This no-frills, Newark seafood and wing restaurant is a local hidden gem

Some chefs go to culinary school. They take classes on molecular gastronomy, croissant lamination and creating the perfect emulsions.

And other chefs? Well, they get it from their mama (and their godmother, godfather and aunt).

Randy Morrison, proprietor and head chef behind recently-opened Neighborhood Favorites in Newark, is precisely the latter.

A textbook hole-in-the-wall restaurant

Neighborhood Favorites is a textbook hole-in-the-wall restaurant. Tucked into a Clinton Street storefront, the spot has no tables. A singular L-shaped counter fills the back half of the space, marking the only place where guests can sit. Four flat-screen TVs cover the left wall, and, in the back right corner, a dark curtain hangs from plastic rings. The kitchen is located on the other side.

When I entered Neighborhood Favorites, I was greeted by the shop's employees. Most of them were in their early twenties. Some looked like they were still in high school.

I took a seat at the high-top counter. A young staff member, Jewel Burnett, gave me some menu recommendations before showing me to the kitchen, where I met Morrison. As I made my way through the curtain, I caught a glimpse (and whiff) of his Alfredo sauce boiling in an industrial-sized steel pot by the door.

From church basement to brick and mortar

Morrison is a big guy with an amiable personality. Despite the line of order tickets to be fulfilled, he was cool and collected throughout the duration of our conversation. Cooking, to him, it seemed, was second nature.

"I learned from watching my family cook," he said. "My mom, my godmother, my Aunt Ann and my godfather. They did a lot of the cooking for me, and I just loved their food and watching them."

As Morrison aged out of his childhood kitchen, he began cooking for friends from various locations. At first, he and his brother, Hadi, sold his food out of their church basement. They called themselves the King Krab Boyz, and almost instantly they were, well, a Neighborhood Favorite.

"We were in that church basement until the pandemic hit," Morrison said. "Then we sold food from our house. In 2021, we got our food truck."

After a few years of selling in various locations — and with enough support and positive feedback from the community — Morrison began to plan for a brick-and-mortar. Last month, Neighborhood Favorites, Morrison's first official restaurant, was born.

Giving local students a 'safe place to work'

Morrison is the sole cook at Neighborhood Favorites. All of the spot's recipes are his own.

"The way I come up with my recipes is this," he said. "They're in my brain, and then they're out. That's it."

He has other employees in the restaurant, such as a kitchen assistant, a hostess and a marketing team, but they don't develop dishes. Many of them are local kids from Westside High School where Morrison used to be on the security team.

"I wanted the kids to have a safe place to work at," Morrison said of his decision to hire them.

The kids, who laughed at YouTube videos from behind the counter, said that they loved working for Morrison. Between the Springfield-Belmont and Clinton Hill neighborhoods — the two most dangerous areas in the city — he offered them a refuge, as well as a place to learn entrepreneurial skills and good-old tenacity.

"My favorite quality trait about Randy," Burnett said, "is his determination. When he sets out to do something, he always accomplishes it."

With that characteristic, the youngsters are learning, anything is possible.

The food

I was sitting across from Burnett when Morrison's team began to serve me my food. They brought me a variety of seafood dishes, the restaurant's specialty, as well as the spot's signature "KKB Wings." The plates confirmed my preconceived notions the food would be good — not fancy, and definitely sloppy, but good.

The "Shrimp and Lobster Pasta" featuring lightly-battered shrimp, a fried lobster tail and a hefty ladle of the chef's alfredo was rich and flavorful. It was perfectly salty, and, somehow, the breading of the fish wasn't soggy, despite being covered in sauce. The "KKB Wings," an appetizer that many of Morrison's employees claimed was the best on the menu, was also just right. Each little drumette was perfectly moist, and the sauce was sticky and tangy.

The fried shrimp and the lobster grilled cheese, however, were my two favorite items on the menu. Crispy and spiced, the shrimp had a juicy pop to them. The grilled cheese featured a blend of melty cheeses, a large scoop of lobster and Morrison's creamy "special sauce." It was notably decadent, and I appreciated the way its gooey filling dripped down to my elbow each time I tried to bite it.

Other dishes included the surf-and-turf sandwich, which layered a fried whiting filet above a turkey burger; the "Hassy B," a seafood platter featuring a sampler of salmon, lobster and shrimp, and, of course, the spot's famous seafood boil. If you haven't been to Neighborhood Favorites yet, the boil is the first dish you should order, as this is the dish that's had Morrison on the foodie map since his church days.

Oh, and to wash down all that decadence? I ordered an "Uptown," the spot's iced tea/lemonade play on an Arnold Palmer. I suggest you do the same. All the kids are drinking it.

Time flies when you're eating shrimp

As I began to slow down my consumption — realizing I'd already polished off 14 fried shrimp — an alarm buzzed on my phone. An hour and a half had passed since I first entered the restaurant.

While the hostess sealed my containers and placed them in a bag, I wondered how the time had passed so quickly.

Later in the evening, as I opened my take-out boxes and sunk my teeth into the last remaining shrimp (saved one for later because I'm smart), it came to me.

Sure, Neighborhood Favorites serves great food, but it also houses a positive environment, enthusiastic employees and a man with a passion. When you hang out in a space that makes you feel good (and serves great food), time flies.

And it is that energy — with a side of Morrison's tasty sauces — that elevates Neighborhood Favorites from an unassuming fast-food hole-in-the-wall to a humble local hidden gem.

Neighborhood Favorites is located at 283 Clinton Avenue in Newark. To learn more about the restaurant, visit its official website here, or follow the spot on Instagram.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: This no-frills fish and wings restaurant is Newark's newest hidden gem