Asbury’s newest downtown addition: Bank on Mattison
'We want the customers to decide for themselves what they want it to be'
Bank on Mattison claimed the spot as the first new downtown bar and restaurant in Asbury Park to open in 2014 earlier this month.
Thomas McInerney, 43, his wife Jodi, 40, and his twin brother James partnered with former Baca manager Bryan Grant and former Old Man Rafferty’s manager Chase Moriarty, both 28, to bring the location back to life.
The neoclassical brick building has housed law offices and food establishments in recent years, the last being Cajun themed restaurant Trinity and the Pope, which shuttered its doors in the days before Hurricane Sandy and never returned, but was originally constructed as a bank.
“There was no question it had to be Bank — not to oversimplify,” said Thomas McInerney.
The 9,000 square foot space boasts over 130 seats and three different bars on three different levels, one of which is a smaller basement-level bar with room for about 10 bar stools owners have dubbed “the vault room” [shown at right]. Whether the vault room remains open to the public or becomes membership-only remains to be seen, according to McInerney and Moriarty.
“The biggest selling point we have is the building, if it was somewhere else I don’t know if we would have done it,” said Thomas McInerney.
Menu offerings at Bank are of the American pub style and are moderately priced, entrées cost less than $19, pizzas, sandwiches, burgers and salads run $12 and under. Kids menu options are priced between $5 and $8.
Whether the bar will cater to the sports crowd [there are seven TVs in the main bar room], the Saturday dance night club crowd, as a local hangout, an American family-style restaurant, or all of the above, remains to be seen as owners have decided against selecting a theme or marketing to any specific demographic or lifestyle.
“We want the customers to decide for themselves what they want it to be,” said McInerney.
For now, they are relying on the tenets great food and quality customer service to keep people coming back.
“We just want to be consistent,” said Grant. It’a a bottom-up philosophy built on good, solid food and service. Success will come, we’re not trying to chase the immediate dollar, we’re building a strong foundation and getting our priorities straight.”
Bank on Mattison is located at 649 Mattison Ave. Hours of operation are 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily.
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