Yeah it's pretty nice now. I was like that at first with radio and then I started to realize all my best friends from college were radio people so I got more involved. I ended up joining the board my senior year. Was a good time for sure. We just had our 50th anniversary celebration and it was amazing. So many people from like the 70s and 80s showed up and talked about how much the station meant to them
Sometimes I second guess my decision to commit to living here (aka by buying a place) but when I'm hungover and head to a Diner--hearing the sound of plates and silverware, I know it was all worth it.
I travel a lot for work and NJ and NYC (maybe LA?) are they only places that understand the importance of being able to get food at any time of day and Diners/Breakfast spots cure 40% of a hangover.
Really late to this party but happy to have discovered it. Been living in Jersey my whole life. I was born in Point Pleasant but grew up in Brick through high school. Went to Brick Memorial, graduated in '09. Went to Monmouth University for college, graduated in '13. Graduating law school from Seton Hall on Friday (crazy). Currently living in Bayonne. Honestly, as much as I love Jersey diners (and I do, shout out to the Rainbow Diner in Brick), there have been so many awesome diner-esque breakfast/lunch/brunch spots that have popped up that the term "diner" as it was classically used almost doesn't mean anything anymore. Usually if I'm going out for breakfast and I'm down in Ocean/Monmouth county, I'm going to Mariner's Cove in Brielle, Meemom's Kitchen in Wall, Toast in Asbury Park (also located in Red Bank and Montclair), or The Committed Pig in Manasquan (also located in Morristown). Highly recommend all those places to anyone in the area. It's pork roll, not Taylor ham. It's a sub, not a hoagie. #CentralJerseyIsAPlace
Ocean County Mall in Toms River is pretty bare-bones. Monmouth Mall is better, but yeah, Freehold Mall is the best closest to Brick. They have the most stores and also an amazing movie theater. Plus, there's a Cheesecake Factory for desserts. For groceries, there's a Stop and Shop in Point Pleasant Boro on Bridge Avenue but they also just opened up a Whole Foods(!) on Route 35 in Wall. So good. I'd stay away from the Shop Rite in Brick if only because that parking lot is an absolute nightmare. That said, also in that parking lot (but off to the side, away from the scrum) is Brick's greatest hidden gem restaurant, PJ Lee's Original Mongolian Barbecue. I go there so much it's kind of a problem. Unrelated, but great place for a breakfast sandwich is Baron's Bagels in Point Pleasant Boro on Route 88. They stack the pork roll so high you can barely finish half. Happy to help with any questions about the area!
Wow some bad as hell posts in here regarding pork roll (not Taylor ham) and central jersey (which exists) I'll second the Toast recommendation btw, place rules. Hard to go wrong in Asbury these days.
Never realized how important these debates were to Jersey people until I moved there for college. It's intense.
disgusting. an official organization taking on such a ludicrous, disturbing stance. Should be Taylor Ham Festival.
Pork Roll vs. Taylor Ham really isn't a debate so much as it is a large group of people being horribly misguided (Taylor ham people) and another large group of people constantly trying to make them see reason (Pork Roll people).
Also, sorry Central Jersey-ites, but this map is pretty accurate (displaying the South as the misguided ones and minus the ignorance in south North Jersey)
You don't realize that Monmouth is definitely Central Jersey until your North friends call you South and your South friends call you north.
Exactly this. All my Bayonne friends thinks I'm south and my Vineland friends think I'm north. #CentralJerseyIsReal