The Jersey Shore Girl Team 
Our favorite time of the year is here: the chance to highlight some of our favorite local businesses as part of The Jersey Shore Girl’s annual Best of the Jersey Shore Guide. Whether it’s your favorite yoga studio, neighborhood boutique, or brunch destination, there are so many places at the Jersey Shore deserving of the extra love. So share the love and vote for your favorites in each and every category; after all, these reader-selected awards are pretty special bragging rights to have (wink). Ready to get started? Here’s everything you need to know about nominating your favorites for the 2026 Best of the Jersey Shore Guide.
A Note About the Best of the Jersey Shore Guide
Before we get into the details, just a disclaimer: The Best of the Jersey Shore Guide is not sponsored or paid for by the businesses featured in it. This is something The Jersey Shore Girl does to support the local community and spotlight our readers’ favorite businesses. Paying for nominations or wins is not allowed, and all votes are determined only by our readers.
How the Best of the Jersey Shore Guide Works
The Best of the Jersey Shore Guide is all about your local favorites. You can nominate businesses, people, and places across a variety of categories, including food + drinks, shopping, wellness, beauty, fitness, and more. Once nominations close, we tally the submissions and announce the top three finalists in each category, where we give the baton back to you to vote for the winners!
The businesses that make it to the finalist round will receive recognition on The Jersey Shore Girl, along with bragging rights and a decal to display at their storefront. It’s a fun way to discover new local favorites, revisit the places you already love, and show some appreciation for the small businesses that help our community thrive. To get an idea, see the complete list of 2025 winners here.
How to Nominate Your Favorites
Ready to show your favorite local spots some love? Here’s how to participate:
- Fill out the nomination form: Enter your name and email address to access the category list.
- Choose your favorites: Add the business, person, or place you think deserves recognition in each category.
- Nominate as many as you’d like: You can submit nominations across multiple categories. There’s no limit to the number of categories you can participate in, so don’t hold back!
- Spread the word: Encourage your friends, family, and fellow locals to nominate their favorites, too.
What Happens After Nominations Close?
Once the nomination period ends, our team will tally the submissions to determine the top three finalists in each category. The finalist list will then be published on The Jersey Shore Girl, giving readers another chance to support their favorite local businesses by voting for the winners.
Voting will open on Tuesday, November 3rd, with the 2026 Best of the Jersey Shore winners announced on Thursday, December 17th.
And remember, we don’t choose the nominees or winners. Those decisions come directly from our readers and community members, so every nomination and vote counts!
Let’s Celebrate Our Local Favorites
The Jersey Shore is home to so many incredible small businesses, talented local makers, dedicated service providers, and neighborhood staples that deserve to be celebrated. The Best of the Jersey Shore Guide is one small way we can help shine a spotlight on the people who make our community what it is.
Whether you’re nominating the restaurant you visit every week, the boutique where you find the perfect gift, or a local business you think more people should know about, we want to hear from you.
Thanks for helping us celebrate the best of the Jersey Shore! Let the nominations begin!
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