Super Bowl food to-go: Here's where to get pizza, wings and more

The game against COVID-19 will be closer to a win this Super Bowl Sunday.

Many of us spent last year's favorite game of the year holed up with immediate family, but this year, dropping coronavirus cases are allowing some degree of normalcy for the big game.

Central Jersey has no shortage of crusty pizzas, hot wings, towering subs and football-themed desserts.

Here are a few of our favorite spots that are ready to help you feed the crowd.

Chicken wings: Roosterspin, New Brunswick and Westfield

The Super Bowl is a distinctly American event, but Roosterspin, a Korean fusion restaurant, gets in on the game every year with its chicken wings. The restaurant is known for its Korean double-fried chicken wings, which are fried twice in soybean oil to dissipate the fat in the skin, leaving a light, crispy crust and a juicy meat hand-brushed with soy garlic or spicy soy sauce.

On Super Bowl Sunday, Roosterspin sells about 5,000 wings, which is double what they sell on an average day. This year, the restaurant is offering two special takeout packages: 20 wings for $36, or 40 wings for $70. A corn salad and vegetable fried rice side combo is also available for $7. No other regular menu items will be available for takeout that day.

Roosterspin also serves cauliflower wings ($18), so vegetarian customers can try the double-fried spicy soy garlic or soy garlic flavors, too.

Pre-orders can be placed through noon on Super Bowl Sunday, and ordering will reopen at about 6:30 p.m. that day. Customers can also visit the restaurant's New Brunswick location to watch the game on a projector screen and enjoy all-you-can-eat wings for $20 per person from 6 p.m. until halftime.

"Last year we didn't have a huge dine-in crowd because people stayed home due to COVID-19, but this year I think will be different," said owner Mihae Cho said. "I think takeout will stay really busy as usual."

Go: 120 Albany St., New Brunswick, 732-545-4500; 251 North Ave. W, Westfield, 908-233-7333; roosterspin.com

Desserts: La Bon Bake Shoppes in Edison, Woodbridge, Somerset and South Plainfield

There's much more to Super Bowl Sunday than pizza and wings.

"After a few hours, there are only so many chips, dips, wings and bowls of chili that you can eat," said Brian Pansari, owner of La Bon Bake Shoppes. "Desserts are a great change of pace as you hit halftime or the second half of the game."

This Super Bowl Sunday, the bakeries are offering a $28 football cake, $2.75 eclairs decorated as footballs, $3 cupcakes decorated with team logos and colors, and $2 sugar cookies with sprinkles in team colors. They also have savory options, including $2.25 German soft pretzels, $6 pepperoni bread, and $6.50 sausage, pepper and onion bread.

Orders can be placed through Saturday. Usually on Super Bowl Sunday, the bakeries are about 50% busier than a normal Sunday. That wasn't the case last year due to the pandemic, but Pansari thinks that will change for this Super Bowl weekend. Since Valentine's Day is the next day, the bakeries will be even busier, he said.

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"Last year we definitely saw a slower weekend – not as many people were attending parties and if they did have gatherings, they were smaller," he said. "This year I expect it to bounce back. Now that the omicron wave seems to be passing, I think people will be looking to gather again."

Go: labon.com

Subs: Just Subs in Hillsborough, Green Brook, Flemington, Clinton, Phillipsburg and Woodbridge

With six Central Jersey locations and nearly 30 sub sandwiches on the menu, Just Subs is always packed when lunchtime rolls around. But Super Bowl Sunday is easily its busiest day of the year, said co-owner Dave Cannon.

"Last year was a big drop-off since people weren't getting together, but hopefully now that everything is starting to get back to normal, we are hoping to get our numbers closer to normal," Cannon said.

This year, Just Subs is offering the Super Bowl Special, which includes a 3-foot sub that's half turkey and half ham, salami and cheese; 3 pounds of macaroni salad; 3 pounds of potato salad; and a tray of sliced pickles. It feeds about a dozen people and costs $70.

The Tailgate Special includes three 16-inch subs — one turkey, one roast beef and one Italian — as well as a pound of macaroni salad, a pound of potato salad, and a bag of chips. It feeds six to eight people and costs $50.

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Cannon doesn't recommend customers wait until the day-of, as the phones can be busy and the lines long. He suggests customers place their order a day to several days in advance, which allows them to pre-pay and then pick up quickly.

Go: just-subs.com

Pizza: Manville Pizza in Manville

For more than half a century, Manville Pizza has been churning out pies thanks to founder Vincenzo D'Aniello, who passed away Jan. 10. Now his son Anthony runs the Somerset County destination.

"It’s always a good day," D'Aniello said. "It’s always one of the top 10 days of the year, but depending on who makes it to the Super Bowl will dictate how busy it will be."

Although no specials have been set yet, the pizzeria may offer bundle packages including items such as a pizza assortment, chicken wings, bottles of soda or a case of beer.

Besides the ever-popular traditional plain and pepperoni pies, Manville Pizza has specialty pies including a grandma pizza with fresh mozzarella, plum tomatoes and garlic; a caramelized onion pizza with gorgonzola cheese and hot honey glaze; the charred cupped pepperoni Sicilian pie with literal charred pepperoni "cup" toppings; and the Sweet Vanessa, named after D'Aniello's daughter, which is their take on a classic Brooklyn square pizza.

D'Aniello also recommends the pizzeria's stromboli that comes in many varieties, including Buffalo chicken and pepperoni, which can be cut for appetizer-sized portions.

Large orders and catering trays should be placed a few days to one day in advance, D'Aniello said, but the pizzeria can accommodate smaller orders on the day-of.

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"The one consistency with COVID is that it has consistently proven me wrong every time I thought I knew what it would do to my business," D'Aniello said. "Super Bowl parties are smaller now, but more people are hosting them."

Go: 31 S. Main St., Manville; 908-526-1194, manvillepizzaest1969.com

Jenna Intersimone has been a staff member at the USA Today Network New Jersey since 2014, after becoming a blogger-turned-reporter following the creation of her award-winning travel blog. To get unlimited access to her stories about food, drink and fun, please subscribe or activate your digital account today. Contact: JIntersimone@Gannett.com or @JIntersimone.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Super Bowl food specials at restaurants near me in Central NJ