2nd Jetty
Catty-corner from the entrance to Sandy Hook is a seafood shack with a modern, high-toned menu that belies its indoor-outdoor, smell-the-salt-air style. No matter when you’re here, it’s the start of summer.
Lil Saigon
The spawn of a Garden State legend is doing crazy-good Vietnamese in a food hall. Praise be culinary genes.
De Martino
A season-tipping menu, reimagined standards and broad scope of ingredients elevate a second-generation Latin-leaning restaurant to destination-dining stature.
Smitty’s
The Clam Bar at Smith’s Marina, widely known and loved as its nickname, Smitty’s, is the definition of a summertime seafood shack. May it serve clams and “Pink” and fried fish eternally and never, ever run out of the Thursday special.
Indochine
What’s the right night for an interlude of classic Vietnamese fare? Maybe spring rolls, a rice plate and pho? Any night.
Elsie’s Pickles
Remember when we said we “reserve the right to continue telling” at a future date the story of this pickle sandwich paradise in Haddon? Well, we’re doing just that today, with news of the impending opening of another Elsie’s in the town known as the Jewel of the Bayshore.
El Tule
We’ve come for the Peruvian specialties at this cheerful indoor-outdoor eatery whose dualities extend to a menu that spotlights dishes from both Peru and Mexico. It’s technical precision and careful plotting of composition that score a knockout.
The Potager
The tucked-away garden of an open-air café gives dining out the backdrop of spring. The menu is its perfect partner, underscoring the ever-ripening season.
Celebrating Cinco de Mayo
Let a true fanatico of Mexican foods guide you to top spots in the Garden State for toasting what has become a bona fide eating holiday.
Lovelandtown Grocery & Provisions
Classics are elevated and standards enhanced by mindful home-cooking at a Shore eatery that has cemented its place on the dine cards of locals and visitors while still in its youth.
Wasai Bistro
Chef Nelson Yip’s extraordinary omakase is aimed at those who will appreciate his unique vision and juxtapositions of premium ingredients that demand authority, confidence and commanding kitchen skills. Treat yourself. It’s time.
The Blue Bears
Vive la France in a tucked-away café where the cooking is technically precise and the flavors pure, authentic and vivid.