Most people know that the restaurant business is brutal.

Consider this: the National Restaurant Association says only about 20% of restaurants are successful.

About 60% fail in their first year and 80% fail within five years of opening.

So even with every person on the planet having to eat at some point, there is a 4-in-5 chance that the trendy, new eatery that you just discovered will be gone within a handful of years.

2023 Was Tough

2023 was an extremely tough year for restaurants in the Garden State.

Restaurants of all shapes and sizes shutdown — coffee shops, mom-and-pop establishments, fast food restaurants, long-running national sit-down chains, and even diners have disappeared.

Yes, diners in New Jersey aren't even on safe ground.

A Number of Factors

Why? Supply chain issues, labor shortages, inflation, and skyrocketing costs that were passed along to consumers which made people eat out less (a recent survey found 42% of restaurants increased their prices last year).

• FAST BUT EXPENSIVE: The Cost of McDonald’s in NJ is Among the Most Expensive in the U.S.

Gone But Not Forgotten

From one end of New Jersey to the other, here are just a handful of the restaurants that closed last year...

Restaurants that have closed in New Jersey, Angeloni’s II Restaurant & Lounge Atlantic City NJ, Burger Fi Cherry Hill NJ, Cherry Hill Diner Cherry Hill NJ, The Crow's Nest Hackensack NJ, Stan’s Chitch’s Café Bound Brook NJ, D's Soul Full Cafe Hoboken NJ, Daikichi Montclair NJ, Dentato's Clam Bar Seaside Heights NJ, Empire Diner Parsippany NJ, E. Holland Sundries Bradley Beach NJ, Iberia Tavern and Restaurant Newark NJ, Langosta Lounge Asbury Park NJ, Nicholas Diner Paterson NJ, Park Place Kosher Highland Park NJ, Red Lion Diner Southampton NJ, Ray’s Roadside Kitchen Cream Ridge NJ, A & S Salumeria Millstone NJ, Sneddon's Luncheonette Lambertville NJ, Surf Bar & Grill (Surf BBQ) Rumson NJ, P.J. Sweeney's Restaurant & Irish Pub Brick NJ