3 NJ Spots Are On USA Today’s Restaurants Of The Year List

If you are on the hunt for some new delicious and local establishments to try, you are in luck. USA Today recently published their list of restaurants of the year, and three New Jersey spots were featured.

The selections in USA Today's list vary widely in cuisine type; their major similarity is that they offer a truly authentic experience that is representative of the area. "They’re places with stories to tell, places that should be on your dining bucket list and, lest we forget, places serving delectable dishes we can’t stop talking about," USA Today said.

In other words, these establishments are places you need to try. In New Jersey, the restaurants highlighted cover a lot of ground when it comes to what they are cooking up. From sushi to Middle Eastern classics, you can be assured you will receive a homecooked flavor stepping into any of them. However, let's start with a Farm-to-Table spot in Old Bridge.

Located at 3853 County Road 516, Heirloom Kitchen even offers cooking classes. "The restaurant serves creative and colorful renditions of classic dishes with a four-course prix fixe menu and a vegan prix fixe menu," USA Today states.

Their menu details the four plate options the guests can choose from. This is in addition to appetizers, bread service, salad, desserts, and wine options.

If you are on the hunt for the best sushi in the state, you can head a bit north to Ridgefield. Sushi By The Sea actually started as a pop-up during the pandemic. Now, they are bringing their culinary visions to life with their restaurant. You can get a glimpse of their "Best Omakase in New Jersey" process here.

Then, in Patterson, you will find, "A Taste Of Ramallah From Our Family, To Yours," at Al-Basha. This includes salads, lentil soups, falafel, and beef shawarma. Al-Basha describes the experience of visiting them by saying, "Located in a vibrant neighborhood, the restaurant soon became a beloved culinary hotspot, where locals and visitors flocked to experience the authentic flavors and warm hospitality."

This is the time of year when sports talk starts to get dominated by NFL draft talk. Speculation and theories galore factor into analysts' suggestions on who each time will or should take. Here, we will "redraft" all of the Giants first round picks of the past five years. The team is an important spot this year, with high hopes that they will get it right and set the franchise up for future success.

Let's face it: it's been a tumultuous ride since the GMen last won the Super Bowl in 2012. It has been a roller coaster of sorts, where certain players have unexpectedly succeeded, and many have not met expectations. What's unique about analyzing the top picks since 2019 is that it covers different front office staffs. Dave Gettleman was the team's General Manager from 2018 to 2021. Joe Schoen then took over in 2022. In addition, the past five years have seen three different head coaches. Pat Shurmur and Joe Judge each had less-than-successful two-year runs before Brian Daboll came in.

Of course, much of the draft discussion revolves around quarterbacks. The Giants are no exception to this. In fact, what to do with often-injured Daniel Jones is one of the two primary topics this off-season (the other being Saquon Barkley).

As acting GM from 2019 on, this exercise considers the success players have had in the NFL over the past five seasons. It's important to note that each player listed below that we are saying the Giants should have selected was drafted after the choice they actually made. In other words, the Giants passed on each of these players.

Now, with the NFL combine underway, pro days coming up, and prospective meetings, there is a ton of due diligence that goes into each team's draft process. While no team bats a thousand each year, the preparation the organization does pre-draft is essential to creating a plan that is best for the team. Furthermore, the GM and player personnel departments need to be ready to adjust and make quick decisions based on what happened in the current draft before their pick. This is where the Giants fell short (mostly in the Gettleman days) in years past, and had to make a panic move.

Nonetheless, as we wait for this year's big draft day in Detroit, here are our Giants 1st round redraft picks from the five previous years. Imagine this: the Giants could have had Justin Herbert passing to Garrett Wilson, with Micah Parson patrolling the defense.

To be fair, every other team passed on LaPorta as well. In addition, the Giants first round selection last year, CB Deonte Banks (picked 24th) had a very good rookie season. Nonetheless, it's hard to look at the lack of production by the tight end position last year, the numerous Darren Waller injuries, and the horrific overall offense, and not long for a guy like LaPorta. He had 86 receptions and 10 touchdowns and was selected to the Pro Bowl in his first year with the Lions. LaPorta was drafted 34th last year.

There's an asterisk here because the Giants had two picks in the top ten this year. They nailed it by taking Kayvon Thibodeaux at number five. However, although fans were excited about taking Evan Neal two picks later, this has not lived up to the hype yet. The offensive line continues to be a ten-year problem. Our MetLife neighbors in the Jets took WR Garrett Wilson at number 10. Without a top threat at receiver, you can't help but wish Wilson was in the blue locker room instead of green.

Oh boy, this is the worst of them all. Perhaps it was also the beginning of the end for Dave Gettleman, who terribly fumbled this draft. As a refresher, the Giants held pick #11. Everything had been falling into place nicely with WR DeVonta Smith still on the board and falling right into their hands. That is until the Eagles made a last minute trade, jumped the Giants and took Smith. Gettleman was caught unprepared and traded the 11th pick to the Bears who ended up taking Justin Fields. Right after that at 12, the player many compare to Lawrence Taylor was taken in Micah Parsons. The net of this is, the Giants could have stayed at the 11th pick and had Micah Parsons. Instead they ended up with Kadarius Toney, who was traded to the Chiefs (who benched him).

This is the most intriguing redraft selection, as it changes the franchise the most. Andrew Thomas was selected by the Giants with the fourth pick. Thomas is fantastic and the strong point of the often battered line. However, two picks later, Justin Herbert went to the Chargers. The GMen would not be in the predicament they are in now if they had a franchise talent like Herbert. However, this was not an option at the time because of what happened in the 2019 draft.

Daniel Jones was the choice with the sixth pick in 2019. Eli Manning was still on the team. If it wasn't for all the injuries, Jones would be a solid choice and the player the team continues to build around. They still may do that. However, if we're going to take Herbert in 2020 instead of Andrew Thomas, offensive lineman Chris Lindstrom would have been a nice choice here. This OG has been a two-time Pro Bowler for the Falcons. He's been reliable, durable, and quietly one of the most productive lineman in the league the past five seasons.