Taco Shop

1288 Hornet Road
Rio Grande, NJ 08242
(609) 600-2961
Website

Cape May Brewing is a fantastic off-the-beach shore stop. A wide selection of good beer, the only thing missing was something to eat. Until Taco Shop opened next door, that is. In the same industrial area that the brewery operates, a number of small shops have taken root.

Taco Shop has a small menu, with standard burrito, bowl, quesadilla, taco options and then a choice of protein for each. When I saw they were hand making the tortillas for the tacos, I figured a sampler was in order.

Place an order, step next door to the brewery and have a beer while you wait, then pop back in, pick it up, and head back to the bar.

I got some tacos, a special shrimp tostada, and some street corn.

From left are the mole chicken, the carne asada, and the chorizo.

The "De Chorizo Casero" consists of housemade chorizo, salsa roja, and xni-pec (pronounced shneee pec) has Mayan roots, and refers to a wet dogs nose, a reference to the runny nose you will have from this spicy habanero hot sauce. While I didn't find this particularly hot, I did rather enjoy the chorizo. While I generally like my chorizo rendered down and grilled hard, this had lots of flavor and a great texture.

"De Carne Asada" taco was garnished with cherry tomato, avocado, pickled red onion, and creamy chimichurri. The brisket was nicely crisped, and well rendered, but it was lacking a strong punch of flavor. The topping worked well together, but I was looking for a deeper, more beefy experience (perhaps adding some stock or boullion to the braise mixture would work). Certainly it was still good, but the flavor was a bit subdued as opposed to what I expected.

Meanwhile, "De Pollo" was well shredded chicken, simply garnished with mole poblano. pickled red onion, and queso fresco. Again, everything was fresh, well thought out, and assembled with care, but it was lacked the depth of flavor I expect from mole. It had no distinct, characteristic flavor, such as nutty, chocolaty, etc.

The shrimp tostada was my favorite of the protein (a special), because of the chiptole mayo. That stuff was like crack. A crisp tostada flat topped with avocado, tender shrimp, queso, and crema. The stuff dreams are made of.

Finally the street corn. Chipotle mayo (fantastic), crema, queso, El Muerto salt (red flakes below, absolutely delicious, you can buy it here), lime, and cilantro. I loved this street corn. The spicy mayo and El Muerto made it stand out from the dozens of variations I have tried, and numerous versions made myself. They might bump the flavor up a bit on some of the offerings (though I imagine they are catering to a specific niche, but overall, this is a SOLID place to eat when quaffing some delicious Cape May Brewery beers.

Nixon's General Store

540 Chatsworth Rd.
Tabernacle, NJ 08088
(609) 268-9800
Website

Deep in the New Jersey Pine Barrens, the Pineys know a few things. One is where to catch the Jersey Devil and another is how to make some amazing cheesesteaks. Nixon's is a step back in time, like a gift shop mixed with a local WAWA, and crossed with a high end deli.

You walk in and make your way to the back. The barrels are set up with made-to-order screens that let you pick about any option you can think of. Want your cheesesteak meat in slices? No problem. Finely chopped, there is an option for that too. Add salt and pepper? Copper sharp instead of American (god yes)? They have you covered. You can even get wiz and another cheese. Simply amazing.

I got here at breakfast, so I decided to branch out and go with the bacon cheesesteak hoagie. It had bacon, steak (finely chopped/salt/pepper), lettuce, tomato, fried onions (well done option), and Cooper sharp. You can literally customize these things about any way you can imagine. I have never seen anything to this level of detail off of an ordering screen. Click the link to their sandwiches above and build your own. It's amazing. So one thing, this place is NOT cheap. My cheesesteak as pictured below was $15 and change. But it was worth every penny. The quality was outstanding. Look at these tomatoes.

These ripe beauties (assisted by the seasonality of my visit) we the best looking (and tasting) tomatoes I remember having on a hoagie in quite a while.

As I had just come back from a camping trip in the Pines, I put down the gate on the truck, pulled out the camping cutting board and knife, and sliced up breakfast.

The bread (courtesy of nearby Aversa's Bakery) was outstanding, with perfectly seasoned meat, and the perfect amount of sharp and melty cheese.

Did this sandwich need bacon? No. Was it like a cheesesteak BLT? Yes. Would I do it over again? Without a doubt.

Being the glutton I am, I couldn't JUST get a foot and half long bacon cheesesteak for breakfast, so I gave a nod to the age old Jersey dispute and got a pork roll, egg and cheese. Now one of the best food songs aside, this is a staple of breakfast on the east side of the Delaware. And we love it in Pennsylvania as well. Also - it's pork roll here, not Taylor ham. To quote Jerseyporkroll.com  "In 1910 it was described as 'a food article made of pork, packed in a cylindrical cotton sack or bag in such form that it could be quickly prepared for cooking by slicing without removal from the bag.'"

Nixon's fries the pork roll, tops it with a fried egg and cheese (more Cooper sharp), and then since the sky's the limit here, I added some banana peppers, mayo and hotsauce (the last three due to my computer ordering frenzy).

A simple, perfect breakfast sandwich. This is the food of the working class. And you could do no better.

Gleason's Place

1973 Clayton Williamstown Rd
Franklinville, NJ
(856) 629-7470
Facebook

Gleason's Place is one of those bars you might be planning to visit for the first time, but when you near your destination, you continue on out of fear. But in this case, I urge you to not judge the book by its cover. I hadn't been there in a year or so, but like to stop by on my way to the shore (backroads). They have great wings, and good drink specials. Don't let the exterior fool you, this place is staffed by great people, and the regulars are mostly friendly.

They actually have an expansive menu, and they offer little known favorites like hoagie dip, and stuffed long hots.

The wings are the main draw, and I settled into some "Gleason's Sauce" style pretty quickly. The sauce is a buffalo sauce that has oregano and some other spices in it, for a unique and delicious twist on the original.

They were well rendered, and plenty tender. I was licking the sauce off of the plate. It was like they took a dry rub mix and threw it right into the sauce, best of both worlds.

Crispy skin is what good wings are all about, and these did not disappoint.

Even though I was stopping for a light lunch, I also tried the loaded tots. This platter is ridiculous. It's tots for ten, or at least four. The tots were fried hard and smothered in cheese sauce, sour cream, nacho cheese, and bacon. Not for those on a diet.

I could not even get close to eating this whole platter. However, I did my damnedest.

It was dead while I was there, but it WAS a holiday weekend on an early Friday. Still – shuffleboard, pool, lots of tvs and large portions of great fried food. If you go, don't sleep on the cheesesteak. Also, they have some ridiculous lunch specials like $3 sandwiches, just depends what day you are there.

Gaetano's (King of Steaks)

437 New Jersey 73
Berlin Township, NJ 08009
(856) 753-1919
Website

Gaetano’s is a South Jersey cheesesteak chain that calls themselves the “king of steaks." There happened to be one near one of my site visits the other day, so I decided to see if they were deserving of the throne, or if they were just another Joffrey.

The menu seems kind of expensive, with a mini (8”) steak running close to $9. They do offer some varieties, but rather than seeming adventurous or innovative, their options appear to be stuck in the late 90’s.

Note how their "specialties" are more like "basics."

The pizza didn’t look too hot, and the 10-15 minute wait for my order made me increasingly wary.

When I was back and safely nestled within the confines of the conference room, I unwrapped my lunch as though it was a stolen crown jewel.

I kept it traditional: cheesesteak with American and fried onions, but I added hot peppers. I love hot peppers, and like to see how places implement them into a steak. I love when they are thrown on the meat while still on the grill, integrating the tart vinegar into the steak, and adding some zip to the rich, fatty, carb-heavy main event. Gaetano’s just haphazardly threw some banana peppers on top of the finished steak. Another so-so choice on their part.

However as much as I wanted to pick this place apart, I simply could not. The meat, although under-seasoned, was tender, flavorful, and perfectly shaved. The seeded roll, which I generally shy away from when applying to cheesesteaks, was soft enough to allow for tender bites, yet,unlike our local sports teams, held together well under the pressure of grease and cheese.

The onions were sweet, nicely chopped and cooked to near-carmelization, and the banana peppers, though merely an afterthought, did brighten up the flavors of the sandwich. I didn’t even order extra cheese, and it was well interspersed throughout. They did not pull the old "cheese only on the bread" move that can break a cheesesteak for me, which was great.

Although not life changing (unless you count it as life shortening), this is a really solid cheesesteak. The price may be a bit high, but the 8” was plenty of tasty filling to make me to feel bad about myself, and the components worked well together.

De Lorenzo Tomato Pie

530 Hudson Street
Trenton, NJ 08611
(609) 695-9534

My first out-of-the-city mission in the Chevy Camaro courtesy of "Driving the Northeast" was for a slice of world famous, Trenton-style tomato pie. I have never been into Trenton-proper, I've only ever driven through - as there is really no reason for me to be there - unless, of course it's for the pizza.

There is a decades-old rivalry between two "tomato pie" places in Trenton: De Lorenzo and Delorenzo. Yea, it's ridiculous. Luckily when I was driving around the terrifying hole that is Trenton, I felt well protected, for one - I think most of the shady characters thought I might be driving an actual Transformer, and two - because I could handily beat about every other vehicle I had seen all day.

The Camaro was a bit clunky at first, as I was used to my city car, but it started to grow on me immediately. The sound alone when you start it up, a low growl that is powerful without being too overbearing, makes you immediately smile every time you get into the cockpit. Yes, by the way, it's not so much a driver seat as a cockpit. Anyway, after I had inadvertently driven past Delorenzo's and realized they were closed for the week, I whipped the SS around and headed to De Lorenzo's. Luckily there was a spot directly across the street, as I had already grown quite protective of this car and Trenton is not the kind of place to leave a fine piece of machinery such as this unguarded.

The interior of this place is old school Italian. Celebrity pictures, Yankees paraphernalia (gag) and a single oven. Questionable taste in athletics aside, the interior is inviting, and the staff is all very friendly. It's as though you walked into your neighborhood pizza place that your parents were introduced to by your grandparents.

There are no menus, and only pizza with limited toppings to choose from. I hedged my bets and got a small plain and a small sausage and pepperoni for two people. Some Kolsch beer helped satiate our thirst while we waited.

The tomato pie came out first, sparse sauce and cheese on a perfectly baked crust. Things were looking good. The sauce is simply crushed tomatoes with some salt a bit of spice. Simple, perfect. The cheese was just enough, and let the real star of this dish sing.

Why is it that out of all the pizza places in Philly, there are a only small handful that get it right? The crust at De Lorenzo's was amazing. Thin, crispy with plenty of air bubbles and a well done crunch to it.

They cut the pizza with a knife, which lends to an unorthodox division of slices.

The pepperoni and sausage came out soon after. I was initially worried that it would be too much, but it turned out to be just enough. This sausage was sooo good. And the high heat of the oven crisped up the pepperoni to the point of almost burning. It was just what the doctor ordered. Not too greasy and an incredibly crispy crust. Thin crust perfection.

 

This crust is still crisp after more than ten minutes outside of the oven.

Look at the perfect air pockets.

The pizza master at work.

The nice older lady working the old school cash register had to get up from eating her own pizza to cash me out. Don't worry, there was no pizza left for me to bring home.

A couple of things you should know before you go. This particular location was apparently opened before the state required bathrooms, so when you go, keep in mind that there are NO BATHROOMS. Seriously, it's also nearly impossible to find somewhere to relieve yourself in Trenton. So plan ahead. Also, they are obviously cash only, and close around 9. They do not take reservations, and did I mention that they have amazing pizza?