Whether it’s perfect pizza, incredible Italian, hip haute cuisine, or all those divine diners, we Jerseyites have it pretty good when it comes to good eats. But our favorite foods of all to get in the Garden State? Pretty much anything you can find down the shore. Here are our top picks for can’t-miss noshing at the beach- the best foods at the Jersey Shore.
Sausage Sandwich
Seaside Heights
The scent of these fabled sandwiches waft all the way down the boardwalk: Italian rolls stuffed with snappy sausages and fresh-off-the-flattop peppers and onions. The place is also known for its cheesesteaks so feel free to ask to add some of that iconic cheese sauce and marinara while you’re at it.
Frozen Custard
The Original Kohr Bros. Frozen Custard
Wildwood/Ocean City/LBI/Cape May/Stone Harbor
Back when the Kohr family started selling ice cream on Coney Island a century ago, they discovered the stuff would melt too fast on scorching summer days. The solution? Add some eggs to emulsify it and halt the melting, leading to the creation of the now-famous frozen custard, a silky, swirly soft-serve treat you simply can’t skip. (Get the chocolate-vanilla. You won’t be sorry.)
Fried Clams
Belmar
Here’s the thing about fried clams: Most of the stuff you find in these parts is sadly those pre-frozen strips, which are mediocre at best and downright rubbery and bland at worst. For the real-deal whole-belly good stuff, head to this seafood market-cum-restaurant and order the Ipswich Fried Clam Dinner for a pile of lightly fried clams fresh from the coast of Maine.
Salt Water Taffy
Atlantic City
Like the telephone and bubble wrap, salt water taffy is yet another very important invention that was birthed in our great state, specifically by a guy named Joseph Fralinger in Atlantic City, which is where you should go to get the cream of the crop candy and find flavors from tame vanilla to more avant-garde pina colada and PB&J. If you can’t hit up one of the Fralinger’s retail shops on the Atlantic City Boardwalk, they’ve got two other outposts in Ocean City and Cape May.
Pizza
Bradley Beach
There are many, many solid slice places lining all the boardwalks down here (and that gargantuan piece you can get for a few bucks at Seaside’s The Sawmill is still an all-time fave), but for an old-school sit-down spot slinging classic pies with housemade dough and sauce, this Italian eatery, established in 1947 is the go-to. And, in a sign of the times, they even offer gluten-free crusts.
Raw Bar
Long Branch
There is, perhaps, no meal that brings more joy to a summer day at the shore than one that’s filled with uber-fresh platters of shellfish sprawled out on glistening ice. This massive waterfront institution offers some of the best around with oysters plucked from up and down the East Coast, including some procured in Barnegat along with plump peel-and-eat shrimp, little neck clams, and even pound-and-a-half chilled lobsters if you’re feeling fancy.
Fudge
Cape May/ Wildwood/Stone Harbor/Ocean City
While salt water taffy is probably the area’s more renowned sweet treat, many would argue that fudge is the shore’s specialty. If you make it to way down to Wildwood or beyond you’ll want to stop into one of this fudge maker’s multiple locations, which all churn out creamy, chocolatey squares in flavors ranging from sea salt caramel to Bing cherry vanilla.
Subs
Mike’s Giant Size Submarine Sandwiches
Keyport
When this classic sub shop reopened after Hurricane Sandy, the world (OK maybe just New Jersey) rejoiced. Once again, patrons looking for the quintessential sub sandwich with light and airy bread, fresh-cut tomato and onion, zippy hot and cherry peppers, and lettuces shredded to near translucent-ness could find it again. Whether you go super Italian style with the Prosciuttini, Provolone, Capicola combo or keep it classic with turkey and cheese, you can’t go wrong. And for get-togethers, order up one of their famous three-footers.
