Cape May, NJ, is America’s ultimate beach holiday destination, with Charming vintage Victorian cottages. The Washington Street Mall is the hub of restaurants. Cape May has a variety of restaurants to offer.
They await your attention, from breakfast pancakes and seafood to brick oven pizzas. Cape May is admired for its beaming beaches and boardwalks; it has a hustling crowd in the summer season.
People getting sunburnt and playing on the sandy beaches, enjoying every ray of sun hitting them with a cold splash of water from the beaches, makes them exhausted, famished, and dehydrated at the end of the day.
Don’t sweat it! Cape May has got you covered by offering a phenomenal range of restaurants and bars that will not disappoint your taste buds. Here are the top 23 Cape May restaurants NJ will treat you with.
19 Leading Restaurants in Cape May, NJ
1. The Blue Pig Tavern
‘Tavern‘ basically means a pub that serves food, and the Blue Pig Tavern is the first Tavern in Cape May. It is located on the corner of Congress Hall. One can enjoy classic American meals by the restaurant’s fireplace, bright windows, or leaning against the wall.
Start with that charcuterie board or beer dough squid. Main dishes like bacon-wrapped meatloaf and lump crab cakes scream American. They make all of their cuisines from locally sourced ingredients. Do not miss the dessert as they have all sinful joy classics.
2. Boiler Room
This must-visit restaurant is in an underground location as it is at the underground Congress Hall. It provides an appealing vibe, with bare brick walls, polished bars, and tables.
This is among the best restaurants with fresh brick oven-crafted pizza. The icing on the cake is the cold daft beer and dulcet live music. In a nutshell, it gives big-city vibes.
The food and ambiance attract many guests from various Cape May hotels and Jersey Shore locals. One can watch their favorite team play on one of 12 high-definition televisions.
This restaurant is a jam-packed combo of hot pizzas, cold beer, and bang-on entertainment.
3. Fins Bar and Grille
‘Fins Bar and Grille’ has a blue and white, aquatic-looking facade. You’ll find this restaurant along the Washington Street Mall. This restaurant serves both lunch and dinner all 7 days of the week. It features a full bar, outdoor seating, and seasonal nightly live entertainment.
Fins Bar and Grille is praised for its happy hour, including Glasstown Brewing, River House, and Cape May Brewing. Dishes that you must not miss are the shrimp and crab penne. The menu also offers fresh seafood and barramundi, pork chops, and lobster BLTs. This place is amazing if you are looking for a high-end, fine dining experience.
4. Tisha’s Fine Dining
Tisha’s fine dining is located along the pedestrian Washington Street Mall. ‘Tisha’s’ was established in Cape May in 1988, more than 30 years now. They mainly offer a fresh New American style, including cuisines of American origin.
They have mushroom risotto and cajun fried oysters for appetizers. Filet au Poivre with the French-influenced menu for a classy Italian dinner or scallop sambuca are must-try.
Guests can enjoy their food in the indoor dining room or savor in the Al Fresco, which is Tisha’s outdoor dining option. It’s a perfect place if you want to have a sophisticated lunch and dinner.
5. Ebbitt Room
This popular seaside restaurant ‘Ebbitt room‘ should be on your must-visit list. It’s their Farm-to-glass and Farm-to-table characteristic that makes it even more enchanting.
The raw bar is unparalleled with dishes like Hamachi Crudo and Braised Beef cheeks. The restaurant has a snug lounge and lives piano weekends in the bar.
6. Mad Batter Restaurant and Bar
The Mad Batter is situated on ancient Jackson Street, famously known as the ‘Granddaddy of Cape May’s fine restaurants.’ Mad Batter has received several critically acclaimed awards for the breakfast, lunch, and dinner it serves. The main dining room is light-filled and has a skylit view.
Tuscan roast tomatoes and linguine or salmon grilled with spicy shrimp are a must-try. The restaurant also offers a vegan menu. Happy Hour and live music are provided every given day.
7. Black Duck on Sunset
Black Duck on Sunset is set on West Cape Bay near Sunset Boulevard. The restaurant is very close to the heart of Cape May’s historic destination and Washington Street Mall. It is a BYOB gourmet bistro.
The menu serves fresh local fish, a wide variety of appetizers, charbroiled steaks, Slow Roasted Honey-Walter Duck Supper, including a whiskey bread pudding, and many more. The ambiance gives out a soothing cold and vintage vibe.
8. Hemingway’s Steaks & Seafood
Hemingway’s Steaks and Seafood is a good Cape May restaurant for casual dining. It serves contemporary American Fare with various culinary creations that consist of fresh local seafood and its famous utterly juicy steaks.
The bar at Hemingway’s swanks a “classily informal, never stuffy” environment. The restaurant menu features everything from breakfast to dinner, and they also have ‘Sunset Dining.’
It’s a hands-on spot to unravel after an exhausting day, offering specialty cocktails wrapped with quirky backstories while you catch up on the game.
9. SeaSalt Restaurant
SeaSalt restaurant has a unique fine-dining seafood experience for you which marks the use of fresh native Cape May ingredients with a diversity of wines and specialty cocktails.
Food like crab cakes, and steak with an insinuation of Mediterranean and Asian influence. The restaurant does not only serve food but also serves you with a detailed ambiance. The view here is amazing with an elegant beach view which is a lifetime experience.
The SeaSalt restaurant serves Breakfast and Dinner every day during on season and is open on the weekends only from the end of March to the end of April.
10. Peter Shields Inn & Restaurant
Peter Shields Inn & Restaurant has a front porch with one of those alluring ocean views, and it has 5 various dining rooms. The head uses the best quality ingredients to serve the best food. Both contemporary and traditional dishes are served with suitable use of seasonal ingredients.
Peter Shields Inn & Restaurant also offers Cape May’s finest collection of wines.
11. 410 Bank Street Restaurant
410 Bank Street Restaurant is a buttoned-up pathway through torrid herbage and overhanging vines accommodated with a carriage house since the 1840s.
Now, what should be on your list when you visit Bank Street restaurant? It surely has to be Steaks cooked over a Mesquite, New Orleans-inspired cooking and trawler-to-table fresh seafood to give you an ultimate taste bud tingling experience.
Serving fresh food is their mantra, as they butcher all their seafood and meat in the house and later smoke them slowly also in the house.
Not only the main ingredients but the sauces and dressings are also made from scratch. They prepare the food with such authenticity that it feels like experiencing New Orleans sitting in Cape May.
12. The Lobster House
Overlooking the Cape May harbor is the famous Lobster House. It has been serving guests for more than four generations with an assortment of dining experiences. It is an amazing fine dining experience with a fresh, breezy nautical atmosphere.
The menu here consists of fresh seafood, which comes from its commercial boat fleet. They also have various non-seafood dishes to serve, like meats and desserts.
Jess Laudeman started the Restaurant as a wholesale fish business named ‘Cold Spring Fish and Supply.’ Later, Grandfather Wally Laudeman, his next generation, carried it forward as Lobster House by adding Lobster to the Fish business.
Lobster House is located on one of the well-known 906, Schellenger’s Landing.
13. Sapore Italiano
Sapore Italiano is yet another fine dining, and one of the BYOB restaurants in Cape May NJ extends with Italian specialization. It is located in the West of Cape May in New Jersey. The restaurant was set by rebuilding a Victorian-style house. They focus on their ingredients being native, farm-picked, and freshly picked ingredients.
Dishes you must try include Branzino, Tilapia, Salmon, Shrimp, Calamari, juicy, plum Jersey farm tomatoes, Brews like Tea and coffee, and homemade freshly baked desserts to give a sweet end to your meal. This place serves lunch-dinner
The place is an attraction center; prior reservations are encouraged.
14. Harry’s Ocean Bar and Grille
Harry’s is the only restaurant in Cape May NJ has a seafront rooftop bar overlooking the Atlantic. It is one of the popular diners. Harry has acknowledgments like “Best place to drink outside” in Jersey Shore by Philadelphia Magazine.
Harry’s offers Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It also has occasionally organized Happy Hours. It is the only spot that offers Happy Hours with a location like this which has an amazing rooftop ocean view.
Salads, Sandwiches, and oysters are made from native and garden-fresh ingredients.
15. George’s Place
George’s Place is not diner-looking; it is a small, snug storefront eatery right by Beach Avenue and one of the most inviting Greek restaurants Cape May, NJ, can boast of.
George’s Place is known for its Greek breakfast. It has amazing meals like French toast, scrambled eggs, pancakes, waffles, South Jersey staples, and whatnot.
It is said to have the best breakfast in Cape May. The Greek owners of the restaurant, Yianni Tsiartsinosis, and Peter, assist us with their Greek authenticity for lunch and dinner.
If you want an amazing breakfast experience, you must visit George’s Place.
16. Beach Plum Farm Kitchen
Beach Plum Farm Kitchen primarily focuses on the Farm-to-Table policy. This is one of those restaurants in Cape May that exhibits picnic vibes and has a field view. You can enjoy your fresh meal with a view of the greenhouse where the ingredients were harvested.
Lavish greenery and picturesque scenery cover the farm’s widespread lot. Their kitchen is located in an open Amish barn. The menu at Beach Plum changes with changing seasons. Summer is an exception; sumptuous Jersey-grown tomatoes or sometimes freshly plucked fruits are served, for which restaurants in Cape May are well known.
The farm also hosts holidays and other dinners during fall, winter, and spring.
17. Hot Dog Tommy’s
Leaving Cape May without having Hot Dogs from Hot Dog Tommy’s is a big miss. It is a few minutes walk from the ocean. Hot Dog Tommy’s has various unimaginable varieties of hotdogs on HDT’s menu. This hotdog stand has vegan and gluten-free options too. One can also ask for a customized Hot Dog. It also sells Deli Sandwiches.
The food is prepared with the freshest ingredients, and Tommy, the stall owner, makes fresh Hot Dogs in no time. It’s the best meal to have after an exhausting beach day.
18. Key West Tacos
Key West Tacos has a bold Mexican flavor like the Florida Keys of Cape May, NJ. Their shack is embellished with breezy beach-vibe decor. Picnic tables are arranged to sit on with a fantastic view of the Atlantic. It’s an ideal place to hang out with both friends and family.
Some must-try items here are Joey B’s Steak taco and Pepe’s Shrimp. Besides tacos, KWT serves burritos, nachos, quesadillas, salads, and other amazing Mexican dishes.
19. Good Earth Organic Eatery
As the name suggests, the food here is prepared with 100% organic ingredients. The family involved with Good Earth Organic believes in consuming organic food and supporting the people involved in local growth. They have a minimal style showcasing the freshness of the ingredients.
As Good Earth, Organic Eatery focuses on organic and fresh produce-based ingredients. It is a restaurant where the menu changes along with the season, but you’ll always find fish on the menu. Vegan and Gluten-free dishes are a staple here.
Closing Thoughts
After the pandemic, Cape May has started its activities and services, but you might find some restaurants like ‘Godmother’s Restaurant‘ closed. We notice here that half of the restaurants in Cape May, NJ, offer outdoor dining to accompany its beautiful beaches and seas. You can also try out Iccara Italian Bistro.
Field fresh food and native seafood are what attract tourists and also the locals. Some of the places locals also prefer are Oceanview restaurant, Harry’s, The Mad Batter, etc. There are restaurants where you can dine with your family. Cape May is mainly known for Quesadillas, Pizza, pancakes, and fresh breakfast.
Cape May is famous for its beaches and the amazing food it has to offer. The Victorian setting also lures in people along with the bustling seashore. So, when in Cape May, NJ, get drenched in the beaches and later savor your taste buds with mouth-watering fresh food.
The beaches are an attraction, but exploring all the beach restaurants in Cape May NJ is also an amazing experience in itself.
Last Updated on by Sathi Chakraborty, MSc Biology
