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Oh I miss my Wegman's. Once you go Wegman's it's so very hard to go back. The one on 35 used to be my local but I have since moved up North. We've got a lovely new Whole Foods over in West Orange but nothing compares to Wegman's.

I can't complain too much, I live in Montclair now and we have a good farmer's market on Saturday's and some of the best restaurants in the state. Our favorites are Blu, Fascino, and Table 8. We get great pies from Gina's on Walnut Street.

For pastries it's Gencarelli's in Bloomfield.

Pizza, I love Vic's in Bradley Beach. Our go to takeout place is Villa Victoria in Montclair

Bagels, I’m a sucker for a black Russian bagel and I don’t find those too often so my top places are based on the fact that they make black Russian bagels. Bagels International in Bradley Beach makes really big chewy bagels. The bagel stop in Watchung Plaza in Montclair is my northern bagel spot.

Nostalgia: I miss going to Jackie’s Lemon Ice in Bellville with my great uncle. It’s a Rita’s now; Rita’s bears absolutely no resemblance to lemon ice if you ask me. Strollo’s in Belmar makes the best Italian ice I can find today. I remember when the butcher used to deliver and when we had a milk box on the front porch. There was Brookdale Soda, black cherry and that neon green lemon lime, that got delivered too.

@Heart - hello neighbour! (jumping up and down and waving) I'm in Toms River. I've been here for 6 years now, but I don't suppose I can tell you anything you don't already know:-).

Food shopping - unfortunately, the closest Wegman's is probably the one you shop at (or the one in Freehold, but my OH tells me it's about the same distance), so I don't get to do much shopping there - but I absolutely fell in love with the place the first time I ever set foot there! In fact, just the other day I finished the last jar of Wegman's organic peanut butter when I made a silken tofu-peanut butter mousse pie, and thought that it's time to take another trip.

Ironically, I do quite a lot of my shopping at the Asian Supermarket in Pleasantville, even though it's also rather far away. I may not go there too often, but I probably buy about 60-70% of our food there (other than produce).

Speaking of produce, this summer we've been getting (picking, that is) most of our produce at Hallock's U-Pick farm (in New Egypt) - I can't even tell you how much I love it! We've been truly spoilt with all those wonderful fresh fruit, vegetables and herbs (yes, I picked several pounds of each: basil, dill and cilantro:-)), plus it's really fun to pick your own (and makes me feel good, too). I'm going to miss this dearly! At least I've preserved, frozen, jarred, dried as much as I could. Still working on it, as a matter of fact.

My favourite places to eat out include Tokyo for sushi (the place may not look like much, but the food is spectacular) and Rivoli's for Italian (although we haven't been to Rivoli's in a looooong time), both are here, in Toms River. I make my own pizza (I started mostly due to the fact that it has to be cheese-less for my OH and cheese-only for me, and believe it or not, I could not find a place in the area that makes a decent pizza bianca, let alone cheese-less), so no pizza place recommendations (other than my house:-)).

For somebody who has nothing new to add, I sure have been talking a lot, haven't I?

I travel all the way from Lanoka Harbor to the Wegman's on Rt. 35 at least every other month. The Whole Foods in Middletown too.

I grew up in Seaside Park, lived there for 25 years, spent 10 years in Toms River, now in LH for the last year. Best pizza hands down is Maruca's on the boardwalk in Seaside Heights. It's a Trentonn tomato pie type. As is the pizza at the restaurant where I work (when well) in Bayville. Shameless plug: Shady Rest...tiny place with a great little bar, tomato pies, great steaks and seafood (okk, everything is pretty darn good and homemade) and in the summer, a huge rose garden patio, lovingly cultivated by the owner. It's been in the same family since 1966.

brooke, I found Rivolis to be too much gimmick. Yes, the portions are ridiculously huge, but I didn't really enjoy the food too much. I haven't tried Tokyo yet, but will do so now.

Tenampa in TR, Brick and Manahawkin is awesome Mexican. From April-Oct the Chicken or the Egg (the ChEGG) on Long Beach Island is a must go for chicken wings. Do NOT go on a Wednesday night (wing night) unless you're prepared to wait an hour or more. Klee's in Seaside Heights is a great place when you want to hang out at a bar. It's a restaurant too, but I'm not always crazy about the food. Better for munchies and hanging. Bartenders are knowledgeable, friendly and fun. Frankie's in Pt Pleasant is good too.

I can go on and on, but I'll be good and shush now. :D

Freddy's!! My dad's family is from Trenton and our great Aunt Stella used to take all of the girls to Freddy's once a month. Veal chops. Oh God. Is it still there?

Out that way, my uncle owns Wildflowers in Pennington. Their food used to be pretty good, should still be, but I haven't been in a while.

Ken Mather is my uncle's name. He has owned it for at lest 20 years now. His daughters do most of the work now. brooke, if you've been in TR for a long time, he used to own what is now Rivoli's, was Mather's.

Now I want a veal chop and mashed potatoes from Freddy's.

Brooke29--I didn't realize we lived so close together! I've heard about Rivoli's and the Flintstone-sized portions, but never been--sounds like you can live off of one entree for a week!

I'm so excited there are so many Wegmans and Delicious Orchard's lovers! Not to make you jealous, brooke29, but I also live within 5 minutes of a Cluck U as well as a Wegman's.

We should do a NJ Serious Eats meet-up at a restaurant reasonably close (or far) for all of us--perhaps in Central NJ, so PerkyMac can come, since Central NJ is somewhat near PA!

Allison--I will check out 'What a Bagel!' VerasTasteeFreeze--everyone recommends Vic's to me and when in Bradley Beach I will check it out.

On, I forgot--for those in the Freehold area, Wemrock Orchards is great, and I like their apple cider doughnuts (gasp) even better than Delicious Orchards.

Not to be missed (shout if you concur):

- The floppy, greasy pizza at Jenkinson's on the boardwalk at Pt. Pleasant. The slices are big and always have bubbles.

- The chocolate chip and pecan pancakes at Red Bank's Broadway Diner (open 24/7!)

- The always-warm bagels at Eli's Bagels in Matawan

- The crumb cake from Delicious Orchards ("D.O."). The ratio of sugary brown crumb to cake is about 5:1. Fabulous!

i completely forgot about the diners! i drive by the tick tock on my way to and from work everyday, but i've got to say it's not one of my favs. it's one of the most famous, but i'll take the Nevada or State Street over the Tick Tock any day. I totally agree with jessica714 breakfast at the Red Bank Broadway diner or their sister diner in Bayonne is kick ass. and the D.O. crumb cake, i don't know if i can forgive you for putting that in my head!

oh, and boardwalk pizza, Mack and Manco's in Ocean City is the best by far. i'd consider driving 2.5 hours for a slice.

This is an odd forum, because I see a lot of people are commenting on PIZZA.

Thatis an entirely different post! Tomato Pies in Trenton, and pizza at the shore are fantastic, as good, if not better than Brooklyn pizza.

However, living in Summit for 20 years, we drive to the city (ny, that is) to eat.
I find that NJ is food challenged.
It is lacking a certain "vibe", and the service usually matches the food. We hate BYOB places, which seem to be the norm in most towns.
Sure, we can get a decent meal for $150., but I would rather spend my money in NY, or cook at home.

I love the food at Due Terre in Bernardsville (no vibe, go for the food), the Northern Italian fare is really excellent.
But if it pizza you are looking for, I can give you 5 places all over the state that will blow you away!
Stacey (who loves NJ, by the way, just not for the eats!)

There is a great pork store in Monroe Twp. called Bella Italia. The chicken francaise is the best I've ever had and the family that runs it is incredibly nice. There are also stores in Freehold and a new one opening in Ocean Twp. My family and I always buy from them every week - haven't been disappointed once!

http://www.bellaitaliaporkstore.com/home.htm

It's funny this thread reappeared today, because I remembered the previous name of Wildflowers at the Pennington Circle. It was the Wayside Inn. There were 3 diners that we patronized, usually very late at night. The Parkway Diner, The White Horse Diner, and the 3rd one was on Route 1 near Princeton - it's still there. They were frequent stops after late movies at RKO Theaters and drive-ins. I also remember a Polynesian restaurant in Cherry Hill where we went after a prom. Another prom place was across the Delaware in New Hope, PA. Chez Odette's. After Odette died, they dropped the Chez (house of). Last I saw, it was for sale. Right on the river. Once I had my own family, I was more interested in quality ingredients than restaurants - that's why I so loved Duffield's Farm. Best produce by a million miles.