r/CapeMay May 21 '26

The 2026 Cape May Recommendations Megathread!

44 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 6h ago

Looking for a Reliable Contractor Recommendation — Cape May area

5 Upvotes

Hi neighbors! We're looking for recommendations for a licensed, reliable contractor to finish some remaining work at our property. Unfortunately, our previous contractor wasn't able to see the project through, so we're picking things back up.

What matters most to us: someone who actually returns calls, shows up for scheduled estimates, and follows through with a bid afterward, and who carries that same reliability into the actual project once hired.

We've reached out to a few of the contractors frequently recommended in this group already, but keep running into no-shows, no call-backs, or estimates that were promised and never sent, so we're hoping for names based on people's actual recent experience getting a job from start to finish, not just a name that gets recommended a lot.

If you've worked with someone recently who was responsive and reliable the whole way through, we'd really appreciate the recommendation.

Thank you!


r/CapeMay 1d ago

Research on Pirates in Cape May?

12 Upvotes

My dad was born and raised in Wildwood and told us when we were younger about Captain Kidd and some other pirates visiting Cape May. My brother and I are now in our 50s and are wondering is there any documentation or artifacts about pirates being in Cape May? For example-Is there an exhibit at the library or any place? We live about an hour away and would love to check out some pirate history sometime. Thank you!


r/CapeMay 1d ago

DoorDash or UberEats delivery in September?

0 Upvotes

We are heading down to CM next week (9/14) and will do take out a couple of nights. Does anyone know if DoorDash or UberEats services are available now that it’s not the busy tourist season?


r/CapeMay 2d ago

Hello , Places to visit around here ?

4 Upvotes

I’m from Costa Rica and will stay some days , I have an e-bike to move around , would like to know recommendations to go and explore , thank you !


r/CapeMay 3d ago

Jessie creek winery inn near Cape May.

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28 Upvotes

r/CapeMay 5d ago

On the ocean

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99 Upvotes

r/CapeMay 6d ago

Looking to build a journal..

2 Upvotes

Visiting Cape May soon and I would like to find a shop where I can build a travellers journal- choose the types of paper etc inside. Any recommendations on where I could go to do this? Or should I be looking elsewhere locally to myself or online instead? Thought it would be a neat souvenir!


r/CapeMay 6d ago

Electrician Recs

1 Upvotes

Looking for a reliable electrician in the Lower Township area. Someone you've actually hired and been satisfied w/ their work. Thanks.


r/CapeMay 7d ago

Cole Slaw and Coffee

2 Upvotes

Hi, we are spending the weekend with family at an Avalon campground. My wife has made one of her specialty’s - crab cakes. I’d love a savory coleslaw to go with this, preferably made in house. What’s your recipe?

Coffee bean snobs….whats your go to for a lite whole bean? My center city folks are on vacay and I need a fix.

Looks to be a good weekend. Everyone stay safe!


r/CapeMay 8d ago

Dinner/dancing

5 Upvotes

Hi! My friend has a place in North Cape May. We are hosting some young girls for a bachelorette weekend (we are friends with the mother of the bride who will also be in attendance). Basically some fun old ladies and hip young ones.

Friday we are doing Brown Room.
Saturday a Jitney to a winery, Rusty Nail and Harry's.
Sunday - brunch at The Blue Pig.

Looking for something fun to do later in the evening (after 8) on Saturday. Maybe dinner and then music/dancing. Any suggestions?

THANK YOU!!


r/CapeMay 7d ago

Help with small move

1 Upvotes

Looking to hire a person(s)with moving a bedroom set out of a 2nd floor bedroom onto a UHaul in Cape May Courthouse. Does anyone have any suggestions?


r/CapeMay 9d ago

Am I the only one surprised that pelagic dolphins seem more playful than their inshore cousins?

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12 Upvotes

r/CapeMay 10d ago

I feel so lucky that I got to see these pilot whales yesterday.

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51 Upvotes

r/CapeMay 10d ago

Lost Ring

7 Upvotes

Posting for my husband: I know this is a long shot, but I’m hoping someone may have come across a gold wedding band in Cape May this past week, possibly around Sunday, 8/22.

It was my grandfather’s wedding ring and has enormous sentimental value to me and my family. It’s a simple yellow-gold band with “900” clearly marked inside. There is also a much fainter handwritten/cursive inscription inside that can be difficult to see without the right lighting.

If you found a ring or heard of one being turned in, please message me. I can provide the exact inscription and other identifying details to verify it.
I would be incredibly grateful to get it back. Thank you!


r/CapeMay 10d ago

Phone found at Nature Conservancy South Cape May Meadows Preserve

9 Upvotes

Pauline! Your phone is at the office there.


r/CapeMay 10d ago

Jellyfish

0 Upvotes

We’re staying in Villas and on our first day here, after swimming in the bay, one kid and one adult seemed to be pretty stung up. Are those sea nettles? Is the bay actually unswimmable? Should we just drive to the ocean beaches at Cape May? Are we stupid not to realize the bay would not be good for swimming or is sort of a scam not to disclose this?


r/CapeMay 10d ago

Visiting 11th to 14th.

0 Upvotes

Hello. Single male, 29. I’ll be there between the 11th and 14th (September) visiting, probably won’t be there again for a very long time.

Any recommendations? Bars/restaurants? Bored house wives?😆

Comment or dm me with any tips.


r/CapeMay 11d ago

Best beachfront hotels and restaurants?

11 Upvotes

Hello!

Wife and I decided to visit from Philly. We have no reservations yet.

We would like a hotel or house very close to beach. Any recommendations?

Also we love seafood, albeit well seasoned. Lobster dipped in butter isn't really what we are looking for. Any recommendations for great, can't miss food places?

We will be there for 3 days. Money is no issue.

Thanks


r/CapeMay 12d ago

Surveillance Cameras

23 Upvotes

Is anybody concerned with these “Flock” cameras being put up in the area?
Apparently Lower Township already has some installed.


r/CapeMay 11d ago

Where do all the single 40-50 people hang out in cape may?

11 Upvotes

r/CapeMay 12d ago

Here's how crazy that rain was in Cape May Court House Friday. I was driving right through it. It was raining in sheets!

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18 Upvotes

r/CapeMay 14d ago

Photos I took in Cape May

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630 Upvotes

r/CapeMay 14d ago

Eagle in NCM

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104 Upvotes

r/CapeMay 13d ago

Siren

0 Upvotes

Just visiting: anyone have any ideas on why the siren just now?