Ocean Bay Coastal Grille & Bar Building Put Up For Sale
Ocean Bay Coastal Grille & Bar in North Wildwood has closed due to a denied liquor license, prompting allegations of discrimination, while its renovated building and adjoining home are now listed for sale at $3.3 million.
If you’ve driven down Delaware Avenue recently, you might have noticed something missing—the sign for Ocean Bay Coastal Grille & Bar is no longer there. This change sparked a wave of speculation across Facebook about the restaurant’s future
Located at 2507 Delaware Avenue in North Wildwood, Ocean Bay Coastal Grille & Bar had just opened its doors this past summer and quickly became a fan favorite.
Ocean Bay Coastal Grille & Bar Building Put Up For Sale
The location has a long history, having previously housed various establishments over the years, including Tony’s, O’Boyle’s, and most recently, the Salty Mermaid Bar & Grille.
Also See: Major Changes At Former Groff’s Restaurant Location
Amid the online chatter on Facebook, people started to notice that the physical building had an active listing since October saying that the physical building, not Ocean Bay Coastal Grille, was up for sale.
The listing highlights numerous upgrades made to the property, including a full exterior and interior renovation completed in 2018. These updates include:
- Interior Features:
- Cathedral ceilings
- Tile flooring
- Two new 5-ton central air conditioning units
- An expansive bar and dining area with a seating capacity of 90 indoors and 70 outdoors
- Modern design elements and state-of-the-art equipment, including metric computer software and speed racks
- A spacious kitchen equipped with a 22-foot hood, grills, stove, fryolators, broiler, bain-maries, ice machines, dishwasher, and walk-in refrigerators/freezers.
- Exterior Features:
- An enclosed bar deck with 20 beers on tap
- Entertainment areas
- Separate hut with additional beer taps
- Separate men’s and women’s restrooms
The sale also includes a single-family home with three bedrooms and two full bathrooms.
The owners of the Ocean Bay Coastal Grille would later address the viral posts on their business page and say that they would not reopen at the corner of Delaware and 26th Avenues.
Their statement detailed a bitter conflict with the City of North Wildwood over the denial of a liquor license for one of their partners, a seasoned Mexican female professional with nearly three decades of experience.
The owners allege the decision was discriminatory, stating:
“Specifically, the city denied one of our partners who is a proud Mexican female with 28+ years of experience at prominent area liquor establishments. We believe this is a discriminatory action against our esteemed colleague, in a town where there’s very few minority, Hispanic, and Mexican business owners and not one liquor license holder who is Mexican.”
Later adding, “We don’t take discrimination lightly and we will not stand for the actions of the City of North Wildwood.”
This decision ultimately prevented the business from finalizing the purchase of the building, which is currently owned by the Salty Mermaid.
The statement explained, “For over a half a year we were given the runaround about our liquor license, costing us to lose time and money. We were given one excuse after another.”
Despite this setback, the owners of Ocean Bay Coastal Grille & Bar are optimistic about the future and are actively seeking a new location off the island.
“We appreciate the incredible support we’ve received from our patrons and will continue to keep everyone updated as we move forward. We wish everyone a blessed Christmas and New Year.”
For now, Ocean Bay Coastal Grille & Bar remains committed to their vision and looks forward to serving their loyal customers in a new location soon while this now leaves one less restaurant on the island.
Those looking to purchase the building its going to run you a cool $3,299,900.
What do you think should go in its place?