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 delicious meals in season (May through September). Our veranda on a summer evening is the outstanding dinner location in Cape May!

October 2023: The Magnolia Room is open on Thursday nights only during the Howard Street Ramble, with a limited menu.

Please check our social media channels for the latest updates on restaurant hours or call 609-884-8409 and select option 2.

Reserve a table online

Dinner Menu

Appetizers

Golden Tempura Shrimp – Jumbo shrimp pan batter dipped and fried with remoulade sauce * $14.00

Baby Back Ribs – Slow roasted to perfection with honey peach glaze * $13.00

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

Fried Green Tomatoes ~ with buttermilk ranch dipping sauce $12.00

Pimento Cheese Potato 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 vegetables, choice of dressing * $9.00

Tomato Mozzarella Cucumber Salad – House made Mozzarella, vine ripe tomato, seedless cucumber, balsamic, basil oil * $14.00

Classic Caesar – Crisp 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, heirloom recipe, served with tartar sauce

FROM THE SEA Market Price
Changing seafood specialities

CAPE MAY SCALLOPS * $38.00
Golden pan seared

NY STRIP STEAK * $36.00
10 oz NY strip grilled to perfection

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

VEGETABLE LASAGNE * $26.00
Seasonal vegetables, mozzarella & parmesan cheeses, white sauce

All Mains served with Chef’s Choice Potato and Jersey Vegetable

*Denotes gluten free

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.