Gaslight Brewery   

One humungous copper kettle announces the presence of this little downtown microbrewery just a half-block from South Orange's train station, a haven for both serious home-brewheads and the casual diner. The Soboti family runs it as an efficient but pleasant ship, tapping a fresh firkin (that's a cask holding about 11 gallons of the good stuff) of ale each Thursday night at the stroke of 7:30PM and maintaining up to eight of their brews on tap at any given moment -- stuff like Bulldog Blonde, Satan Claws Ale, Three Ring I.P.A. and 80 Shilling. They serve a surprisingly gourmet menu, too, thanks to Cindy Soboti's culinary institute training: You can actually start a meal here with fried Blue Point oysters, cilantro shrimp or baked Brie en croute, and continue onward to authentic wursts and sauerbraten, or lamb burgers. Fear not: They do traditional pub fare such as burgers and wings, as well.