Boardwalk Treats

Any New Jersey kid will tell you boardwalk food rules. Not matter where you go on the Garden State Coast Thea's some kind of seaside amusement area that has a large variety of fun foods ,. You can get sausage an dpeppers, fried Oreos and boardwalk staples cotton candy and candy apples. It a fun way to end a day at the beach.

I recently reconnected with boardwalk food at Keansburg Amusement Park. Technically the place isn't really a boardwalk and it's not on our state's oceanside.It's on the Raritan Bay with amazing views of Manhattan Brooklyn and Staten Island. However the park has the some kind of fun, (and somewhat seedy) allure of any of our other boardwalk like Seaside Heights or Wildwood. The food is relatively the same. A lot of Italians have had business since the boardwalk's early days in Altantic City so there's always pizza and calzones. Seafood also always predominates and almost every Jersey boardwalk has a raw bar where diners can also chow down on fresh fried fish and chips as well as crab legs, and raw oysters. These and other fast food places sell beer too, a boardwalk staple.

Sweets play an important part in boardwalk cuisine, Zeppoli, those yummy fried Sicilian dough balls, had their own stand at Keansburg. I was tempted to buy a bag of the fresh made, freshly sugared treats however got waylaid by those classics: candy apples and cotton candy. No trip to any boardwalk would be complete without them. I had a Granny Smith that was perfectly enrobed in a crunchy candy coating and topped with fresh coconut. The cotton candy was typical sweet and sticky,but fun to inhale. Other treats were ice cream along with waffles Italian ices (both are staples) and fried anything. Most boardwalks also have a homemade candy booth where there's everything from homemade fudge to saltwater taffy,along with molasses pops and haystacks .

Boardwalk food is a summer treat that has to be experienced. Anything from pizza to fries , to ice cream or fudge is spend to a fun day at the beach. If you're in Jersey visit our boardwalks for some culinary treats.

A North Jersey Classic

New Jersey is full of iconic eating places. There's the Tick Tock Diner in Clifton, the Galloping Hill Grill in Union and of course Pizza Town USA in Elmwood Park, right on another NJ icon Rte 46. This last has been turning out crispy crust pizzas for over fifty years. The best part is they haven't changed any of their recipes. This is what has earned them the title of "New Jersey's Best Pizza" in NJ Monthly.

Pizza Town USA started out as a roadside stand right off the Parkway North Exit. Its' original structure hasn't changed It's basically an stand with a screened outer wall. The tables are basic , just a few picnic style ones set out. Pizza Town has been owned by the Tomo family since 1958. What is great is that the Tomos keep the same recipes and they have plain old pizza - nothing fancy or yuppie influenced. This is what I like about the food. It;s simple .Pizza calzones, zeppolis and heroes. Typical Friday night meal or weekend with friends fare.

The pizzas are phenomenal.Their crust is the best I've tasted. Crispy and dry with that just out of the oven taste. I love the fact that you can still get anchovies as a topping. No other pizzeria offers that choice these days. I didn't order that but got one covered in chewy mushrooms and extra sauce - which again is fantastic, It's what pizza sauce should taste like with a tang. They also serve birch beer - again perfect with pizza. My next trip back will definitely be to get that classic calzone pizza dough filled with ricotta and ham. Of course I'm also going to get the freshly fried zeppoli too.

If you're in the Elmwood Park area some night , stop off at Pizza Town USA.It's a trip back to the past but also to when fast food was genuinely good. You'll enjoy it, from a slice of fresh made pizza to a gooey calzone.