New Tiki Bar On Woodbridge Waterfront Is Worth Trip Up Smith's Creek (2024)

Located on Smith's Creek at the town marina, and perched on a breezy spot overlooking Alvin Williams Park. 4 beers on tap, canned drinks:

Posted Tue, Jul 9, 2024 at 7:56 pm ET|Updated Wed, Jul 10, 2024 at 1:16 pm ET

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — On a steamy Tuesday afternoon in the swamps of New Jersey, this Patch reporter had nothing better to do than jump in the car, head south down the Turnpike and check out the new tiki bar that just opened on the Sewaren waterfront in Woodbridge.

And ... it's really nice!

The bar is called Anchors, and it's open seven days a week, Monday - Thursdays, 4 - 10 P.M., Friday 4-11 P.M., Saturday noon - 11 P.M. and Sunday noon - 10 P.M.

Anchors is located at 616 Cliff Road in the Sewaren section of Woodbridge, right at the same turn-off for the Woodbridge municipal marina. It's located on a creek known locally as Smith's Creek, and perched on a breezy spot that overlooks Alvin P. Williams Memorial Park (where Woodbridge launches its fireworks every year), with the Woodbridge dog run right nearby.

You can access the waterfront bar by car only for now. You cannot access Anchors by boat; currently, all of the slips at the Woodbridge municipal marina are rented. But the town does anticipate opening “dock and dine” slips in 2025.

Anchors currently serves canned drinks only, and has four draft beers on tap. Their full menu is above. Their bar list includes canned beer, canned wine, and drinks with spirits (gin, rum, etc.). There are plans to start launching frozen drinks soon. Woodbridge Mayor John McCormac wants canned beverages only there to prevent glass from breaking, and to prevent people from throwing plastic into the creek, which feeds into the Arthur Kill and ultimately New York Harbor.

They also have soft drinks available and sparkling water. Anchors also has WiFi for customers.

No food is served at the tiki bar. Woodbridge Township set up a truck outside the bar and has things like burgers, chicken fingers and pretzels for sale. All of those food items have been made beforehand at the Woodbridge Community Center, and sold out of the truck staffed by a teenage Woodbridge town employee.

There will be food trucks. Customers cannot bring their own food in from outside.

The tiki bar (it's not really a tiki bar, but an open-air pavilion) has been in soft-open for the past three weeks now. A grand opening is planned for sometime in late July.

"Turnout has been really good," said Brian Nazzaro, who grew up in Iselin and is now the daily bartender. "This past weekend was packed. We had live music Sunday night, and Monday night was Sewaren Night. All the Sewaren locals were given a ticket for one free drink."

The outdoor bar has ample seating, lots of TVS and even outdoor heaters for when the cold weather comes.

"We aim to be here through at least November, or as long as we can be," vowed Nazzaro. "We'll have the football games cranking. It's really a nice spot. People seem to like it."

Anchors just started their Instagram account @Anchors_Bar; there's where they will post what food trucks are scheduled on what days, plus if there are bands playing that night. The bar is dog-friendly, but they must be on a leash.

It was Mayor McCormac who first had the idea to open a bar on the Sewaren waterfront, which is a quiet, undiscovered stretch of the Township along the Arthur Kill — and Sewaren locals like to keep it that way. There are waterfront parks in Sewaren and even a beach overlooking the Kill (kill means "river" in Dutch), and Staten Island beyond.

Woodbridge Township has bigger plans to dredge that section of Smith's Creek and add more boat slips to the town marina. Middlesex County even plans to add a footbridge connecting to Alvin P. Williams Park. McCormac previously said Sewaren is a part of town he wants to invest further in.

"I was here Monday night and saw lots of people I know, all locals and lots of old-timers. But also lots of new faces," said Sewaren resident Jim Bernisky. "It's really nice. It's similar to the Sandbox in Highlands or JakeaBob's in Union Beach. A bar on the water where you can bring your own food."

"Everyone in Sewaren seems really happy with it; we have nothing to complain about," he added. "We all knew this was coming; the town did nothing secretive about it. Sewaren is really like its own community within Woodbridge. We are set apart from the rest of Woodbridge."

The tiki bar is owned and operated by the Woodbridge Arts Alliance. There used to be a small liquor store and fishing pier located at that spot.

Last week: Tiki Bar On The Woodbridge Waterfront Now Open (July 5)