Here are the results of the survey!

^(Made a new thread from) ^(here) ^(at mod request, to avoid the off-site link)

Best Full-Service Breakfast 

1. The Mad Batter
2. Uncle Bill's Pancake House
3. McGlades / Mel's Place (tie)

Best Quick-Stop Breakfast

1. Ostara’s Coffee House
2. Magic Brain Cafe / The Bagel Shop (tie)
3. Salty Acres Cafe

Best Full-Service Lunch

1. Lucky Bones
2. C-View
3. Tishas

Best Quick-Stop Lunch

1. Hot Dog Tommy's
2. Cam and Pucci's
3. Westside Market

Best Full-Service Dinner

1. Taco Caballito Tequileria
2. Freda's Cafe
3. 410 Bank Street / Mayer's Tavern (tie)

Best Quick-Stop Dinner

1. Quincy's Original Lobster Rolls
2. Cappy's Pizza
3. Cam and Pucci's / El Pueblo Taqueria (tie)

Best Dessert Spot

1. Fine Fellows Creamery
2. Peace Pie
3. Uncle Charley's Ice Cream

Best Kid-Friendly Spot

1. Mad Viking
2. McGlades
3. The Rusty Nail

Best Vegetarian / Vegan Spot

1. Taco Caballito Tequileria
2. Good Earth Organic Eatery

Best Happy Hour

1. The Rusty Nail
2. Lucky Bones
3. Hemmingway's

Best Pizza

1. Roman's
2. Cappy's
3. Mario's / Brother's II / Boiler Room / Panico's (tie)

Best Ice Cream

1. Fine Fellows Creamery
2. Uncle Charley's
3. Flecks

Best Burger (only 3 entries, so in no particular order)

• 5 West
• Rusty Nail
• C-View

Best Chinese Food (only 1 entry)

1. Dragon House

Best Sandwiches

1. Fish House
2. Cam and Pucci's
3. Erma Deli / Gaiss' Market (tie)

Best Bagel

1. The Bagel Shop
2. Coffee Tyme / Bagel Time (tie)

Best Breakfast Sandwich

1. Ostara’s Coffee House
2. The Bagel Shop / Bravado Coffee Cafe (tie)
3. Golden Stop / Coffee Tyme (tie)

Best Sushi (only 1 entry)

1. Yozu

Best Mexican / Latin American (all entries tied, so no particular order)

• Taqueria Casa Mia
• El Pueblo
• Taco Caballito Tequileria

Best Seafood

1. McGlades
2. Fish House
3. Fish & Fancy / Cape May Fish Market / Dockside Dave's / Blue Pig (tie)

Best Bakery/Patisserie

1. Chez Michel
2. Beach Plum
3. A Ca Mia / A Piece of Cake (tie)

Best Coffee Spot

1. Ostara’s Coffee House
2. Magic Brain / Coffee Tyme (tie)
3. Salty Acres Cafe

Best Cocktail Spot

1. Nauti Spirits / Brown Room (tie)
2. Taco Caballito Tequileria / Cricket Club (tie)
3. Oyster Bay

Best Brewery

1. Gusto Brewing Company / Cape May Brewing Company (tie)
2. Behr Brewing / Obscura Brewing (tie)
3. Slack Tide

Best Winery

1. Cape May Winery
2. Hawk Haven / Turdo (tie)
3. Willow Creek

Best Sports Bar

1. C-View
2. Red Brick Ale House / The Local Tavern (tie)

Best Taplist (only 3 entries, so in no particular order)

• Lucky Bones
• 5 West
• Ugly Mug

Best Mocktails (only 2 entries, so in no particular order)

• Bee's Knees
• The Ebbitt Room

Best Indoor / Rainy Day Activities

1. Cape Square
2. Washington Street Mall / Naval Air Station Wildwood Aviation Museum / Congress Hall (tie)

Best Outdoor Activities

1. Cape May County Zoo
2. Beach Plum Farm
3. Cape May Lighthouse

Best Nature Area

1. Cox Hall Creek WMA (Ponderlodge)
2. South Cape May Meadows Preserve
3. Higbee Beach / Cape May Lighthouse (tie)

Best Spots offering Niche Activities

1. Ostara’s Coffee House
2. Gusto Brewing / Behr Brewing / Congress Hall (tie)

Best Nightlife / Dancing (only 3 entries, so no particular order)

• Boiler Room
• Harpoons
• Taco Caballito Tequileria

Best Live Music

1. The Chalfonte
2. Rusty Nail / Obscura Brewing / King Edward's Bar (tie)

Most Unique / 'Can't Miss' Spots or Activities

1. Cape May County Zoo / Washington Street Mall / Sunset Beach (tie)
2. Rusty Nail (editor's note: really?)

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Original Post:

Greetings, neighbors. As discussed here, let's get another comprehensive list going of ALL the spots that we recommend to people looking to visit our little resort town this year... or perhaps even clue in some of our longtime residents to spots they might be unfamiliar with or operating on outdated info. This thread will hopefully get pinned for easy reference for potential visitors. If you care to see 2025's results, look here

On or about May 20th, I will edit this body with the tabulated results for each category, giving the Top 3 recommendations for places to go here in Cape May OR surrounding areas (definitely stay within Cape May County, but preferably within 10-15 miles). Big chains - Wawa, Dominos, Starbucks, etc. - will be discarded.

If you want to qualify your answers with some testimonials (i.e: "__________ is the best winery because their staff is top notch" or "________ is the greatest spot for breakfast, you have to try This or That") go for it; if it makes the cut I'll add in footnotes or otherwise annotate if it's particularly insightful. This may be more important for the final category: which places here in Cape May to avoid - overpriced, diminished quality, horrible wait times, etc. (Removed at mod request)

The form is set that all answers are optional, so if you have nothing to suggest for a category, you can just leave it blank and move on.

Im starting to plan my friends bachelorette in Cape May for next summer ( JUNE 2027) and im trying to figure out what to do. We definitely want to do a winery day and beach the other days in the day. We are going Thursday- Sunday.

-we are all in our 20’s ( yes, above 21 yrs old)

- She wants it to be fun and chill.

- She loves a live band, beach bars, drinking and catching up with the gals, nothing too crazy. Definitely will be hitting up some shopping

- There’s also 16 people going so a big group. She wants to do a beach picnic one night- I found some companies that set up on the beach.

- She also mentioned she’s open to doing a private chef at the house if there’s no places to accommodate everyone

- We do not want to go to wildwood or OC

So, I need help with the following:

- Restaurants that can accommodate large groups (open to all food types) that take reservations

- Live band/beach bar recs in cape may or is it worth ubering to Avalon area (If so drop some recs lol)

- MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION: Am I looking at houses too early? When is the normal time houses on airbnb start coming available for next summer? So far there’s like 3 houses available 🫠

- How’s the night life in cape may? Ive only been once a few years ago and there wasn’t a lot to do

-any private chef recommendations?

What would be your recommendations for the rainy days of this Memorial Day weekend. I’ve been to Cape May a few few times, but we have always been outdoors.
PS: we have a toddler with us, too

I’ve already tried The Mad Batter (didn’t love) but I think that was my fault because I had a feeling oatmeal pancakes weren’t for me. My toddler and husband loved it there!

I’ve also tried The Blue Pig Tavern. I loved the place so much I went back twice for breakfast and then for lunch. Everything tasted so fresh and not super heavy.

I need one more recommendation before we head home! TIA!

Does anyone have any recommendations for interesting wine bars or bottle shops to check out in the Cape May area?

Visiting this summer and would love to hear from anyone who tried most coffee shops there and which are the best ones. Thanks!

Hi all! I have a quick day trip planned to visit Cape May with friends (20 y/o college students) the first week of June. I live about 1.5 hrs away, so a day trip makes the most sense with our schedules. I haven’t been in over a decade, and was hoping I could get some recommendations of places to visit. Stores/shops, good views or places to just chill, food, anything on the more affordable side would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Is this doable? Before I had a toddler in a stroller I’d just go for it and hope for the best. But now that I don’t want to risk anyone getting hit by oncoming traffic I want to make sure it’s a safe walk. Are there sidewalks? I tried to look on Google Maps but it’s hard to tell. I’d ideally not have to drive at all during my stay.

We’ve booked a trip to Cape May the first week of June this year. We’re assuming it will be less busy that week but do we need to have restaurant reservations at that time?

Also, would love any recommendations for restaurants. We prefer more casual places but no dietary restrictions. Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I tend to avoid visiting Cape May over Memorial Day, but it really is the best time to take off work and head to the island. How crowded do you think it will be this year, especially with the 175th/50th anniversary celebration?

I’m a vegetarian, my husband and toddler aren’t the most adventurous eaters so we tend to always eat Italian when we choose a restaurant. Which one of these is better? Or is there another one I’m missing? I’m really open to any good Italian food!

My boyfriend and I, both 29, are wanting ti spend the day soon. What are the best things to do? Best places to eat or get some drinks? Thanks in advance.

We’re headed to Cape May next week for a few days. One of my favorite things to do is thrift. If you have a favorite thrift store in or near Cape May please share it! I’d love to stop in! TIA!

We are not new to Cape May. This is the 3rd time we will be going for my birthday week in June.
My son is 4 and my daughter is newly 2.. we need to find some options for sit downs that will be tolerable :) thank you in advanced!

Hey all! Looking for some suggestions on a restaurant for my husband and I's anniversary which is coming up. We've done all the main drags in Cape may and don't mind traveling a bit so it doesn't need to be in Cape may proper.

Looking for something more casual vs dress up. My husband loves Italian especially lasagna specifically so finding a place that has that would be great. But we do enjoy Asian cuisine, or just plain old American fare as as.well. what's your favorite hole in the wall restaurant? Can be a bar restaurant

I signed up for the Cape May and Research Center’s 24 hour pelagic cruise in August and I was wondering what I might be likely to see besides humpbacks and bottlenose dolphins.

Typically we only take day trips to Cape May, but decided to plan a very impromptu mini vacation next week. What are your favorite restaurants especially with a picky toddler, any Italian food that’s really good? Favorite bakeries? Me and my toddler love a good pastry! And where can I get my morning coffee?

ETA: typo

Greetings, neighbors and visitors. I made last year's community-voted Best Of for Cape May, and I got a surprising amount of DMs in the last couple weeks about making a new one. If I were to make a new one, it would be a little more 'professional' - a Google form or SurveyMonkey type avenue, rather than just me tallying people's responses here.

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN ANOTHER 'BEST OF' THREAD, WHAT CATEGORIES WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE? (EX. FROM LAST YEAR - BEST BREAKFAST, BEST COCKTAILS, BEST OUTDOOR ACTIVITY, ETC)