Restaurants with a View of the Water are Great, Just Too Few at the Jersey Shore
My picks for best waterfront dining
Living at the Jersey Shore is wonderful, even though I don’t go on the beach and never go in the ocean. Instead, I always search out the best restaurants.
Trouble is, so few restaurants offer you a view of the water, whether it’s the ocean, the bay, the river or the canal. I can never understand that.
Same goes for great seafood. I watch the trawlers come and go through the Manasquan Inlet with the catch of the day or tasty clams and scallops. But there are so few great seafood restaurants at the Jersey Shore.
Shame, shame on restaurant owners.
Far too many pubs, bars, restaurants or whatever you want to call your favorite watering hole serve the same bill of fare: fried appetizers, not so good pizza and barely creative special dishes.
So when I find a truly great restaurant, I feel blessed. Restaurants with a view of the water is a definite plus for me. A creative chef is a keeper, too. Cold beer also is great, although I’ve become sophisticated (can you believe that?) and now love a martini or two. But I do drink responsibly, so no nasty emails, please.
I’ve found a few good places with a view at the Jersey Shore. Cherish them like I do because there just aren’t that many good ones.
My all-time favorite restaurant with a beautiful view of the ocean is long gone: Top of the Mast in South Seaside Park. It was the very best. A long, long bar faced the ocean. The food was outstanding. And the lobster tail I always enjoyed there was marvelous.
I think you will find my favorite restaurants with a view to be very good, especially Mister C’s Beach Bistro in Allenhurst, where the bar also faces the ocean much like the Top of the Mast did.
I was even at Mister C's one night when it began to snow. I sat at the bar with dear friends Karen Marzulli and Chico Perrotto, owners of the place.
It doesn't get any better than that.
I've put together a list of waterfront restaurants that I think you will enjoy, as I did:
- Atlantic Bar & Grill, 1020 Fourth Avenue, Seaside Park.
- Bahr’s Landing, 2 Bay Avenue, Highlands.
- Bay View Terrace @ Key Harbor Marina, 2 Point Road, Waretown.
- Dutchman’s Brauhaus, 2500 East Bay Avenue, Manahawkin.
- Jenkinson's North Pavilion, end of Broadway at the ocean, Point Pleasant Beach.
- Martell’s Tiki Bar, on the boardwalk, Point Pleasant Beach.
- Mister C’s Beach Bistro, Ocean & Allen Avenue, Allenhurst.
- Rooney’s Ocean Crab House, 100 Ocean Avenue, Long Branch.
- Seaside Crab House, 901 Boardwalk (above the Aztec), Seaside Heights.
- Shipwreck Point, 20 Inlet Drive, Point Pleasant Beach.
- Stella Marina Bar & Restaurant, 800 Ocean Avenue, Asbury Park.
- Sunsets, 302 South Concourse Ave., Neptune.
E-mail Don Wilno at donwilno@yahoo.com with your favorite bar or restaurant. I want to know.
Tell us in the comments.
Judy Sobko
1:08 pm on Friday, June 24, 2011
http://www.bakerswaterstreet.com/ all around excellent- give it a try!
Ross Pirrotta
1:33 pm on Friday, June 24, 2011
Two weeks ago we had a wonderful dinner at the River House in Brielle...I'd recommend it.
Sue Bitsko
5:39 pm on Friday, June 24, 2011
The Columns in Avon has a beautiful view of the ocean and delicious food. http://www.columnsnj.net/photo_gallery
Martin
6:58 pm on Friday, June 24, 2011
Sunset Grille and Moon River, both off Princeton Ave., Brick, in marinas on the Metedeconk River.
Anecdote - I'm a relatively new Shore resident. I wanted to propose to my sweetheart last December -- and learned that oceanfront restaurants are even fewer and farther between in winter! I scoped out Matisse in Belmar and others that turned out to be closed. No romantic setting with moonlight reflecting on the waves crashing on the beach was to be found! Oh, well... she said "yes" in a more prosaic setting.
jake
8:08 pm on Friday, June 24, 2011
Jakes Crab Shack in Belmar, 5th & the ocean, on the boardwalk
http://www.facebook.com/jakescrabshack
Joanne
7:42 am on Saturday, June 25, 2011
"Avenue " in Long Branch, on the ocean. The food is excellent and view is amazing. It is by Pier Village.
Barbara Steele
6:34 pm on Friday, July 1, 2011
How about - some more fun than gourmet -
Jack Baker's Lobster Shanty, Wharfside, Pt. Pleasant Beach
Martell's Waters Edge, Bayville
Ryan Michael's Riverfront Grille, Brick
Avas on the Bay, Toms River
Bakers Water Street bay & Grill, Toms River
Bay View at Key Harbor marina, Waretown
Channel Marker Cafe, Lavallette
Dockside Bar & Grill, Point Pleasant
Latitudes on the Forked River, Forked River
Shrimp Box, Point Pleasant Beach
Boardwalk Bar & Grill, from 2nd floor outside deck seating, 401 Boardwalk, ocean, Point Pleasant Beach
Shipwreck Point, 40 Inlet Drive, inlet, Point Pleasant Beach
Waffle House on Inlet Drive no alcohol, inlet, Poit Pleasant BeachPizza Plus, on Boardwalk, no alcohol, ocean, Point Pleasant Beach
Little Macs, on Boardwalk, no alcohol, ocean, Point Pleasant Beach
PPB Cabana Club, on Boardwalk, no alcohol, ocean, Point Pleasant Beach
White Sands Resort, ocean, Point Pleasant Beach
Captains Inn, Forked River
Windows on the Bay, Forked River
South Winds, Forked River
Bayfront Grill, Waretown
Antoinetta’s Waterfront Restaurant, West Creek
Boat House Restaurant, Beach Haven
The Ketch Restaurant & Bar, Beach Haven
Tuckers Restaurant, Beach Haven
Engleside Restaurant Sand Bar & Grill, Beach Haven
The Sea Shell Palm Grill Restaurant, Beach Haven
Howard’s Restaurant, Beach Haven
Great Bay Marina, Little Egg Harbor
PANINI BAY, Tuckerton
SCOJO’S @ Tuckerton Seaport,Tuckerton
Dockside Cafe, Tuckerton
foggyworld
8:32 pm on Monday, August 29, 2011
The very best food to be found with wonderful views and great customers and staff.
There are great outside bars and tables with chairs as well and the best year round dining within a hundred miles. Martell's Water's Edge is a treasure with water, water everywhere and docks and moorings for boaters as well as an actually attractive parking area. Out door wedding area for those who must have the Bay but it is the food that makes it superior
just me
11:20 pm on Wednesday, January 11, 2012
McLoone's in Long Branch .... right on the beach
McLoone's in Asbury Park - on the boardwalk next to Convention Hall