Seafood Festival
You can’t beat a chance to have some good eats outdoors while Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes are playing some tasty licks. Thanks to the efforts of Tony Sbarra, the Atlantic City Seafood Festival continued under a new organizational umbrella this year. The venue moved from Gardner’s Basin to the parking area at Bernie Robbins Stadium. So, while the bayside ambiance was gone, the good food and good music continued.
The seafood moniker was a bit of a misnomer, since there were equal parts landlubber grub and seafood. The variety of seafood was not as abundant as earlier festivals; there were no raw bar items for example and no lobster. However, there was a big line-up to grab crab cake sandwiches from one of the new sponsors, Phillips Seafood, and Chickie & Pete’s famous crab fries were a new item. The prices were reasonable and there was plenty of seating under a large tent. I enjoy six delicious coconut shrimp for $6 and from Dave’s Famous Barbecue, three ribs and one side dish for just $5. That, plus the chance to see Southside Johnny singing with his distinctive rasp, was worth the long walk from the parking lot on the Skate Zone side of Bernie Robbins Stadium.
