Allentown
Chocolate chip pancakes, apple crepes, and breakfast pizza all share the same Sunday morning lineup here. Then the carving station rolls out prime rib before lunchtime even arrives. I love a menu that refuses to pick a lane. This New Jersey spot pairs grits and cream of wheat with a...
At 4:30 in the morning, Route 17 is already carrying people somewhere, and Perry’s Bagel Cafe is already feeding them. A few hours later, breakfast crowds will fill the usual places, but these early counters and diners have been busy since the sky was dark. They serve commuters watching...
A small-town spot with bar pies and smash burgers runs its own whole-animal butchery. Yep, the kitchen breaks down entire animals in-house. That’s the detail I can’t get over. The steaks coming out of that setup aren’t shy, either. Ribeyes and New York strips show up on the...
A creamy Cacio e Pepe gets finished right beside your table at one New Jersey Italian spot. Another dining room seats only 35 people, and its Sicilian menu still manages to feel like a little party. I love that kind of surprise. Upscale dining can get expensive, but these New...
The best dinner suggestion often comes with instructions: order the burger, bring three friends for the sandwich, call well ahead for a table. That is how a restaurant becomes part of somebody’s routine, then somebody else’s. A good tip gets passed around at work, over a backyard fence,...
Somewhere in Hamilton Township, there’s a restaurant called Rat’s, and the name alone has been stopping people in their tracks for years. If you’ve never heard of it, that’s about to change, because this place is the kind of discovery that makes you feel like you’ve been let in on the best-kept secret in the entire state of New Jersey.
Every Monmouth County town seems to have that one bakery where the line forms early on Sunday and the box gets tied with string. Some of these shops lean old-school Italian, with rainbow cookies and lobster tails in the case. Others are newer, built around cupcakes, croissants, or one famous...
One deli in New Jersey sells eight kinds of kielbasa, smoked right on site. Eight. I had no idea a single counter could hold that much garlic and smoke. That discovery sent me down a very hungry rabbit hole. Some of these shops open before sunrise. One runs a hot...
Cream donuts so loaded with filling that you can buy extra tubs of the white cream on the side. That detail alone stopped me cold. I believe any place selling bonus donut filling deserves a closer look. The surprises keep stacking up from there. Beef ribs, brisket, and baby back...
A plate of crab hash lands on the table, and suddenly the pancakes across from it look a little underdressed. That is the risk at New Jersey’s best savory breakfast spots: you arrive thinking about syrup and leave talking about chorizo, crispy potatoes, poached eggs, or a breakfast sandwich that required both hands and a napkin.
Food truck festivals pack New Jersey parks in November, from wing eating competitions in Mullica Hill to taco and empanada celebrations in South Bound Brook. Each event brings live music and crowds looking for something beyond the usual.
We want to hear from our readers on a very important subject: Diners. That’s right. Most of us are aware that New Jersey is known as the “Diner Capital of the World” , because, well, we have so many diners across the Garden State. And while some iconic diners have closed over the years , we still have plenty of options to fill our bellies with diner food, especially here in South Jersey. With that in mind, we created a poll so you can tell us which diner is your favorite among the ones we listed. The poll will remain open for about six or seven days so you will have time to revisit the poll. Oh, and do us a favor: We don't mind if you vote more than once, but we don't allow bots in our polls. These polls help small businesses in our communities. We don't want to have to eliminate one from the poll. Please consider a digital subscription to help support our journalism. Celeste E. Whittaker joined the Courier-Post in 1998. The Willingboro native has covered the Philadelphia 76ers, college and high school sports in her tenure and now covers food, dining, events, arts and
Some drives end at a parking lot. This one ends at the edge of Sandy Hook Bay, with boats drifting past and a lobster roll on the way to your table. Highlands is a small Jersey Shore town with a big waterfront personality, and one dockside spot has been pulling people off the highway for years. Folks drive 45 minutes, hop a ferry from New York City, or roll in straight from a beach day at Sandy Hook just to grab a seat by the water.
Many New Jersey residents shared their favorite hidden gem restaurants and here they are.
A popular local bagel shop is growing, announcing on social media that they're getting ready to open a 3rd NJ location in the Spring
A New Jersey photographer looked through almost 6,000 menus to see what each place calls the breakfast sandwich. The result is an interactive map of the state’s great divide. One of New Jersey’s never-ending wars is the one between Taylor Ham and Pork Roll. Traditionally speaking, those in North...
Some weeks call for a salad, and some weeks call for a plate stacked with snow crab legs. New Jersey happens to have plenty of all-you-can-eat buffets where crab legs are part of the deal instead of a pricey add-on. This list covers six of them, from busy Route 22...
Remember when a road trip meant pulling off the highway for eggs, coffee, and a seat at the counter? New Jersey still has a few places that work exactly that way. Some sit right off the Turnpike, and others hide inside old dining cars that have been serving drivers for generations. Here are five spots where the coffee keeps coming and the 1970s never really left.
Alexander Hamilton once rode up to this building in December 1776. Today, the big draw is a burger made from house-ground sirloin, chuck, and short rib. The original structure went up between 1739 and 1742 as a private home. By 1765, it was feeding stagecoach travelers on the busy Philadelphia to New York route. That’s a long run of serving hungry people.
