The Ironbound district of Newark is not the sort of place that outsiders flock to.

It has long been an insular community — a working-class Italian-American and Portuguese immigrant stronghold — bounded on three sides by railroad tracks and on another by the Passaic River. Its claims to fame have been as a Superfund cleanup site in the 1980s and as the home turf of Tony Soprano. Not exactly the stuff of tourism brochures.

But in recent years, a culinary scene dominated by restaurants serving traditional Italian or Iberian fare to longtime locals has shifted gears. New restaurants have been opened, many by the children and grandchildren of these earlier immigrants, setting their sights on a diverse crowd that includes Latin Americans and young creative types priced out of Hoboken. The result is a variety of restaurant and nightclub hybrids with music and menus that cater to all comers, sometimes all at the same place.

One such space is Manu’s Sushi Lounge (90 Ferry Street; 973-465-5600; manussushilounge.com), which opened in early 2011. Its Brazilian-born manager, Bruno Carvalho, 27, described its cuisine as “Japanese, Cuban, Mediterranean, Brazilian-Portuguese fusion.” That means a menu that includes Brazilian picanha steaks and bento box lunch specials popular with downtown office workers, along with happy-hour mojitos and caipirinhas. Thursday through Saturday, the space, adorned with kitschy ceiling fans whose blades are made of palm-frond hand fans, Asian antiques and a balustraded mezzanine lounge, does double duty as a concert hall for jazz, Latin and reggae bands.

The menu is just as varied at Hell’s Kitchen Lounge, (150 Lafayette Street; 973-465-4422; hellskitchenlounge.com), which opened six years ago with a bordello theme: a red-and-black palette and a stripper pole. It serves American specialties like the Hard Hat Burger, topped with peanut butter and white Cheddar cheese, and starters like knishes and edamame. The name is meant to suggest both West Midtown Manhattan and the New Jersey Devils, who play at the Prudential Center arena several blocks away. The lounge’s manager, Leroy Simoes, 30, grew up in the Ironbound and has noted the increasing influx of residents from Hoboken and even Manhattan, a 20-minute train ride away. “There’s a younger, artistic crowd that has recently been infiltrating Ironbound and the downtown of Newark recently,” Mr. Simoes said.