Skip to content

A town square for an unsquare town

redbankgreen

Standing for the vitality of Red Bank, its community, and the fun we have together.

WHAT’S FOR LUNCH? BURGERS, FRIES & A VIEW

081216barnacles5-500x384-1496782Attentive diners can keep a watchful eye on the burgers as they’re grilled at the end of the bar. (Photos by Susan Ericson. Click to enlarge)

By SUSAN ERICSON

wfl-whats-for-lunch-181x220-2273671In the shadow of Rumson’s 75-year-old Navesink-River-spanning Oceanic Bridge, Barnacle Bill’s is packed on a Friday afternoon.

“You know it used to be on the pier?” an octogenarian customer who’s been coming to the Rumson perennial asks PieHole.

We do, and locals know also that the waterfront restaurant is the place to go when you’re craving a burger — and that it’s open for lunch from Friday through Sunday only.

081216barnacles7-500x286-4919236The burgers here are thick and juicy. Below, a Friday lunch crowd gets a picture-window view of the Navesink River and the Oceanic Bridge. (Photo by Susan Ericson. Click to enlarge)

081216barnacles3-220x109-9513624Familiar faces fill the place, and that includes the expeditious and experienced wait staff. Lee Lam, our waitress, has been working here for 36 years, she tells us.

Are you a Barnacle Bill’s stalwart? Share your feedback!

A decision to rid the restaurant of its trade-mark complimentary roasted peanuts over litigation fears in 2012 prompted vigorous complaints by some longtime customers, but the owners were unswayed, and it appears the controversy has faded away.

New chairs and flooring were installed after Hurricane Sandy damaged the restaurant, but everything else, including the nautical novelties decorating the ancient barn-wood walls, has remained the same, and that includes the grill in the bar area.

“Nothing much changes at the bar or in the dining room,” Sam Sherman, whose family owns the place, tells us. “We add things and change things here and there, but the burger doesn’t change. Consistency is important.”

A menu of lunch specials includes everything from fried oysters ($12.95) to a lobster salad sandwich on brioche ($19.95). But old standards on the permanent plastic-coated menu, such as the 10-ounce hamburger, the tube steak (a longer-than-average Schickhaus hot dog) and the cheese steak piqued our interest.

As we bellied up to the bar, the pungent aroma of grilling beef had our salivary glands going full throttle. The burgers here are the old-fashioned thick, beefy variety that remain juicy because they aren’t flattened with a spatula.

Charred on the outside, medium-rare on the inside, the burger is served on a hard roll that stands up to the oozy heft of the meat. Sauteed button mushrooms and onions normally topping the burger were served in a side dish as requested.

Traditional burger add-ons such as cheese ($1 extra), lettuce and tomato are also available. All burger orders come with potato chips and a dill pickle spear. Cheese sauce, a creamy-tangy concoction, is also available.

An order of thick steak-cut french fries ($4.95) is another constant on the menu. Oversized lengths of Idaho potatoes are fried to a crunchy outer shell, leaving the insides still luscious and creamy.

Barnacle Bill’s is open for lunch from 11:30 a.m. Friday through Sunday only. Monday through Thursday, it opens at 4 p.m. 

susan-ericson-9177851

Remember: Nothing makes a Red Bank friend happier than to hear "I saw you on Red Bank Green!"
Partyline
RED BANK’S FINEST – AND NEWEST
Red Bank Police Officer Eliot Ramos was sworn in as the force’s newest patrolman Thursday, and if you’re doing a double take thinkin ...
EASTER EGG MAYHEM AT THE PARK
An errant whistle spurred an unexpectedly early start to the Spring Egg Hunt on Sunday, which had been scheduled to begin at eggsactly 11am ...
PRESEASON DOCKWORK
RED BANK: With winter winding down, marina gets ready for boating season with some dockwork on our beautiful Navesink River.
CORNED BEEF AND DISCO FRIES?
It’s Friday, and smart Lent-observing Leprechauns know the pot of gold at the end of Red Bank’s rainbow is actually the deliciou ...
SURFBOARD DITCHED
It’s a violation of etiquette in surfing to ditch your board.  (it could hit another surfer and hurt them). But someone appears to ha ...
ELSIE, TAKE ME WITH YOU!
Soaked by pouring rain with the temperature hovering in the low 40’s, this sign in the window of Elsie’s Subs on Monmouth Street ...
WALK THIS WAY
PARTYLINE: Before-and-afters of a sidewalk cleanup on West Street.
SOGGY NOTION
RED BANK: Breezeway sculpture captured the mood downtown as heavy rains fell Saturday morning.
HOME DELIVERY
RED BANK: After a subdivision, an instant house rises on a new Catherine Street lot.
COMMUNITY PROFILES
For Black History Month, Red Bank's Community Engagement and Equity Advisory Committee has been running a series of local profiles on Facebo ...
HEARTY FAREWELL FOR HARDY
RED BANK: Council to honor DPU supervisor Rich Hardy, who retired recently after almost 39 years of keeping things running.
HOMEBOUND? READ ON…
RED BANK: Can't get to the public library? It's now offering free delivery and pickups for homebound borough residents.
TAMING A BEAST OF A WEEK
RED BANK: After the second snowfall of the week, a borough family finds the perfect use for it – a Godzilla snow sculpture.
RED BANK: LIBRARY CLOSED, BUT THE HILL’S OPEN
RED BANK: Though the library was closed by a snowstorm, kids got to enjoy the riverfront property's steep slope Tuesday.
LIGHT(HOUSE) MAKEOVER
This year, getting ready for spring means a midwinter makeover for Strollo's Lighthouse in Red Bank.
TODAY: LOCAL PUPPY COMPETES ON ANIMAL PLANET’S “PUPPY BOWL”
Red Bank’s very own rescue puppy, Biscuit, is set to compete in Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl this Sunday, February 11, at 2 PM. Th ...
WHAT? NO redbankgreen NEWSLETTER?
Apologies to redbankgreen newsletter subscribers: the daily email hasn’t gone out for two days because of technical issues.
RED BANK: TIRED OF SKEETERS?
RED BANK: Tired of mosquito bites every summer? Monmouth County has a free program to help eliminate skeeter breeding grounds.
SEA BRIGHT: POLAR PLUNGE FOR ST. JAMES, OTHERS
Hundreds braved the wind and sea on Sunday at 1PM in support of St. James Elementary School, and other Catholic schools in the area. The eve ...
RED BANK: RBR CLAIMS TITLE
RED BANK: Watch pure joy as the RBR boys basketball team celebrates its first B North championship in 17 years.