Restaurants in Asbury Park

Wielding generations of family recipes, chefs fill Athena Mediterranean Cuisine's menu with hearty Greek classics. Baby lamb chops bask in a marinade of olive oil and fresh rosemary, and celery-root whipped potatoes accompany cornish hen doused in lemon and herbs. Appealing to incisors and molars alike, the rack of lamb with a veal glaze is accompanied by greek-style lemon mashed potatoes and vegetables. Vegetarian options are also available for diners learning to photosynthesize.

Monsignor’s has a fondness for crafting quality Italian entrees such as sausage and peppers over pasta and eggplant stuffed with ricotta. However, the menu also saves room for Spanish-inspired meals: flour tortillas envelop quesadillas, and sautéed meats bulk up burritos. Diners can take their meals inside the bistro-style cafe, or head out to a garden decked with grape and fig trees and birdbaths that bubble over with vinaigrette for robins with sophisticated palates.

The chefs of Darna Falafel, set on bustling Court Street, whip up freshly fried falafel spheres and crisp strips of turkey bacon to snuggle within the soft pitas and ciabatta bread of its Mediterranean sandwiches. Each dish is freshly made to order, and six salads boast drizzles of tart lemon and other dressings to help customers to attain their daily intake of vegetables and increase their daily output of healthful bragging rights. A side salad accompanies each of the menu's seven pita-wrapped sandwiches, including the popular chicken BLT and the french fry–stuffed kifta wrap.

Behind a counter of steaming vegetables and homespun side dishes, Bed-Stuy Fish Fry's cooks grill and deep-fry a menu of pan-regional comfort foods to order. Equally adept at battering catfish and roasting pans of meatloaf, the cooks weight down plates with a host of blackened, barbecued, and broiled meats that parade around palates with Southern-style sides, including collard greens and potato salad. The sounds of sizzling fish mix in with spirited conversation as guests settle into the dining room, surrounded by sage-green walls made homey by white molding and framed mirrors. Additionally, a handful of outdoor tables nestles beneath the restaurant's brown awning, where guests dine alfresco or taunt the sun with their ability to eat things.

The very first International House of Pancakes opened its doors in Toluca Lake, California back in 1958 with the noble aspiration of serving hot breakfast to a hungry nation nearly two decades before colloquially shortening their name to IHOP. Now, more than 1,000 franchises populate all the country's states and territories, whipping up lunch and dinner alongside signature breakfast dishes such as the Rooty Tooty Fresh N' Fruity, a pancake stack topped with a hot fruit compote that spells out seven more words that rhyme with "fruity."