Picking up where they left off before Hurricane Sandy, Tim McLoone and his band “The Shirleys” reopened McLoone’s Supper Club Saturday night with the last two songs they played before the October 29 storm shut down the Asbury Park boardwalk.
“So where were we?” joked McLoone [at top] as he sat down at the piano before launching into “Stand by Me” — made famous by Ben E. King, who performed it with McLoone two days before the storm. The band then played “Save the Last Dance for Me,” which had concluded their last pre-Sandy performance.
McLoone then explained what happened to the building — for years an iconic Howard Johnson’s restaurant — as a result of the storm. [The location now houses McLoone’s Asbury Grille restaurant on the first floor and McLoone’s Supper Club upstairs. McLoone is an owner of the business.]
The first floor of the building had “about a foot and a half of oily sand,” said McLoone.
“This building was put together in the 1950s by the Howard Johnson company. Not a window or the doors in the original construction were touched [by the storm],” he told the crowd.
But a section of the building on the first floor built in the past few years “got blown out”, he said with a chuckle, marveling at how the original construction had no major problems. “This place is made out of steel and concrete,” he said.
McLoone’s Asbury Grille now resumes its normal off-season schedule of lunch and dinner every day with a brunch on Sunday. The Supper Club features live entertainment Thursday through Saturday, with acts scheduled at times on other nights.
Meanwhile, a second boardwalk business reopened during the weekend.
Watermark Lounge, in the First Avenue pavilion at the opposite end of the boardwalk from McLoone’s, reported a strong crowd on Friday, its first night back since the hurricane.
“We had a great night,” said owner Russell Lewis [below right with co-owner Andrew Hacking]. “The crowd was strong all night. Amazing. It was lovely. It was a solid Friday night.”
“If we could have every Friday night like that from here on I’d be very happy,” he said.
Watermark will also resume its off-season schedule of opening Friday and Saturday at 5 p.m., with Sundays reserved for private parties. Thursday nights may be added, depending on how fast other businesses open on the boardwalk, Lewis said.
The boardwalk restaurants that remain closed because of storm damage — Langosta Lounge, Stella Marina and Cubacan — will be able to reopen in January when storm repairs are completed, Madison Marquette’s presidents of investments Gary Mottola told the Sun last week. Madison Marquette is the boardwalk redeveloper.
Convention Hall reopened for its tree lighting ceremony a week ago. The Hall’s Grand Arcade features almost all the boardwalk retailers in a “Holiday Bazaar” every Friday, Saturday and Sunday until Christmas for Holiday shopping. A full-service bar is also in the Grand Arcade. Click here for more information about the “Holiday Bazaar”.
Langosta Lounge owner Marilyn Schlossbach has moved her operations across the street to her Dauphin Grille restaurant at the Berkeley Hotel. Until Langosta reopens, the Dauphin will be open for dinner seven days a week, with lunch and Sunday brunch on the weekends.
