Drive south on Route 35 out of Point Pleasant Beach on any given evening this summer and you will pass a boarded-up laundromat that has looked exactly the same for as long as most Ortley Beach residents can remember. It has sat empty since Hurricane Sandy came through in the fall of 2012. Fourteen summers of beach traffic have rolled past that storefront without a single new tenant. This year, for the first time, there is scaffolding.
That small detail offers one view of how this stretch of Ocean County is changing, alongside what is happening on the boardwalk a few miles north, where Jenkinson's has been building toward its own big reveal all season. Both stories are true, and each offers a different view of activity along the shore.
Patriot's Run at Jenkinson's
Jenkinson's Boardwalk has spent the year building Patriot's Run, a red, white, and blue family coaster timed to open for the summer tied to America's 250th anniversary. The ride stands more than 35 feet tall, runs on conventional trains with a classic lift hill, and replaces the longtime favorite Tidal Wave. It comes from SBF/Visa Group's Cyclon platform, brought to the U.S. market by Rides 4 U out of Somerville.
Patriot's Run is a new addition to Jenkinson's summer lineup. It is one part of the activity around the shore this summer, alongside the business openings and projects described below.
A New Restaurant in Downtown Point Pleasant Beach
Another Point Pleasant Beach story this year is a few blocks inland, in a building that predates the boardwalk's oldest rides by decades. Gourmand opened on May 13 at 641 Arnold Avenue, inside the Gottlieb Building, a property that has stood on Arnold Avenue since 1906. The chef-driven menu leans into modern American cooking with global touches: wagyu lasagna, Korean barbecue fried oysters, a scallop and chorizo dish, and a hand-pulled noodle short rib preparation, alongside more familiar steakhouse staples like filet mignon and a prime New York strip.
The address is notable: Gourmand opened in a 120-year-old building in the middle of downtown Point Pleasant Beach. That adds a new restaurant to the town's core.
Ortley Beach, the Slower Story
Head south on Route 35 into Ortley Beach and the pace of change looks nothing like Point Pleasant Beach's. Here, storefront changes are happening gradually.
Two projects define it. The Local Girl reported that Dune Coastal Cuisine, a fine-dining Italian American concept, is taking over the former Rockafellas space. The building's owners, the Palermo family, already run Piccolino Italian Kitchen on Fischer Boulevard in Toms River, which opened in late 2023. The project brings a restaurant family with a track record a few towns over to Ortley Beach as the former Rockafellas space is reactivated.
Then there's the laundromat. The Local Girl reported that Salty Dick's Kitchen and Piano Bar is under construction at 1904 Route 35 North, in a space that has been vacant since Sandy. The project has reportedly been in the works for more than four years and is aiming for an opening around St. Patrick's Day 2027. That means the building will have sat empty for close to fifteen years by the time anyone orders a drink there. The owner, Richard Sullivan, has described the goal simply as wanting a laid-back gathering spot with live music, something Ortley hasn't had in a long time.
Fifteen years is not a fast turnaround. It is a reminder that change on a barrier island can unfold over many years.
A few blocks away, the old McDonald's on Route 35 South has sat vacant since it closed in 2020, six years now, sharing a parking lot with the island's only grocery store. Locals have been trading guesses on neighborhood Facebook groups about what might eventually fill it. Nothing is confirmed. But the fact that residents are speculating at all, rather than assuming it will stay empty forever, is itself a shift from a few years ago.
One Name Behind Three Addresses
There's a detail in the Salty Dick's story worth sitting with. Richard Sullivan isn't a first-time operator testing the waters in Ortley Beach. He also owns Ricky Bagels in Toms River and Angelina's Italian Market in Lavallette. That means one local entrepreneur now has a stake in businesses in Toms River and Lavallette and a project in Ortley Beach.
Taken together, the businesses and projects described here offer one view of commercial activity across three nearby communities, alongside the summer activity at the boardwalk.
What This Means If You Already Live Here
If you're in Point Pleasant Beach, Ortley Beach, or Lavallette this summer, the boardwalk will have a new ride, more fireworks nights through early September, and the usual crowds. The storefront projects described here offer another part of the summer picture.
Away from the boardwalk, the storefront changes are quieter. Gourmand is already open and worth a reservation if you want to see what a century-old building looks like with a modern kitchen inside it. Dune Coastal Cuisine is still under construction with no confirmed opening date, so keep an eye on the former Rockafellas signage if you're curious. Salty Dick's won't open until around St. Patrick's Day 2027, which means this summer is really about watching scaffolding go up on a building that has been empty since before some current Ortley Beach residents were born.
None of this shows up in a listing description or a portal search. It shows up if you drive the corridor, notice which storefronts have new permits taped to the window, and recognize the same names attached to more than one address. That's the kind of read on a market that only comes from paying attention to a place over years, not weeks.
If you're weighing what any of this means for property values along this stretch, or you're simply curious what a slow, decade-plus recovery like Ortley Beach's tends to do to nearby home prices once it finally takes hold, that's a longer conversation. MaryBeth Tomaro has spent her career watching Monmouth and Ocean County shore towns move at exactly this pace, and she's happy to talk through what it might mean for your own plans. Schedule a free consultation whenever you're ready.
