Atlantic City, on the coast of New Jersey, is a destination for visitors seeking leisure and tranquility in the sun.
From its inception as America’s first seaside playground and one of the few legal gambling locations, Atlantic City has seen more booms and busts than most other cities in the last century.
As a result, the city boasts an intriguing culinary scene, with a mix of ancient, iconic locales and younger restaurants seeking to deliver good cuisine to a widening diversity of tastes and preferences as the city expands and changes.
The following are some of my favorite restaurants in Atlantic City. Enjoy!
Visiting other places in New Jersey? Check out our other tasty guide:
- 10 Best Jersey City Restaurants
Atlantic City’s Top 10 Restaurants
Inn at the Knife and Fork
Atlantic City, +160934411333600 Atlantic Ave.
This seafood and chop eatery has welcomed guests to Atlantic City with its famous Tudor exterior since its debut in 1912.
They have a menu that includes lobster thermidor and steaks with lump crab, barnaise sauce, and asparagus, as well as a section devoted to sustainable seafood. It’s incredible! Believe me!
The Knife & Fork Inn was formerly an elite men’s dining club. The restaurant currently serves supper seven days a week beginning at 5:00 p.m., with the bar opening an hour earlier at 4:00 p.m.
Kelseys
Atlantic City, +160934422001545 Pacific Ave.
Kelseys is the place to go if you’re looking for fantastic meals with a soul. Kelsey and Kimberly Jackson, a husband and wife combination in the midst of lively Atlantic City, own and run Kelseys.
If you go on a Friday or Saturday, be sure to see one of their live music concerts!
To avoid missing out, order their slow-smoked ribs, fried whiting, or dark meat southern fried chicken and waffle, as well as an appetizer plate of shrimp and grits.
Girasole
Pacific Avenue, Atlantic City, +160934555543
The Girasole Italian restaurant in Atlantic City is owned and maintained by a family that is concerned with the quality of the cuisine served to its clients.
Girasole owner Gino Iovino created the facility in 1992, about a block from the Boardwalk, to provide guests with an alternative to the packed, ostentatious casinos nearby.
Girasole’s interior is adorned with reminders that it translates to “sunflower” in Italian. The restaurant’s atmosphere is created by a rich blue and gold dining area.
Girasole’s dishes are all created from scratch and cooked to order. Girasole’s chef has won multiple culinary prizes for the love and attention he puts into each dish.
Hot Italian sausage with broccoli rabe and cannellini beans, calamari cooked in tomato sauce, and carpaccios prepared with filet mignon and yellowfin tuna are just a few of the pasta options at the restaurant.
Oyster House Docks
Atlantic City, +160934500922405 Atlantic Ave.
In 1897, Harry Call me Dock Dougherty started the Docks Oyster House with the intention to provide the greatest quality shellfish in a welcoming, pleasant, and clean setting.
Because of its high standards and the lack of a liquor license, the restaurant rapidly became a local and tourist favorite. It’s very great.
Docks Oyster House still combines marine and fine dining accents with the typical oyster bar ambience that guests have loved for decades, as well as all of the menu’s favorites.
The daily specials are shown behind a display of chilled lobsters, oysters, clams, and shrimp on the blackboard menu.
Their menu has a changing variety of roughly a dozen kinds, including Cape May Salts, Brigantine Salts, plump Chesapeake Bay oysters, salty Wellfleets from Cape Cod, and Bluepoints and Barren Island oysters from New York State. On the half shell, you may also acquire tiny neck or top neck clams. They’re amazing!
Cafe 2825
Atlantic City, +160934469132825 Atlantic Ave.
Café 2825, located within the Tropicana Casino, has an intimate ambience with fourteen white-clothed tables. The restaurant has a full bar as well as a wine selection that includes both Californian and Italian varieties.
To achieve a high level of quality, each meal utilizes fresh, seasonal ingredients and keeps true to the proprietors’ Southern Italian and Brooklyn origins.
The Spicy Dark Scungilli (imported conch in a spicy marinara), the strangely irresistible Meatball Salad (red gravy-soaked meatballs on top of greens and ricotta), and the vinegar-marinated Brooklyn Double Cut Pork Chop are all Sicilian favorites.
You can’t completely appreciate Café 2825 until you sample the Cacio e Pepe or fresh mozzarella produced at the table. Believe me.
Bar & Restaurant in Atlantic City
Atlantic City, +160934880801219 Pacific Ave.
Sports events, drinks, seafood, and steak are on the menu at Atlantic City Bar and Grill in Atlantic City, New Jersey, which has become something of a local tradition.
The bar and grill, which was founded over twenty-five years ago as a little pizza, is today a popular with visitors, celebrities, and residents due to the tasty and fresh cuisine they provide.
I suggest beginning with their wonderful Fried Calamari, then moving on to Soft Shell Crabs sautéed in scampi sauce and topped with asparagus and baked potato. Terrific!
They are open from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. seven days a week and are a terrific spot to relax and party. Because of the strong demand for fresh seafood, their menu changes on a daily basis to provide the freshest meals.
Panchos Taqueria Mexicana
Arctic Ave., Atlantic City, +160934420622303
Panchos Mexican Taqueria, a small restaurant in Atlantic City, serves some of the greatest tacos in town.
Although the decor isn’t very opulent, the cuisine more than compensates. Tacos, sopes (fried corn tortillas), carnitas, and burritos are all available, and all are wonderful and amply proportioned.
The staff here is no-nonsense and prepares everything from scratch. If you’re feeling brave, try the goat and tongue tacos as well. All of the delectable homemade tortillas are accompanied with Mexican soda pop: jarritos, beer, and carnitas. The bar serves margaritas and beer till late.
Angeline
1 Borgata Way, Atlantic City, +16093171000Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa
Michael Symon, an Iron Chef and James Beard Award winner, is also the co-host of The Chew and the owner of the Borgata’s first entirely Italian restaurant.
Angeline, Symon’s mother, inspired the restaurant’s name, and its trademark dish, lasagna, is created from her recipe.
Angeline’s menu has something for everyone, from handmade pasta and arancini to emotional favorites like chicken Parmesan. They also have an excellent wine selection.
Begin with marinated artichokes or arancini, and then try the sharable Sunday dinner (available at any time) with meatballs, cavatelli, sausage, and peppers direct from South Philadelphia.
Amada
+16097838000 Amada Restaurant is located at 500 Boardwalk in Atlantic City.
The Amada restaurant, located within the Ocean Resort Casino in Atlantic City, is Chef Garces’ most luxurious dining experience.
The tapas-style restaurant bar is complemented with a rustic-chic environment. It’s a great spot for a romantic night out as well as a fun group adventure. Amada provides a genuine flavour of the area.
Its menu offers a diverse range of selections. My favorite meals at the restaurant are the Lobster Paella with Fava Bean Salad, smoky paprika aioli, and squid.
That was amazing!
Atlantic City’s Palm
Atlantic City, Pacific Ave. #102, +160934472562801
The Palm Restaurant Atlantic City is a popular eating destination for both seasonal tourists and locals in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
The Palm is noted for its genuine friendliness and a distinctive cuisine that includes fresh seafood, USDA prime steaks, massive Nova Scotia lobsters, Italian classics, and giant lump crab cakes.
At The Palm, their motto is simple: treat visitors like family, deliver exceptional cuisine, and constantly surpass expectations. And I just adore it!
The Top 10 Must-Try Restaurants in Atlantic City
Visitors with practically every cuisine preference can find a nice location to dine in Atlantic City, which has a vast selection of eateries both within and outside the various casinos.
There are several romantic restaurants with comprehensive wine lists, chef-driven cuisine, and an intimate environment.
Atlantic City, New Jersey, has undergone ups and downs in popularity throughout the years.
Whatever the tide brings, there will never be a lack of terrific food on or off the boardwalk at this Jersey Shore attraction, regardless of how much new construction emerges.