Reality TV may have captured a tawdry slice of singles life down the Shore. But we think it’s a paper-thin slice. Fact is, towns like Asbury Park and Long Branch have given rise to a smart, sophisticated scene. Atlantic City continues to claim some of the most enviable and energetic nightspots on the East Coast. Even traditionally provincial locales like Long Beach Island and Cape May are emerging as magnets for hip, savvy singles looking for something more than a happy hour. Here is a sampling of Shore nightlife at its best, reported from north to south.
Long Time Coming
Pier Village in Long Branch
Leaning against a railing and gazing at a full moon neon-bright over the ocean, Long Branch native and local socialite Francesca Attardi soaks in the atmosphere of Avenue Nuit, a third-floor oceanfront bar and lounge located above the highly regarded Avenue restaurant.
“I didn’t have this growing up and think it’s just fabulous,” says Attardi, publisher of Jersey Sports News. “It’s intoxicating. I’ve brought people from New York City down here, and they think they’re in the south of France.”
When one asks around about the singles scene at Pier Village—a high-end waterfront complex of restaurants, shops, and residences—the club at Avenue Nuit invariably gets top billing. The velvet rope at Avenue Nuit is probably the toughest to cross at the Shore, and its outdoor lounge—centered around an impossibly clear blue swimming pool—is consistently packed with trendy-looking 20- and 30-somethings.
It’s a bit pricey. The cover charge varies (“depending on the night”), and a few domestic beers will quickly bring your tab to $50-plus. And that is to say nothing of the expensive bottle-service seating areas outside. What’s more, those who are not too keen on the persistent thud of dance music and meat-market choreography may be a bit turned off by Avenue Nuit. But if you’re looking to dance, to see and be seen, Avenue Nuit is the place.
“We come here for beautiful people who are nicely dressed,” says Jenny Andrews, 28, of Lavalette, who is out with a group of girlfriends for a long Friday night. “You know you’re going to meet doctors, lawyers, stockbrokers. It’s upper-class.”
Those who are looking for something a bit more low-key opt for the Wine Loft at Pier Village. Arrive here around 9 pm to find this high-ceilinged, warmly lit restaurant and bar humming with conversation and sophisticated flirtations. The servers (who are well versed in the Loft’s extensive wine list) are dressed in understated black, passing through the place like hushed shadows.
Alison McGlincy, who recently moved from a Manhattan apartment to a condo at Pier Village, sits in one of the Loft’s plush lounge chairs while enjoying a girls’ night out with some of her closest friends. “The idea of the Wine Loft is very sexy, very sensual,” she says. “I have friends who used to go to the Hamptons and are now coming down here on the weekends.”
It’s not a given that you will get into Avenue Nuit. Make sure you dress the part, or the gatekeepers will likely turn you away.
Pier Village: 1 Chelsea Avenue, 732-923-0100, piervillage.com
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A New Kind of Greeting from Asbury Park
Watermark, Langosta Lounge, and Asbury Lanes
Upon entering Watermark, one immediately notices the absence of those flat-screen televisions that hang over most bars. This, says owner Russell Lewis, is quite intentional.
“The concept is to promote socializing and bringing people together,” he says. “I don’t like Wi-Fi in here. I don’t have programmed entertainment. There are no televisions. There’s nothing to take you away from socializing. It’s a return to the classic cocktail lounges of the ’50s and ’60s.”
With its grand ocean views, inviting leather couches, and bar staff well versed in high-end mixology, Watermark exudes smarts and class. With 8,000 square feet of interior and exterior space right on Asbury’s boardwalk, the layout is spacious and sweeping. The music is kept low enough for some close conversation, and the eclectic mix of patrons aptly reflects this town’s budding and diverse singles scene.
“We’ve always got a nice cross-section of Asbury Park,” says Slim Polski, Watermark’s bar manager. “On any given night, we have every race, sexual preference, age, all in one room getting along. It’s a pretty cool thing to see.”
Just a few blocks north, Asbury singles mingle at another boardwalk newcomer, Langosta Lounge, which opened in 2008. With its bar inlaid with mussel shells, televisions that often display international surf videos, and an exposed-pipe, industrial-chic ceiling, Langosta Lounge has a more casual ambience than Watermark. For singles looking to enjoy a few good pints and a unique fusion menu (don’t miss the enchiladas), this is the spot.
At the opposite end of the style spectrum, Asbury Lanes, a wood-paneled, deliciously divey bowling alley/bar, brings together some of Asbury’s most eccentric and lively characters. If you’re single and can rattle off your top five favorite Smiths records—and don’t mind paying a $10 to $15 cover charge—head to Asbury Lanes.
Do not miss the sublime Manhattan at Watermark, made with top-shelf rye whiskey, rather than the usual, sweeter bourbon Manhattan. At Langosta Lounge, come with some beer knowledge. The rotating tap list is exceptional.
Watermark: 800 Ocean Avenue, 732-455-3447, watermarkap.com; Langosta Lounge: 1000 Ocean Avenue, 732-455-3275, kitschens.com; Asbury Lanes: 209 4th Avenue, 732-776-6160, asburylanes.com
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Posh Amidst the Provincial
Long Beach Island Gets Hip
When Philadelphia restaurateur Martin Grims opened Daddy O in Brant Beach on Long Beach Island in 2005, many of the locals laughed. The idea of a high-class, neo-1950s chic hotel and restaurant/lounge coming to family-friendly LBI was considered a stretch. As though it were the Spruce Goose of Jersey Shore nightlife, many wondered if Daddy O would ever take off.
But take off it did.
Now, more than five years later, Daddy O has become a popular alternative to the weekend bustle of LBI’s more raucous stretch of southern-end bars and taverns. Here you’ll revel in the swing and swagger of Mad Men America, the glow of dimly lit, lusty-red interiors, and the polish of a knowledgeable bar staff.
Jake Sarconni, 31, of Millville, met his wife at Daddy O two years ago while visiting friends in Surf City. “It was winter, so a lot of the bars here were dead by late at night,” Sarconni says. “So we came here, and it was actually pretty alive. Good thing.”
A few miles north in Harvey Cedars is Plantation, a Grims enterprise that opened in 2003. Plantation trades the swank of Daddy O for a more laid back, tropical vibe. The martinis are a touch unkind to the wallet (ranging from $9 to $12), but their rewards to the palate compensate. Signature concoctions include a piña colada martini, key lime martini, and the Bleu Russian, which is served with bleu cheese-stuffed olives.
For a waterfront experience, head to the Dutchman’s Brauhaus. The German cuisine is decent, but the real attraction is the outdoor seating. Here you will find 30-and 40-something singles getting loose. And the vast beer selection also inspires smiles.
If you’re looking for a more rambunctious singles scene—lots of music, lots of flirtation, lots of dancing—head to Beach Haven and Buckalew’s Tavern. But be forewarned: Beach Haven gets crazy on summer weekends, especially after 10 pm.
Daddy O: 4401 South Long Beach Boulevard, 609-494-1300, daddyohotel.com; Plantation: 7908 Long Beach Boulevard, 609-494-8191, plantationrestaurant.com; Dutchman’s Brauhaus: 2500 South Long Beach Boulevard, 609-494-6910; Buckalew’s: 101 North Bay Avenue, 609-492-1065, buckalews.com
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East Coast Playground
Atlantic City Takes it Higher
Just after 11 on a Wednesday night, 32-year-old John Farish of Margate stands at the edge of the pool, sips his gin and tonic, and looks up at the enormous glass dome towering overhead. A trippy light show beams through the dome and onto the adjacent tower of Harrah’s Hotel and Casino, pulsing to the beats of a DJ spinning the evening’s first dance tracks. Farish has spent many evenings inside Harrah’s freshly minted Pool After Dark nightclub, where, he says, the singles scene is sublime.
“I’ve been coming to [Atlantic City] since I was in college, and this place is just…different,” says Farish. “The women are beautiful, the music is loud, it’s classy—and there’s that!” He points to the spacious pool, smiling.
Places for singles to mingle in Atlantic City are plentiful, so any new addition had better go the extra mile. The Pool at Harrah’s, a 23,000-square-foot enclosed grotto, does. It hosts some of the city’s most sought-after nighttime dance parties and mixers.
With its impossibly high glass dome and sprawling interior, the Pool is spacious enough to never feel congested. If you want to join the throng and dance hip-to-hip, go for it. Or you can relax on the outdoor, second-floor balcony. In addition to its enviable lineup of DJs, the club features reserved poolside tables, intimate and secluded hot tubs, tropical vegetation, and private VIP cabanas that you must reserve in advance.
“This is where it’s at,” says Janine Sopkos, 28, of Washington Township. “You can come here and just watch all these people for hours.” And you’ll pay for the privilege. There’s a $10 cover on Wednesday and Friday nights; $20 on Saturday nights.
Another new singles mecca in Atlantic City is Dusk at Caesar’s, a 10,000-square-foot nightclub that features an interior drenched in soothing blue, purple, and gold designed to evoke the feeling of being underwater. Its undulating mesh ceiling, which displays thousands of rotating lights that thump to the rhythm of the music, lends the club a chic, retro vibe. If Harrah’s Pool is an expansive, luscious cavern, Dusk is a cozy, new age cave. The cover charge here is $20.
Other notable Atlantic City singles scenes include Boogie Nights at Resorts, Mixx and mur.mur at Borgata, and Cuba Libre in the Quarter at Tropicana, which features steamy salsa dancing on Friday and Saturday nights.
The Pool at Harrah’s: 777 Harrah’s Boulevard, 609-441-5165, harrahs.com; Dusk at Caesar’s: 2100 Pacific Avenue, 609-348-4411, caesarsac.com
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The Last Stop
Make Your Way to Cape May
The bar is awash in red light. Whiskey glasses and pints of beer clink in carefree rhythms. A local karaoke legend performs an Elvis impersonation worthy of Vegas’s finest. Behold Thursday night at the Boiler Room, a basement bar and lounge tucked beneath Cape May’s legendary hotel, Congress Hall.
“I like it here. It has more pizzazz than you normally get from the Jersey Shore,” says Amy Muscomenci, 30, of West Chester, Pennsylvania, who on this summer night is celebrating a friend’s 30th birthday. “It’s not too crowded, and you can talk to the people you’re with without shouting over the music or worrying about college kids spilling drinks on you.”
The singles scene in Cape May can be a bit difficult to zero in on, but the Boiler Room, with its exposed brick walls, comfy lounge couches, and snazzy sophistication, has become Cape May’s de facto meeting place for everyone from the young-professional night owl to the urbane 40-something who enjoys pushing the envelope. In addition to Thursday night karaoke, this underground lounge features live music and dancing on a regular basis.
Amy O’Brien, 34, of Gloucester County, sits at a cozy corner table sipping cocktails with a longtime friend. She likes to compare the Boiler Room at Congress Hall to L.A.’s famous Chateau Marmont hotel. “What’s awesome about Cape May is that I don’t have to visit L.A. or go up to New York City for this. It’s right here.”
Also generating buzz, the Rusty Nail Bar & Grill, a newly renovated tavern and restaurant on the southern end of Beach Avenue, is a place where one might find off-duty lifeguards or local surfers drinking pints of beer and dancing to live music acts that perform here almost nightly. The Rusty Nail doesn’t get into full swing until after 10 pm. Before that, it’s mostly a family crowd.
The red-wine set might want to stop for a nightcap at the Ebbitt Room, a fine-dining restaurant and lounge located off the lobby of the Virginia Hotel on Jackson Street. Its dramatic chandeliers and plush seating bespeak romance. Or check out Martini Beach, a second-story restaurant and bar on Beach Avenue. The singles here skew toward a more formal, piano-bar sensibility.
The Boiler Room: 251 Beach Avenue, 609-884-8421, congresshall.com; The Rusty Nail: 205 Beach Avenue, 609-884-0017, beachshack.com; Martini Beach: 429 Beach Avenue, 609-884-1925.
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