Three NJ restaurants named to OpenTable's Top 100
We love our New Jersey restaurants, but now OpenTable is singing the praises of three in the Garden State.
Three NJ restaurants named to OpenTable's Top 100 We love our New Jersey restaurants, but now OpenTable is singing the praises of three in the Garden State. Check out this story on app.com: https://www.app.com/story/entertainment/dining/2019/12/18/nj-restaurants-open-table-top-100-restaurants-america/2678268001/
Sarah Griesemer, Asbury Park Press Published 11:30 a.m. ET Dec. 18, 2019 | Updated 11:05 a.m. ET Dec. 20, 2019
Maybe it was the stone alley, lights twinkling overhead, where diners gather on warm summer nights.
Or maybe it was the freshly made pasta, served by people who make you feel like family.
Most likely, it was both that earned Anjelica's Restaurant in Sea Bright a spot on OpenTable's 2019 list of Top 100 Restaurants in America.
Anjelica's joins Two Fish in Haddonfield and Steve & Cookie's By the Bay in Margate as the only New Jersey restaurants on the list, which was compiled from more than 12 million reviews of more than 30,000 restaurants in the nation.
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The outdoor dining area at at Anjelica's Restaurant in Sea Bright. (Photo: FILE PHOTO)
The reviews were submitted by verified diners between Oct. 1, 2018, and Sept. 30 of this year, according to OpenTable, an online restaurant reservation service.
"Whether a restaurant has received national accolades or is built on local fanfare, our Top 100 reflects diners' favorite culinary experiences across the country," OpenTable's Chief Operating Officer Andrea Johnston said in a news release. "What ultimately ties these restaurants together is their excellent hospitality paired with incredible dishes, which is why diners are applauding them with rave reviews."
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"The biggest compliment anyone has ever given me is that when they have dinner at the restaurant, they feel like they are home. We hear that a lot, and that is so special," Anjelica Lena told The Asbury Park Press in 2015. " I don't think there are many family-owned and -operated places anymore, and we like to know everybody's name. We sit, we share stories. The whole energy in the restaurant is really unique and special.
Inside Two Fish in Haddonfield, N.J. (Photo: Joe Lamberti/Courier Post-USA Today Network)
"There is a warmth that permeates our dining room, and it's a testament to the atmosphere my parents decided to create years ago," Lena said. "We also have an incredible staff; they are all heart, all the time."
"It's an honor to be selected as one of the top 100 restaurants nationally and one of only three in New Jersey even more so. We try really hard to put out something special and different," Chef owner Mike Stollenwerk and his partner Felice Leibowitz said in a joint statement about the Open Table award.
The intimate 22-seat Two Fish opened three years ago and the owners opened their second Haddonfield restaurant, the more meat-centric Little Hen, this year.
Go: Anjelica's Restaurant is at 1070 Ocean Ave., Sea Bright; 732-842-2800, anjelicas.com. Two Fish is at 26 South Haddon Ave., Haddonfield; 856-428-3474, twofishbyob.com. Steve & Cookie's By the Bay is at 9700 Amherst Ave., Margate; 609-823-1163, steveandcookies.com.
From Anjelica's Restaurant in Sea Bright, housemade mafaldine pasta with lemon. (Photo: COURTESY OF ANJELICA'S)
A lifelong Jersey girl, Sarah Griesemer joined the USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey more than 15 years ago and has held a variety of positions since, but writing about the Shore's mom and pop restaurants is her favorite. Write her at sgriesemer@gannettnj.com and follow @jersey.shore.eats.
Carol Comegno, Cherry Hill Courier-Post, contributed to this report.
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