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Anyone who goes to Avalon or Stone Harbor is well aware of the Princeton in Avalon. A dive bar, (sort of), but a place where the beer flows, the bands play, and everyone meets for a good time. Welcome to the age of “The New Princeton” which has been renovated and offers two new hot eating-places: Princeton Bar & Grill, and Circle Tavern at the Princeton.

These two new establishments offer a Philly flare to eating. It reminds me of Ritten House Square and the bars and restaurants that line the streets. They are very impressive with much to offer.

Within the past few weeks, we’ve enjoyed meals at both the Princeton Bar & Grill, and also the Circle Tavern. At the Circle Tavern, we had your typical sandwiches, fries, and drinks, which were very good. What we enjoyed most was being able to sit outside in the open sunny area, and enjoy watching the people pass by.

The evening we dinned at the Princeton Bar & Grill, it was an unexpected stop. The restaurant we were going to eat in Stone Harbor was closed for the evening, so we drove through Avalon, and remembered the Princeton.

As we entered, we were very impressed with the open-air feeling and the brickwork and bar area. The owners put a lot of time, money and effort into this renovation. We were seated at a booth, and other than the confusion as to who was going to wait our table, (it took about fifteen minutes to be addressed by a waitress), the food was great.

We were informed when being seated that there was a simplified menu this evening since it was the beginning of the season, and the full menu with many entrees would be coming four days after we were there. This was fine with us because we were not that hungry and the appetizers, sandwiches, and the “Wave” bar, which featured seafood, would be plenty for us to sample. The menu had a good selection of some classic items, but also had a wide variety of items that were unique and tempting.

My wife decided on the Princeton Grill Salad, which consisted of mixed baby greens with goat cheese and dried cranberries tossed in Dijon balsamic vinaigrette, and an order of the Charleston Crab Soup, which was a white she-crab preparation. I also chose the soup, and ordered the jumbo U-Peel shrimp served with a Bloody Mary cocktail sauce.

The salad was very tasty. The goat cheese made a good combination with the cranberries and dressing. The mixed greens were fresh, and the dressing was perfect. The size was also ample and satisfying. My wife and I were both impressed with the “bowl” of soup that was served. The soup was served very hot, (which is very important to my wife), and although you could really taste the Sherry, the combination of port, crab and celery was different, but very good. The portion size was perfect and we both agreed that the soup was better than we had expected.

My jumbo U-Peel Shrimp could have been a little larger since they were advertised as “Jumbo”, and they were a little over cooked. The Bloody Mary Cocktail sauce was what it said it was, a Bloody Mary Mix. I’m not a Bloody Mary drinker, or even tomato juice, so it was not something I was crazy over, but my wife loved the sauce. I like a thick, spicy sauce to dip my shrimp into, but I can’t argue that they served what they advertised it as. And don’t get the wrong impression, I ate every last shrimp and over all enjoyed them.

We skipped dessert, (I’m not even sure if there was any to be offered). The meal worked very well with what we were looking for in a light meal. For appetizers and drinks our bill came to $62.00 with tax and tip. I thought the price was right for the Jersey shore and the food and atmosphere was worth the trip. We are excited to come back and try an entrée in a few weeks!

The Princeton Bar & Grill
The Circle Tavern at the Princeton
21st Street & Dune Drive
Avalon, NJ
609-967-3456
www.princetonbar.com