Ivan Lopez and friend outside the newly opened Toro Rojo Parrilla Mexicana on Shrewsbury Avenue. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Two food-based businesses departed Red Bank last month – one after 21 years, the other after just a few days.
But the shopping and dining scene also saw the quick revival of a vacant restaurant space, the opening of a new Pilates studio and more activity.
Read all about it in this edition of Retail Churn.
After a four-and-a-half-month closure, the northern blocks of Broad Street in downtown Red Bank were reopened to vehicular traffic Monday.
Delayed a week by rain, and nearly drenched by more precipitation on its-rain-or-shine backup date, Red Bank Oktoberfest teemed with good cheer Saturday afternoon.
The first-time event went off just as skies cleared from a morning of rain, drawing some 2,000 attendees to sip locally made beer and liquor and enjoy food and music in Edmund Wilson Plaza, between Triumph Brewing Company and the Two River Theater. Volunteer firefighters were among the volunteers helping keep sample cups filled.
Based on the “incredible turnout,” Oktoberfest will be back in 2024, said Bob Zuckerman, executive director of organizer Red Bank RiverCenter.
Check out redbankgreen‘s photos from the event below.
Xol Azul Band, seen here playing last year’s Porchfest at the Fortune Cultural Center, is scheduled to reprise the gig Sunday, one day after a scheduled headline appearance at the Hispanic Heritage Celebration in Riverside Gardens Park. (redbankgreen photo. Click to enlarge.)
It’s eyes-on-the-sky time as four outdoor events dominate Red Bank’s dance card this weekend.
For two, it’s a matter of avoiding a second straight rainout Saturday, while the outlook is clearer, and sunnier, for two others slated for Sunday.
Oktoberfest is slated to take place in Edmund Wilson Plaza, between Triumph Brewing Company and the Two River Theater. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
A forecast of rain has prompted reschedulings for two outdoor Red Bank festivals slated for the upcoming weekend.
The change means that – weather permitting – the town could have both a beer-and-spirits tasting event and a Hispanic Heritage Celebration running simultaneously the following Saturday.
Attention would-be Gulley Jimsons: a large wall beckons at Red Bank’s Lunch Break, awaiting your artistic vision.
Catch 19 will close and a new restaurant will replace it, its owner says. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
In this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn: piping-hot news of changes at two restaurants in downtown Red Bank.
Though one is closing and the other is newly opened, for the owners of both, the appeal of the Broadwalk seasonal dining and shopping plaza remains strong four years in.
The event will take place in Edmund Wilson Plaza, between Triumph Brewing Company and the Two River Theater. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
After a year without an outdoor food festival, Red Bank RiverCenter plans to debut a new one next month: Red Bank Oktoberfest.
To be held in Edmund Wilson Plaza between Triumph Brewing Company and the Two River Theater on Bridge Avenue, the September 24 event will spotlight product samples from Monmouth County breweries, wineries and distilleries.
Hundreds of Red Bank residents turned out for free food and games at the annual police-sponsored National Night Out Against Crime festival at Count Basie Park Tuesday night.
Check out the photos below to see who you know. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Tom Chesek in Asbury Park in 2013. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Tom Chesek, an arts-and-entertainment writer who for decades trained a spotlight on otherwise unheralded musicians, playwrights, visual artists and other creators on the Greater Red Bank Green, died at home in Asbury Park Tuesday night. He was 64 years old.
Among countless freelance gigs, he was a longtime writer for redbankgreen.
Two new retail tenants will be coming to the building at the corner of Broad and Monmouth streets, says the landlord. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
One of downtown Red Bank’s landmark buildings appears on the verge of filling two retail vacancies, redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn has learned.
Also in this edition of Churn: a restaurant is now dual-branded; an Italian ice shop opens; and a smoke shop plans to replace a “sip-and-paint” studio.
Sunny skies and cool temperatures provided ideal conditions for more than 1,100 runners, walkers and wheelchair racers who participated in the fourth edition annual Red Bank Classic 5K Saturday.
Check out redbankgreen’s favorite photos from the event below. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
The annual Red Bank Classic 5K is scheduled to return Saturday with a new course, and, possibly, rain and puddles.
Red Bank officials this week began to address one of the foremost complaints about the downtown Broadwalk zone: the presence of “ugly” orange safety barrels used to supplement steel bollards installed last year.
The Bagel Oven in Red Bank ended a 45-year run under its founding owners Sunday.
A “temporary” office trailer has been in use at the public utilities yard on Chestnut Street for 20 years and is now “separating and shifting,” a report says. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A detailed review of Red Bank’s public utilities department found unsafe vehicles, inadequate staffing, facilities in need of upgrades and numerous other deficiencies, redbankgreen has learned.
The 14-page report, by former interim director Gary Watson Sr., includes a recommended boost in staffing to improve dealings with residents, who often can’t get answers to their inquiries, he wrote.
New public utilities director Terrence Walton addressing the audience at borough hall Wednesday night. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s council appointed a new department head, authorized another season of in-street dining downtown, took action on the long-closed town dump and gave a thumbs-up to a plan for gardens on Broad Street Wednesday night.
Here are some highlights of the busy meeting, which ran for more than three hours:
Gleaming displays at Salt & Smoke, on Prospect Avenue. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank may have lost one of its oldest neighborhood butcher shops last summer, but new owners are giving the space a new, spicier lease on life.
Also in this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn, a pottery instruction business takes over a tiny, hard-to-see spot in the heart of downtown.
A new specialty cheese shop has opened in Red Bank, adding momentum to an ongoing transformation of the downtown business district’s southern end. More →
RiverCenter’s proposal includes plans to boost weekday activity in the Broadwalk zone. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A six-month season for Red Bank’s Broadwalk dining plaza would feature enhanced efforts to boost weekday visitors and battle litter, a business representative told the borough council Wednesday night.
The council, however, withheld an immediate decision on the request.
The future location of Rita’s Italian Ice & Frozen Custard on West Front Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s booming food scene is in for some new additions soon: a Rita’s Italian Ice shop and a Mystic Lobster Roll.
Also: a hair stylist has found a single answer to the questions of where to operate his salon and where to live.
Read all about them in this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn.
Ethel Brandon, Michal DiMiceli, Roseann Kamin, Erin Howard, Liz DeBeer and Laura Jannone with their delivery.
A group of Red Bank and Fair Haven women made a food donation to the Food Pantry & Family Services Center in Red Bank on Valentine’s Day.
Michelle Storey in her new Fable Creamery vegan ice cream shop on Monmouth Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Recent weeks have brought a veritable groaning board of new culinary offerings to Red Bank: breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert.
Read all about the insane buffet in this winter-doldrums edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn. More →
The council took a moment to remember restaurateur Gary Sable, who died last week. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The Red Bank council tackled a heavy agenda Wednesday night.
Debates on bylaws, elections, Airbnbs, cannabis zoning and more jammed a session that ran for almost four and half hours.
HPC members Barbara Boas and Paul Sullivan at Wednesday’s meeting. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A longtime member of Red Bank’s Historic Preservation Commission has quit, slamming what she called the “authoritarianism” of its new chairman.
After 12 years of volunteering, Barbara Boas attended her final HPC meeting Wednesday night, telling redbankgreen she was done with the way Chairman Chris Fabricant runs things.