No matter how smart you are, there are certain problems that can never be solved and certain questions that can never be answered. “If Jenna adds an orange and an apple, how many watermelons does Jenna have now?” “Do aliens exist?” And, of course, the hardest question of all: “What should we have for dinner?”

Since Basking Ridge has a plenitude of vogue restaurants all just a few minutes away, such a simple six-word question has incited a myriad of family brawls, making the gruesome murders in the cornucopia from The Hunger Games look like mere scuffles. Hopefully after reading this article, you’ll figure out the best restaurant for you.

For those looking to just have a good time eating out with their friends, many students claim that such restaurants are called “hang-outs.” One such example is the Italian restaurant Veneto’s, affirmed by Brandon Lu ’18 as the official “hang-out” of the Hills. Lu goes further to explain that “I enjoy going to Veneto’s occasionally with my friends. The last time I went, I ate pasta (penne with Alfredo sauce), and it was delicious! Eating and hanging out with friends is cool.” In fact, many students claim that Veneto’s is so popular that they can never enter the restaurant without seeing at least two classmates.

But what about the northern side of Basking Ridge? With teeming amounts of cozy stores and family restaurants, downtown Basking Ridge is also swamped with customers. One famous feature of this area is a little café called Ridge Bagel—otherwise known as the “Starbucks of Basking Ridge.”

A common customer, Emily York ‘16, asserts that Ridge Bagel is her favorite spot to “get an iced coffee and do homework because the staff are really chill and won’t kick me out, and also because it’s quiet most of the time, making it easier to focus.”

Rather than a “hang-out” like Veneto’s, Ridge Bagel is a hipster’s dream café—modest, serene, and the perfect place to whip up symbolic poems on your MacBook, scribble down daily diaries into your black Moleskine notebook, and postulate about the wonders of life while gazing out the windows.

On the other hand, if you’re looking for a busy, bustling, and boisterous atmosphere, Anup Dupaguntla ’17 professes that the answer is most definitely the Mexican chain restaurant, Chipotle. With a location recently opened on Mountainview Boulevard, Chipotle is already accumulating lines to the door every day. Unlike some other restaurants, while seeing a familiar face at Chipotle can be expected, families are also regular customers.

One such family is the Dupaguntlas, as expressed by Anup: “We love Chipotle, and every time we go anywhere as a family, we always eat at Chipotle before going home. And we all usually get the same thing: a burrito with white rice, chicken, black beans, lettuce, tomatoes, and green salsa.” Chipotle is the best option if you’re looking to hang out with friends, coordinate dinners with your family, or just be around lots of people at once.

Whether you want to hang out with friends, snack at a small town café, or just indulge yourself at a jam-packed restaurant with your family, Basking Ridge is filled to the brim with a variety of distinct, local restaurants that will leave you craving for more.