As someone who’s been visiting annually my entire life, I can confidently say summer days are best spent on Long Beach Island. LBI offers the purest beach-core vibes, soft white sand, and of course, a buffet of restaurants, bakeries and ice cream shops that keep you fed from sun up to sundown. While the island has a stronghold on fresh-caught seafood and waterfront offering, the smattering of longstanding institutions has helped LBI maintain its nostalgic identity. Here are 11 of the best restaurants on Long Beach Island to add to your summer dining list.
READ MORE: Cape May’s 11 best restaurants, ranked for 2026
White pie, BLVD Pizza, Surf CityPeter Genovese
BLVD Pizza came out of pizza nowhere to claim the top spot on our 2024 list of the Jersey Shore’s 44 greatest pizzerias, ranked, besting such legends as Pete and Elda’s, Vic’s, and Maruca’s. BLVD Pizza is now #3 on our just-published 2025 update. Owner Mike Franzoni turned Incredibowls, with smoothies, juices and acai bowls, into a hole-in-the-wall pizza joint. The Brooklyn’s finest pizza here, with mozzarella, sauce and pecorino Romano, is a standout. Even better: the white pizza, with impossibly fresh, creamy ricotta. It finished high on our list of the state’s 101 greatest pizzerias, ranked.
Try: That white pie ($26). In a word, sensational. (Peter Genovese)
The Holiday Snack Bar in Beach Haven.Jeremy Schneider | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
This may be my favorite food stop on Long Beach Island. From the outside the Holiday Snack Bar looks more like a beach bungalow than cake shop or luncheonette; inside there’s an old-time funky curved counter, chalk menu board and chairs that look like they came from your great-grandma’s attic. The Holiday Snack Bar is renowned for its cakes and pies, but you can also get eggs, pancakes, burgers, BLTs, grilled cheese, chicken sandwiches and more. Good shakes, too. This Jersey classic has been open a mere 75+ years.
Try: The angel food cake ($5.99). The Lord Baltimore cake is the most popular cake here, but give me a good angel food cake any time. (PG)
Mustache Bill’s Diner, Barnegat LightJL
Is this Mustache Bill’s final season? Who knows. The diner is up for sale, and owner Bill Smith is not budging on his $3.65 million asking price for the property. My favorite diner Down the Shore, Mustache Bill’s sparkles and shimmers in the morning sunshine. Smith started working at the diner, then known as Joe’s Barnegat Light Diner, when he was 12, washing dishes. The diner opened on May 9, 1959; a turkey platter back then cost $1. Smith, who has worn a mustache since his senior year in high school, bought the diner in 1972. In 2009, Mustache Bill’s received an America’s Classics award from the James Beard Foundation, the first diner awarded the honor. Excellent omelets and seafood here. The diner is open Fridays-Sundays only.
Try: The cinnamon raisin French toast ($9.75 full stack). Four slices of cinnamon raisin bread batter-dipped and dusted with powdered sugar. Breakfast heaven. (PG)
Branzino at La Riva in Barnegat Light(Stephanie Rizzolo | for NJ Advance Media)8. La Riva, Barnegat Light
Daymark’s newer sister restaurant, La Riva was impressive out the gate, and continues to serve some of the best Neapolitan-style pizzas and oven-fired specialties on the Island. Situated right next door to Daymark at Barnaget Light, La Riva has a more rustic and industrial vibe, with large garage doors that are opened up when the weather permits. You can’t go wrong with anything that comes out of their oven, flow in from Italy.
Try: The baked rigatoni ($19) ,pepperoni pizza ($24) and crispy whole branzino ($34). (Stephanie Rizzolo)
Spicy Calabrian chicken sandwich at Joy & Salt in Ship Bottom(Stephanie Rizzolo | for NJ Advance Media)
Blink and you might miss it. New for the 2026 season, Joy & Salt moved into the former Maris Stella / Lex Mex space on the sliver of LBI Boulevard and 9th Street that takes you off of the island onto Route 72. Utilizing tomatoes grown from the chef’s own garden and other local ingredients, everything here is bright, fresh, and packed with flavor. Open from Thursday through Monday for lunch and dinner, this BYOB is a great stop for their lunchtime worker’s special ($10) or a casual dinner. A fan favorite was the spicy Sicilian-style calamari, that had the perfect level of heat and addictive crunch.
Try: The spicy Sicilian-style calamari ($18), spicy Calabrian chicken sandwich ($16). and bread pudding ($10) (SR)
Pan-seared salmon, Boulevard Clams, Surf CityPeter Genovese
Boulevard Clams isn’t much for looks — a dozen spare tables and a raw bar with the words “Clam Up” written on the side — but you come here for the fresh seafood, not some restaurant makeover show. The “hot and dirty” crabs are a must, and so are the whole belly fried clams. On a recent visit, I tried the salmon — pan-seared — flaky, tender and terrific, proof you don’t need some fancy sauce for a great fish dish.
Try: The whole belly fried clams ($39.99). The best I’ve had anywhere Down the Shore. (PG)
burrata pie, Queen City CrustPG
LBI wasn’t exactly a pizza playground until BLVD Pizza and Queen City Crust rode into town. Queen City, specializes in rectangular, crispy-crust Detroit-style pizza. It started in a Beach Haven coffee shop in 2022, opened as a pop-up in the Beach Haven Fire Department in 2023 and last summer moved into a building next to Howard’s Seafood Restaurant. There are seven pizzas on the menu, from plain (with four cheeses) and pepperoni to tomato pie and bacon onion jam, with bacon, chives and whipped parmesan garlic cream. Queen City is not only LBI’s best pizzeria, it’s the best on the entire Jersey Shore.
Try: The burrata ($32, in photo). The silky creamy cheese makes for a transcendent pie. (PG)
Swordfish skewers at Dock & Claw in Beach Haven(Stephanie Rizzolo | for NJ Advance Media)
Once home to Harvey Cedars Seafood Co, Dock & Claw moved in in 2022 and has become a go-to for their clams, tight food menu and nostalgic ambiance. Don’t be fooled by the most bar-looking seating you’ll encounter on the island. This place is a BYO, and you should, to complement the stellar seafood preparations this crew is slinging. Open 7 days a week and first come, first served, plan your visit strategically, as seating is limited.
Try: Swordfish skewers with chimichurri ($26),Korean bbq duck wings ($22), and the lobster roll ($36). (SR)
A bowl of crab fried rice is ready to be served at the Delaware Avenue Oyster House in Beach Haven, N.J. on Tuesday, October 29, 2024.Jim Lowney | For NJ Advance Media
Clam chowder is a Jersey Shore restaurant staple. The best? The one at Delaware Avenue, with Jersey tomatoes, Jersey clams, Jersey long hots and pork roll. Yes, pork roll. I love oysters (with a cold beer, of course), and the restaurant is an ostreophile’s dream. Delaware Bay, Tucker’s Island, Pickle Point, Miyagi and Sugar Shacks are among the oysters available; check the website or blackboard against the wall. Also recommended: the fish tacos, with blackened mahi, pineapple mole, avocado cream slaw, pomegranate pickled onions and cilantro (no lifeless, dried out fish tacos, these).
Try: The clam chowder ($13.46). The pork roll puts it over the top. The crab fried rice ($33) is also a star. (PG)
Polly’s Dock, Beach Haven
My new favorite LBI restaurant/hangout? Polly’s Dock. It’s an open-air restaurant with great bayfront views, and if the nautical spirit moves you, boat rentals are available. Polly’s is more shack than restaurant, but the menu is surprisingly ample. Clams, oysters Pollyfeller (with fresh spinach, shallots and a splash of Pernod), and Spanish calamari are among the appetizers, and seared fresh ahi tuna, dockside fish and chips, and cod or flounder on a bun are listed under the Off Some Guys Boats section. The clam chowder is billed as “the best on the island.” It may be in the top three. The scallops in the asparagus/rice blackboard special tasted off-the-boat fresh.
Try: The pan seared scallops over scallions and wild rice with fresh asparagus and wine sauce (market price). I’m not sure you’ll find fresher-tasting scallops on the island. (PG)
bread pudding, Black Eyed Susans, Harvey Cedars
It’s a good sign of a restaurant’s popularity when there’s a line out the door at 4 p.m when it opens, 4 p.m. not exactly being prime dining time. Black Eyed Susans, open since 2010, offers a compact, eclectic menu, from black garlic Caesar salad, crispy artichokes and marinated olives to grilled tuna, lobster gnocchi and whole steamed lobster. The roasted chicken breast is exceedingly tender, and the polpette arrabiata (Sicilian style meatballs with pistachios, raisins and ricotta) is almost Italian Grandma-worthy. Must-try dessert: the bread pudding.
Try: Any of the thin-crust pizzas, especially the sausage ($23), with good-quality meat and sauce. (PG)
Dining and Cooking