Top 7+ restaurants are coming, 2 close, another opens at the Jersey Shore

February was a busy month for the Jersey Shore dining scene, with openings, closings and one Shore restaurant earning nationwide attention.

In addition, a family-run eatery and food truck announced plans to relocate, a longtime bar added a full kitchen and dining room, a popular North Jersey steakhouse is replacing a shuttered Monmouth County restaurant, and a group of friends are building a distillery in Freehold Township.

Here is the food and dining news we reported on in February.

Shore chef returns to Food Network

Chef David Viana is shown on the March 23, 2025 episode of Food Network's "Tournament of Champions," titled “Leave It All on the Floor.”

The new season of Food Network's "Tournament of Champions," which challenges chefs to prepare dishes with randomly assigned ingredients, equipment and cooking styles, premiered Sunday, March 1, and two contestants with New Jersey ties are in the kitchen.

The show's seventh season features Chefs David Viana and Britt Rescigno among the 32 chefs competing for the win and $150,000. Shore diners know Viana from Judy & Harry's in Asbury Park, Lita and La Otra in Aberdeen and Heirloom Kitchen in Old Bridge. Earlier this year, he was nominated for a James Beard Foundation Award in the Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic category.

Rescigno, who owns an Italian restaurant in Idaho, grew up at her family's New Gretna restaurant, Allen's Clam Bar, and cooked at restaurants on Long Beach Island.

Gateway Bar & Liquors adds kitchen, full menu

Since 1973, Gateway Bar & Liquors in the Navesink section of Middletown has been a place for cold beer and packaged goods. But when Mark Soporowski, the bar's third owner, took over in 2009, he had ideas of adding a kitchen and dining room. Hurricanes, a superstorm, losing business when the shopping center's A&P closed, and the pandemic delayed his plans, but in January, Gateway Grill opened its doors.

Its menu is a mix of dishes Soporowski had in mind and ideas from Chef Mario Quechotl, whom diners may know from The Squire at Branches in West Long Branch and Rumson Country Club. The kitchen opens in the morning with breakfast sandwiches, which are served all day, then goes on to prepare dishes like crispy cauliflower in gochujang tamarind sauce, pulled pork tacos with apple jalapeño slaw, sesame-crusted tuna with wasabi mashed potatoes, a hot honey crispy chicken sandwich, and a grilled pork chop with bacon and mango chutney.

Most of the menu is gluten free or can be prepared as such, and there is a children's menu, too.

Shore Good Eats closing in Neptune, moving to Berkeley Township

Buffalo chicken egg rolls, a pork roll sandwich, and a short rib grilled cheese from Shore Good Eats in Neptune City, New Jersey. Pictured in 2018.

Shore Good Eats, a family-run restaurant in Neptune City that got its start as a food truck, is on the move.

After eight years on West Sylvania Avenue, the Fahnholz family is relocating their restaurant to Berkeley Plaza, 439 Route 9 in the Bayville section of Berkeley. Their new location replaces Acme Draft House in the shopping center, which is anchored by ShopRite.

Co-owner Stephen Fahnholz, who said the move is due to a need for more space and his family moving to Ocean County, said he and his mother, Natalie Fahnholz, hope to open the new restaurant by late spring. The Monmouth County location will close over the summer.

The new restaurant will serve breakfast and lunch, as did the prior location, with the addition of dinner. At 50 seats, the BYOB is double the size of their former location, and the larger building provides more room for Natalie to prepare baked goods, including brownies, cinnamon buns, cakes, cupcakes and giant sprinkle cookies. It will also feature a coffee and shake bar, he said.

Roots Steakhouse coming to Rumson

The dining room at Roots Steakhouse in Summit, New Jersey.

A spokesperson for the Morris Plains-based Harvest Restaurant Group, which owns Roots Steakhouse and several other New Jersey restaurants, said renovations are under way. An opening date has not yet been set.

A Cup of Literature opens in Asbury Park

Aubrey Chesna and Julia Cangelosi, friends and entrepreneurs with a passion for coffee, books and fitness, have brought all three together under one roof at A Cup of Literature in Asbury Park.

Their self-described lifestyle cafe opened in January in the former Fun House souvenir shop, 704 Cookman Ave. The 3,000-square-foot space serves coffees like the "The Maple Mockingbird Cappuccino" with brown sugar, maple syrup and cinnamon and "A Study in Salt and Chocolate," a mocha with sea salt maple cold foam, plus tea and locally baked goods.

The shop's literary offerings include traditional book sales, a book-trading option, and "blind books" that are wrapped in paper with their highlights written on the cover, "so you're not judging a book by its cover," Chesna said. They plan to offer a book club as well.

The fitness studio in the rear of the shop hosts daily yoga, sculpt, mat Pilates and barre classes.

Freehold Distilling Company is under way

Ian Ruderman (left) and Chuck Ricciardi, two of seven owners of Freehold Distilling Company, are shown inside the building, which is under construction at Three Brooks Plaza in Freehold Township, New Jersey. Pictured Feb. 6, 2026.

The 10,000-square-foot former Chester Lighting building at Freehold Township's Three Brooks Plaza, 3475 Route 9, is on its way to becoming a new distillery.

Freehold Distilling Company, founded by seven friends from Jackson, Freehold Township, Belmar and Colts Neck, is under construction in the space. Co-owner Chuck Ricciardi said they hope to open in late spring or early summer.

Ricciardi, along with co-owners Ian Ruderman and Mike Braun, also own The Boiling Point, a seafood boil catering company, and Ricciardi and Ruderman own Whisky Guild, a whiskey-tasting event company. Other owners include Erik Gaines, Jared Gaines, John Cellini and Shannon Bradley.

The distillery will feature a tasting room that can hold about 100 people and includes a bar, fireplace lounge area, windows that look into the distilling area, and space for musical duos and trios. A second-level members-only tasting room that can accommodate about 80 people will feature two virtual golf simulator bays and overlooks the distilling area, which will hold fermenters, a mash house, barrel racks and a 400-gallon cooper still that "people can see from Route 9," Ruderman said.

Anjelica's Restaurant named to USA TODAY list

Anjelica Lena, owner of Anjelica's Restaurant in Sea Bright, New Jersey, with general managers Kevin Lara (left), Eric Milone and Oscar Orjuela (right). Pictured Nov. 6, 2025.

USA TODAY's Restaurants of the Year 2026 list published in February, and Anjelica's Restaurant of Sea Bright is featured alongside more than three dozen others across the country.

The list, chosen by the USA TODAY's food writers and editors, highlights standout dining destinations across the country, from humble roadside gems to chef-driven hotspots earning national buzz. Anjelica's, 1070 Ocean Ave., was chosen for its elevated take on homestyle Italian dishes, its scratch-made pastas, and its warm and welcoming service and dining room.  

"A lot of hard work, thought and energy go into the restaurant to make it run the way we like it to, so it always feels very special when the frution of all that is acknowledged in such a way," owner Anjelica Lena said. "To know that our offering resonates and is impactful in our community is really meaningful to us."

MilkShake Factory coming to Jersey Shore

The MilkShake Factory is planning to open in this space in Middletown Plaza in Middletown, New Jersey.

The MilkShake Factory is setting up shop on Route 35 in Middletown, where "coming soon" signs have gone up at a 1,377-square-foot storefront at Middletown Plaza. The store will join tenants Trader Joe's, Circus Wines, Beer & Spirits, Petco, RetroFitness and Wonder.

MilkShake Factory is expanding in New Jersey with a location open in Jersey City and other spots also coming soon to Florham Park and Somerville. A company spokesperson could not be reached for comment on when the new Middletown shop, the company's first in Monmouth County, will open.

LeGrand Coffee House to open in Middletown

LeGrand Coffee House will open this spring at Kings Commons shopping center on Route 35 in Middletown, New Jersey.

LeGrand Coffee House, founded by former Rutgers University football player Eric LeGrand, is coming to Middletown's King Commons shopping center.

It is the second location for LeGrand, who became an entrepreneur after suffering a paralyzing injury on the field. He opened his first coffee shop in Woodbridge in 2022.

The coffee house, which joins Nicholas Creamery, Rosie's Pizza, Just Salad and Broadway Chicken in the plaza, will fill the space previously occupied by Booskerdoo Coffee & Baking at 1500 Route 35.

JBJ Soul Kitchen expanding to Asbury Park

A rendering of the Mercy Center in Asbury Park's plans to convert this former Walgreen's on Main Street.

Jon Bon Jovi’s Soul Kitchen plans to open in the future headquarters of Asbury Park's Mercy Center, located in a former Walgreens on Main Street near Second Avenue.

In February, the Asbury Park City Council amended the redevelopment plan for the property to allow the future restaurant as a permitted use. The eatery will be run by the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation, founded by rock star and New Jersey native Jon Bon Jovi and his wife, Dorothea Bongiovi.

The nonprofit restaurant also operates in Red Bank and Toms River, using a pay-it-forward model where diners can pay for three-course meals by donating or by volunteering.

Lobster Shanty becoming new event venue

The Lobster Shanty in Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey.

Change is coming to the Lobster Shanty, a Point Pleasant Beach restaurant known for its seafood dishes and waterfront ballroom.

The Lobster Shanty and Sunset Ballroom on Channel Drive are becoming Harbor Point, a wedding and private events venue. Renovations are currently under way.

The restaurant, which has been closed since the end of the 2025 summer season, got its start decades ago when a fisherman began cooking freshly caught lobster and shellfish for friends near the docks along the Manasquan River, according to the restaurant's website. "But word got around fast in that seashore community, and seafood lovers from near and far clamored for a taste of his seafood. Soon, those two sawhorse tables were booked for days in advance."

Insomina Cookies to open in Red Bank

Insomnia Cookies is opening a cookie bakery on Broad Street in Red Bank, New Jersey.

Insomnia Cookies, a bakery chain known for making late-night cookie deliveries, is expected to open its first location in Monmouth or Ocean counties in the coming months.

The bake shop at 74 Broad St. in Red Bank will be the seventh Insomina Cookies location in New Jersey, part of the company's plans to open more than 75 locations in 2026. Other bakeries are in New Brunswick, Ewing, Hoboken, Cherry Hill and Glassboro, with two coming to Westfield and Montclair.

An opening date is not yet available, a spokesperson said.

Wonder expanding to Ocean Township

Wonder offers food for takeout, delivery or to eat in. The Middletown, New Jersey, location is pictured April 1, 2025.

Wonder, a restaurant and delivery service that features fresh meals from top chefs, is continuing its growth at the Jersey Shore.

The food service, which has already has locations in Shrewsbury, Middletown, Marlboro, Toms River and Brick, will open a restaurant at 2105 Route 35 in Ocean Township. It is listed on its website as "Coming Soon" in April 2026.

Founded by Marc Lore, a graduate of Ranney School in Tinton Falls, Wonder bills itself as a "new kind of food hall" powered by a smartphone app that allows customers to order meals from top chefs Bobby Flay, Jose Andres, Nancy Silverton and Marcus Samuelsson and others, and award-winning restaurants including Tejas Barbeque and Di Fara Pizza.

Geared toward delivery and takeout, Wonders allows for multirestaurant ordering, where customers can order from more than 25 different restaurants in a single order, with each item made-to-order and finished at the same time so they can be delivered to the customer together.

David P. Willis and Charles Daye contributed to this story.

Sarah Griesemer joined the USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey in 2003 and has been writing all things food since 2014. Send restaurant tips to [email protected], follow on Instagram at Jersey Shore Eats and subscribe to her weekly newsletter.