The Chalfonte
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301 Howard Street, Cape May, NJ 08204 | 609-884-8409 | info@chalfonte.com | Facebook Instagram Pinterest

The Magnolia Room logo

 

The Magnolia Room serves breakfast and dinner daily in season (May through September). Our veranda on a summer evening is the outstanding dinner location in Cape May!

The Magnolia Room is open six days a week for breakfast from 8:30-10:30 am and dinner from 5:30-8:30 pm. The Magnolia Room will be closed Wednesdays effective August 18th. Indoor & outdoor dining options available. Reservations recommended: 609:884:8409.

The Magnolia Room restaurant will reopen for the 2023 season on Memorial Day Weekend, serving breakfast and dinner.

Breakfast Menu

Download our breakfast menu (PDF)

Breakfast Cocktails – Mimosa or our Heavens to Betsy Bloody Mary $11

LINDA’S YOGURT BANANA SPLIT $12.00
Fresh fruit, homemade granola & yogurt

CHALFONTE BREAKFAST $14.00
Two eggs any style, potatoes, bacon or sausage with choice of buttermilk biscuit, wheat or white toast

BREAKFAST SANDWICH $13.00
Two eggs fried, American or cheddar cheese, bacon or sausage on a brioche bun, potatoes

BUTTERMILK PANCAKES $12.00
Plain, blueberry or chocolate chip - served with bacon or sausage

MUFFIN OF THE DAY $5.00
Warmed with butter and fresh whip cream 

MAGNOLIA SPECIAL
Ask our servers about our daily breakfast special! 

Sides

Two Eggs any style $5.00

Potatoes $4.00

Bacon/Sausage $5.00

Wheat or White Toast, Buttermilk Biscuit $3.00

Fresh Fruit $5.00

Orange Juice $3.00

Coffee $3.00


Dinner Menu

Download our dinner menu (PDF)

Appetizers

Golden Confetti Shrimp
Jumbo shrimp pan seared with colorful lemon butter sauce. Gluten free. $14.00

Cape Clam Fritters
Savory clam & green onion batter fried crisp with house tartar sauce $12.00

Baby Back Ribs
Slow roasted to perfection with honey peach glaze. Gluten free. $13.00

Baked Oysters
Half shell oysters, buttery garlic, parmesan herb topping 13.00

Cajun Mini Spring Rolls
Savory clam & green onion batter fried crisp with house made tartar sauce $12.00

Potato Cheese Puffs
Delicate puff pastry, cheese pimento potato filling, baked until golden $11.00

Soups

Chalfonte New England Clam Chowder $8

Soup of the Day $7.50

Salads

Secret Garden Salad
Mixed greens, garden vegetable, choice of dressing. Gluten free. $9.00

Tomato Mozzarella Cucumber Salad
House made Mozzarella, vine ripe tomato, seedless cucumber, Balsamic, Basil oil. Gluten free. $14.00

Classic Caesar
Crispy romaine, cherry tomato, shaved Parmesan cheese, garlic croutons, and our herbed Caesar dressing. $9.50

Mains

MISS DOROTHY’S SKILLET FRIED HALF CHICKEN $32.00
Our signature dish prepared in the southern style tradition

MISS LUCILLE’S CRAB CAKE $36.00
Homemade and hand rolled, served with tartar sauce

FROM THE SEA - Market Price
Changing seafood specialties

CAPE MAY SCALLOPS $38.00
Golden pan seared

NY YORK STRIP $36.00
10 oz NY strip grilled to perfection

SMOTHERED PORK CHOPS $34.00
Two boneless prime pork ribeye “chops” smothered with our house brown sauce topped with frizzled onions

PECAN CRUSTED RACK OF LAMB $46.00
Oven roasted rosemary, pecan crust, house brown sauce

GRILLED SEASONAL VEGETABLES $26.00
Over Farro, tahini dressing

All mains come with Chef’s choice potato and Jersey vegetable.


Please ask your server about our daily dessert selections
We reserve the right to add 18% gratuity to parties of 8 or more.

Helen sitting on the porch with a basket of bread Dot and Lucille on the porch

Above: Helen on the Chalfonte porch. Dot and Lucille in 2009.

A Family Tradition

The dining room’s southern flavor arrived by way of Miss Clementine Young and her daughter Helen Dickerson in the 1920's. Acclaimed for her skill as well as her spirit, the late Miss Helen Dickerson presided over the Magnolia Room kitchen for more than 60 years, serving “soul food with its Sunday clothes on.” Helen’s Southern fried chicken was featured on the Food Network show Tyler’s Ultimate and The Phil Donahue Show.

Helen lovingly worked side by side with her two daughters, Dot Burton & Lucille Thompson for more than 50 of those years. The sisters carried on the family legacy of culinary excellence after their mother's passing up until Dot’s passing in 2015 and Lucille’s retirement in 2020.

Their voices and laughter still echo throughout the kitchen as the chicken simmers and the handmade biscuits rise.

For almost a century, our restaurant patrons have enjoyed Helen, Dot and Lucille's recipes.

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