GILLIAN BLAIR | JERSEY DIGS
The Medical Center Luncheonette at 641 Montgomery Street, directly across from The Beacon, has undergone a stunning transformation and reopens today as Cafe Alyce. With a breakfast and lunch menu reflecting the flavors of the neighborhood and a solid coffee program, Cafe Alyce is a welcome addition to McGinley Square in Jersey City.
Cafe Alyce is BYOB.
Once the site of a Borden’s milk processing plant complete with stables circa 1900, the corner space was Borden’s retail presence and eventually became Borden’s Luncheonette. The facility ceased operations in the late 1950s and a hard-working couple from Greece, Sia and Tommy now well-known neighborhood-wide, took over.
And the Medical Center Luncheonette was born, along with just about every other Jersey City native when The Beacon was the Jersey City Medical Center and housed one of the most famous maternity wards in the country. The old school diner became a de facto waiting room for expectant fathers, a favorite of JC beat cops, and a neighborhood institution that put Sia’s and Tommy’s three children through Ivy League colleges.
