"Max’s was founded in 1928 in Long Branch, six miles north of Asbury Park and just off the beach. The franks here are a quarter pound in weight and nearly a foot in length, made of 80 percent beef and 20 percent pork. They’re cooked on the griddle till the skin crackles and becomes brittle when bitten into. Seven variations are offered, of which I picked the Jersey shore. It was split, stuffed with American cheese, and topped with several shards of grilled pork roll, aka Taylor ham, the state’s most iconic meat." - Robert Sietsema