During one of the last weekends of this summer we decided to take advantage of the lingering warm weather and head to a beach town that we’d never been to before.  Wildwood is way, way down at the bottom of New Jersey, and it’s not super easy to get to from New York if, like us, you don’t have a car.  We had to catch a casino bus from Manhattan to Atlantic City and then from there hop on a New Jersey Transit bus for a ride into Wildwood.  It was a little bit of a journey, but we really wanted to check out the town because it’s a popular place with its own sense of culture and history:  unlike nearby Cape May, which has an upscale and staid feel to it, Wildwood is known for being a little more raucous, which is reflected in its famous Doo Wop architecture.  The town is filled with bold and colorful buildings and signs made in a futuristic, midcentury style that’s famous enough to have its own Wikipedia page.  So we enjoyed seeing all these fun and crazy novelties in town, and of course going to the beach, but we also decided to sample some of the food around town.  Here’s our recommendations for where to go if you’re down the shore in Wildwood, but just be warned that we will show an image of meat in this post.

Like any good beach town, Wildwood has a long boardwalk that’s got plenty places to get some food to eat as you stroll up and down taking everything in.  We found two excellent pizza places on the boardwalk, both of which having been serving up pies and slices for more than 60 years.  Here’s a cheese slice from Sam’s …

… and here’s one from Mack’s, which has two different stands on the boardwalk.

Another boardwalk favorite is Curley’s, which serves up exactly one item: chunky crinkle-cut fries.  We got a small cup of fries dusted with Old Bay seasoning, but the servings at Curley’s go all the way up to a bucket size.

If you’re looking for something a little bit different from your typical boardwalk food, you can also find The Pierogie Place just steps from the beach.  There’s tons of vegetarian options:  you can get your pierogis in potato and cheese, sauerkraut, potato and onion, and potato, cheddar and jalapeño varieties.  We got ours topped with caramelized onions and a big scoop of sour cream.

There’s also a couple of great places around Wildwood to try some sweet treats.  One of the most well-loved places in town is Duffer’s, which has an ice cream parlor as well as a restaurant and a mini golf course.  They serve up some enormous sundaes so we each got our own:  on the left is the Monkey Business, made with banana ice cream, peanuts, brownie pieces and hot fudge.  The other sundae is called Blondies are a Swirl’s Best Friend and it’s got vanilla ice cream layered with caramel and a blondie stuffed in.

We also visited two different bakeries in town – first Barry’s Buns, where we got a classic cinnamon roll and also a cream cheese-frosted bun.

And we also tried Britton’s Gourmet Bakery, where we had an apple fritter and an apple cider donut.

But it wouldn’t have been a trip to the Jersey shore without stopping to get Cyril some seafood, so we decided to check out Two Mile Landing, all the way at the edge of town.  It’s a beautiful spot located right on the harbor that leads out to the ocean, so you can sit outside and eat while taking in some gorgeous views.  At the Crab House there, Cyril got his hands on an order of crabs, sprinkled with the restaurant’s signature crab spice mix.

Miriam thought she wouldn’t be able to eat much at Two Mile Landing, but luckily there was a really good salad on the menu:  this is the Jersey peach burrata, with walnuts, dried cranberries, a hunk of burrata, and some fresh local grilled peaches served over arugula, topped with sourdough toast and a peach vinaigrette.

We love visiting beach towns for the chance to go swimming in the ocean and soak up some summer fun, but in our experience we’ve also found that many of these towns also have some really interesting and delicious food to serve up to all the seasonal tourists.  We found a really good selection of things to eat in Wildwood, ranging from boardwalk food to bakeries to a nice sit-down spot, and we’re glad we got a chance to visit.  Summer is officially come and gone at this point, but if you’re already thinking about where to go next year, Wildwood and all its great food might make your list.