12 Things Many New Jerseyans Have an Opinion About, Starting With Pork Roll

You need coffee somewhere on a drive through New Jersey, so which sign do you pull in under?

A 2024 Monmouth University poll asked adults to pick a favorite convenience store, and the answer changes depending on which end of the state you’re in.

Here are the things many New Jerseyans have an opinion about, starting with pork roll.

1. Pork Roll

Pork roll goes by two names, and New Jersey adults split almost evenly over which one to use in a Rutgers-Eagleton poll.

That poll, fielded in late 2015, found 38% call it pork roll and 35% call it Taylor Ham.

In North Jersey, 59% said Taylor Ham, while 65% in South Jersey said pork roll.

Central Jersey leaned toward pork roll, 45% to 25%.

The poll didn’t settle it.

The Trenton company that sells Original Taylor Pork Roll says John Taylor refined the recipe in 1856 and launched the business that year.

That company also says a 1906 federal food law ended the Taylor Ham name, so the product became Taylor’s Pork Roll.

If you’re not sure which word to use, copy the person taking your order.

2. North, Central, and South Jersey

North, Central, and South Jersey can mean different things to different residents.

A 2024 Monmouth University poll asked 801 adults which part of the state they call home.

In that poll, 41% said North Jersey, 34% said Central, and 23% said South.

The poll sorted people into regions by county, and nearly 9 in 10 residents agreed with those lines.

The exceptions were Union and Ocean counties, where about half of residents said Central Jersey instead of North or South.

The lines blur.

Some residents in parts of Morris and Essex counties also see themselves as Central Jersey, so your neighbor’s answer may not match yours.

3. Wawa vs. QuickChek

Wawa leads QuickChek in New Jersey, and a 2024 Monmouth University poll shows it.

Statewide, 50% of adults picked Wawa as their favorite convenience store, compared with 15% for 7-Eleven and 14% for QuickChek.

Wawa drew 79% in South Jersey and 61% in Central Jersey.

If you live in North Jersey, the picture changes: Wawa drew 31%, 7-Eleven 24%, and QuickChek 19%.

That’s the closest race.

4. Full-Service Gas

Full-service gas is still the law in New Jersey, so you can’t pump gas yourself.

The Safety Act says only an attendant can dispense fuel at a gas station, and gas stations that break that rule face fines.

A Fairleigh Dickinson University poll released in July 2026 found 64% of registered voters support keeping the rule, while 24% oppose it.

The university calls New Jersey the last state to mandate full-service gas.

Oregon had a similar ban dating to 1951 before a 2023 law let its gas stations run self-service pumps.

You stay in the car.

5. Jughandles

Jughandles have you turn right in order to go left.

It sounds backward.

News 12 reports that a manager in the state Bureau of Traffic Engineering dates the first New Jersey jughandles to around the 1950s.

That manager says a standard intersection has 32 conflict points, and taking out left turns cuts them in half.

Jughandles are common in New Jersey, but not as much in other states.

Many drivers defend jughandles, and others can’t stand them.

6. Down the Shore

If you say down the shore, you can start an argument over one small word.

In 2023, a viewer complained to 6abc meteorologist Adam Joseph about the phrase down at the shore, according to Philadelphia Magazine.

Joseph replied that the station prefers at because it is grammatically correct.

Two letters started it.

Billy Penn reports that people in the four shore counties are unlikely to say it because they’re already there.

7. Diner Capital Claim

New Jersey Monthly asked whether you can fairly call the state the diner capital of the world, and one diner expert says yes.

Michael Gabriele told New Jersey Monthly the state has between 500 and 525 diners, more than anywhere else in the country.

He also says most of the major American diner builders were based in New Jersey during the 20th century.

That count is an estimate.

8. Sunday Blue Laws

Bergen County is the last county in New Jersey still enforcing Sunday blue laws, according to an April 2026 NJ101.5 report.

If you shop in Bergen County on a Sunday, you're living with rules county voters kept in 1980.

They kept them again in 1993, by about 2 to 1.

The American Dream mall in East Rutherford has sold retail goods on Sundays.

Paramus sued in 2025.

The mall argues that it sits on state-owned land, so the county rules don't apply.

In June 2026, a judge was still weighing whether to dismiss the case.

9. Jersey Tomatoes

Many locals will tell you a Jersey tomato beats the grocery-store kind.

Jersey tomatoes came off farms that harvested tomatoes on 2,400 acres in 2023.

That harvest came to 60 million pounds, valued at $36.2 million.

The state Department of Agriculture says New Jersey is among the top 10 tomato producers in the country.

New Jersey's tomato season lasts through the end of October.

Then you wait.

10. Turnpike or Parkway

News 12 viewers voted the Garden State Parkway their second-least favorite road to drive in New Jersey.

Cost was one reason.

If you ride the whole Parkway, you're looking at about three hours and $12 in tolls.

The New Jersey Turnpike Authority collects Parkway tolls at 49 locations, including 11 plazas on the main roadway.

The Turnpike has 378 toll lanes at 30 interchanges.

Trucks aren't allowed on the Parkway north of exit 105 in Tinton Falls.

11. Giants and Jets

Where do the New York Giants and New York Jets play their home games?

They play at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, which opened in 2010.

A Jets-Giants game there in October 2023 drew 83,367 people.

The address says Jersey.

Many fans argue the teams are Jersey teams, and others say the name settles it.

If you buy a ticket, your seat is in East Rutherford.

12. State Song Question

New Jersey has never had an official state song, according to St. Bonaventure University.

If you've heard talk of making "Born to Run" the state song, the campaign was underway by 1980, when a New York Times op-ed backed it.