What I Ate in Jersey as a Vegetarian

In 2019, I headed to Atlantic City for the first time with my boyfriend and his family for the 4th of July weekend. Unfortunately, COVID happened and we weren’t able to go in 2020, but thankfully we were able to go again this year! If you follow me on Instagram, then you may know that I’m doing a 6 month vegetarian diet for religious reasons. Thus, I had to eat vegetarian during this entire trip (no worries though!). So, I thought it might be interesting for you to see what I ate!

We headed there for 3 days and 2 nights. We stopped in Ocean City New Jersey (OCNJ) for the first part of Saturday and then Atlantic City for the rest of the trip. I made sure to do a lot of research prior to going on this trip to plan what I could eat. Lots of Yelping and I put an ask out on Instagram for suggestions. Let’s get into it!

But first, coffee.

After perusing Yelp, I saw this super cute coffee/donut shop nearby and knew I had to go! This is Drip n Scoop in OCNJ! Inside was absolutely stunning. Literally your coffee shop/rustic dreams. They have all of their donuts on display for the day and cute little chalk board with the drink menu. I ordered a cold brew with pumps of sugar free vanilla and a lemon poppy donut! The donut was on the cake-ier side if that’s what you like!

Look how cute it is! Right after I shot this picture, my candy lemon slice fell off *cries*; so this was the only snap I got of the donut.

Boardwalk breakfast~

We arrived in OCNJ so early, I’m talking like 8AM early. So, we decided to walk the boardwalk after grabbing coffee and our group was a bit hungry so we stopped at the only place that was open at this time: Bob’s Grill. I wasn’t starving at this time, so the boyfriend and I split a plate. We ordered the two eggs with home fries and toast special. Eggs scrambled, home fries extra crispy, and white toast. Eggs were bland, home fries not extra crispy, but the toast was tasty. That’s about all I have to say about that.

Next stop: Chickie’s & Petes.

The boyfriend raved about this place for nearly two years now…so naturally we had to make a pit stop here as well. I know, you’re thinking “but isn’t she eating vegetarian?” and yes, yes I am. Per Chickie’s and Petes website, “Crabfries® are crinkle-cut French fries sprinkled with a secret blend of crabby spices and served with its one-of-a-kind White Creamy Cheese Sauce for dipping”. So, there are no real pieces of crabmeat on here (they do have one on the menu topped with crabmeat though), just seasonings similar to what I would say is like old bay which contains no real seafood. So, it’s ~fine~. However, I cannot say I loved them. Unfortunately, it was a bit underwhelming. I found them a bit too salty and not as good as Thrashers. Really crispy though, so I’ll give them that!

Lunch time at Good Beets.

I met up with my college roomie for lunch at Good Beet! She said she had been a few times and it’s really good. They serve up all vegan food, so I was really excited to check them out. I started with a blueberry date smoothie because it just sounded right on a hot summer day. It was super tasty, sweet but not too sweet with hints of banana and tasted like dessert!

We both weren’t starving, so we ended up splitting a good burger and some salt n vinegar potatoes which she said you can’t not get when you go there. I will not be going into any further details because I plan to do a full blog post about Good Beet soon, so keep your eyes peeled for that! In the meantime, enjoy the photos!

But, I do have to mention these cupcakes because they were phenomenal. I did have to pre-order these 2 days in advance and they almost couldn’t make it since their main location and bakery are in Westmont. Luckily, a baker was headed to OCNJ that weekend so they were able to bring it for me! Definitely recommend trying them out if you are able to!

Moving on to dinner in Atlantic City!

My boyfriends family is obsessed with Pho Sydney in Atlantic City. Literally no lie. They eat there everyday we’re there. So, we ended up meeting up for dinner and thankfully they do have a couple vegetarian dishes on the menu. I ordered the hủ tiếu chay which is rice noodle soup with fried tofu and vegetables. I added some chili oil and it was delicious! Not gonna lie, I wish I could’ve eaten meat because they have really good food there, but this was still satisfying.

Saturday Brekkie~

Like I said before, my boyfriends family is obsessed with Pho Sydney, so most of them went there. However, the vegetarian options are really limited there (like 2 dishes), so the boyfriend and I decided to go next door to Maria’s Luncheonette for brekkie! The place had a line, so you know it’s about to be good. Thankfully, it was just the two of us so we were able to snag the little table left in the corner. I ordered the veggie omelette special with home fries and rye toast. The boyfriend ordered an egg and cheese sandwich on a croissant and two eggs with home fries and toast as well. The omelette was tasty, but definitely could’ve used a bit more seasoning. We both loved the croissant though. Really buttery and tasty!

Skipped straight to Dinner~

After we had breakfast, we hit up the outlets and did some shopping, then we hit the beach! After the beach, we were all still pretty full from lunch so we headed back, played some games and had some snacks to hold us over until dinner.

For dinner, we went to Com Ga Ninh Kieu which was a new place to me! I had originally ordered mi xao gion chay, which was crispy pan fried noodles with tofu, however, they were out that night. So, instead I had hu tieu nam dong co, which was egg noodles with shiitake mushrooms in a veggie broth.

This is the same as the dish from dinner last night, however, I opted for egg noodles this time instead of rice noodles. I thought that this dish was way better here than at Pho Sydney because the broth was just so much more flavorful whereas last night I felt I needed the chili oil to supplement it.

Onto dessert!

At Caesar’s, they have a little cafe called Tazza! They have a variety of dessert options such as gelato, cakes, pastries, and more! They even offer some deli type meals if you’re looking for a quick bite.

I always try to get gelato before we leave at least once because it’s so tasty! I opted for a scoop of coffee and a scoop of hazelnut this time since a small cup yields two scoops. The coffee was absolutely delicious and I would highly recommend if you’re a coffee lover. However, the hazelnut had a very strange flavor. It was almost plastic-y tasting and I just couldn’t eat it.

The home stretch~

On my Instagram, I had put up a poll asking for recommendations on places to eat while in Atlantic City. I was recommended to check out Tony Boloney’s as they had “the best subs and pizzas ever”. So, obviously we had to go!

The last morning there, we were able to stay until they opened at 11AM and grab some things. I’m definitely so glad we were able to because it truly was the best pizza ever!

They offer select pizza’s in their window that you can choose slices from. I tried the OG Vegan and Mex-corn Husker which were both so delicious. The slices are also HUGE, so you definitely get bang for your buck here. We also ordered the k-pop fries which were so cheesy and flavorful. I wish I lived closer because I have a feeling all of their fry options are phenomenal.

The star of the show though? I ordered a small taco taco taco pizza vegan style which took about 30 minutes to make and was 1000% worth the wait. I actually did not know the hype with this pizza prior to visiting, but apparently it’s a thing. If you search them up on Youtube, it’s pretty well known! I’m so glad we were able the try it out! The vegan style was topped with cauliflower, potatoes, vegan meat, vegan sausage, and a heaping pile of guac! My favorite slices were definitely the ones with potato and sausage. The sauce on them though…*chefs kiss*. Even if you’re not a vegan, anyone would enjoy this pizza because it’s just that good.

Back to MD.

I had an amazing trip this fourth of July weekend and I’m so grateful we were able to go back this year. I do want to note that while there were vegetarian/vegan options; it was definitely pretty limited. It was kind of hard to find meals that weren’t basic or repetitive. I think if we had stayed any longer than we did, it definitely would’ve gotten old pretty quickly. I hope you enjoyed this post and that it was either useful or just fun to read! If you stayed to the very end, wow, thank you and you made it!