Mayor Pasquale Menna, seen here at the Town Light-up in November, kicked off his pre-council meetups with little advance notice. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
It was another quick night as the Red Bank council held its second regular session of 2020 Wednesday night.
A light agenda saw the governing body wrap up public business in under 30 minutes before going behind closed doors to discuss litigation and a lease.
Here’s a recap.
Erica Lieberman and Nick Napoletano in their third Monmouth Street restaurant, called Toss’d. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
What’s the secret to surviving as owners in Red Bank’s crowded dining market?
In this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn, a pair of accidental restaurateurs share some insights as they prepare to launch their third concurrent venture in the heart of downtown.
Jim Scavone, left, with Mayor Pasquale Menna and Visitors Center director Margaret Mass at the opening of RiverCenter’s offices on Broad Street in October, 2018. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Jim Scavone, who led Red Bank RiverCenter for the past six years, is leaving the downtown promotion organization.
He won’t be going far, though: he’s taking a job at Hackensack Meridian Health at Riverview Medical Center, just on the edge of special improvement district he managed.
The latest plan calls for replacing the car wash, at left above, with a convenience store. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Five months after yanking a plan to add a Dunkin’ coffee shop, the owner of Red Bank ‘s lone Shell station will once again try for a convenience store.
Station owner Waseem Chaudhary’s proposal is the third he’s floated in the past seven years.
The former home of the Belmonte and, before that, Red, has been vacant for more than two years. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A long-vacant restaurant space in Red Bank won approval for rooftop dining Monday night, despite objections by the board’s chairman.
The new owners of 3-5 Broad Street also own the Proving Ground in Highlands. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The new owners of the former home of the Belmonte restaurant and nightclub in downtown Red Bank hope to add rooftop dining when they reopen the long-vacant space.
Thomas Register pilots a mini drone over a facsimile of Red Bank at Chopper Shopper. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A new business that combines gaming and retail promotion has flown into downtown Red Bank.
This edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn has the eye-in-sky scoop.
Now open at 19 East Front Street: Currant, a “coffee bar and general store.” (Photo by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Coffee and corduroy shirts, with a side of hair conditioner? As of this week, Red Bank has a new shop with an unusual business model.
Read all about it, plus some additional comings and goings, in this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn.
Residents placed red dots on the names of restaurants they would not want to see open in town. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
After a prolonged battle over a Dunkin’ donut shop, Fair Haven residents took an “arts and crafts” approach to starting a new dialogue about fast food Tuesday night.
Isabel Cortes in her newly rebranded restaurant, the Paradiddle Griddle, formerly Hansel ‘n Griddle. (Photo by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A Red Bank restaurant has reopened with all-new branding after a four-month interval, while two others have closed in recent days.
Read all about them in this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn.
After decades of disuse, a building in Red Bank’s train station district has a stunning new addition – and its first tenant.
What’s Going On Here? Read on… Read More
Yumi, at 9 Broad Street, hopes to replicate the success it’s had in Sea Bright. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Foodies have two new dining-out options in downtown Red Bank, with the openings last week of taco and sushi restaurants.
Read all about them in this quick-read edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn.
Except for a few punchlist items, a four-month, $1.53 million streetscape project in downtown Red Bank is now completed, according to business promotion agency Red Bank RiverCenter.
What’s Going On Here? Read on.
Abby Lawal outside Supreme Floral, which she opened with her husband in August. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Downtown Red Bank has added a new flower shop and lost a longtime restaurant, while another plans to expand.
Read all about them, plus a phone store that’s cloning itself, in this summer-closing edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn.
Pearl Street Consignment and Custom Clothes owner Emily Natale working on a mural on the Monmouth Street side of her shop last week. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank officials plan to create a committee to formally review requests for murals and other forms of public art, something that hasn’t previously existed, Business Administrator Ziad Shehady said last week.
Mayor Ben Lucarelli, right, with Council President Jon Peters at Monday’s council meeting. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Steam continued to rise Monday night from last month’s controversial planning board decision to allow a Dunkin’ coffee shop to open in Fair Haven.
At issue at the council’s semimonthly meeting was a proposed ordinance that would all but ban fast-food restaurants, even as advocates acknowledged it was no more than a “stopgap” measure.
A summer-long streetscape project in downtown Red Bank neared completion this week. But it will take one last, extended disruption to get there, says Red Bank RiverCenter.
What’s Going On Here? Read on.
The space vacated by Siam Garden, at the north end of the Galleria Red Bank, will soon get a new Thai restaurant run by a familiar chef. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Fans of Red Bank’s recently closed Siam Gardens will soon have a new Thai restaurant to check out, and won’t have to change their routes to get there.
This edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn has the dish, as well as word about a new indoor, mini-drone-flying course and other business churnage.
After almost a quarter-century and countless pints of soup, That Hot Dog Place in Red Bank is about to undergo a ladle handoff.
What’s Going on Here? Read on for the answer.
A Manalapan man was charged with driving while intoxicated after his Merccdes sedan struck a Red Bank restaurant Sunday, knocking out its electrical service.
Though turns would still be allowed in both directions on River Road, the shopping center’s eastern driveway will be changed to exit-only, under a condition set by the board. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
More than a year after it was proposed, a Dunkin’ coffee shop won approval to operate in Fair Haven Monday night.
The 6-2 planning board vote, shortly before 11 p.m. capped months of passionate debate over traffic safety, a fast-food law that went MIA and the shop’s potential impact on the small-town character of the borough.
CBD For Life plans to open in the former Katsin’s Drugs at 192 Shrewsbury Avenue. (Photo by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A high-profile Red Bank building that’s been vacant for 15 years has been cleared for a new tenant: a seller of trendy CBD-based health and beauty products, redbankgreen has learned.
A taco restaurant plans to open in the long-vacant building now getting a facelift at the corner of Broad and East Front streets. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A taco restaurant and a men’s clothing shop may be opening within doors of each other in downtown Red Bank.
Read all about them and more in this dead-of-summer edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn.
A consultant to the planning board recommends that left turns from the shopping center’s eastern driveway, above, be prohibited. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Attempting to address concerns over traffic safety, an engineer for a hotly debated Dunkin’ coffee shop proposed in Fair Haven has offered an idea he says will safeguard pedestrians.
Another traffic engineer, this one hired by the borough planning board, has also made some suggestions, redbankgreen has learned.
The plan called for remodeling the gas station and replacing the car wash, at left above, with a drive-thru Dunkin’ shop. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A plan to create a Dunkin’ coffee shop in Red Bank for Parkway-bound commuters is dead.
A lawyer for the owner of the Shell gas station at Newman Springs Road and Shrewsbury Avenue tells redbankgreen the proposal has been withdrawn.