Restaurants Assisted Lower’s Summer Rec. Programs

The township concluded a successful season of recreation programs including a spectacular fireworks display July 4th and two outdoors concerts that drew record crowds to the Cape May-Lewes Ferry terminal lawn in North Cape May.
The programs were made possible by the support of the business community including three restaurants in Lower Township: the Lobster House, the Saltwater Café and Harpoon Henry’s.
The Lobster House on Schellenger’s Landing is a dining institution where generations of visitors and locals return for consistently good food even in the coldest days of winter.
Keith Laudeman, president of the Lobster House and Cold Spring Fish and Supply, speaks humbly of the restaurant’s continuing success.
In 2010, Restaurants and Institutions Magazine reported the Lobster House was the 29th highest-grossing independently-owned restaurant in the nation serving over 330,000 meals in 2009.
Laudeman said the wholesale side of the fishing business was growing along with his fleet of boats. He said Cold Spring Fish and Supply ships fresh fish to all parts of the world with a large part of the business concentrating on scallops.
The Lobster House offers more than one dining experience. It encompasses a restaurant, a raw bar, a fish market, a coffee shop and a bar on schooner. The Schooner American was specially constructed for the Lobster House to serve as a floating bar tied to a dock.
It will not be sailing to sea any time in the future since it was not built for that purpose. Laudeman said two previous schooners were working fishing vessels.
He is third generation of his family to be a part of the operation of the Lobster House.
“I always feel positive about Lower Township,” he said.
One year ago a fire at South Jersey Marina on Route 109 offered owners Rick and Colleen Weber an opportunity to remodel much of the former art deco building into something new. Rick Weber said they decided to use restaurant space they once leased to other operators to create the Saltwater Café. The cafe, shiny and new with a view of the marina, offers breakfast and lunch.
“We’ve been really thrilled with our acceptance from the locals,” said Rick Weber.
He credits much of the success of the café to its operators, Debbie and Phil John. Phil is a second generation restaurateur. His family owned the Sandcastle in Wildwood Crest.
The menu does not forget the history of the location and its pancake house roots, said Weber, however the café goes beyond the traditional pancake house menu. The menu is more “healthy,” with items such as egg whites with portabella mushrooms.
If the traffic allows, plans are for the Saltwater Café to remain open through the winter, said Rick Weber. A unique feature of the cafe is allowing customers to arrive by boat for breakfast.
“The marina will guide you where to dock,” said Weber.”You can dock and dine.”
Weber calls Lower Township an interesting blend of districts and neighborhoods.
“Lower is one of those municipalities that isn’t a one-trick pony,” he said. “We have a nice, reasonably-large residential section, we have commercial districts, we have a waterfront area on the bay and we have a section that is harbor front.”
He said the township is large enough to offer something for everyone.
Harpoon Henry’s on Beach Drive in North Cape May offers some of best views of sunsets on the East Coast.
Owners Ed and Teresa Henry create a Key West atmosphere at the restaurant/bar including palm trees on the grounds that live year-round. The palms are a hybrid species from Georgia that survive New Jersey winters.
Ed Henry blows a conch shell at sunset for restaurant patrons as is done in Mallory Square in Key West and Islamorada.
“We’ve tried to bring a little bit of tropical Florida up to New Jersey,” said Ed Henry.
Artwork inside the restaurant includes many sunset photos taken by visitors and local residents.
Harpoon Henry’s has live music seven nights a week from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., often acoustic, with a good size helping of Jimmy Buffett tunes, said Ed Henry.
“The menu leans towards seafood since we’re on the water, we have plenty of red meat and we sell an awful lot of chicken wings,” said Ed Henry.
The restaurant will close after Columbus Day weekend and reopen the last weekend in April.
Ed Henry said the restaurant had a great season with a strong August.
He said Lower Township is a “terrific” place to own a business in particular dealing with the local government.
“It’s business friendly,” said Ed Henry. “Lower Township all the way through from the elected officials to the day-to-day people understand how to say thank you.”
He said the restaurant has plenty of repeat business from second home owners in the township.