Asbury Park restaurant set for Burlco firehouse
The owners of Brickwall Tavern, a trendy bar and comfort food restaurant in Asbury Park, will open a second location inside a historic firehouse in Burlington City on Thursday.
The owners of Brickwall Tavern, a trendy bar and comfort food restaurant in Asbury Park, will open a second location inside a historic firehouse in Burlington City on Thursday.
The tavern, which will have 24 beers on tap, will also offer fare such as Cajun-seared shrimp and grits, blackened catfish, and mac & cheese cooked in an cast-iron skillet.
Smith, a company based in Asbury Park that buys up old buildings with exposed walls in struggling towns and turns them into restaurants, began purchasing properties in Burlington City two years ago. Brickwall Tavern is the first the company will launch in Burlington, while Porta Pizza, another popular gourmet restaurant in the Shore town, is expected to be next.
Mark Hinchliffe, brand director of Smith, said the company is in negotiations with city officials to purchase the historic city Water Works building along the Delaware River and hopes to convert it into a Porta Pizza. The shuttered building "needs a lot of work," Hinchliffe said, but it is "an enormous space, a beautiful space" and if an agreement is reached, it could become the next Porta eatery in about a year.
Smith's original plans were to open both a Brickwall Tavern and a Porta Pizza in the Endeavor Fire Hall and Emergency Squad building, which was built in 1795 when horse-drawn fire trucks were used. Several Smith principals also purchased and renovated homes in Burlington for themselves after city officials announced revitalization plans that include a restaurant row, an arts district, and a new riverfront promenade.
Last year, Smith bought the fire hall from the city and the emergency squad for $175,000 and began work. City officials required the restaurant company to restore the firehouse's historic steeple and bell tower as a condition of the sale. Later, Smith decided to find a new location in the city for Porta Pizza.
"This has probably been one of our most exciting projects in a town with so much possibility," Hinchliffe said. "It's like a new start for the town, and we see Burlington as the next Asbury Park."
Hinchliffe said the new Brickwall will have the capacity to seat 93 patrons when it opens at 5 p.m. on Thursday. But there's room to double that capacity as the fire hall undergoes further renovations in the coming months, he said.
Brickwall will be open seven days a week, from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m., he said. It is located a block from downtown, at 19 E. Union St., in the heart of what is expected to be developed into an arts district.
856-779-3224 @JanHefler