Need help finding place for Friday night dinner & hang-out

[joestein]

Our Daughter's camp is having an overnight on Aug 3. So a bunch of our friends, whose kids go to the camp, are getting together and going out.

We would like to find a place that we can have dinner (decent at least) and then some entertainment.

We are looking in the area of North Monmouth County, say anything north of Long Branch.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Joe

On a side note, does anybody know of any Dueling Piano bars in NJ?

[gigotz]

Only dueling piano's bar in NJ that I know of the The Village Pourhouse in Hoboken. And that's only because I saw an ad for them as I was looking for the same kind of place.
I have never been there and they only have it once or twice a month.

[maryanne06]

The Bobby Lynch Band does some shows with dueling pianos....he plays alot in Monmouth and Ocean Counties. I first saw him when he was the substitute keyboard player for Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes....he was fantastic. Here is Bobby's website and calendar: http://www.bobbylynch.com/#!calendar

[corvette johnny]

I definitely would not recommend asbury park, especially walking around late at night. hint hint.

For piano bars, I don't know of any "dueling" ones but Rum Runner in SeaBright normally has a piano player and Molly Pitcher does in red bank (or used to not that long ago.) These are more cabaret/Sinatra style players.

Red Bank would be my call for a safe night with a few decent restaurants, and quite a few shops/bars all within walking distance.

[equal_Mark]

Why would you not recommend walking around Asbury Park late at night? Have you actually been there in the past 10 years? I've found the biggest problem at night in AP is finding a parking space.

[JustJake]

Why not consider Keyport? These 3 restaurants far exceed anything that Asbury Park can offer in terms of a quality dining (food) experience: Drew's Bayshore Bistro, Nemo's (Asian Fusion) and Trinity. With Nemo's and maybe Drews having outdoor dining - Nemo's is right on the water and if the weather's decent affords some versatility/ambiance to your dining experience. Plus they're all pretty much BYO

As for entertainment in town, McDonaugh's Pub has r&r on the weekends to rock your soul. It's a bit rough around the edges, but it's a far cry from the Blood & Guts bars of yore (lol). Actually a pretty neat spot if you like craft beers.

Espresso Joe's is an internet/coffee house that will have my dear friend Kevin John Allen playing (along with a few other acts, Keith Monaccio is pretty good as well) on Friday. Much quieter atmosphere as there's no alcohol that's served (does't mean you can't bring something in discreetly........

Asbury is still a consideration and I'll leave that to other posters, but for northern Monmouth County, Keyport is a pretty good deal.

Take advantage of the kids being away and tear it up. Just have a DH amongst your group.

[coldbeer]

I'd go a bit south of Long Branch. All the fun is in Asbury Park.

[joestein]

We all live in the Marlboro/Manalapan area, so we are trying to keep it somewhat close.

We did find a place called Tula Lounge in New Brunswick (which is not in Monmouth, but New Brunswick is not that far from us), anyone know anything about it?

[jrvedivici]

You mentioned dueling piano's the last time I saw that in New Jersey it was the Billy Joel & Eton John concert at the old Giants Stadium some 15 years ago!!

Is that the type of entertainment you are looking for? Piano/jazz etc? You can go to a town like Red Bank which has many bars/lounges/restaurants all within walking distance of each other and check out different scenes. The same can be said for Pier Village in Long Branch......although I'm not sure if they have entertainment the Ocean Place Hotel directly next to Pier Village has an out door Tiki Bar / lounge on the beach which makes for very nice area to hang out and "lounge" right on the beach!!