After two year of utter chaos caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the New Jersey dining scene took merciful steps toward normalcy in 2022.

With no dining capacity restrictions, no vaccine mandate debates and fewer COVID outbreaks closing restaurants around the state, 2022 was a year of good eating for the Garden State. Many new restaurants opened and thrived. Iconic haunts continued to serve classic dishes. NJ.coms ever-hungry food reporting team of Peter Genovese, Jeremy Schneider, Lauren Musni, Karim Shamsi-Basha and Stephanie Rizzolo was all over the state eating anything and everything New Jersey had to offer. The group got together to craft a list of New Jerseys best restaurants for the year a combination of new eateries that turned heads, tried-and-true Garden State institutions that had noteworthy years and some restaurants we just had to tell you about.View this post on Instagram

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