Bahrs in Highlands, Monmouth County, United States | Restaurant

Welcome to Bahrs Seafood Restaurant, Highlands, United States. We do not reserve tables at Bahrs,Seafood Restaurant. However we do maintain a courtesy seating list. If you call or email, we would put you on our waiting list one half hour before you are due to arrive. We reccommend that if you have a group of 8 or more that you do call ahead. We do not guarantee immediate seating. Requesting a window table may prolong the wait. Every table has a view. Plus we do have outside seating. Typically the wait for a table is longest on Saturday and Sundays between 6:00 and 9:00 during the spring and summer. Bahrs does normally have smoking on our DOCKSIDE BAR. Smoking not permitted in outside dockside dining. The full menu is available at both of our bars. The deck is open June through September from 12:00 pm.
Our founder John Bahrs, the son of a tall ship captain, and his wife Florence, had their beginning in Newark where they owned and operated a small neck tie manufacturing business. One year they had a robbery and their entire supply of silk was wiped out, causing the business to fold. They sold what equipment they had left and headed for a new endeavor. This brought them to Highlands where they purchased a beached houseboat being used as sport fisherman's motel as well as a rowboat rental business. The houseboat structure still remains.
On the day after the Bahrs' signed the contracts (1917), a severe Nor' Easter arrived and wiped out all of the rowboats. Consequently, they started serving meals to the fisherman staying aboard the boathouse motel. Jack and Flo did all of the cooking, putting out breakfast of fried eels, fresh eggs, and buckwheat pancakes; lunches and dinners of stew meat, fresh caught fish, and of course, Jacks famous clam chowder. Helping run the new operation were young son's John Jr. (Bud) , Al, Ken, and daughter Ruth.
The family worked hard together as the shore business grew popular. Eventually the beach house was jacked-up and the property was bulkheaded and the Restaurant was expanded to handle more seafood lovers. The motel upstairs was converted to offices in the mid 1950's.