I was born in Atlantic City — and here’s why I keep going back

I was born in Atlantic City. I say that with no apology and no asterisk. I grew up in Mays Landing, twenty minutes away, and Atlantic City was where everything happened — shopping, medical care, dining, entertainment. This was before the casinos. Before the neon got louder. There was an Atlantic City that existed long before any of that, and it was already extraordinary.

So when I hear people dismiss it — and I hear it constantly — I take it personally. Not because I cannot see the city's real challenges. I can. I grew up watching the cycles. But the version of Atlantic City that exists in the casual dismissal — the idea that there is nothing there worth your time — that version is simply wrong.

Let me tell you what you are missing.

A city that has always found a way to survive

Atlantic City has been surviving things longer than most New Jersey cities have existed. Nucky Johnson ran this town through Prohibition and made it work when the rest of the country was supposed to be dry. Nelson Johnson's book Boardwalk Empire documented exactly how the city bent the rules of an era and came out the other side. The Knife and Fork Inn, sitting at the corner of Atlantic and Pacific Avenues since 1912, was one of Nucky's haunts during those years. It is still there today, still serving, still earning Wine Spectator recognition, still one of the best dining experiences in South Jersey.

The 500 Club on Missouri Avenue was where Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis and Sammy Davis Jr. played in the 1940s and 50s. The entertainers who built American popular culture came through Atlantic City because Atlantic City was where you went when you wanted to be seen. The Steel Pier had its own television dance show. WFPG broadcast from over the ocean with the sound of the waves in the background. My first concert was Chubby Checker on the Steel Pier. I was not ready for what the Pier actually was.

Then the casinos came in 1978 and changed everything. The boom years of the 1980s and 90s. The contraction of the 2010s when several casinos closed in a single year and people who had never paid attention suddenly declared the city finished. Atlantic City has heard that before. It is not finished.

The beach nobody talks about

Atlantic City's beaches are free. No badge. No fee. Walk on, walk off. In a state where beach badge prices keep climbing every summer, Atlantic City charges you nothing.

And if you have never been to the southern end of the city where Atlantic City meets Ventnor, you have missed something worth finding. The crowds thin out down there. The boardwalk gives way to something quieter. The beach is wider and less hectic and you can actually hear the ocean. It is a different side of the city than most people picture, and it is worth a morning.

SEE ALSO: The Steel Pier has stood since 1898 — and it still means everything 

EJ at White House Subs in AC | photo by EJ

The dining scene people are sleeping on

Start with White House Subs on Arctic Avenue. Open since 1946. The Beatles ordered a 72-inch sub there when they came through Atlantic City in 1964. From Sandy Hook to Cape May there is nothing better. That is not a debate. It is a fact.

Tony's Baltimore Grill has been on Atlantic Avenue since 1927, making it Atlantic City's oldest Italian restaurant. Kitchen open until 3am, bar open 24 hours. The jukebox in your booth looks exactly like it did decades ago. It is the soul of the city on a plate.

Angeloni's has been a South Jersey Italian institution for decades. Carmine's at the Tropicana brings New York City family-style Italian with portions that require a strategy before you sit down. Chef Vola's is a reservation-only institution tucked into a row house on Albion Place that seats maybe 40 people and has been doing so for decades. Dock's Oyster House has been serving seafood since 1897 — one year before the Steel Pier opened.

For the serious dinner moment, Morton's The Steakhouse at Caesars is exactly what a steakhouse is supposed to be. Go for dinner. Order the cheesecake. Ask about the ice wine pairing. Save room. You will not regret it.

And I have to say something about the Irish Pub on St. James Place. It closed at the end of 2025 for fire code renovations — the owner needs to install a sprinkler system and has been fighting to do it in a way that does not damage a century of irreplaceable memorabilia covering every wall and ceiling. She has said this cannot be the end. I hope she is right. I have been going there since I was 18, which in 1980 was the legal drinking age in New Jersey. Great memories with great friends over many years. Atlantic City without the Irish Pub open feels incomplete. Come back, Cathy.

Affordable stays and luxury options

The casinos want to fill their rooms. That works entirely in your favor. The Borgata, Harrah's, Caesars, the Hard Rock, Ocean Casino Resort — all of them run promotions and package deals that include dining credits and entertainment. Mid-week rates can be genuinely surprising on the low end. A two-night Atlantic City trip with dinner at Morton's, a show at Boardwalk Hall, and two mornings on a free beach can cost less than a single weekend night at a Shore house rental. The beach is free. The boardwalk is free. The Steel Pier is steps away.

For the luxury experience, the Borgata remains one of the premier hotel and spa destinations on the East Coast. Ocean Casino Resort has brought a modern, upscale energy to the north end of the Boardwalk. Caesars has been welcoming guests since 1979 and still delivers the full resort experience.

Steel Pier Atlantic City | Google Maps

What the city still gets right

The Boardwalk is four miles long and still one of the great American public spaces. Boardwalk Hall has hosted boxing, concerts and the Miss America pageant since 1929 and it is still booking shows. The Steel Pier is still spinning and glowing over the Atlantic Ocean at the same address it has occupied since 1898. The Absecon Lighthouse — New Jersey's tallest — is right there if you want to climb it and see the whole city spread out below you.

I was born there. I know what it has survived. I know what it still offers to anyone willing to show up with an open mind and a little curiosity.

Go. The beach is free. The food is better than you remember. The city still shimmers by the sea.