For more than 40 years, The Wharf has offered scenic outdoor dining and live entertainment from a dock on the bay in Wildwood near Ottens Harbor. The restaurant has long been one of the Jersey Shore’s best places to get fresh seafood, catch the sunset and watch live music.
Now the business has added a beach bar on an empty lot that previously had been used for overflow parking.
The Wharf’s new bar serves drinks out of a repurposed shipping container. It’s just north of the restaurant’s main property at 708 W. Burk Ave. The beach area has picnic tables and chairs for customers to relax with drinks.
The development of the lot came after Wildwood installed a bulkhead to protect against flooding. Rising bay waters in the area had made past development of the area impractical, Wildwood Video Archive reported.
In recent months, crews hauled sand to the lot as The Wharf put together plans to transform it into a bar.
The addition of the bar comes after Wildwood enacted stricter laws prohibiting alcohol on its beaches and boardwalk in May. The alcohol ban prohibits the consumption, display or possession of any alcoholic beverage on the beach and boardwalk. This applies to all containers, open or closed, except in designated bars and restaurants.
In North Wildwood, beach erosion from high tides and storms has depleted the city’s coast in recent years, prompting a legal battle with the state over replenishment efforts.
The beach bar at The Wharf debuted Thursday and will be open for remainder of the summer.