If you’ve never vacationed on the Jersey Shore before and you only associate it with a certain show on MTV, you may just be missing out on discovering a new favorite destination. While, yes, the state’s beachy locales do include a handful of party hotspots, with plenty of nightlife to go around, there are many, many more quieter, family-friendly beach communities throughout the Garden State. Belmar is one of these.
Situated just south of Asbury Park and a very brief drive from New York City, Belmar is one of the more northerly beaches of New Jersey. There’s no arcade-lined boardwalk. Resorts and hotels don’t litter the coastline. Instead, beach-goers largely either opt for a home rental in the town, or they drive in from another nearby town or city. This lack of flash and tourist-heavy amenities, though, doesn’t mean that Belmar doesn’t have a great food scene. You can find a bevy of great restaurants and bars situated away from the main beach, serving up a large range of cuisines and local brews.
Here are a few favorites from my recent stay in Belmar—and don’t worry. I’ll refrain from waxing poetic about my love for the region’s all-mighty convenience chain, Wawa, even if they make a mean breakfast quesadilla.
Beach Haus Brewery
Beach Haus Brewery’s large, two-story space offers a taproom, dining room and second-story outdoor deck, the last of which is the perfect spot for soaking up the final rays of summer sun as you dig into the expansive menu. Your options include wood-fired pizza, pasta, tacos, burgers and more. Vegetarian and gluten-free options are abundant.
My reccs? Start with either the (in-house) beer-battered fried pickles with chipotle ranch or the street corn, followed by one of the large burgers or sandwiches, like the Flippin’ Fish sandwich, with its fried flounder, arugula and lemon pepper aioli, or the double decker BLT that comes on Texas toast.
Before you go, make sure that you also check out the brewery’s events calendar. I managed to catch a fun night of musical bingo during my visit, but other weekly events range from trivia nights to DJ sets.
Anchor Tavern
Right across the street, you have another great restaurant with both indoor and outdoor dining spaces, but at Anchor Tavern, the menu and environment are slightly more refined (but don’t go donning anything fancy; this is still a spot where you can show up in your shorts and tee after a day at the beach and you’ll fit right in).
The restaurant is known for its wood-fired rotisserie chicken, and you can order a half a chicken, or a portion of either white or dark meat, served with two sides. Otherwise, the classic comfort food, like chicken pot pie or kielbasa and pierogies, can’t be missed.
If all that seems a little too heavy after a day spent in the sun and surf, though, rest assured that the tavern’s salads are just as scrumptious.
F St Social
Belmar’s number of international cuisine offerings is impressive for a small town, but this is New Jersey, so Italian, including pizza, reigns supreme. Consider a stop into F St Social, which, while not fully dedicated to all things Italian, certainly delivers in that department. The homemade meatballs are massive and the signature pies range from classic to creative, with options like the Yum Yum Pie, which comes topped with teriyaki-glazed chicken, onions, spinach and peppers, and the Pastrami Reuben Pie, topped with pastrami, sauerkraut, Swiss and thousand island. Gluten-free options are also available (including pizza!).
Two important things to note here: It is BYOB except for full bottles of wine and the restaurant was only taking cash during my visit (an ATM was on the premises).
Klein’s Fish Market
If you can’t go to a beach town and not eat right on the water, though, you do have a few options in Belmar. Klein’s Fish Market is one good pick. While it’s not directly on the ocean, the dockside eatery with deck seating is directly on the Shark River, where you can watch the boats pass by.
A long-standing restaurant (it opened nearly a century ago), the deck dining area definitely has a certain charm to it. I commented to my husband that, for a reason that I still can’t quite put my finger on, it somehow reminded me of Café Du Monde in New Orleans.
Be prepared for a bit of a wait if you visit on a busy evening in summer but know that it’ll be worth it. As the restaurant’s name suggests, the menu is stacked with seafood. Crab cakes, flounder, lobster, snapper, salmon, shrimp, oysters, clams, sushi, swordfish—it offers it all and more.
Marina Grille
Another waterside restaurant on the Shark River, Marina Grille provides a relaxed, yet slightly elevated environment, with spacious indoor and outdoor dining and views of the water.
The menu does offer the typical seafood dishes you’d expect from a waterside restaurant, but also brick-oven pizza, pasta and a few more unexpected and unique items. For example, I enjoyed the corn fritters, topped with a chipotle and lime glaze, as an appetizer and my notoriously picky husband raved about them for the rest of our trip. We also loved our sopressata and honey pizza, as well as the mixed grill kabobs.
Don’t miss the cocktail menu here, either. It’s filled with summer-y beverages for every palate, with offerings like the peach bourbon smash, made with peach puree and ginger beer; the lavarita, with its jalapeno tequila, blackberries and tajin spice rim; and the creamsicle margarita, which is exactly what you’d expect it to be.
Joe’s Surf Shack
Joe’s Surf Shack is tucked back in a largely residential area. Despite the slightly unexpected location, though, it’s your quintessential shack-style beach bar. It’s a little dive-y, with that vibe growing stronger the later in the evening you end up there (and you can stroll in pretty late, with closing times well after midnight) and it offers great drink specials (think $2 domestic beers and all-day happy hours) and live music.
As for the menu, expect standard beach bar fare: nachos, wings, salads, wraps, tacos and sandwiches, with the addition of “Joe’s Infamous Fried Rice.” If you arrive after 10 p.m., you’ll find a limited late-night menu provided through 1 a.m., though it’s still pretty robust for being pared down from the full dinner menu.
Joe’s Bagel & Grill
No, as far as I know, Joe of the surf shack and Joe of the bagel and grill are not the same person. Joe’s Bagel & Grill is technically a local chain, with 12 outposts around the region. However, that fact does not detract from the restaurant’s amazing breakfasts that are just the thing for fueling a day at the beach (or soaking up the remnants of a hangover).
You’ve got breakfast sandwiches, wraps, quesadillas, omelets, waffles, pancakes and more. Obviously, you ought to get a bagel since it’s in the name (and I was very pleased to find that Joe’s offers gluten-free bagels on its menu). Top that bagel with an egg, melt-y cheese and pork roll and you have the perfect Jersey Shore breakfast.
Not familiar with pork roll? It’s a regional specialty that’s difficult to find outside the area (and I’ve sorely missed it since moving from Philadelphia). Think of it as a little like bologna, only significantly better.
Panchos & Juanchos
There are a handful of highly rated Mexican restaurants in and around Belmar, but when I was craving enchiladas, I ended up going with the nearby Panchos & Juanchos. Specializing in traditional Mexican and Colombian fare, the menu offers far more than just your standard enchiladas and tacos, though. You’ve got your chicharron, your elotes, your flautas. Tamales, tostadas, chilaquiles. Tortas, tacos de lengua, churros. All the while, the servings are massive.
Moondog Market
My travel schedule didn’t quite align with this market’s opening hours, but I’ll have to be sure to visit during a return trip, because they’re doing something right. When I passed by on my way out of town, there was a line not just out the door but all the way to the street.
A relatively new addition to town, Moondog Market specializes in organic, non-GMO, locally sourced, seed-oil free whole foods and beyond offering products, it also offers beverages and ready-to-eat and grab-and-go meals. Recent offerings have included a filet sandwich made with medium rare, grass-fed filet mignon, house-made Calabrian chili avocado oil aioli, caramelized onions and pepper jack on a local baguette; organic roasted veggie sandwiches with eggplant, peppers, onions, goat cheese and house-made nut-free pesto; and hot honey chicken plates with sweet and spicy chicken breast, kale slaw, rice and roasted sweet potatoes.
