Dining on Vacation

Our first day at the Jersey Shore and it was wonderful. A bike ride in the morning, a day at the beach, ocean temp perfect, decent waves and dinner at our favorite local restaurant, Carmen’s in Sea Isle City. Why do I like this restaurant? Several reasons and some of them hit on what I like and don’t like when going out for dinner.

I think the dining experience starts with the first person you meet at the establishment. In this case it’s a parking attendant who notices the disability tag hanging in the front window (our youngest daughter has CP) and immediately offers to get us closer to the door before he parks the car. I like that attention to detail.

Carmen’s is an open-aired, BYOB, family restaurant that specializes in seafood and good service. The valet parking is free and makes the whole dining experience much easier because there is absolutely no parking in that part of town because of the three or four similar restaurants within two blocks.

When we arrived at the hostess desk, manned by three young ladies who noticed my daughter on special crutches, they asked if we wanted to sit at the closest table. This was nice, but I never like sitting near the entrance and asked if we could sit in the back. They found us a great table in the back closer to the water.

The waitress looked familiar and she recognized my youngest daughter from the previous year. With all the faces this young lady must see in a season, it’s amazing she could remember our kids. I like that.

We ordered and enjoyed a delicious dinner while trying a bottle of chardonnay we brought with us. My entree was broiled scallops and local flounder served with coleslaw and a baked potato. My wife ordered the broiled seafood platter that came with shrimp, scallops, a lobster tail and piece of flounder.

A great meal and a great day.