Hidden gem restaurants at the Jersey Shore
Looking for somewhere new to dine? Check out these hidden gems in Monmouth and Ocean counties.
Craving something new in 2026?
You are in luck: There are so many new restaurants, coffee shops and cafes on the way.
New additions in Asbury Park include a vegan Ethiopian restaurant and a reimagined concept at the former Asbury Festhalle and Biergarten. A French steakhouse is opening at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, a “hidden” coffee shop and cafe is on the way in Freehold Borough, and a popular restaurant group is expanding its footprint in Ocean County.
Here are more than 20 spots to check out this year.
Ada’s Gojjo, Asbury Park
Since 2018, Adanech Asghedom’s Asbury Park restaurant, Ada’s Gojjo, has been one of few places in the state where diners can try Ethiopian dishes like doro wat, kik alitcha and injera.
Inspired by family recipes and made with spices imported from Africa, her menu features a fair amount of vegan dishes — yucca cakes, mofongo, salads, and more than half a dozen entrées — which gave Asghedom the idea to open a second restaurant specializing in plant-based dishes.
The restaurant is under construction at 721 Cookman Ave. in a space previously occupied by Heaven Art & Antiques. Asghedom purchased the building in 2024 and hopes to be open by this summer.
Her existing restaurant 1t 1301 Memorial Drive, which serves Dominican food in addition to Ethiopian cuisine, will remain open.
Apéro Steakhouse, Oceanport
The former Blue Grotto restaurant, located on the property of Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport, will become a French-inspired steakhouse in 2026.
Apéro Steakhouse, 200 Port Au Peck Ave., “will offer an upscale version of classic French cuisine, featuring premium cuts of steak prepared using traditional French techniques,” according to a news release. Other dishes will include foie gras, escargot and duck à l’orange.
A spring opening is planned.
The project is the work of Casey Kehres and his father, Elvin Kehres. Casey previously served as Monmouth Park’s catering director and assistant general manager at Blu Grotto. Elvin Kehres was the restaurant’s general manager since its 2016 opening.
A second spot, Pat & Lola’s Garden Bar, is planned for the restaurant’s former beer garden. The menu will include sandwiches, burgers, wings and sushi, among other dishes, and live music will be offered in the summertime.
Asbury Social, Asbury Park
A little over two years after severe storms sent floodwaters from Wesley Lake into Asbury Festhalle and Biergarten, a new restaurant is preparing to open in its place.
Asbury Social is slated to take the place of the festhalle, which closed for good in 2025, at 527 Lake Ave. in Asbury Park. Renovations began in late summer, including of the building’s rooftop, which restaurant promoter Chris Porter says will feature a stage for live performances.
An April opening is planned.
Chef Darryl Harmon, who has cooked in Atlantic City hotels and at Shell ‘n’ Tail in Jersey City, Vibe in Riverdale and Water Works Restaurant & Lounge in Philadelphia, among others, will lead the kitchen, Porter shared. The menu is currently in development, but Porter said Asbury Social will serve lunch and dinner.
Brooklyn Square Pizza, Marlboro and Shrewsbury
Peter Grippo’s roster of restaurants will grow by two this year, with the opening of new Brooklyn Square Pizza locations in Monmouth County.
Grippo, who owns pizzerias in Jackson, Manalapan, Toms River and Bradley Beach, is opening at 260 Route 520 in Manalapan and 1026 Broad St. in Shrewsbury. The former is new construction; the latter replaces Federico’s Pizza. He hopes to open both next month.
The new additions follow the 2025 opening in Bradley Beach; Grippo partnered with Monica Cione, owner of Rocco’s Pizza on Main Street, to convert the restaurant into his fifth pizzeria.
Cafe Scala, Freehold Borough
Tucked back from the busy streets that run through downtown Freehold Borough is Cafe Scala, a new restaurant from a longtime local business-owning couple.
John and Kim Scala are building Cafe Scala alongside their barber shop, The New York Shaving Comany, at 17 Bannard St. and hope to open by early summer.
“We pride ourselves on creating a nice, warm, inviting atmosphere that feels like home,” said John Scala, adding that customers will enter the cafe through the barber shop or a separate entrance, and that an outdoor, ivy-draped, European-style courtyard will offer outdoor seating.
The inspiration for the cafe’s menu draws upon family recipes, he said, with sweets including tiramisu, a rotating roster of cakes, and pastries such as sfogliatella. Panini, salads, toasts and a menu of coffee drinks will round out the offerings.
Coastal Canteen, Manasquan
Jersey Shore Restaurant Group, known for Harpoon Willy’s in Manasquan and Half Moon Point in Point Pleasant Borough, is adding a new restaurant concept in 2026.
Coastal Canteen is under construction in the former Max Devros restaurant space at 142 Main St. in Manasquan. John Kitrick, the group’s chief executive officer and chief financial officer, anticipates an early spring opening for the restaurant, which will serve food and drinks “inspired by (the) rich culinary traditions of Mexico, northern Africa, the Caribbean, and the Mediterranean,” he said.
A second Coastal Canteen restaurant is being built in Monroe.
Coffee Corral, Howell
Coffee lovers in and around Howell will have a new option this spring, when Courtlyn Crosson and Erich Reulbach open their third Coffee Corral location.
The couple, who own a coffee shop and roastery in Red Bank and a coffee shop in Long Branch, are bulding another at The Commons at Yellowbrook Estates, a shopping center just over the Farmingdale border. They plan to open in March, joining Swing Lab Golf Lab, Domino’s Pizza and Eze Fit Transformation Center in the plaza.
The menu will mirror their other locations — single origin pour-over coffee, espresso-based drinks, protein smoothies, breakfast sandwiches, pastries, avocado toasts, and gluten-free and vegan items — but the new store, which is nearly four times larger than Red Bank, will have more space for indoor dining. Outdoor tables also are a possibility, Crosson said.
Hollow Pines, West Creek
Tide Table Group, the team behind Old Causeway Steak & Oyster House in Stafford, Parker’s Garage in Beach Haven, Ship Bottom Shellfish and four other southern Ocean County restaurants, adds another this year.
The group has transformed the former Sleepy Hollow Restaurant & Pub, 475 Main St., into Hollow Pines, a 8,000-square-foot bar and restaurant opening in February. Construction on the eatery, Tide Table Group’s eighth, began in summer 2024.
The A frame-style building that holds Hollow Pines’ 30-seat speakeasy-style bar, a second-floor dining room overlooking the wood-lined bar, and a sunken bar area with duckpin bowling lanes were added to the original structure, which now contains the kitchen and a lounge area with a fireplace.
The rear of the restaurant, which sits on five acres, looks out over a smaller A-frame building that houses a full bar surrounded by yard games, firepits and trees.
“You feel like you’re at a resort,” said Jenny Stodd, the front of house manager. “You walk in and feel like you’re somewhere special.”
The menu, Stodd said, will be “elevated comfort food, American fare” featuring pastas and raw bar items, and the kitchen will be led by Executive Chef Al Cuff and Chef de cuisine Rich Serale.
Marée, Spring Lake
Chef and restaurateur Marilyn Schlossbach will launch her new venture, an “elevated yet approachable” neighborhood bistro and bar called Marée, in a former Spring Lake bank later this year.
Schlossbach partnered with Bret Morgan, an entrepreneur and founder of FRESH Markets in Monmouth County, on the project at 1123 Third Ave. They are on track to open this summer, Morgan said.
“Seasonal American fare” will fill the menu, and Schlossbach is executive chef.
The borough purchased the building, said to be one of the oldest in town, from Wells Fargo following the bank branch’s closure in 2022. Schlossbach and Morgan are leasing the space from Spring Lake, which plans to construct affordable apartment units above the restaurant.
Mission BBQ, Brick
This is the year the Jersey Shore gets its first Mission BBQ.
The 15-year-old barbecue chain, which has restaurants in Cherry Hill, Deptford, Hamilton, Marlton and Sicklerville, is opening in the former TGI Fridays space on Route 70 in Brick. The 124-seat location is expected to open in the fall, a spokesperson said.
Mission BBQ serves platters of smoked brisket, pulled pork, pulled chicken, turkey, ribs and sausage; meat-filled sandwiches, and sides like macaroni and cheese, collard greens, and baked beans.
Nagle’s, Ocean Grove
Seven years after an owner’s illness shut down the historic Nagle’s Apothecary Cafe, the Ocean Grove restaurant and ice cream shop will reopen this year.
Kelly Ryan, owner of The Boondocks Fishery in Red Bank, is Nagle’s new owner. She plans to keep as much of the charm created by former owners Leonard Steen and David Rosen as possible, from its decor and memorabilia to its walk-up ice cream window.
“People are just really, really excited, and I told them I’m not going to let them down,” said Ryan, who hopes to open the restaurant in April.
Pollara, Red Bank
A New Jersey native who followed his culinary dreams to California before making his way back home will open a new restaurant in Red Bank this spring.
Jon Smulewitz’s Pollara, 76 Monmouth St., will be a small, mostly takeout spot he says will represent each of his prior concepts: Dopo, an Italian restaurant in Oakland, California; Adesso, an Oakland wine and salumi bar that earned a James Beard Foundation Award nomination in 2010; and Pollara Pizzeria in Berkeley, California.
He plans to serve Roman pizza, a by-the-slice style Smulewitz learned to make after discovering it at the famed Pizzarium in Italy, as well as round, New York-inspired pizzas, baked pasta dishes and bread. Pollara also will serve housemade ricotta and salumi, including guanciale and pancetta.
Qua, Asbury Park
Qua Pizza, which has served its Roman-style pies on Main Street in Manasquan since 2019, will take on Asbury Park this year.
Matteo and Cristina DeMarco plan to open at 504 Main St., the former Joe’s Rotisseria, in March.
At the new location, Matteo DeMarco plans to duplicate the menu of his original restaurant, which serves crisp-bottomed, airy, rectangular slices and whole pies in varieities like the Americana, with tomato sauce, mozzarella, Pecorino Romano and oregano; cacio e pepe, with mozzarella, Pecorino Romano, Grana Padano, black pepper and basil; and the “Jersey Boy,” topped with vodka sauce, fresh mozzarella, pepperoni and basil.
Meatballs, soups, pastas, sandwiches, salads, and eggplant and chicken cutlets round out the menu, and Matteo DeMarco said that with the expanded kitchen space at the new restaurant, he plans to incorporate more seasonal items.
Tommy’s Tavern + Tap, Toms River
The first Ocean County location of Tommy’s Tavern + Tap will open in Toms River this spring.
The 7,000-square-foot, 250-seat restaurant is under construction at Hooper and Oak avenues, at the site of a former TGI Friday’s. An April opening is planned.
Tommy’s founded in Sea Bright by the Bonfiglio family, has 15 restaurants in New Jersey, New York and Delaware, with three in the Monmouth County towns of Sea Bright, Freehold Township and Wall. The style at Tommy’s restaurants include cozy brick, reclaimed wood, black tile, polished concrete floors, high-end finishes, wood tables imported from Italy, TVs and chandeliers.
Popular dishes at the restaurant, a self-described “polished spors bar,” include oven-roasted wings topped with roasted onions and long hot peppers, fried calamari and shrimp with sweet and spicy sauce, scratch-made pizza, and sushi.
Windmill Hot Dogs, Brick
WindMill Hot Dogs returns to Brick in 2026, seven years after the shuttering of a decades-old township location.
Ralph Epstein, who took over the brand from longtime owners the Levine family in 2022, is converting a former T-Mobile store at 905 Route 70 North into a hot dog restaurant that will sit across from The WindMill’s former Route 70 location.
The WindMill, born in Long Branch, is known for its griddled ¼-pound beef and pork Sabrett hot dogs and cheesy crinkle fries.
Epstein said he hopes to open the new restaurant in a few months.
Other expected 2026 openingsBroadway Hot & Honey Chicken, Ship Bottom: The locally owned hot chicken chain is opening at 605 Long Beach Blvd.Garden State Distillery, Brick: The distilery is moving from Washington Street in Toms River to 580 Brick Blvd.Lenny’s Main Street Market, Manasquan: The owners of Lenny’s Colonial Ranch Market in Point Pleasant Borough are opening a new market, deli and butcher shop at 149 Main St.Old Farm Butcher Shop, Shrewsbury: This West Long Branch butcher shop is opening a second location at 555 Shrewsbury Ave.Pies on Main, Barnegat: The owners of Pies on Nine South in Lacey are opening a new pizzeria at 580 N. Main St., replacing Luigi’s Pizzeria & Ristorante.Tilly’s Empanadas, Long Beach Township: This empanada shop will open at 8211 Long Beach Blvd., in the space previously occupied by Pinky Shrimp.
Sarah Griesemer joined the USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey in 2003 and has been writing all things food since 2014. Send restaurant tips to sgriesemer@gannettnj.com, follow on Instagram at Jersey Shore Eats and subscribe to her weekly newsletter.
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