New Jersey supermarkets, restaurants bracing for busy Super Bowl weekend
PARAMUS, N.J. -- Have you done your Super Bowl food shopping yet? Those hosting or attending parties to watch the Big Game this weekend are ahead of the game.
From the cart, or restaurant, straight to our homes, there's much to gather days ahead of the Big Game.
"Things to pick on, finger foods," Moonachie resident Jen Turbay said.
That's just some of what Turbay and her husband packed their cart with Friday before the Super Bowl Sunday rush.
For those catering...
"It's gonna be a nonstop type of weekend, but we're ready for it," Biggie's general manager Steven Ranuro said.
Ranuro has a wall full of catering orders with wings, nachos, sliders and other handhelds on deck, and even with expected crowds at the restaurant, they'll be on-call for more orders, even during the game.
"Even at halftime, we'll get a set of orders come in," he said.
"I think this is gonna be our biggest year for a Super Bowl yet," said Nevin Philip, vice president of operations at the Stew Leonard's in Paramus.
Especially for the store's meat department.
"Our chefs alone are gonna make 40,000 pounds of chicken wings this weekend, and we have another 20,000 pounds being sold out of our meat department as well," Philip said.
New to the shopping list this year, what might be the hottest six-pack you could get -- "TNT" cupcakes. That's right, Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce cupcakes at Stew Leonard's.
"I have many, many friends that are Swifties, so I'm buying this to bring to a friend's house for Super Bowl," Hoboken resident Jane Dunleavey said.
Whose idea were they? A member of the Leonard family, who, of course, is a Swiftie. They reference her "1989" album and Kelce's number, 87.
"We're celebrating the Midwest, which never happens ... Definitely in Giants territory," Pompton Lakes resident Laura Fram said.
Both the supermarket and restaurant will be hard at work while fans enjoy the game.
"We'll be able to hang out for a little while watching the game here in the bar room," Ranuro said.
With plenty of food to go around, for sure.