New Jersey

A shopping bag from Nike is swinging from one wrist, a Cinnabon box is balanced in the other…

By Duncan Edwards · Jun 18

There is a very specific kind of joy that comes from eating lobster out of a split-top bun…

By Duncan Edwards · Jun 18

The water gives itself away before the trail does. You hear it somewhere below the trees, rushing over…

By Duncan Edwards · Jun 18

There’s a moment on the quieter edges of the Jersey Shore when the soundtrack changes. The boardwalk games…

By Duncan Edwards · Jun 18

The red neon outside Tony’s Baltimore Grill does not whisper. It glows like it has seen things: late…

By Duncan Edwards · Jun 18

A mine tunnel in Sussex County goes dark, someone flips on ultraviolet lights, and suddenly the rock walls…

By Duncan Edwards · Jun 18

At around 6:20 on a good race night in East Rutherford, the Meadowlands starts doing that very Jersey…

By Duncan Edwards · Jun 18

At 59th Street in Ocean City, the soundtrack changes fast. One minute, you’re still close enough to remember…

By Duncan Edwards · Jun 17

The best burger trips in New Jersey rarely begin with white tablecloths or a reservation confirmation. They start…

By Duncan Edwards · Jun 17

The box lid is where the fun starts. At Mama Buntz’s Donut Company in Sewell, the names of…

By Duncan Edwards · Jun 17

The moment a server sets down a dish that looks more like a tiny edible landscape than dinner,…

By Duncan Edwards · Jun 17

The glow from State Line Diner’s sign hits a little differently after dark, especially when you’re rolling along…

By Duncan Edwards · Jun 17

The steam table tells on you. You walk in promising yourself one sensible plate, then the rice is…

By Duncan Edwards · Jun 17

The first clue is the smoke. Not the dramatic, pitmaster-in-a-parking-lot kind, but the quiet kind that sneaks into…

By Duncan Edwards · Jun 17

There is a very specific kind of morning that starts with powdered sugar on your shirt before 9…

By Duncan Edwards · Jun 17

A plastic bib is your first clue that dinner is about to stop pretending. At The Twisted Crab…

By Duncan Edwards · Jun 16

Somewhere between a nut-free Westfield takeout counter serving buffalo chicken bites and a Montclair sushi bar where every…

By Duncan Edwards · Jun 16

The miniature train rolls past the trees, the carousel music drifts across the park, and somewhere nearby, a…

By Duncan Edwards · Jun 16

The best New Jersey pizza places rarely announce themselves with velvet ropes or dramatic lighting. More often, they…

By Duncan Edwards · Jun 16

The mug arrives cold enough to fog at the edges, with root beer fizz climbing up the glass…

By Duncan Edwards · Jun 16

The water at a good New Jersey swimming spot has a way of exposing your whole summer mood.…

By Duncan Edwards · Jun 16

The building looks like it should have a launch button somewhere behind the counter. White panels, a round…

By Duncan Edwards · Jun 16

There is a particular kind of New Jersey summer day when the car seats are too hot, the…

By Duncan Edwards · Jun 16

A plate of fried calamari lands on the table, the lake catches the afternoon light, and suddenly Hightstown…

By Duncan Edwards · Jun 15

On a spring night along the Delaware Bay, a horseshoe crab can get flipped by a wave, stuck…

By Duncan Edwards · Jun 15

The first spoonful does not behave like regular restaurant soup. It is darker, deeper, and a little mysterious…

By Duncan Edwards · Jun 15

There’s a version of New Jersey most people never get around to seeing. It’s not sitting in Parkway…

By Duncan Edwards · Jun 15

There is an altar arch at the back of Critchley’s Candies, which is not the sort of thing…

By Duncan Edwards · Jun 15

Some New Jersey picnics come with a skyline. Others come with waterfalls, pine trees, Revolutionary War history, or…

By Duncan Edwards · Jun 15