New Jersey's Culinary Champs:
The Best Restaurants of 2024
Dine Like a King: The Best New Jersey Restaurants.
New Jersey Leisure Guide's 2025 Awards for the Top Performers in 2024
These are the restaurants that stand above and apart from the pack of 20,000 + New Jersey restaurants.
Our criteria for evaluating a restaurant to determine whether an establishment stands out in the culinary world include;
Food Quality, Ambiance/Décor, Service, and Consistency.
Having said all of that, if you are looking for that exceptional dining experience, be prepared to pay more for a top restaurant. The best restaurants incur higher costs to achieve this distinction and need to pass them on in the form of higher prices.
The Best Northern New Jersey Restaurants
Chez Catherine
Westfield, NJ
Chez Catherine, as close as you can find to a taste of France in New Jersey, is a popular "Chef - Inspired Fine Dining" destination for a special occasion and for diners who enjoy high end French cuisine. Chez Catherine is a small 12 table dining room with an elegant, formal, cozy, romantic ambiance. The attractive decor is done up walls adorned in peach tones and beautiful floral arrangements to set the stage for a formal yet cozy and intimate dining experience. A great place to enjoy a special occasion or a romantic dinner for two.
Common Lot
Millburn, NJ
Common Lot is an exceptional restaurant with many forward-thinking twists that are not to be found in other New Jersey restaurants. Diners come to enjoy an inventive eclectic menu, prepared with fresh farm to table ingredients, in an attractive industrial chic setting. The food is inventive and well executed using farm fresh locally sourced ingredients The menu is offered in three sizes "Smalls to Share", appetizer sized portions, " Big" for traditional size entrees, and "Shared Mains for Two", usually meats, served in huge portions meant to be shared.
Faubourg
Montclair, NJ
One of the best French Restaurants in NJ. Faubourg is a trendy, Bi-Level French Brasserie with a NYC vibe, and an executive chef and management team with impressive credentials. The well-executed menu offers a French cuisine dominant menu with an ample selection of small plates, appetizers, and entrees. The small plate and appetizer selections are popular with groups as they enhance the social nature of the restaurant. Vegan options are available with a separate plant-based menu.
Oceanos Restaurant
Fair Lawn, NJ
Oceanos is arguably the best seafood restaurant in Northern New Jersey. The food preparation is well executed in a classic and simple Mediterranean style fashion, using fresh seafood ingredients sourced daily from the Fulton fish Market in NYC. Ambiance/Decor is old world elegant with lots of polished dark wood and dim lighting,
Restaurant Latour
Hamburg, NJ
Located in the Crystal Springs Resort, a 4,000 acre high end Alpine themed hotel resort, it's popular with diners who enjoy high end, upscale fine dining with creatively prepared food, excellent service, and without the "Old Word" stuffy atmosphere found in other fine dining restaurants.
Diners get to enjoy the scenic view looking through the floor-to-ceiling windows out over the golf course to the Kittatinny Mountains. In the summer there is outside dining on the patio that gets you close to nature with an un-filtered view of the Kittatinny Mountains. Restaurant Latour is especially popular with wine aficionados. It contains an impressive wine collection and in 2018 was inducted into Wine Enthusiast's America's Best Wine Restaurant Hall of Fame. Restaurant Latour is the only restaurant from New Jersey included in the newly created Best Wine Restaurant Hall of Fame.
Saddle River Inn
Saddle River, NJ
Located along the banks of the Saddle River is set in a 19th century restored barn.
Diners have come to experience the "best in class food and service" in a rustic romantic, casual, yet elegant ambiance.
This upscale Chef-Inspired Casual Dining restaurant has many of the amenities of a fine dining restaurant without the formal, "Old World" stuffy atmosphere found in typical fine dining restaurants.
The Hill
Closter, NJ
The Hill is owned and operated by Executive Chef Ben Pollinger, the former chef at the 1-star Michelin award Oceana Restaurant. This upscale, attractive, rustic farmhouse features a floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace, The food is creative, well executed, specializing in blending seafood with high quality ingredients, sourced from local, fresh farm-to-table purveyors. The preparation is globally influenced, lighter, and not too rich.
Verana Cucina Italiana
Norwood, NJ
Verana Cucina Italiana is one of the best Italian restaurants in Northern New Jersey. This is a popular restaurant for diners who enjoy a well-executed, scratch menu prepared with quality ingredients and creatively presented. The upscale, elegant ambiance has a NYC vibe and excellent hospitality that adds to the experience of a taste of Italy.
The Best Central New Jersey Restaurants
Amelia's By The Sea
Spring Lake, NJ
Located in the Grand Victorian Hotel across from the ocean, Amelia's is a fine dining restaurant serving a creative contemporary Italian menu with a focus on seafood, and scenic ocean beach front views.
The are BYOB Nov 15th through April 30th with the exception of holidays and some weekends. From May 1st through November 15th, they offer a wine list and a full-service bar menu.
The Butcher's Block
Long Branch, NJ
The Butcher's Block is a mecca for meat lovers. They are a whole animal, "farm to table" butcher shop, restaurant, coffee bar, and a market, all in one that serves up the best meats in Central Jersey. The NYC-style ambiance is homey, nostalgic, and aesthetically pleasing. It takes you back to an old NYC neighborhood block in the meat district.
Canal House Station
Milford, NJ
On the site of a converted 1870 historic train station, The Canal House Station is one of New Jersey's hidden gems. This upscale, Chef-Inspired, casual Dining restaurant is set in a beautifully renovated historic train station with high ceilings, wood beams, and with details that were blended into keeping the feeling of an old train station.
d'Floret Restaurant
Lambertville, NJ
d'Floret features well-executed, eclectic new American fusion food in a casual yet elegant setting.
Owned by acclaimed Chef Dennis Foy who serves a creative, contemporary American, seasonal menu using local, fresh farm-to-table ingredients, in an attractive, upscale setting.
Elements
Princeton, NJ
This high end, upscale restaurant pushes the envelope with extraordinary food preparation and a non-traditional service model. Acclaimed chef Scot Anderson serves up a New American menu with Japanese/Asian influences that changes daily to feature the freshest ingredients sourced from local farms and producers. These ingredients are prepared using progressive, modern techniques to draw out the purest flavors. Popular with diners who are open to a new non-traditional dining experience with a creative, inspired menu using fresh farm to table ingredients in an upscale, trendy setting.
The Frog and the Peach
New Brunswick, NJ
The Frog and the Peach is the top New Brunswick fine dining restaurant in a town known for having a variety of good restaurants.
This is a restaurant with an energetic atmosphere by a trendy crowd. They serve a creative seasonal menu of French-influenced American and Mediterranean food using sustainable farming and fresh ingredients, especially from local sources.
Lita
Aberdeen Township, NJ
The Lita Iberian Restaurant is one of the best restaurants in the central Jersey area.
Created by acclaimed Chef David Viana, he has creatively introduced flavors from the Iberian Peninsula into his dishes, combining them it with NJ fresh ingredients, and modern techniques, to produce a well-executed, creatively prepared, modern Iberian menu.
The Best Southern New Jersey Restaurants
Cafe 2825
Atlantic City, NJ
Cafe 2825 with "Old World" charm, serves a well executed menu of traditional Southern Italian dishes using fresh ingredients, many of them brought in from Brooklyn, NY. Located a block from the Tropicana Casino, A great alternative to the glitzy, high priced, casino restaurant scene.
Capriccio
Atlantic City, NJ
Capriccio Restaurant is an Atlantic City favorite for "Old World" style fine dining. It features Italian elegance, creatively prepared food, and a fabulous Sunday Champagne Brunch. It is the longest running casino restaurant in Atlantic City, opening at the same time Resorts became the first Atlantic City casino to open in 1978. Capriccio is spread over four areas; Cirlo, a contemporary wine bar and lounge area, the main dining room with a high, vaulted ceiling and murals, the sunlit room with high arched windows with scenic views overlooking the boardwalk and ocean, and the outdoor patio also with scenic views overlooking the boardwalk and ocean.
Dock's Oyster House
Atlantic City, NJ
Dock's Oyster House is Atlantic City's oldest restaurant and an institution since 1897 with a reputation for having a a well executed, fresh seafood menu.Located away from the bustling casinos, you can drive up with free on-site parking and enjoy dining in a relaxed environment.
Has an upscale Jersey Shore vibe--- Modern, classic oyster bar, with maritime touches.
Hearthside
Collingswood, NJ
Hearthside is an extraordinary Collingswood BYOB restaurant with rustic, elegant ambiance. They serve a contemporary American, inventive wood-fired, well executed menu. They are committed to preparing their dishes with high quality, fresh local and seasonal products.
Ristorante LUCCA
Bordentown, NJ
Ristorante Lucca is a luxurious romantic fine dining restaurant offering an exquisite experience that combines exceptional ambiance, delectable food, and impeccable service.
The ambiance sets the stage for a romantic evening, with soft lighting, elegant decor, and intimate seating arrangements. The restaurant exudes an air of sophistication and charm, creating a perfect atmosphere for couples to enjoy a special occasion or a romantic date night.
Zeppoli
Collingswood, NJ
Zeppoli is one of the top Sicilian influenced restaurants in South Jersey. Owned and operated by James Beard Foundation nominated Chef Joey Baldino for Best Chef/Mid-Atlantic Region for the sixth time since 2013. Chef Baldino's preparations are not traditional or carbon-copied. They are creative and use a unique blend of fresh, quality ingredients.
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