New restaurant names give me pause...

October 2006

First, let me take a moment to officially welcome all of the new restaurants to the Atlantic City culinary scene. The new additions at The Pier, Buddakan, Phillips Seafood, The Continental, The Trinity Pub, Game On, and Sonsie, as well as all of the great eateries that have been open at the Quarter at Tropicana for a couple of years now. Add Mia and Morton’s Steakhouse at Caesars, Gallagher’s at Resorts and the plethora of boutique bistro’s and upscale eateries at Borgata: Seablue, Susanna Foo’s, Specchio, and Old Homestead Steakhouse to name just a few. I don’t think I missed anyone, but if I did, shoot me an e-mail at dklein@acinside.com and we’ll correct it in a future issue. All of these tasty additions are indeed helping to make Atlantic City the hip, happening, hot spot it is fast becoming. But as I look at all of the new names, and big named chefs who are running to Atlantic City faster than potential casino operators did back when gaming was first passed in 1976, it dawned on me, the real story lies in the names of restaurants that were already here, some for as long as one hundred and nine years in Dock’s Oyster House, that will now get a chance to impress the new Atlantic City customer. A customer that is not afraid to venture outside the casinos.

For years, most Atlantic City’s customers came to town, by bus, and stayed right in the casino the whole time they were here, which was usually just for a day. As a result of that behavior pattern, many of Atlantic City’s fine restaurants from yesteryear were forced to close their doors. Never getting a chance to develop new customers, even though over thirty million were visiting each year. Can you imagine not being able to get a piece of those numbers?

Today, there are eight restaurants left from the pre-casino era high of over 300 restaurants and bars (talk about a shakeout of the market). They are: AC Bar& Grill, Angelo’s Fairmount Tavern, Angelonis II, Dock’s Oyster House, Flying Cloud Cafe, Irish Pub, Knife & Fork Inn, and Mama Motts. The reason those eight have not only survived but thrived then, and now, is because their product is simply sensational. They are family owned and operated and their respective restaurant facilities are their life’s blood... literally.

In addition to those eight independent, Atlantic City restaurants, there has also been an upsurge in independently owned operations that have sprung up in Absecon, Egg Harbor Township, Linwood, Margate, and Somers Point.

Some of those feature some of the best, most creative chefs in the business. Restaurants like Tomatoes in Margate, Anchorage, Charley’s, Gregory’s and Sails in Somers Point, Savaradio in Linwood, Library III and Touch of Italy in Egg Harbor Township, and The Smithville Inn, Gourmet Italian Cuisine in the Absecon-Galloway area. As the critical mass of new Atlantic City customers continues to fuel Atlantic City’s growth, many of these “first timers” are actually discovering what the locals have known to be true for years, that is, Atlantic City, and South Jersey as a whole, offer some of the finest, freshest dining anywhere.

Let’s take Dock’s Oyster House for a moment. I have no doubt that the good folks at Phillips Foods, the owners of Phillips Seafood Restaurants, produce an outstanding product. That would explain why they proudly tout the fact that they have been serving Fine Seafood since 1956.

Not bad. Not bad at all.

No doubt in Maryland that’s a record of longevity that can’t easily be matched. By contrast, little ol’ Dock’s Oyster House has only been around since 1897, and is currently run by the fourth generation of Dougherty’s, whose great grandfather started the Oyster Shack back when Atlantic City was just beginning to blossom as a resort community.

That by itself is pretty impressive, and may explain why, the more new restaurants open in and around Atlantic City, the tougher it is to get a reservation at some of the places noted previously.

The good news about that is more and more first time visitors to Atlantic City are getting out and about throughout the area and that bodes well for everybody.

Dan Klein is publisher of the South Jersey Insider Magazine, as well as host of the weekly radio show by the same name, heard Saturdays from 1PM to 4PM on Newstalk 1400 WOND AM, and host of the weekend entertainment & events segments on NBC news Channel 40. Dan's segments can be heard during the news on Friday and Sunday.