Best Kid-Friendly Spots
Chatterbox Drive-In
1 Rte. 15, Augusta; 973-300-2300
chatterboxdrivein.com
Travel back to the days of sock hops and doo-wop at this retro drive-in diner, where kids’ meals are served in vintage replicas of cars made out of cardboard (just try to keep your crew from taking them home!). Plus, this family-owned spot is a classic car-lover’s heaven. Collectors show off their vintage vehicles in the parking lot on weekends while a DJ cranks classic tunes. And the menu is packed with good, old-fashioned diner faves like burgers, dogs, ice cream sodas and milkshakes!
2. Medieval Times (Lyndhurst)
3. The Famished Frog (Morristown)
4. Blue Moon (Multiple locations)
5. Emma’s Brick Oven Pizza and Cafe (Cranford)
Best Diner
1. Tick Tock Diner (Clifton)
2. Pompton Queen Diner (Pompton Plains)
3. Chit Chat Diner (Hackensack)
4. Tops Diner (Newark)
5. Suburban Diner (Paramus)
Best Burger
1. Zinburger Wine & Burger Bar (Multiple locations)
2. White Manna Hamburgers (Hackensack)
3. The Committed Pig (Multiple locations)
4. Arthur’s Tavern (Morris Plains)
5. The Iron Horse (Westwood)
Best Pizza
Star Tavern World Famous Pizzeria
400 High St., Orange; 973-675-3336
startavern.net
A pizza joint that’s so much more than a hole-in-the-wall, Star Tavern has mastered the art of sophisticated thin-crust pizza in a laid-back setting. Huge and crispy, the pies here draw crowds from miles away. Bonus: They’ve got an awesome jukebox, so make sure to load the kids up with quarters.
2. Kinchley’s Tavern (Ramsey)
3. Grimaldi’s Coal Brick-Oven Pizza (Hoboken)
4. TIE: Arturo’s Osteria & Pizzeria (Maplewood)
TIE: Brooklyn’s Brick Oven Pizzeria (Multiple locations)
Best Date Night Restaurants
Cuban Pete’s
428 Bloomfield Ave., Montclair; 973-746-1100
cubanpetesrestaurant.com
This hopping spot is a local favorite for good reason: its outdoor dining area in the center of the restaurant makes you feel like you’ve stepped out of the suburbs and into a tropical paradise. It’s BYOB, but you’ll want to pair the restaurant’s amazing Sangria mixes with your favorite wine. There’s usually a wait on a nice night so plan to get there early.
2. Roots (Multiple locations)
3. Huntley Taverne (Summit)
4. Blu Alehouse (Riverdale)
5. The Long Valley Pub and Brewery (Long Valley)
Best Breakfast Spots
1. Original Pancake House (Multiple locations)
2. Country Pancake House (Ridgewood)
3. The Committed Pig (Multiple locations)
4. TIE: Raymond’s (Multiple locations)
TIE: Toast (Multiple locations)
Best Cupcakes
1. Mr. Cupcakes (Multiple locations)
2. TIE: Pink Cake Box (Denville)
TIE: Ava’s Cupcakes (Rockaway)
4. Sweet Avenue (Rutherford)
5. Asalt & Buttery Bake Shop (Caldwell)
Best Ice Cream
Denville Dairy
34A Broadway, Denville; 973-627-4214
denvilledairy.com
This Morris County fave—in business for more than 50 years— dishes out soft serve, sherbet and Italian ices, but is best known for its endless flavors of homemade hard ice cream that change with the seasons. (Plus, you won’t want to miss watermelon sherbet in the summer, either). The cakes here are not to be missed, especially the seasonal pumpkin and candy cane varieties.
2. Cliff’s Homemade Ice Cream (Ledgewood)
3. Applegate Farm (Montclair)
4. Van Dyk’s Homemade Ice Cream (Ridgewood)
5. Holsten’s Brookdale Confectionary (Bloomfield)
Best Donuts
1. Beignets (Denville)
2. Montclair Bread Company (Montclair)
3. Dreyer Farms (Cranford)
4. B&W Bakery (Hackensack)
5. Glaze Donuts (Multiple locations)
EDITOR’S NOTE: In our reader survey, we defined the sections of New Jersey as follows: North (Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Passaic, Union, Sussex, Warren); Central (Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Somerset); South (Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Ocean, Salem).
The Best Family-Friendly Restaurants