January was a busy month for the Shore’s dining scene, and the pace kept up throughout February.
A wide variety of restaurants are on the way, from a Southern kitchen and bar on the Asbury Park boardwalk to a seafood buffet in Freehold Township. A pay-it-forward eatery opened in Toms River, two husband and wife-owned bakeries opened in Monmouth County, and the chef behind some of the area’s most acclaimed restaurants appeared on TV.
Here are openings, closings and other restaurant news we reported on in February.
Taylor Sam’s is expanding to Bay Head
The “Holy Granoly” at Taylor Sam’s in Brick is French toast topped with fresh bananas, pumpkin seed granola, honey and Greek yogurt.
Taylor Sam’s, a long-running breakfast, brunch and lunch restaurant in Brick, is opening a second restaurant in Ocean County.
The full-service restaurant, which will offer dinner, outdoor seating, a coffee shop and an ice cream parlor, is at 58 Bridge Ave. in Bay Head. The new restaurant, which is three blocks from the beach, currently is home to Dune Grass Cafe.
Owners Scott and Dawn Spivak, who run Taylor Sam’s with their family, hope to open by Memorial Day.
7 Brew Coffee Shop to open in Toms River
7 Brew Coffee is scheduled to open next to the Small Sliders North Davis Highway in mid-January.
A coffee shop with 200 locations nationwide is opening its first in New Jersey.
7 Brew Coffee Shop will open a drive-thru coffee stand at Hooper Commons in Toms River. At just 510 square feet, it will be located in the parking lot.
The menu includes hot and iced coffee, specialty lattes, lemonades, smoothies and shakes.
Dave Portnoy returns to the Shore
The last week of February brought a flurry of local reviews from Dave Portnoy, founder of One Bite Pizza Reviews on YouTube.
On Feb. 20, he visited PaciDough’s Pizza Joint in South Toms River, Pizza Ria in Manchester, Romeo’s Italian American in Freehold Township and Tramonto’s in Ocean Township. PaciDough’s received a score of 8.2 out of 10 and Pizza Ria a 7.3.
As of press time, reviews of Romeo’s Italian American and Tramonto’s had not yet been published.
In early February, PaciDough’s owners Anthony and Donielle Pacitto took home top honors at JPJ Pizza Bowl, a contest that brings together pizzeria owners from across New Jersey. Their meatballs also won first place.
WindMill Hot Dogs in Long Branch gets a facelift
WindMill Hot Dogs has been serving hot dogs, burgers, fries and milkshakes on Long Branch’s Ocean Boulevard for decades, and this year, it got a facelift.
Owner Ralph Epstein, who took over the longtime family-owned business in 2022, peeled back layers of materials to add more room and light to the 800-square-foot restaurant.
“We just really to show (people) what we can do in a new environment,” Epstein said. “It’s a new age at the WindMill.”
On The Border, TGI Friday’s close in Toms River
TGI Friday’s Sign
TGI Friday’s and On the Border Mexican Grille & Cantina, both on Hooper Avenue in Toms River near the Ocean County Mall, have closed.
TGI Friday’s closed on Feb. 27. The closure leaves one Shore location, on Route 72 in the Manahawkin section of Stafford.
On the Border closed Feb. 22. The company’s four remaining New Jersey restaurants are in New Brunswick, Princeton, Mount Laurel and Paramus.
Palmetto to open on Asbury Park boardwalk
BarCo Brands partners (from left) Greg Bartz, Andrea Pappas, Phil Villapiano and Tim McMahon opened Swimcrush, a new beach bar on the Asbury Park boardwalk.
When hospitality group BarCo Brands took over Langosta Lounge on the Asbury Park boardwalk in 2023, they quickly turned it into a restaurant and bar called The Break.
That’s what it was meant to be: a break between concepts, while the group’s partners took time to plan for the future of the space.
In March, their idea comes to life with the opening of Palmetto, a Southern-style kitchen and bar. Chef James Avery Avery will lead the restaurant’s culinary program with a menu that “celebrates the soul of Southern cuisine, blending tradition with a modern, coastal twist,” according to a news release.
Diners can expect dishes like peel and eat shrimp, jalapeno pimento cheese, crab and collard dip, Caesar salad with buttermilk dressing and biscuit croutons, malfadine pasta in creamed corn cacio pepe, and chicken-fried chicken — plus a full raw bar and steaks.
Palmetto opens Tuesday, March 18.
Chef David Viana earns spot on ‘Tournament of Champions’
Last month, we shared news that Chef David Viana of Lita in Aberdeen and Judy’s in Asbury Park was headed to Food Network for a chance to win a spot on “Tournament of Champions.”
On Sunday, Feb, 23, he did just that.
Viana competed on “Tournament of Champions: The Qualifiers,” which featured 16 chefs competing for eight spots on the show, which premiered Sunday, March 2. He and the other winners are competing in the bracket-style cooking contest with 24 predetermined chefs, including former Shore chef Britt Rescigno.
The chef was nominated for a James Beard Foundation Award this year, too.
Buttermee Pancakes opening second location
Mini pancakes with a variety of toppings are on the menu at Buttermee Pancakes in Asbury Park. Pictured are pancakes topped with fresh strawberries and white chocolate chips, and Biscoff cookie butter spread and Biscoff cookie crumbles.
Visitors to Long Branch’s Pier Village are in for a treat this spring: Buttermee Pancakes, which makes mini pancakes covered in fun toppings, is opening on Ocean Avenue.
It is the second location for Shanyah Griffith-Rumph, who launched her business on the Asbury Park boardwalk last year.
She plans to open the new store, which replaces bubble tea shop Mr. Wish, in early April.
Aarzu earns spot on USA TODAY list
Togarashi papad tikki, an appetizer featuring cottage cheese, Japanese gun powder and papadam crust, at Aarzu Modern Indian Bistro in Freehold Borough.
The USA TODAY Network’s 2025 Restaurants of the Year project launched in February, and a Monmouth County eatery earned a spot on the list.
Aarzu Modern Indian Bistro is one of 44 restaurants featured in the project, a collaboration between the networks’ food and dining writers nationwide.
“I was born and raised in America, and going to Indian restaurants was something I enjoyed growing up. They were nice, the food was always good. But it wasn’t ‘that’ vibe,” owner Archana Sharma said. “I wanted to create something that brought in mainstream America.”
UMI seafood buffet coming to Freehold Township
Crab legs, clams, oysters, stone crab claws and shrimp fill the buffet at Umi Hotpot Sushi & Seafood Buffet in East Brunswick.
The sign outside 4345 Route 9 in Freehold Township’s Pond Road Plaza may read Tokyo Hibachi & Sushi Buffet, but inside, something new is under way.
Umi Hotpot Sushi & Seafood Buffet will open in the next few months at the location, following restaurants in East Brunswick, Egg Harbor Township and Deptford. The 10,000-square-foot restaurant will offer all-you-can-eat sushi, sashimi, ramen, hot pot, clams and oysters on the half shell, whole steamed fish, oxtails, conch in the shell, razor clams, crab legs, crispy soft shell crab and crawfish. There’s also hot and sour soup, General Tso’s chicken, and baby octopus salad.
“If you want to try everything, you need to come more than once,” said Rafaela Martelo, host manager at the East Brunswick location. “It’s a big buffet. It has a lot of variety.”
The Ridiculous Farm brings sourdough to Middletown
Kelly Reynolds, co-owner of The Ridiculous Farm, a sourdough bakery located in the Belford section of Middletown, removes freshly baked loaves of sourdough bread from the oven and places them of trays to cool at the bakery in Middletown, NJ Friday, Feb. 7, 2025.
If you have noticed a line of people outside 571 Route 36 in Middletown on weekend mornings, that would be The Ridiculous Farm — and you should go inside.
The bakery, owned by Kelly and Brian Reynolds, sells sourdough bread, scones, flavored butters and jams. The couple opened the brick and mortar in January after running out of room at their home cottage bakery.
The Ridiculous Farm, which the couple renovated from a former restaurant, has an open kitchen where Kelly folds and shapes their dough.
“The great thing is people can come in and see us making it,” she said.
JBJ Soul Kitchen pops up in library
Ocean County Library patrons in need of a bite to eat can find one at a Jon Bon Jovi Soul Kitchen pop-up inside the building.
The temporary restaurant offers sandwiches, wraps, bowls, large salads and desserts. The cost of a meal is a suggested donation of $12. Diners can pay it forward for those who are unable to pay, and those who are unable to pay for a meal can ask about volunteering.
Other JBJ Soul Kitchen locations are on Hooper Avenue in Toms River and in Red Bank, Newark and Jersey City. ,
Hey Peach opens on Main Street in Ocean Grove
Croissants on display at Hey Peach Bakery in Bradley Beach, NJ Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025.
Erin Kilker has a passion for pastries and her husband, James, is a self-taught bread baker, and both are doing what they love at the new Hey Peach Bakery.
Located on Main Street in Ocean Grove, the Kilkers offer brioche, sourdough, Nordic-style sunflower rye, olive fougasse and Parisian baguettes — plus croissants, scones, buttermilk biscuits, coconut macaroons, cookies, palmiers and soft pretzels, among other baked goods.
There’s drip coffee, lattes and cappuccino, too.
New market coming to former Sickles space in Red Bank
A new gourmet market with vendors offering everything from produce and cheese to meat, seafood and dumplings is replacing the former Sickles Market space at the Anderson Building on Monmouth Street in Red Bank.
Anderson Market is a venture from Culture Collective, an Asbury Park-based hospitality group that runs Reyla, Laylow and Barrio Costero.
“We have the opportunity to do something different and unique,” said Chris Viola, chief development officer and founder of Culture Collective. “What we’re going to be offering here is going to be comparable to what you see in Philadelphia or New York when you talk about food halls.
David P. Willis contributed to this story.
Sarah Griesemer joined the USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey in 2003 and has been writing all things food since 2014. Send restaurant tips to [email protected], follow on Instagram at Jersey Shore Eats and subscribe to her weekly newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Jersey Shore restaurants open, close in February 2025
