Holsten's Brookdale Confectionery   

This cute little Bloomfield lunch counter looks a bit like a cake box from the outside, and inside it could be 1966: counter seats at a bar, real syrups and ice-creamed blenders, and a soda jerk who's supposedly been at it for almost four decades. The stars here are the sweets, of course -- your typical range of homemade ice creams plus a few wild cards like cherry vanilla, cookies-and-cream and rum raisin. The sundaes are big and sweet and feature toppings such as the "duster" (malt powder), wet walnuts and -- something really unusual -- fruit salad, which seems to be quite popular around these parts, for some reason. (Thanks, but we'll pass.) You can also take home handmade boxes of candies, truffles, cordials and the like, or stay to sup on diner-style luncheons from another era. Tuck into nothing so quaint as an entire can of tuna fish served with lettuce and tomato (no carbs there!), a grilled cheese for just over two bucks, fried egg and PB&J sandwiches, or a double-decker BLT and turkey club. How's that for options?