Best of the Shore
Surf City
Even the bars in Surf City (the few there are) seem to cater to an older crowd — quiet, casual, scene-free. The entire town — just a few blocks long and wide—is walkable, from beach to bay and along the limited commercial district, which includes a handful of restaurants and a mini-golf course. The Surf City Hotel, one of the oldest on the island, offers some of LBI’s best chowder and a well-known after-beach happy hour.
Best of Surf City
Upscale nouveau restaurant: Yellow Fin. An affluent Philly and North Jersey set comes for the namesake pan-seared tuna with miso vinaigrette; the fried yellow tomato with lobster salad also earns raves (104 West 24th Street; 609-494-7001).
Cheap breakfast: Scojo’s. $1.11 buys you one egg, one pancake and one strip of hog (307 North Long Beach Boulevard; 609-494-8661).
Happy-hour scene: Surf City Hotel Bar. Locals have long termed this post-beach gathering “wacky hour” for its eclectic mix of fishermen, tourists, and New York-LBI commuters. Also known for its “mature” pickup scene (8th Street and Long Beach Boulevard; 609-494-7281).
Worth-the-crowd restaurant: Blue. This Rat Pack-chic restaurant, drawing a heavily Main Line/Center City crowd, is one of the only places on the island where reservations are essential. The menu changes regularly but features fancy fare like mango crab timbala with avocado mousse (11th Street and Long Beach Boulevard; 609-494-7556).
Bed & Beach
Average 2004 home price: $645,943
AVERAGE 1999 HOME PRICE: $228,675
Recent listing: A three-bedroom, two-bath rancher in good condition, on the bay, $759,000.
Cost to rent a three-bedroom beach-block house: $6,000 to $16,000 a month.
Where to stay: Surf City Hotel, with restaurants, an on-site liquor store, and, supposedly, a pair of circa-1854 ghosts (8th Street and Long Beach Island Boulevard, 609-494-7281; surfcityhotel.com).
On the beach: Less crowded than southern towns, but more so than the pristine residential areas up north. A swimmer’s paradise; surfing is restricted to below 1st Street during the day, and fishing to 23rd Street.
