Avenue if you're short on time.
- Walk to the plaza, where the theatre faces the Journal Square Transportation Center.
- Afterward, Speedy's on Chestnut has ice cream from Thomas's in the same space, hours permitting.
None of these places has announced show-night hours, so a quick call the week of a show is worth the two minutes.
Michael Check at MC Luxury Living follows the blocks around the Loew's closely. If you own near Summit Avenue or the PATH and want to know where your home stands as the neighborhood around the theatre fills in, get your instant home valuation or start a private consultation.
