Jersey Shore Dining

One thing I’ll say about living down the shore is that there are plenty of great places to eat. Over the last several years, towns such as Red Bank, Asbury Park, and Long Branch have added some top-notch restaurants within their borders to give this part of the Jersey Shore its own sense of epicurean uniqueness.

Let’s start with the basics. . .pizza. When it comes to pizza, no one (and I mean no one) tops the Jersey Shore. There are so many pizza parlors around here. For me, my favorites include Attillio’s Restaurant (take your pick as to which one, there are so many of them out there), Scala’s in Long Branch, Freddie’s (also in Long Branch), where the thin crust is to die for, and Brother’s in West Long Branch. There’s only one other place I’ll venture outside of Long Branch for great pizza, and that Vic’s in Bradley Beach.

Now I know a little something about pizza, having practically grown up in my Uncle Freddie’s restaurant, Rex’s Tomato Pies, which was located on South Broadway in Long Branch. The smell of his pizza’s all day long used to put me in seventh heaven. I can remember buying pizza slices from Pistol Pete’s across from the Long Branch boardwalk for 35 cents a slice. That was WAY back in the day, probably in the early 1970’s.

Now some restaurants have taken pizza to a whole other level. There’s Porta in Asbury Park. Their specialty pizzas are something else, and the restaurant’s ambience. . .it’s different yet nice (the place used to be a night club back in the ‘80’s). Every time I go there, I can still imagine a DJ spinning “Don’t You Want Me Baby”.

Next up is diners. When you don’t want pizza, diner food is the next best thing to eat here at the shore. They provide huge portions and great prices. So many diners over the years have come and gone at the Jersey Shore. One of my favorite diners was the Monmouth Queen in Eatontown. I can remember having a late night snack there with my senior prom date back in June of 1977. Then of course there was the infamous Coach Diner, which was nicknamed “the Roach Coach”, situated right across from the Long Branch train station.

The only local diners around where I live that I’ve been to are the Americana in Shrewsbury, the All Seasons in Eatontown, and the Broadway Diner in Red Bank.

Of course, restaurants serving oriental cuisine are just as good, too. Both Sawa and Ichiban have the lock on the market around here, but there’s this little place in Long Branch called Izu Sushi on Montgomery Street that has great sushi, too. When it comes to sushi, I’m not a fan, but my kids always order out from there when they’re in the mood for sushi rolls.

Then there are the franchise restaurants. Buffalo Wild Wings, Chili’s, Ruby Tuesday, TGI Friday’s, Olive Garden, and Red Lobster all serve a purpose. They’re usually packed solid on the weekends and relatively busy during the rest of the week.

Over the last year or so, my wife, the kids and I checked out the Brick Wall, Langosta Lounge, and Moonstruck in Asbury, as well as The Downtown in Red Bank. All of them are terrific places with great food, terrific atmosphere, and reasonable prices.

There are so many restaurants out there, I try to make it a point to go to someplace with my wife that we haven’t gone to yet. So where to now? Maybe someplace older yet reliable, like the Dublin House, Danny’s in Red Bank, or The Sitting Duck in West Long Branch (one of my favorite restaurants, by the way). Or someplace new, like Pazzo, Red, Teak, or Char Steakhouse in Red Bank, Tre Amici in the West End section of Long Branch, or any of the McLoone family of restaurants scattered around everywhere.

Decisions, decisions, decisions. But no matter where we go, the food here at the Jersey Shore is always bangin’.

(The entire Jersey Shore Retro Blogography can be found at http://longbranch.patch.com/blogs/kevin-cieris-blog .You can also follow Kevin Cieri's blog on Twitter @jsretro).