Every year we scramble to find a local turkey, and by the time I remember, half the farms have sold out. So this year I put it all in one place: where to buy every course of Thanksgiving dinner from farms, butchers and bakers in Sussex, Warren, Morris, Hunterdon and Somerset counties.

It’s organized the way you’d actually plan the meal (appetizers, main course, sides, stuffing and gravy, dessert, drinks), with up to three picks per course in each county. Where a farm has posted this year’s order deadline or pickup days, it’s on there. A few that are coming up fast:

• Maddalena’s (Ringoes): Thanksgiving dinner and pies, order by Nov 10
• Arctic Foods (Washington): prepared dinners, order by Nov 17
• Sussex Meat Packing (Wantage): complete turkey dinners, order by Nov 18
• Kingspring Farm (Stockton): pasture-raised turkeys, said it had 7 left as of last week

You can tap “Add to my table” on the places you want and it builds a Google Maps route for your shopping run.

https://skylandsfood.com/thanksgiving-table/

Full disclosure: it’s my site, Skylands Food, an independent guide to local food in NW Jersey. Nobody pays to be on it. Picks are ranked by a few simple rules that are listed on the page: farms that raise their own birds, businesses that have posted 2026 details, and owners who’ve confirmed their info.

Did I miss anything?

Had a huge birthday party in Sea Isle City, NJ with 51 guests this week.
We brought 2 hibachi chefs for the party, and the setup turned out awesome. Lots of food, big flames, and a really fun crowd. 🔥🥩🍤
Definitely one of the bigger Jersey Shore parties we’ve done lately.
If anyone is planning a birthday, family gathering, or vacation-house party around Sea Isle City / Cape May County, backyard hibachi works really well for larger groups too.
📍 Sea Isle City, NJ
👨‍🍳 2 chefs
🎉 51 guests
Happy to answer any questions about how we set up hibachi for a group this size.

Where can I get delicious Chinese jian bing (chinese savory crepe basically) in Nj without having to travel all the way to Queens or NYC?

Hi guys, I found this article online about Rozana. It’s a new Indian restaurant in Caldwell that makes handcrafted sourdough pizzas with Indian flavours.

I ended up trying it over the weekend and honestly, it really is that good. I like that it’s not Naan Pizzas, it’s real, aged sourdough and the guy there said it takes 72 hrs to make one pizza. We got the Butter Chicken and Palak Paneer Pizza, and they also have really good Indian food—Murgh Makhani and Lassoni Palak is really good.

Just wanted to share a rec in case anyone around North Jersey was looking to try something new.

Here’s the article:

https://www.themontclairgirl.com/rozana-indian-restaurant-pizzeria-caldwell-nj/

This true story is coming from behind the scenes as an insider. As a young kid looking for a job during school I worked at this place for about one week in 2025. The staff were extremely rude and on my first day of training the main manager named ahmed told me to leave him alone the first night of my official server training. This was extremely unprofessional and I should have left right then and there. And then the following day I was not even trained. He used me and basically threw me into the fire the second time there and I had no experience serving the whole night large tables doing his work for him which I received no pay for.

Second the owner is a young man around his 30s he is the actual owner of the restaurants son he was the one who originally interviewed me for the job. The first big red flag for me is that he bragged about how it was a family owned kinda deal and that they were a tight night dirty group of people. He ripped a vape in the middle of interviewing me as if he was trying to impress me or be cool . I found this extremely dumb as shit and I got second hand embarrassment.

Later on my last day after working two days the owners son explains to me tht he had kids w his wife at age 16. His alleged baby mother was like 15 years older than this poor kid or some shit. And he deadass told me that shit. After working for 4 days basically with no pay or no direction how to get pay I come in one morning to train. The guy Ahmed again doesn’t come in and the owners son just has me serving tables. Later during the shift I was instructed to go down the the local wise super market to get frozen cod to be served as their fish and chips that are advertised as fresh fried halibut. I was appalled because I was in the wise in my full apron with 60 dollars for the false advertised fish. I considered just taking it and leaving right then. But I later brought it back and it was served there.

I had no experience in the restaurant industry and even I know that that is a highly not acceptable in the restaurant industry’s and at a corporate level restaurant would not be aloud. Also the main server Ahmed would usually take calamari off of plates right before serving. He would often heavily flirt with young servers which was really off putting in a work environment. He was almost 40 years old. Be careful he does not even go by his real name Ahmed he goes by a completely other name Eddy. Beware he is a royal scumbag. Be careful coming to this restaurant there are multiple health code violations that I saw from within the operation. This is not a safe work environment and not a good establishment. Look anywhere online there are plenty of bad reviews. The proof is in the pudding. Why would someone lie about this.

I grew up in West New York, NJ and enjoyed a lot of great pizza throughout the area.I have also traversed throughout NYC exploring some of the world's most phenomenal pizza and when I returned home I couldn't really find anything on the level they were doing in the city. DISCLAIMER: Not trying to throw shade just tryna find some gems.

I grew up eating New Pizza on the Block and I still enjoy their pizza more than a lot of others in the area but I know it's not on the city's caliber. It's nostalgia and loyalty that carries its greatness for me more than anything. I'm not much of a Sal's guy even though they're an institution in WNY and I'm happy to see they are back up and running after that fire. I've tried most pizzerias in my area(sorrentina, gandolfos, romanos wny pizza Cella Luna Angelo's etc...) and they're ok (some better than others) but not mind blowing.

Yes Razza exists, very good. But I'm talkin classic plain pies.

Perfect pizza on Kennedy is VERY good pizza.

Barstool guy was not wrong. I don't know about top tier though.

Ginos in Jersey city is a memorable slice that I would say is top tier but I'm also not traveling out of my way to go get it.

Napolis in Hoboken is also very tasty and the prices feel like I'm back in 2001 but again not mind blowing.

I've had most pizzerias in Hoboken. Basiles is a really good solid slice imo. Bennie tudinos is also a very nostalgic slice that has a place in my heart. We used to drive at lunch during high school in my boys dusty Chevy cavalier and snarf 2 monster slices before racing back to not be late for 7th period. Good times.

I stumbled across Rasco's in Edgewater a few years back and imo is the best plain pie I have had in this area hands down. Are there any other gems I am missing?

Way back in the day pastrami that was smoked in-house and carved by hand was a l lot easier to find in NJ than it is today. These pictures are from Pastrami Bistro in Garfield, and it was as good as the pictures make it seem. I'd love to find another place, other than here or Hobby's that make there own pastrami (no Hebrew National) and cut it by hand. North Jersey is preferred and if it's cut on a deli slicer, it's not necessarily a deal breaker if the pastrami is great. Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

We found it, and it's at Prime 94 in Fairfield. As I mentioned in my original post, they only serve it on Mondays and only until it runs out, so we were hesitant to try it there since it is only sold as a special. Thankfully, we got past that and went. It turns out their prime rib is actual prime grade beef. I haven't seen that anywhere in NJ. My father felt it was the best prime rib he's had. It came out perfectly rare and the service was truly excellent. The only word of caution I would mention, is to make a reservation and arrive early. Even though it was a Monday every single table was filled, and there was a line outside.

Been to Texas Roadhouse, which wasn't good. The prime rib at Prime 94 in Fairfield gets good reviews, but it's only served on Mondays, and only until it runs out. Sadly, there's no Lawry's anywhere nearby. Any suggestions are appreciated.

Hi! Does anyone have a recommendation for a chocolate cake in the Cape May County area? I called Chocolate Face but they only do cupcakes and that’s my dad’s favorite and he oddly doesn’t like cupcakes 🙃 so I’m trying to find somewhere else. TIA!

Hello all!

I tried to get reservations for 2 in 8/13 when bookings opened up today and it instantly showed no availability. Anyone have insight on how to actually get a table?

Trying to surprise someone special.

Does anybody have any recommendations for Kongguksu 콩국수 in Pal Park/Leonia/Fort Lee area?

Looking for the best fried chicken in New Jersey. Who’s got it?