Carteret: Indian Restaurant Slated for Route 1 as Sikh Congregation Pursues Three-Story Temple
Two significant South Asian developments are reshaping the Woodbridge-Carteret corridor of central New Jersey. The Mango People Collective, operators of nine family-owned Indian restaurants across the New York-New Jersey area, has announced plans to open a full-service restaurant and sports-themed bar at The Plaza at Woodbridge on Route 1 in Iselin, converting the former TGI Fridays location. Meanwhile, the Sikh congregation Singh Sabha Inc. is seeking zoning board approval to replace its existing one-story temple on Port Reading Avenue with a larger three-story house of worship straddling the Carteret and Woodbridge border, with a public hearing scheduled before Carteret's Zoning Board of Adjustment.
🍛 Mango People Collective to Open Indian Restaurant and Sports Bar at Former TGI Fridays Site
Urban Edge Properties, owners of The Plaza at Woodbridge shopping center at 675 Route 1 in Iselin, has announced that The Mango People Collective—formerly known as the Fine Indian Dining Group—will bring a new full-service restaurant and sports-themed bar to the property. The new dining establishment will occupy a 9,462-square-foot standalone building that previously housed TGI Fridays, which closed in 2024. While the restaurant's name has not yet been chosen, it plans to offer both traditional and modern Indian cuisine developed by top chefs from India. The Mango People Collective currently owns and manages nine family-owned Indian dining spots across the New Jersey-New York region, building a reputation for authentic Indian food in the communities it serves. The group has personal ties to the area: the founders' family has roots in Woodbridge, and the Iselin location represents a homecoming of sorts. Urban Edge Properties noted that the people behind the Mango Collective chose Woodbridge when their father immigrated to the United States. The new establishment is expected to serve as a gathering place for the large South Asian community that has long made the Route 1 corridor in Middlesex County its culinary and cultural hub. [1]
🪔 Three-Story Sikh Temple Proposed for Carteret-Woodbridge Border Site
Singh Sabha Inc. has applied to Carteret's Zoning Board of Adjustment for preliminary and final site plan approval, along with several variances, to construct a three-story Sikh temple on Port Reading Avenue on the Carteret-Woodbridge border. The proposed structure is intended to replace a smaller, existing one-story temple on the property at 941 Port Reading Ave., which sits at the intersection of the Port Reading Avenue 3 zone in Woodbridge and a residential zone in Carteret. The site is bounded by Port Reading Avenue, Larch Street, Arthur Avenue, and South East Grant Avenue. According to plans posted on the borough's website, the 4,293-square-foot ground floor would include a Gura Ka Langer Hall, a lobby, a spacious 20-by-60-foot kitchen equipped with a walk-in cooler and flat-top stove, storage areas, a shoe area, and restrooms—features standard to a functioning Sikh place of worship and community center. A virtual public hearing on the application was scheduled for July 16, 2024. Variances are required because the proposed structure is not permitted under the zoning designations that straddle the site. [2]
🏢 Gurudwara Singh Sabha Files Zoning Application for Port Reading Avenue Expansion
Gurudwara Singh Sabha, a Sikh religious organization, is seeking permission to build a three-story house of worship at 941 Port Reading Avenue, in the section of Port Reading that falls within Carteret's jurisdiction. The site currently contains a parking lot owned by Gurudwara Singh Sabha, alongside a small indoor temple that the congregation already uses for worship. The group filed an application with Carteret's zoning authority seeking approval to build a much larger three-story structure on the property, significantly expanding its capacity and facilities for the local Sikh community. The Gurudwara Singh Sabha has provided an architectural rendering showing how the proposed temple would look once completed. The application represents a significant real estate undertaking for the congregation, which must navigate a site that straddles two municipal zones. The expansion would allow the gurdwara to better accommodate religious services, community gatherings, and the langar—a communal kitchen—that is central to Sikh practice and hospitality, serving both worshippers and the wider neighborhood regardless of faith background. [3]
Sources: [1] TAPinto · [2] Central New Jersey News · [3] Patch