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Atlantic City Dining Recommendations

RRedlich

RRedlich

TUG Member
Joined
May 11, 2014
Messages
134
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57
Location
NJ
Resorts Owned
DVC Vero Beach
DVC Saratoga Springs
Wyndham Avenue Plaza
Wyndham La Bell Maison
Wyndham Bentley Brook
Wyndham Kingsgate
Charter Club, Marco Island
Looking for recommendations. Due to Covid and NJ state travel restrictions, my husband and I have an abundance of Wyndham points. (We have not taken a trip in a year). We cautiously decided to go to Atlantic City in February because it is within our state. We are not gamblers but are foodies. From our understanding, Atlantic City is not the safest location to walk around. We are looking for advice on where we can get an early dinner. It can either be take out or reduced seating dining (NJ is still at 25% seating in restaurants).
 
We were there in October and had a decent meal at the pub across the street on the west side of the resort. We also dined outside in Cape May.
 
Kelsey's Soul Food at 1545 Pacific Ave. It is away from the boardwalk and I don't know the area well, but I brought my two teenage daughters for soul food and fried chicken and it was fabulous.
 
The Hard Rock has a White House Subs in it which is not fine dining but is excellent if you like subs and hot sandwiches and very close to the Wyndham.
Chef Vola’s is BYOB with 25% indoor capacity and is highly recommended. You would likely want to drive there unless you like walking the boardwalk (we do). It is on the boardwalk block past Boardwalk Hall but before Tropicana. I am sure you can do curbside there.
I would say that walking the boardwalk in daylight is pretty safe. I have not had concerns during the day. Off the boardwalk can be more dangerous. Be ready for a lot of people asking for money.
When you check in, ask for a view of the city not the hard rock, and you will be treated to a beautiful sunset nightly.
 
If you are looking to stay close to the resort, especially given it’s the middle of winter, there’s three restaurants in the Resorts Casino that we frequent. Gallagher’s Steakhouse is worth a visit. Capriccio’s Italian restaurant is very good as well, service is excellent. Not sure if Capriccios is doing it right now due to pandemic, but on Sunday’s they had a killer buffet style brunch. It’s not cheap, I think it’s around $50pp, but the selection was very good. Eastwind has decent Chinese food as well, we have gotten takeout from there and brought it back to our room.


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rrsafety said:
Kelsey's Soul Food at 1545 Pacific Ave. It is away from the boardwalk and I don't know the area well, but I brought my two teenage daughters for soul food and fried chicken and it was fabulous.
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My wife and I have enjoyed dining at Kelsey's Soul Food a few times since it opened. We have also enjoyed Kelsey and Kim's Southern Cafe at 201 Melrose Ave both before and after the Kelsey's Soul Food opening.
 
Carmine's was pretty good...Guy Fiero's steakhouse was awful.
 
Fitzriley said:
Carmine's was pretty good...Guy Fiero's steakhouse was awful.
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I will second Carmines as well. IIRC it’s a family style Italian restaurant - we’ve been there twice. We also like Cuba Libre’s in that same mall area.


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Only 1 block away from Wyndham Skyline, walking away from the beach is a Vietnamese restaurant. It offers outdoor dining as well. But the area does seem a bit sketchy.
 
Knife and Fork Inn and Angeloni's II

The buffet at the Borgata was great a few years ago -- impossible to even taste everything there. COVID-19/NJ's Governor may have affected buffets in NJ.
 
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Perry's Cafe and Deli is also a popular place with AC locals. It's a down home diner open for breakfast and lunch, and relatively easy on the pocketbook. Only a block or two away from the resort to boot.
 
chapjim said:
The buffet at the Borgata was great a few years ago -- impossible to even taste everything there. COVID-19/NJ's Governor may have affected buffets in NJ.
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In October, I did see a sign at one of the casinos that there was no buffet.
It's not just NJ, according to posts on TripAdvisor, most buffets are closed in Vegas.

In October the crowd was small. I wouldn't set expectations too high for dining in February.

Even if not gambling, the Hard Rock casino is worth visiting. There's a great deal of rock star memorabilia including in the rear of the casino, Elvis's Rolls Royce Phantom.
 
pedro47 said:
Is Atlantic City still a place to visit with family members ?
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needhelp said:
I have the same question.
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About 30 years ago, we used to vacation for two summer weeks in NJ rental apartments/condos in both Seaside Heights and Wildwood. At that time AC had casinos in the midst of a slum. Now much of the slum is gone and it has a nicer beach than either of those towns, but I didn't see much else for family except a unimpressive pier with rides.
 
Roger830 said:
About 30 years ago, we used to vacation for two summer weeks in NJ rental apartments/condos in both Seaside Heights and Wildwood. At that time AC had casinos in the midst of a slum. Now much of the slum is gone and it has a nicer beach than either of those towns, but I didn't see much else for family except a unimpressive pier with rides.
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Trust me when I say the slum is still alive and well in AC. Being high up in the Skyline tower, just look out at night at the frequency of police activities via the flashing lights as evidence. There’s quite a bit of drug and homeless activity in AC that is of concern IMHO. I don’t consider it family friendly, especially when compared to places like Cape May that aren’t far away.


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HitchHiker71 said:
Trust me when I say the slum is still alive and well in AC. Being high up in the Skyline tower, just look out at night at the frequency of police activities via the flashing lights as evidence. There’s quite a bit of drug and homeless activity in AC that is of concern IMHO. I don’t consider it family friendly, especially when compared to places like Cape May that aren’t far away.


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I'm old enough to have seen Atlantic City pre-casinos. My recollection was a cheap Boardwalk and one block in from the Boardwalk were mostly frame houses with shutters hanging on one hinge and badly in need of paint.

Now you have a cheap Boardwalk with some casinos. and two blocks in it's cash for gold, pizza by the slice, pawn shops, carry out Chinese, carry-out chicken, carry-out halal chicken, etc. Atlantic City had a monopoly on casino gambling for quite a while. Buses ran from NYC to AC. Philadelphia is close. New Yorkers can go to Connecticut, probably other places lots closer and less seedy than AC. Same with Philadelphia.

I think AC is reverting to its '50s condition.
 
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I agree with hitchhiker71.. it's a very sketchy area. We were only there to use up some points before we lost them and we ended up spending one day driving down to Cape May, which is a beautiful place and we had a much better time there. Not really worth the visit......IMHO
 
We were pretty much in the same boat with extra points to use or lose last year. We were worried about traveling out of state and the potential need to quarantine so opted for a couple of short trips to Skyline Towers. Yes A.C. has problems with crime and some very sketchy areas but we made the best of our trips in September and early December. Our unit had a beautiful view of the inlet and we enjoyed seeing the sun rise over the ocean. Even sat on the balcony with coats in December and enjoyed a glass of wine. Walking the Boardwalk is not scary when there are other people out there but it could be sketchy in February if you are alone. Since Hard Rock and Oceans opened nearby that end of the Boardwalk gets more traffic which makes it feel safer than before when it was dead in that area.

If you have a car take a short drive to Margate and walk along the Boardwalk there or take a trip to Cape May. We did in December and enjoyed walking around the town viewing the gorgeous Victorians. Cape May Winery has an outdoor fire pit so you can enjoy a glass outside.

We were worried about indoor dining so opted for take out. White House subs has a spot in the food court over at the Hard Rock which is a short walk. Their subs are fantastic. Chef Vola's has curbside pickup and the portions are so large we got two meals out of it! Also did take out from Doc's Oyster House and loved it. Skyline has no valet parking these days (but they still charge parking!) So it's easy to get in your car and head out to pick up food or travel to some nicer beach areas just outside A.C. We also ate at Council Oak Seafood at Hard Rock last year before covid and enjoyed that as well. Not sure if it's open these days.

Wasn't my first choice to vacation but like I said we made the best of it and had a great time. It was wonderful to just look at the ocean and skyline from our unit after months at home.
Hope you have a great time!!!
 
Here's some photos that I took in October. Much of the slum housing has been torn down and replaced or left as empty lots, There's a possibility that in the not too distant future, it could be developed into a nice place for families.

20ACb.jpg


20ACd.jpg


20ACg.jpg


20ACi.jpg


20ACj.jpg
 
AC outside the resort door and off the boardwalk has been a total dump since the 1960's jet age easily flew big spenders to Vegas and the Caribbean. To put it succinctly: you say sketchy; I say total dump.

That said, the Skyline has most excellent balconies, high above the Marijuana haze drifting over much of the dump, and I can relax after my whirlpool in my spa attire with a cup of green tea and inhale invigorating ocean salt air.
 
pedro47 said:
We did a family style dinner at Carmine's several years ago and the food and service was excellent.
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We like Carmines and the Cube Libre place not far from there as well.


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