The Best Places to Eat in Jersey City

A wall of bread greets you before you see a single pizza, which tells you everything about Dan Richer's priorities. This wood-fired pizzeria in Jersey City runs on long-fermentation dough and a sourcing philosophy that treats New Jersey farms as co-authors, not suppliers. The original dining room, once a theater, still has that weathered-plaster gravitas. Ranked third in the country by 50 Top Pizza, and a James Beard nominee.

1. 50 Top Pizza #69 · 50 Top Pizza World
2. 50 Top Pizza #3 · 50 Top Pizza USA
3. The New York Times 2017 · 3 stars, Critic's Pick · Restaurant Review

The bottle gourd for their signature lau chingri comes from the parking lot out back, which tells you most of what you need to know about this small Bangladeshi-Indian neighborhood eatery in Jersey City. The chef and her daughter run the room, the cooking is homestyle but precise, and the dish landed on a New York Times list of the year's best across the country. A James Beard semifinalist, and NJ.com's top-ranked restaurant in the state.

1. The New York Times 2025 · 3 stars, Critic's Pick · Restaurant Review
2. NJ.com #1 · New Jersey’s 99 greatest restaurants, ranked
3. The New York Times 2026 · The Restaurant List

1. The New York Times 2019 · 2 stars, Critic's Pick · Restaurant Review
2. NJ.com #43 · New Jersey’s 99 greatest restaurants, ranked

1. NJ.com #9 · New Jersey’s 99 greatest restaurants, ranked

1. AAA Approved

The tavern name comes from Henry Lee, whose riding so impressed George Washington that he earned the nickname Light Horse Harry. Centuries later, the beautifully restored dining room and street terrace in downtown Jersey City draw a neighborhood crowd for lobster rolls, shrimp po boys, crab cakes, and fried clam baskets, plus burgers when the mood calls for it. A casual American tavern that takes its history seriously but not its dress code.

1. AAA Approved

The bar room here was once a pharmacy, and the old apothecary shelves now hold bottles of wine and spirits where the remedies used to be. It's a multi-floor pizza and pasta spot in Jersey City with a rooftop that looks back at the New York skyline you just escaped. The pizzas follow Italian tradition, the spaghetti has its fans, and the music keeps the whole thing moving at a pace that feels deliberately un-Manhattan.

1. 50 Top Pizza 50 Top Pizza USA Excellent Pizzerias

1. NJ.com #91 · New Jersey’s 99 greatest restaurants, ranked

1. NJ.com #83 · New Jersey’s 99 greatest restaurants, ranked