"We've always had burger places that were counter service and sandwich shops and pizza and chicken and Mexican, Mediterranean, so I'm not really sure that I would call this a new trend," Robin Lapidus, executive director of Experience Princeton, told The Daily Princetonian this fall.
Counter service has always been part of Nassau Street, and Lapidus is right about that. What has changed is the late shift. Between mid-November 2025 and August 2026, five quick-service restaurants opened along Nassau. Together they now make up most of what's serving downtown once the evening winds down. Their schedules have also shifted enough over those ten months that hours you saw in a winter article may already be wrong.
Ten months, five openings
Here's the order they arrived in, based on local reporting:
- Mid-November 2025: Food Street opens at 183D Nassau Street. TAPinto Princeton reported it open by the middle of the month.
- By December 12, 2025: Best Grill and Fries is open at 200 Nassau Street.
- March 2026: BurgerRunn opens at 246 Nassau Street, the chain's fourth location.
- July 2026: 7th Street Burger opens at 124 Nassau Street.
- August 2026: HotBirds opens at 150 Nassau Street.
By March, the Princetonian was already describing a "three-block stretch of Nassau Street" that had become a fast-food hub "in just four months." The summer openings then filled in the blocks closer to Palmer Square.
The east end came first
The first three openings all landed toward the eastern end of the street, and two of them face each other.
Food Street is in the former Say Cheez space behind Thomas Sweet. Its menu draws on the street food of Lahore, Pakistan: wraps, burgers, sandwiches, and items like an Aalo Tikki Burger and a Paneer Tikka Paratha Roll. The Princeton Echo's 2026 dining guide put most items between $10 and $15. Owner Hasan Bhai told the Princetonian the rolls are what the restaurant is known for: "People come from a long distance to have these rolls already." Food Street also has locations in Secaucus and Columbus.
Best Grill and Fries is directly across the street at 200 Nassau. The menu covers shawarma, platters, wraps, burgers, fries, and desserts, and the Echo reported items priced under $15. Owner Shoyeb Shikder told the Princetonian his focus is a short menu and student discounts. Local outlets don't agree on what was in the space before. TAPinto said Café Vienna, and the Echo said Sante Pharmacy and Ellinikon Cafe. Longtime residents may remember both.
BurgerRunn at 246 Nassau rounds out the east end cluster. Its own site says it was formerly known as SmashBros, and the menu covers smash burgers, cheesesteaks, chicken, and fries. Owner Mohammed Abdhul told the Princetonian the company started in 2024, had reached four locations, and plans to expand nationwide with DoorDash's help choosing new territories.
All three serve halal menus, which is how the Princetonian framed its March story on the cluster.
Summer brought two chains, one block apart
The two summer openings came from outside operators with more locations, and both took spots closer to the center of town.
7th Street Burger started in New York City and runs a deliberately short menu: three cheeseburger variations and fries. The company says the Princeton shop is one of 37 locations along the East Coast. Its marketing manager, Sarah Milner, told the Princetonian the opening has drawn "a healthy mix of Princeton University students, local residents, and repeat visitors."
HotBirds opened a block away. It serves Nashville-style hot chicken: tenders, sliders, wings, and fries. Its website describes the food as halal and made to order. Princeton is the brand's second location after Montclair. On August 14, NJ.com reported that HotBirds was set to open the next day. The Princetonian later confirmed only that it opened in August.
Lapidus sees the summer openings as a sign of demand from the industry side. "Princeton is definitely trending in the restaurant world, and there are a lot of places that have become successful in other towns that really want to move to Princeton," she told the Princetonian.
The hours that keep moving
A guide to late food is only useful if the hours are right, and these have been hard to pin down. Best Grill and Fries shows how much they can shift.
- December 2025: TAPinto listed Best Grill closing at 9 p.m. most nights and 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
- March 2026: The Princetonian reported Best Grill open until 3 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and until midnight the rest of the week.
- Now: Best Grill's own site lists 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and midnight on Friday and Saturday.
BurgerRunn has moved too. In March, the Princetonian had it closing at 11 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday and midnight Thursday through Saturday. Its site now lists 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Every local report since December, including the Princetonian's in March, has given Food Street a 10 p.m. close, though outlets differ on whether it opens every day or Tuesday through Sunday. Its website doesn't list hours for the Princeton location.
This is what each restaurant posts as of early October 2026. HotBirds and Food Street don't post full schedules, so their times come from the most recent local reporting:
| Restaurant | Address | Sunday–Thursday close | Friday–Saturday close |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7th Street Burger | 124 Nassau St. | Midnight | Midnight |
| Best Grill and Fries | 200 Nassau St. | 9 p.m. | Midnight |
| BurgerRunn | 246 Nassau St. | 10 p.m. | 11 p.m. |
| HotBirds | 150 Nassau St. | About 10 p.m. | About 10 p.m. |
| Food Street | 183D Nassau St. | 10 p.m. | 10 p.m. |
HotBirds' 10 p.m. close comes from the Princetonian, but its online ordering page stops taking pickup orders at 9:40 p.m. If you're ordering ahead, plan for the earlier time.
A Tuesday and a Friday, side by side
The table shows how different two nights of the week look.
On a Tuesday at 9:30 p.m., Best Grill and Fries has already closed, and HotBirds' online ordering is about to cut off. BurgerRunn, Food Street, and HotBirds' counter are in their last half hour. After 10 p.m., 7th Street Burger is the only one of the five still posting open hours.
On a Friday at 10:30 p.m., three of the five are still open: 7th Street Burger, Best Grill and Fries, and BurgerRunn until 11. After 11 p.m., the street has two midnight spots at opposite ends, 7th Street Burger at 124 Nassau and Best Grill and Fries at 200.
Students told the Princetonian they value the late hours. Katelynn Lee '28 said she likes that 7th Street is "open pretty late." The paper also noted that most dining halls close at 8 p.m. for dinner. Victoria Jackson, who grew up in Princeton, told the Princetonian that 7th Street's burger is "delicious," adding, "Sometimes things that are simple, especially if it's quality, you don't really need to do much to it."
Hours are the details most likely to change after publication. Several restaurants on this list have already changed theirs at least once in 2026, so check the restaurant's own page or call before a late walk downtown.
Rebecca Matyash at Jersey Living Homes keeps track of how downtown Princeton changes from season to season, including which storefronts turn over and which blocks stay busy after dark. If you're thinking about how being near Nassau Street fits into your next move, schedule a free consultation and we'll go over the blocks you care about.
