As part of the rebranding of Rumson’s What’s Your Beef restaurant, new owner Marilyn Schlossbach had the sign removed last week, and in the process uncovered evidence of a past identity of the place: Nolan’s. 

A quick search of the Red Bank Register archive indicates the business operated as Jack Nolan’s, a “gay ’90s night club,” in the early 1960s, but wound up in receivership. 

The space reopened as the Bull ‘n Bear, boasting a “hearty menu,” in late 1967.  Just 15 months later, it became What’s Your Beef, according to an ad in the February 12, 1969 edition of the Register, seen above right.

Last month’s announcement of the new name — Russell & Bette’s, in honor of the founders of the Ranney School in Tinton Falls — and changes to the menu and interior layout, prompted a storm of protest in comments on redbankgreen. But as customer Chuck Stern notes, “everything changes… there was life before What’s Your Beef, in spite of some opinions to the contrary.” (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)