New Jersey Shore Restaurants
We’ve compiled the best of the best in New Jersey Shore - browse our top choices for Restaurants during your stay.
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We’ve compiled the best of the best in New Jersey Shore - browse our top choices for Restaurants during your stay.
Local fisherman deliver fresh sea fare seven days a week right to the dock at the always-rollicking Lobster House. Cape May salts, a petite and briny oyster, are harvested from the restaurant's beds in Delaware Bay. Dine inside on checked tablecloths, at the raw bar, or outside on the dock for the full maritime show. Of course, the eponymous crustacean is all over the menu—in bisque and salads, its tails stuffed and served with steak, and steamed or broiled whole.
The only thing "mad" about this spot, which is credited with starting Cape May's restaurant renaissance in the 1970s, is the wild popularity of its bountiful American breakfasts and brunches. Be prepared to wait. Or book a table for lunch or dinner. Request the porch to watch the action on Jackson Street and sample the dishes that are their greatest pride and joy: the buttermilk pancakes, the clam chowder, or the lump crab cakes.
The seasonal tapas-style menu at the Sandpiper is perfect for a fun-loving crowd who wants to try a piece of everything, which you’ll want to do—crab-stuffed oysters, duck poutine tots, diver scallops, tenderloin sliders…you get the picture. The desserts are just as yummy with options like pull-apart monkey bread and chocolate brownie torte, as are the fruit-forward specialty cocktails. Another added bonus---the restaurant is helmed by New Jersey native John Zaitoun who has made local sourcing and seasonality the focus of the Sandpiper's menu including the restaurant's beer list which features beer from Cape May and Flying Fish Brewing Companies.
Order large, cracker-crisp pizzas at this pizzeria with dinette tables. The white pizza is delicious, as is anything with the Italian sausage. Or you might try the fried calamari, then choose your favorite pasta combined with your favorite sauce to make a meal. They jar the most popular sauces and sell them to-go. They recently added a family style dining menu, where each item ordered serves up to four people.
You might try veal Parmigiana, a tender New York strip steak, or flounder marechiare (with shrimp). Both service and food are first class, yet the restaurant is casual enough that you may wear nice shorts and deck shoes. Breakfast and lunch are served on a long, sunny enclosed veranda near the pool. Lunch choices include burgers, club sandwiches, and pizza.
Head to this butcher shop and deli and get in line for take-out. Tom Bailey's functions like a New York-style deli, churning out sandwiches, wraps, and salads for a steady stream of locals and summer residents. You can also pick up prime cuts of meat, homemade sausage, and even a selection of cheese, fruit, and desserts. On summer evenings from Thur.–Sun. waitstaff services the outdoor garden patio. At other times, you can take food to go or seat yourself.
An oil painting hangs over the fireplace mantle, wall sconces add soft light, and extravagant bouquets of flowers dress the room. You could be dining at your sophisticated auntie's house circa 1870, but would she have had a chef of the Union Park caliber preparing New American dishes like seared duck breast with duck confit hash or vanilla chai glazed short rib with smoked bacon marmalade? We think not. The restaurant is in the Hotel Macomber.
Pull out your good shoes and jacket: you're dining in an 1840s Victorian plantation home that's romantic enough for the O'Hara's of Tara. The Washington Inn has five dining areas, one of which is a wine cellar where 10,000 bottles await the uncorking. Flights of wine are available for those who prefer to take their cues from the sommelier. As for your meal, you can't go wrong starting with rock shrimp and lobster bisque, followed by bacon-wrapped twin pork tenderloins, and a dessert of fresh berries and chocolate mousse.
Evening meals in this renowned 40-seat, Victorian restaurant are perfectly romantic. Sink into red tufted chairs under ornate crystal chandeliers and relax. The owner personally handles reservations, welcomes diners, and oversees the staff. The contemporary menu changes weekly, but always emphasizes seafood, especially New Jersey sea scallops when they're in season. A full sushi menu is available year-round. In addition to fish, consider the lamb shank, the pork tenderloin, or the grilled, barrel-cut filet mignon. BYOB.
The place claims to have made more than 23 million overstuffed sandwiches since 1946. Make sure you grab a sub (don’t call it a hoagie, hero, or grinder) to enjoy on your trip home; there's also a location at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. You’ll probably need an Italian sub or a White House Special (similar to the Italian sub but with more of everything) to help you recover from all the fun you’ve had. Celebrities seem to love it too; check out the walls of photos and memorabilia, where even a framed towel used by Frank Sinatra during his last Atlantic City performance doesn't seem all that odd.
Munch on sandwiches—house roasted turkey or corned beef on rye are reliable choises—at the old-fashioned lunch counter. Or eat in the spacious dinette area, for hearty and reasonably priced meals. In summer, the deli stays open later and has entrées such as succulent pot roast. Who's on Third is open for breakfast, too.
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