Off-season eats, arcades, and live music in Asbury Park | Field Trip

Would you believe it if we told you Asbury Park is the same distance from Philly as Sea Isle? For many Philadelphians, the north end of the Shore might as well exist on another planet. Fortunately, the off-season is the perfect time to broaden one’s horizons — so that come summer, you might break out of the tribal nature that governs which sands you plant your umbrella in.

As one of the larger towns on the coast, with a healthy year-round population, Asbury Park makes an ideal entrée. Things are open in the winter.

Not everything — but enough to keep you busy for a weekend of city-level food, idiosyncratic shopping, and live music. Start the car.

Make your first stop just to the south of Asbury, at Hey Peach in Bradley Beach. This inviting granny-core café-bakery from Erin “Peach” Kilker lines its wooden sideboard and pastry case with holey olive fougasses, crackling croissants, Scottish shortbread, fat cream puffs and more. If the weather cooperates, grab one of the bistro tables out front and enjoy your pastry (or three) with a Counter Culture coffee.

📍 126 Main St., Bradley Beach, N.J. 07720

It might not be beach weather, but the glittering sea views from the 11-footwindows at Asbury Ocean Club are just as dramatic in winter. The soothing dune-and-khaki suites in this luxurious 54-room high-rise — which opened in 2019 — feel especially indulgent in the off-season. Winter rates hover in the mid-$300s; that same room can top $1,000 on a summer weekend.

📍 1101 Ocean Ave. N., Asbury Park, N.J. 07712

Cosplay your favorite Stranger Things kid (minus the Vecna creepy-crawlies) at Silverball Retro Arcade. Gamer or not, it’s impossible not to light up like the 1992 Addams Family pinball machine when you step inside this clanging, jangling Boardwalk fixture. And because it’s not summer, the chances are good you’ll have no trouble finding an empty Skee-Ball lane. (Fun fact: Skee-Ball was invented in Vineland in 1907, with early alleys manufactured in Philly.)

📍 1000 Ocean Ave. N., Asbury Park, N.J. 07712

Right in the middle of the boardwalk, where you can shop for travel-inspired hoodies at Promised Land Apparel and thrifted art supplies at Asbury Park Art Club, Asbury Park Bazaar pops up through the year inside the Grand Arcade at Convention Hall. More than 50 vendors will fill the space on Valentine’s Day weekend, selling everything from patch-customized beanies and travel-inspired hoodies to candles that melt into massage oil.

📍 1300 Ocean Ave. N., Unit C-4, Asbury Park, N.J. 07712

Ghost ships, Victorian murders, haunted houses — in Asbury Park, spooky season never really ends. Paranormal Books & Curiosities anchors the city’s supernatural streak, selling horror novels, spellbooks, and oddities, while also running ghost tours and curating a small paranormal museum. Whether you’re looking for Grady Hendrix, Paul Tremblay, or something to summon the corners, you’ll find it here.

📍 621 Cookman Ave., Asbury Park, N.J. 07712

Named for owner Neilly Robinson’s parents, Judy’s & Harry’s in the St. Laurent Hotel is a two-in-one restaurant and cocktail bar with butterscotch leather barstools, frosted globe lights and framed family photos. The menu, by Robinson’s partner and James Beard semifinalist David Viana, blends her Italian and Jewish heritage with dishes like limoncello-splashed hamachi crudo, ricotta-matzo ball soup, schmaltzy potatoes and chicken and eggplant parm. If you’re visiting Asbury on a Sunday, swing in for their $38 Sunday Sauce pre-fixe supper.

📍 408 Seventh Ave., Asbury Park, N.J. 07712

What’s the opposite of a sleeper pick? First opened in 1974, Stone Pony is so deeply and inextricably tethered to Asbury Park. Everyone knows it. The bar and venue runs shows every weekend through the off-season, and the variety is pretty astounding: a Dave Matthews Tribute band, country singer Hunter Hayes, a student showcase from Red Bank’s School of Rock, bassist and Phish co-founder Mike Gordon. Tourists go. Summer people go. Locals go. You should go.

📍 913 Ocean Ave. N., Asbury Park, N.J. 07712