An exciting new restaurant is making its way to the Jersey Shore – Tommy’s Tavern & Tap.

In the past year, we’ve witnessed the transformation of several non-restaurants into restaurant space; most notably Asbury Festhalle & Biergarten and Patrizia’s of Red Bank. It’s an exciting trend and if done right, the outcome often helps bring new people into their respective communities.

In Sea Bright, Hurricane Sandy ravaged the town with flood waters previously unseen, forcing businesses to either remodel or close. One of those businesses was the local post office, forcing the United States Postal Service to move their operations a few doors down into Bain’s Hardware.

The building that housed the post office and its adjacent retail was sold last year to a group of investors with plans to convert the space into a restaurant. Enter Tommy Bonfiglio, of Tommy’s Coal Fired Pizza with three locations in Red Bank, Brick and Paramus.

Exterior plans for Tommy’s Tavern & Tap

Tommy has grand plans for the new restaurant, transforming all 6,700 square feet of the post office and adjacent vacant retail into Tommy’s Tavern & Tap. A new concept that, according to Mr. Bonfiglio, “takes the best of Tommy’s – pizza, wings, & salad, and combines them with an assortment of comfort foods like burgers, sandwiches and a large variety of appetizers and small plates.”

Tommy’s Tavern & Tap also has ambitious plans for their tap selection, with a separate outdoor refrigeration unit housing a vast selection of craft beers for the restaurant.

The building will be completely gutted and transformed into its original state, an urban industrial look with exposed brick walls and cement floors.

We look forward to hearing more on this great concept, and are counting down to their opening, currently planned for May 2015 at or before Memorial Day weekend!