Alfonso’s Somerville NJ

NJ Alfa Club at the Somerville Cruise Night, May 30, 2025

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The month of May was cruel to us in the collector car hobby, as cool, wet weather caused postponements and cancellations of various events. In some cases, events proceeded regardless, with disappointing results. A few months back, the NJ Chapter of the Alfa Romeo Owners Club (NJ-AROC) reached out to the folks who put on the Somerville, NJ Friday night cruise nights. The organizers will reserve parking in one section for car clubs, and our Alfa club did this last year. Because the date is chosen in advance, it becomes a “rain or shine” event, and the weather forecast for May 30, our assigned date, was iffy. I actually didn’t make the decision to attend until several hours prior to the 5 p.m. start time.

Several club members were already there when I arrived a few minutes past five, and we immediately noticed that there were no “Reserved for Alfa Club” signs in place, as there were last year. As parking spots opened up, we placed a folding chair to hold the spot for the next Alfa to arrive. That was working well until a Somerville cop stopped and told us “you can’t hold parking spots!” I was about to exchange a few friendly words with the officer when a Cruise Night representative approached the black-and-white Ford Explorer and explained that he was late in posting the Reserved Parking signs, which seemed to smooth things over for the patrol officer.

Despite the threatening weather (which held off for the entire evening), we had a nice turnout of about a dozen Alfas, dominated by Spiders, and also cars from the modern Giulia, Stelvio, and Tonale lineup. The camaraderie in our group is strong, and we enjoyed the evening chatting among ourselves as well as the passers-by who took note of our Italian macchine. (One woman walked up to my Junior and asked me, “is that a Volvo?”) Bill ordered pizza from Alfonso’s, generously paid for by the Chapter, and by 7:30 p.m., with darkening skies overhead, several of us (including me) headed home. It was wonderful to hang with fellow Alfisti, and we already have a date in August to return to Somerville.

 

Who ordered the pizza?

 

Our club enjoyed the pizza (with Girl Scout cookies for dessert)

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Somerville, NJ Cruise Night, July 15, 2022

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This past Friday, July 15, 2022, I attended the Somerville, NJ Cruise Night, held on Main St. It’s been a few years since I’ve attended. In fact, I’m fairly certain that the Cruise Nights were completely cancelled during 2020 and 2021 because of the Covid shutdown. If my own blog is to be believed, I’ve not been in attendance since 2016!

It was good to be back. Both sides of Main St. were lined with a nice variety of special-interest cars. The sidewalks weren’t too crowded, and the warm summer New Jersey air, to my great relief, lacked the usual humidity. I strolled up and down the blocks several times, after which my wife drove into town so that we could share a pizza at the well-regarded Alfonso’s. By the time we were done, it was getting dark and having seen what I was there to see, we headed home.

 

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, the town of Somerville was at first against the entire Cruise Night idea. But once they saw the crowds and the business these crowds brought to the local establishments, everyone was on board. Perhaps later this summer I’ll swing back and bring one of my own cars to park on Main St.

 

There were plenty of Corvettes in attendance: I spotted C2, C3, C5, C6, and C7 generations parked along the street. In addition, at least 3 different C8 Vettes were seen cruising up and down the main drag.

 

1st gen Mustang with custom tail lights

 

Mercedes-Benz 560SL

 

Custom hot rods still show up in significant numbers in Somerville

 

1969 Mustang

 

Rarely seen Chevy II wagon

 

’52-’54 Fords were at one time very popular with rodders

 

Olds Cutlass

 

1973 Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am

 

 

Triumph TR-6 sports cars seem to have survived in large numbers compared to some other ’70s sports cars

 

When did you last see one of the Franco-American Renaults? This poor Encore needed a jump.

 

Pontiac GTO

 

One of the last of the full-size Olds convertibles

 

1955 Chevrolet

 

DeTomaso Pantera. Drivetrain axle yokes are the size of my skull; they need to be to put that power down.

 

VW Beetle does duty as pizza delivery vehicle

 

 

I thought this pre-war (’39? ’40?) Plymouth was snazzy

 

2nd gen AMC Javelin (this one an SST)

 

The local Alfa dealer had this gold Stelvio on display

 

 

A mildly customized ’55 Chevy, not a Bel Air!

 

The ubiquitous ’57 Chevy

 

A 1968 King Midget. Had a long talk with the owner (Clifford) and we compared notes about what it’s like to own a small quirky car like a King Midget or Isetta.

 

Alfonso’s is one of the best Italian restaurants in the area. We walked in and were told (this at 7 p.m.) that the wait for an inside table would be 25 minutes, and for an outside table, 40 minutes. Instead, we sat at the bar to eat pizza and drank beer.