There’s never been a shortage of great restaurants on and off the Atlantic City Boardwalk, which is why it’s one of our favorite restaurant towns in New Jersey. The city’s casinos have certainly helped make it a place for celebrity chefs like Gordon Ramsay to open upscale restaurants, while many other eateries boast more traditional charm.
Below are our top picks for the best restaurants in Atlantic City, in alphabetical order.
Why should you trust this list? Put simply, New Jersey Monthly knows New Jersey’s dining scene. Our editors and restaurant critics spend endless amounts of time traversing the state to dine at all types of establishments, from fine-dining restaurants to pizza places, old favorites to new restaurants bringing their own flavor to New Jersey’s culinary scene.
Enjoy!
[RELATED: The Best Restaurants in New Jersey]
Angeline
Angeline’s signature lasagna dish is made from chef Michael Symon’s mother’s recipe. Photo: Felicia Peretti
Angeline at the Borgata is the first fully Italian restaurant from Michael Symon, an Iron Chef and James Beard Award winner, and co-host of talk show The Chew. The modern restaurant was named after Symon’s mother, Angeline, and its signature dish, lasagna, is made from her recipe. From housemade pastas and arancini, to the sentimental favorite chicken Parm, Angeline’s menu hits all corners of soulful Italian cuisine, with an impressive wine list to boot. It’s one of our favorite Italian restaurants in all of New Jersey.
The Borgata, 1 Borgata Way; 609-317-1000
Café 2825
Lobster Parmigiana Fra DiAvolo Photo: Courtesy of Café 2825/Joseph Lautato
Despite being open since 1986, this cozy Italian restaurant still remains a relative secret. (NJM critic Victor Fiorillo deemed it Atlantic City’s best Italian restaurant.) The small 52-seat eatery boasts old-school charm, with excellent renditions of Italian favorites like eggplant rollatini, stuffed artichokes, veal chop Parmigiana and several housemade pasta variations. Most notable are the tableside experiences, such as the one involving burrata, where owner Joe Lautato makes fresh mozzarella straight from the curd, which is then sliced warm and plated family style. Other tableside experiences include cacio e pepe prepared in a hollowed wheel of Pecorino cheese. The wine list includes bottles from Italy and California.
2825 Atlantic Avenue; 609-344-6913
Cardinal
Photo: Courtesy of Cardinal/Ray Nunzi (@nunziray)
One of the hottest chefs in South Jersey, Michael Brennan returned in 2023 with his long-awaited (and much delayed) follow-up to his now-shuttered Ventnor restaurant, Cardinal Bistro. This spot in Atlantic City boasts an elegant menu that’s more approachable than the one at his previous venture. Enjoy everything from dressed-up versions of familiar finger foods (like the duck wings with a peppery hoisin glaze) to a stable of can’t-miss entrees.
201 S. New York Avenue, 609-246-6670
Chef Vola’s
This family-owned Italian restaurant has been an Atlantic City staple since 1921, and even appeared on HBO’s Boardwalk Empire. Dining in the basement at Chef Vola’s is an intimate, cash-only experience complete with a secret side door. The menu is unpretentious, with homestyle Italian classics like bone-in veal Parmesan and shrimp fettucini. Reservations recommended. BYO.
111 South Albion Place; 609-345-2022
Council Oak Steaks & Seafood
Housed in the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, this modern, upscale seafood restaurant offers sweeping seaside views and fresh local catches. It features one of the Shore’s best raw bars, with steamed or chilled king crab, blue crab and Maine lobster; chilled shrimp; raw oysters and clams; and tableside caviar service. Popular menu options include New England clam chowder, a two-pound Maine lobster cooked over a wood-fired grill, and four shellfish pots. The wine list boasts more than 2,700 bottles.
1000 Boardwalk; 609-449-1000
Dock Oyster House
Patrons dine, drink and mingle at the seafood-forward Dock’s Oyster Bar. Photo: Paul S. Bartholomew
Opened in 1897, Dock’s Oyster House has been sustained by four generations of the Dougherty family through world wars, the Great Depression, and the declines and rebirths of Atlantic City. Dock’s closed in 2015 for a multimillion-dollar renovation and expansion. What didn’t change with its 2016 reopening was the family’s commitment to fresh seafood. Behind the bar, chilled lobsters, oysters, clams and shrimp sparkle on ice below the chalkboard list of daily offerings. Oyster enthusiasts can count on about a dozen rotating selections. You also can get littleneck or top neck clams on the half shell.
2405 Atlantic Avenue; 609-345-0092
Girasole
When owner Gino Iovino opened Girasole in 1992 just a block from the Boardwalk, he chose to offer an experience unlike the ones tourists get in the showy, crowded casinos nearby. Once inside, reminders abound that girasole is Italian for sunflower. The dining room is decorated in deep blues and sunny golds. The family-owned restaurant is known for its classic Italian renditions: housemade hot and Italian sausage with broccoli rabe and cannellini beans; calamari baked in tomato sauce; carpaccios made from filet mignon and yellowfin tuna; and more than a dozen pastas, some made in-house.
3108 Pacific Avenue; 609-345-5554
Gordon Ramsay Pub & Grill
Photo: Courtesy of Caesars Entertainment
At Gordon Ramsay Pub & Grill at Caesars, the celebrity chef has put together a true British pub experience. Think: Scotch eggs, fish and chips, shepherd’s pie, beef Wellington, bangers and mash, and more than 25 beers on tap.
2100 Pacific Avenue; 609-343-2600
Knife & Fork Inn
Photo: Courtesy of Knife & Fork Inn/Emily Repici
One of the oldest restaurants in Atlantic City, the venerable Knife & Fork Inn first opened in 1912 as a private club, and then—as the story goes—in 1927, on the eve of Prohibition, became an exclusive dining room. Today, the upscale eatery features steaks, chops and seafood, classic steakhouse sides and an extensive wine list.
3600 Atlantic Avenue; 609-344-1133
Ocean Steak
Atlantic City
The finest casino in Atlantic City is Ocean Casino Resort, so it’s no surprise that the city’s finest steak house, with its recently renovated bar, sits inside the towering property. Start with a classic wedge salad, whatever East Coast oysters are being shucked, and the local scallops in a Jersey-corn-purée appetizer. Then dig into the ginormous tomahawk chop for two, topped with the shrimp scampi add-on, of course. —Victor Fiorillo
500 Boardwalk; 609-783-8000
[RELATED: The Best Steakhouses in NJ]
Pancho’s Mexican Taqueria
Tacos on made-to-order tortillas at Pancho’s. Photo: Morgan Ione Yeager
Located next to the famous White House Subs, Pancho’s is an unpretentious stop for excellent Mexican eats. Fabiola Sanchez, who is Colombian, opened Pancho’s in 2006 “as a typical Mexican taqueria to serve Mexicans and Latinos who work at the casinos,” says her son, Joshua Cruz. Together, they do all the cooking “in front of our customers,” Cruz says. Even the tortillas are cooked to order. The results are sublime: terrific tacos topped with tender chunks of brisket, or al pastor pork brightened with pineapple; and enchiladas in a mudslide of mole poblano, heady with cinnamon and clove. BYO.
2303 Arctic Avenue, 609-344-2062
MORE LOCAL DINING GUIDES:
The Best Restaurants in Cape May
The Best Restaurants in Asbury Park
The Best Restaurants in Princeton
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