New Jersey takes major step to protect restaurants with unanimous vote

The 2026 summer season is shaping up to be one of the busiest since the before the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdowns. The combination of Americans planning to travel more in 2026 compared last year, along with the 2026 edition of the FIFA World Cup coming to New Jersey and Philadelphia, The Garden State Hospitality Industry has a busy upcoming several months ahead of them.

One of the traditional methods of managing the flow of customers for restaurants has been taking reservations. For decades, this has helped restaurateurs plan ahead for a busy evening or weekend while maintaining quality levels of service and food.

A bipartisan effort by New Jersey politicians in Trenton will make the upcoming busy season for NJ businesses fromthe mainland to the shore easier for these local establishments to handle this year.

What Is The Corrado Bill and Why It Is Important For Small Business Owners

Named after Republican State Senator Kristin Corrado (Bergen, Essex, Passaic), the legislation will prevent third-party reservations on websites and mobile applications "from advertising, listing, or selling restaurant reservations without a written agreement with the restaurant".

The issue being addressed is the growing popularity of Reservation Marketplaces, which allow people to sell their Restaurant Reservations to other people at inflated prices. What some people have called "Black Market Restaurant Reservations" have created chaos for many restaurants, longer than expected wait times for regular customers, and price-gauging on the third-party websites and apps.

Other states that have similar laws in 2025 are Illinois and New York, while the City of Philadelphia passed a municipal law to deal with this issue. Violators of this new law will be subject to "civil penalties" that would require individuals and/or website operators to pay up to $1,000 in fines.

According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, these are the top five New Jersey Restaurants that had reservations sold on the popular Appointment Trader app:

1. Steve and Cookie’s Restaurant and Oyster Bar (Margate)
2. Pasta Ramen (Montclair)
3. Cafe 2825 (Atlantic City)
4. Angelica’s Restaurant (Sea Bright)
5. The Butcher’s Block (Long Branch)

This new law will remove the unnecessary complications for customers and small business owners. Now. when you make a restaurant reservation or a last-minute visit, you will get the service you expect. Also, the restaurants can be more prepared for daily customers.