r/CapeMay May 21 '26

The 2026 Cape May Recommendations Megathread!

37 Upvotes

Here are the results of the survey!

Made a new thread from here at mod request, to avoid the off-site link

Best Full-Service Breakfast 

  1. The Mad Batter
  2. Uncle Bill's Pancake House
  3. McGlades / Mel's Place (tie)

Best Quick-Stop Breakfast

  1. Ostara’s Coffee House
  2. Magic Brain Cafe / The Bagel Shop (tie)
  3. Salty Acres Cafe

Best Full-Service Lunch

  1. Lucky Bones
  2. C-View
  3. Tishas

Best Quick-Stop Lunch

  1. Hot Dog Tommy's
  2. Cam and Pucci's
  3. Westside Market

Best Full-Service Dinner

  1. Taco Caballito Tequileria
  2. Freda's Cafe
  3. 410 Bank Street / Mayer's Tavern (tie)

Best Quick-Stop Dinner

  1. Quincy's Original Lobster Rolls
  2. Cappy's Pizza
  3. Cam and Pucci's / El Pueblo Taqueria (tie)

Best Dessert Spot

  1. Fine Fellows Creamery
  2. Peace Pie
  3. Uncle Charley's Ice Cream

Best Kid-Friendly Spot

  1. Mad Viking
  2. McGlades
  3. The Rusty Nail

Best Vegetarian / Vegan Spot

  1. Taco Caballito Tequileria
  2. Good Earth Organic Eatery

Best Happy Hour

  1. The Rusty Nail
  2. Lucky Bones
  3. Hemmingway's

Best Pizza

  1. Roman's
  2. Cappy's
  3. Mario's / Brother's II / Boiler Room / Panico's (tie)

Best Ice Cream

  1. Fine Fellows Creamery
  2. Uncle Charley's
  3. Flecks

Best Burger (only 3 entries, so in no particular order)

  • 5 West
  • Rusty Nail
  • C-View

Best Chinese Food (only 1 entry)

  1. Dragon House

Best Sandwiches

  1. Fish House
  2. Cam and Pucci's
  3. Erma Deli / Gaiss' Market (tie)

Best Bagel

  1. The Bagel Shop
  2. Coffee Tyme / Bagel Time (tie)

Best Breakfast Sandwich

  1. Ostara’s Coffee House
  2. The Bagel Shop / Bravado Coffee Cafe (tie)
  3. Golden Stop / Coffee Tyme (tie)

Best Sushi (only 1 entry)

  1. Yozu

Best Mexican / Latin American (all entries tied, so no particular order)

  • Taqueria Casa Mia
  • El Pueblo
  • Taco Caballito Tequileria

Best Seafood

  1. McGlades
  2. Fish House
  3. Fish & Fancy / Cape May Fish Market / Dockside Dave's / Blue Pig (tie)

Best Bakery/Patisserie

  1. Chez Michel
  2. Beach Plum
  3. A Ca Mia / A Piece of Cake (tie)

Best Coffee Spot

  1. Ostara’s Coffee House
  2. Magic Brain / Coffee Tyme (tie)
  3. Salty Acres Cafe

Best Cocktail Spot

  1. Nauti Spirits / Brown Room (tie)
  2. Taco Caballito Tequileria / Cricket Club (tie)
  3. Oyster Bay

Best Brewery

  1. Gusto Brewing Company / Cape May Brewing Company (tie)
  2. Behr Brewing / Obscura Brewing (tie)
  3. Slack Tide

Best Winery

  1. Cape May Winery
  2. Hawk Haven / Turdo (tie)
  3. Willow Creek

Best Sports Bar

  1. C-View
  2. Red Brick Ale House / The Local Tavern (tie)

Best Taplist (only 3 entries, so in no particular order)

  • Lucky Bones
  • 5 West
  • Ugly Mug

Best Mocktails (only 2 entries, so in no particular order)

  • Bee's Knees
  • The Ebbitt Room

Best Indoor / Rainy Day Activities

  1. Cape Square
  2. Washington Street Mall / Naval Air Station Wildwood Aviation Museum / Congress Hall (tie)

Best Outdoor Activities

  1. Cape May County Zoo
  2. Beach Plum Farm
  3. Cape May Lighthouse

Best Nature Area

  1. Cox Hall Creek WMA (Ponderlodge)
  2. South Cape May Meadows Preserve
  3. Higbee Beach / Cape May Lighthouse (tie)

Best Spots offering Niche Activities

  1. Ostara’s Coffee House
  2. Gusto Brewing / Behr Brewing / Congress Hall (tie)

Best Nightlife / Dancing (only 3 entries, so no particular order)

  • Boiler Room
  • Harpoons
  • Taco Caballito Tequileria

Best Live Music

  1. The Chalfonte
  2. Rusty Nail / Obscura Brewing / King Edward's Bar (tie)

Most Unique / 'Can't Miss' Spots or Activities

  1. Cape May County Zoo / Washington Street Mall / Sunset Beach (tie)
  2. Rusty Nail (editor's note: really?)

*********************************************************************

Original Post:

Greetings, neighbors. As discussed here, let's get another comprehensive list going of ALL the spots that we recommend to people looking to visit our little resort town this year... or perhaps even clue in some of our longtime residents to spots they might be unfamiliar with or operating on outdated info. This thread will hopefully get pinned for easy reference for potential visitors. If you care to see 2025's results, look here

On or about May 20th, I will edit this body with the tabulated results for each category, giving the Top 3 recommendations for places to go here in Cape May OR surrounding areas (definitely stay within Cape May County, but preferably within 10-15 miles)Big chains - Wawa, Dominos, Starbucks, etc. - will be discarded.

If you want to qualify your answers with some testimonials (i.e: "__________ is the best winery because their staff is top notch" or "________ is the greatest spot for breakfast, you have to try This or That") go for it; if it makes the cut I'll add in footnotes or otherwise annotate if it's particularly insightful. This may be more important for the final category: which places here in Cape May to avoid - overpriced, diminished quality, horrible wait times, etc. (Removed at mod request)

The form is set that all answers are optional, so if you have nothing to suggest for a category, you can just leave it blank and move on.


r/CapeMay 3h ago

🌪️Tornado confirmed in Cape May Point Tuesday evening (7/21). It was from that waterspout offshore.

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8 Upvotes

r/CapeMay 23h ago

VIDEO: Waterspout Near Cape May Ferry Tuesday (7/21/2026)

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21 Upvotes

r/CapeMay 1d ago

Dog friendly restaurants

0 Upvotes

Does anyone know of any dog friendly restaurants in Cape May? Outdoor seating is perfectly fine with us.


r/CapeMay 2d ago

ferry into delaware

13 Upvotes

any must see spots when riding the ferry over to delaware? we will be bringing a car, but we’ve never ventured over there so looking for any awesome places! thanks!


r/CapeMay 3d ago

Does anyone know what this is supposed to be?

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7 Upvotes

My first thought was buoy but I really don’t know. Plus I saw a bunch of others like it nearby.


r/CapeMay 3d ago

Options for ground transport to Philly airport? Plein Air meet-ups?

2 Upvotes

I am coming to visit a friend, and she is picking me up at the airport when I fly in, but I don't want to tax her with that drive twice.

What are the options for ground transport? Remember Super Shuttle? I wish they were still around, that kind of thing would be perfect.

I know thereis a bus, but I hear that's pretty long and arduous.

Any other options (including locals groups where people might be looking for/offering rides? I live in a resort area, and we get those kind of asks quite often)?

Also, are there any art/plein air kind of groups, meetups, etc. happening August 1-4? I'm super down with that kind of thing!


r/CapeMay 3d ago

Clearnose skate

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13 Upvotes

Feels pretty incredible that I can say I encountered a wild cartilaginous fish now.


r/CapeMay 4d ago

Budget friendly hotel with an infant

5 Upvotes

My husband and I used to stay at hotel maccomber every year & loved it but unfortunately, they don’t allow infants and we now have a child.

Looking for inexpensive hotel or bed and breakfast that allows children that’s walking distance to shops


r/CapeMay 4d ago

Craig Laban just gave Il Riccio a fabulous review

6 Upvotes

I haven't seen any references to the South Jersey shore for at least a couple of years. We go for 5 nights every summer and have been going to the same ones for years. The last new one we tried that became a repeat was Grana but sadly, last year's meal was disappointing. I realize only giving a restaurant one try a year is hardly fair but since for us non-sports participants who've already done all the histroic stuff, they're ain't a lot to do besides early morning power walks on the promenade, beach, pool, a stroll down Washington Mall, hang out at the Brown Room for a late night cocktail, a before dinner drink at the Ebbit Room bar and a decent restaurant each night.

So, just knocked out Grana in favor of Il Riccio. I also heard Peter Shields now has the old chef back as a part owner, which may explain why our last 2 meals there were not as great as they once were.

We're also trying The Cricket Club this year. Any thoughts on that one?

Our line up for this year: The Ebbit Room, Washington Inn, Cricket Club, Il Riccio, Peter Shields. We hadn't been to the Washinton Inn for several years because we found it sort of pedestrian. We gave it another try last year and liked it so much, we went twice that stay. The wine list is amazing; the sommeliers know their stuff and the markups aren't ridiculous. And, there are some interesting menu choices.

Places we never go to that lots of people love: Tisha's, the Lobster House, the relatively new faux French place Maison Blue, 410 Bank, Louisa's, We've been to all except Louisa's since it just seems hot and uncomfortable. All the others are just meh to us. We've skipped Union Park in recent years since it is iquite uneven.


r/CapeMay 4d ago

Cape May/Avalon NJ Boat Parking

2 Upvotes

Looking for a place to park a boat trailer for a weekend, nothing fancy just need a few days. Thanks!


r/CapeMay 5d ago

Best winery for a rainy day?

10 Upvotes

Best cape may winery for rainy day? Looking for places that have a big enough space indoors or covered areas. Thanks!


r/CapeMay 5d ago

Looking for a 4-piece band for our wedding June 2027

3 Upvotes

Hi everyone! We’re getting married in Cape May in June 2027 and are looking for a 3–4 piece band.

Our wedding is more of an elevated dinner party than a traditional reception. We won’t have a formal dance floor. We’re really just hoping to create the feeling of hanging out at a great bar with live music where people can eat, drink, talk, and enjoy the atmosphere. We’ll have about 75 guests, so we’re looking for something that fits a smaller, more intimate wedding.

We love artists like Chris Stapleton, John Mayer, Elvis, Johnny Cash, and classic rock, country, and blues.

If you’ve seen a band you loved or have any recommendations, I’d really appreciate it. Thank you!


r/CapeMay 6d ago

Air quality from Canadian wildfires

2 Upvotes

How is the air? Coming from PA on Saturday where it’s pretty bad here, wanted to see if Cape May is being impacted?


r/CapeMay 7d ago

Activities for people with limited mobility?

14 Upvotes

Visiting later this year with my mom who is not quite wheelchair bound but has limited mobility and needs wheelchairs for anything more than a short walk. Any recommendations on activities that would suit her? Bonus points for anything people wouldn't normally consider for someone with limited mobility!

Thanks in advance!


r/CapeMay 7d ago

Police / emergency vehicles this morning

7 Upvotes

Anyone know what happened this morning looking from cove beach towards lighthouse? Lots of emergency vehicles police etc looking with binoculars. Overheard body was spotted but haven’t seen any news stories.


r/CapeMay 8d ago

Weird smell in North Cape May?

7 Upvotes

Anyone smell that gas smell?


r/CapeMay 9d ago

tattoo shop recommendations?

8 Upvotes

i am looking to get a fine line stamp with the lighthouse in it, on one of my last days there in september. are there any killer artists i need to reach out to? any good shops that take walk ins? thanks!
edit: to perigee i go, thanks all!!


r/CapeMay 9d ago

Bachelorette trip places to stay

1 Upvotes

Hello! I am planning a bach trip to Cape May for next June and I’m struggling to find a place for our group of 6 to stay. We ideally would like a pool and to be near the beach. Does anyone have any recommendations?


r/CapeMay 11d ago

Jellyfish at the ferry

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20 Upvotes

Don’t know why they seem to like just that area as opposed to the entire beach.


r/CapeMay 11d ago

Any fellow English people watching the game somewhere tonight?

8 Upvotes

In Cape May for the weekend at Congress Hall and hoping to cheer on England with some fellow countrymen. Might be a long shot but anyone know where to catch the game tonight?


r/CapeMay 10d ago

Hidden Jems?

2 Upvotes

Hi everyone!! It’s my best friends bachelorette in a month and we’re coming to enjoy Cape May for the weekend. We plan on hitting some wineries and taking the ferry but I was wondering if theres any especially fun or interesting spots around? We’re in our late 20’s and the bride likes quirky things. I would love some suggestions of maybe hidden bars, party spots, different activities, ect. Thank you in advance :)


r/CapeMay 12d ago

cheap accommodations (airbnbs/hotels) within 30 min to one hour from cape may?

8 Upvotes

hi everyone!

we are visiting cape may for the first time! we were planning a day trip where we leave early in the day since we live 2.5 hours away (from NJ). our other option was to stay one night but the hotels/airbnbs in the area are absurd, understandably since we are in-season, but i was wondering if you guys have any recommendations within 30 min to one hour from cape may, preferably along the garden state parkway. what do you all recommend? :) thank you & happy friday!


r/CapeMay 12d ago

Cape May Point

9 Upvotes

Will be staying here early fall. Are the beaches easily and legally accessible at night?

Is this a good spot for stargazing?


r/CapeMay 13d ago

Mac and Cheese

0 Upvotes

I've vacationed here with my family for years now and it continues to amaze me how many restaurants around here list Mac and Cheese on their menu only for it to be Penne in Alfredo sauce.

It feels like some kind of sick joke. Who in their right mind considers those equivalent?