USA Today’s 2026 Restaurants of the Year list is out and three New Jersey eateries made the cut: Ram & Rooster in Metuchen, The Pasta Shop in Denville and Anjelica’s in Sea Bright. Chosen by a group of food writers who traveled the country searching for memorable meals, the list of 39 favorites are in 25 states.
Chef-Owner Sean Yan opened Ram & Rooster in Metuchen in the summer of 2024 to honor his parents’ Chinese heritage. Dubbed Chinese-inspired new American fine dining, he offers an eight-course tasting menu that includes taro fritter, mackerel crudo, grilled sunchoke with snow crab, Hokkaido scallop, A5 wagyu in a beef noodle soup, dark chocolate with white yam and meringue, and lemon cake.
Options off of the prix fixe menu include wood ear salad, snow crab rillette, beef cheek wontons, fried shrimp with chili honey and dark chocolate sorbet. Prix fixe is only available on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
The restaurant is BYOB but offers seven traditional Chinese teas, ranging from green and black to white and oolong varieties. Ram & Rooster can accommodate vegetarians with 48 hours’ advance notice, but cannot go vegan.
The Pasta Shop in Denville is known for handmade pasta and wood-fired Italian dishes that use farm-sourced ingredients.
Antipasti includes wood-fired meatballs, housemade garlic bread, homemade mozzarella sticks, and artichoke parmigiana bruschetta toast. Pasta selections include pappardelle bolognese, spicy Argentinian red shrimp, and ziti with sausage and truffle cream. From the wood oven comes pork shoulder, roasted salmon filet and chicken parmigiana.
The only dessert is a three-piece cannoli and it’s the perfect Italian way to end a meal.
The Pasta Shop is so intimate that the restaurant provides a strict seating policy before you arrive: there are only 24 seats, and tables of up to six people are available on a first-come, first-served.
The restaurant is BYOB, but you can purchase wine on-site from Old York Cellars in Ringoes (you can take the wine to go, too).
Anjelica’s in Sea Bright is another exclusive BYOB spot, only open for lunch on Fridays and Saturdays, and for dinner from Thursdays to Sundays. Family-owned and -operated for the past 20 years, the recipes come from Avellino, Sicily and Lombardy.
Crispy fried olives stuffed with parmigiano, charred bell peppers with homemade ricotta, and marinated baby artichokes with oreganata breadcrumbs come before the antipasti, which includes cavolfiore (whole roasted cauliflower) and fritto misto (fried shrimp, clams, scallops and calamari in a lemon-horseradish aioli).
Main dishes include linguine with garlic and oil, rigatoni with lobster meat, and baked ravioli with homemade ricotta and buffalo mozzarella. Housemade potato chips with hot cherry peppers and sauteed artichokes with spinach and mushrooms are among the elevated sides.
Here are USA Today’s picks for the 2026 Restaurants of the Year, listed by state:
Huarachis, Phoenix, Arizona
Indibar, Scottsdale, Arizona
The Stand, Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, Near Scottsdale, Arizona
El Mexicali Café II, Indio, California
Postcard Pizza, Fort Collins, Colorado
Lewes Oyster House, Lewes, Delaware
Tide Tables, Bradenton, Florida
Oceano, Lake Worth Beach, Florida
Bluebeard, Indianapolis, Indiana
Prime & Providence, West Des Moines, Iowa
Whatcha Smokin? BBQ + Brew, Luther, Iowa
Volare, Louisville, Kentucky
Lea’s Lunchroom, Lecompte, Louisiana
Sarma, Somerville, Massachusetts
Spencer, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Mayflower Café, Jackson, Mississippi
Esther’s Kitchen, Las Vegas, Nevada
The Pasta Shop, Denville, New Jersey
Ram & Rooster, Metuchen, New Jersey
Anjelica’s Restaurant, Sea Bright, New Jersey
Pizzeria La Rosa, New Rochelle, New York
Swan Market, Rochester, New York
Bear’s Smokehouse BBQ, Asheville, North Carolina
Luminosa, Asheville, North Carolina
Manna, Wilmington, North Carolina
Mita’s, Cincinnati, Ohio
Veritas, Columbus, Ohio
Sedalia’s Oyster & Seafood, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Yardy Rum Bar, Eugene, Oregon
Hamir’s Indian Fusion, York, Pennsylvania
Nicks on Broadway, Providence, Rhode Island
White Wine & Butter, Greer, South Carolina
Skogen Kitchen, Custer, South Dakota
J.C. Holdway, Knoxville, Tennessee
Junior, Nashville, Tennessee
Maiz de la Vida, Nashville, Tennessee
Keystone Grill, Colonial Heights, Virginia
Maude & The Bear, Staunton, Virginia
Birch, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
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