JACKSON TOWNSHIP, NJ – Surf Taco has officially announced it is shutting down its Jackson Township bar and restaurant. After reporting earlier this week, the company confirmed what residents in the town had long feared.
Another business is closing its doors.
When it opened, residents were excited about Surf Taco. It was one of the first-non-pizzeria or Chinese food restaurants in town in quite some time. The inside was trendy, hip and reminded you more of a restaurant that you would find in Red Bank or Long Branch than in Jackson Township.
“Our doors will close at our Surf Taco Jackson location on April 23rd. We want to thank our customers, staff, & musicians for 17 years of tacos, margaritas, music, and fond memories. In April ‘06 we opened our doors at Surf Taco Jackson and the community supported us for the next 17 years. We want to thank you for your patronage,” the company said in a statement. “We are proud of great staff who served our customers over the years. Your hospitality and service were greatly appreciated.”
Surf Taco operates nine other locations in New Jersey and one in Jupiter, Florida. The brand has grown to become one of the most popular Jersey Shore-based food chains.
After 16 years, one of Jackson Township’s most beloved restaurants is closing. Surf Taco, once seen as the anchor restaurant for the Jackson Crossing plaza at the intersection of Hope Chapel Road is one of the few remaining longterm businesses in the plaza.
Things are changing. The plaza, once owned by Vito Cardinale of Cardinale Enterprises, has been sold to new owners. In the past few years, there has been a demographic shift in the plaza toward Kosher restaurants and businesses catering to the growing Orthodox Jewish community in the area.
The surrounding area has changed a lot, too, since the restaurant opened. Where a Jewelry store once stood on the north side of East Veterans Highway, a thriving strip mall that caters to the Orthodox Jewish community is thriving Liberty Plaza.
A massive new storage facility is currently under construction on the opposite corner. Just a few years before Jackson Crossing was built, the intersection was a sleepy wooded intersection between Jackson and Lakewood.
Nearby was a Geman restaurant, Huller’s Black Forest, which has also been gone for many years. Down the road to the west was Just Plain Jane’s, a notorious biker bar in the 70s and 80s. It shut down about ten years ago too.
On April 23rd, a “Farewell to Surf Taco” event is being held with a performance by acoustic soloist Billy Simmons. Simmons regularly performed at the Jackson restaurant.
It’s not certain what will take the place of Surf Taco. One thing Jackson does not have yet that is a very popular attraction in Lakewood is a coffee shop. The space is ideal for it.
This article is a follow up to an article previously published by Shore News Network.