Most tourists come to Atlantic City and never venture away from the casinos at the Borgata or Harrahs. But those who can break free from the trance and explore the city will find a new generation of artists, chefs, and entrepreneurs bringing the city back from the brink.
“The casinos are fun, don’t get me wrong — a ton of people view Atlantic City as casino town,” said Sean Towers, who opened The Seed, a craft brewery on Baltic Avenue, three years ago. “But there’s so much more you can be doing right now.”
Here’s your travel guide to exploring Atlantic City beyond the slot machines.
The Noyes Art Garage
The Noyes Museum, based in nearby Hammonton, opened a satellite gallery in Atlantic City called the Art Garage in 2013. The goal was to offer exhibition space and much needed work studios to a city that has produced notable artists but couldn’t manage to keep them at home. But that’s all beginning to change.
“Viewing art is the antithesis of being at the casinos – we want you to be present,” said Sarah Lacey, liaison at the Noyes Art Garage. “We’re here for the people who need to get back in touch with the world and see something that isn’t designed for you to spend money.”
The opening of the Art Garage has created a chain reaction of new organizations putting down roots here. Soon after came the Atlantic City Arts Foundation, which has commissioned 100 murals throughout the city and has a digital map to make it easy to find them. These massive art projects have beautified an urban landscape that is defined by vacant lots and blank walls left over from urban renewal and the demolition of historic buildings. In 2022, Union Hall Arts opened and now offers live models on Monday evenings for painters to practice their figure drawing.
The day I visited Art Garage, painter and sculptor Germán Acosta was in his studio putting finishing touches on a wheat-paste mural that will be installed at a nearby public school. He was there with his Peruvian-born mother who, like many immigrants, came to Atlantic City, lured by the promise of work in the hospitality industry. Here, in the ruins of a once-wealthy Victorian resort town, Acosta became inspired to create art. The 19th-century Frederick William MacMonnies “Liberty in Distress” monument had a major influence on him, causing him to pursue figurative sculpture in an age when most modern sculpture is abstract.
Acosta said there is finally enough opportunity for local artists to stay in Atlantic City. “That’s what I’m trying to do – to let the organizations and universities know that local artists can make art here,” he said.
African American Heritage Museum
One of the talented artists who left Atlantic City in the 1990s was the late Wayne Manns, who was recently honored with a retrospective at the African American Heritage Museum, located inside the Noyes Art Garage. Known for his moody color palette and portraits of jazz musicians, Manns was never forgotten by his hometown. A lot of Atlantic City residents became collectors of his art. “When he moved to New Orleans, his work started to pop,” Ralph Hunter, the museum’s founder. “It’s amazing how people from Atlantic City went to Louisiana to buy his work.”
Two of the paintings in the exhibition were loaned by the owners of Kelsey and Kim’s Southern Cafe, a soul food eatery. Unfortunately, the show only lasted for a month. But the museum is well worth a visit any time of the year. In addition to an impressive permanent collection of slavery artifacts, the museum uplifts local artists. “We’re in a position here to have shows that feature people who are sometimes less known as artists but to give them an opportunity to show their goods,” Hunter said.
Hunter, who arrived in Atlantic City in 1954, had already seen one rise-and-fall cycle of the city. He arrived from Philadelphia, visiting a friend, and decided to make the city his home. “There were more than 400 businesses owned by people who looked like me, the police and fire departments looked like me, the jitney drivers looked like me,” Hunter said.
At the corner of Atlantic Avenue and MLK Boulevard is a large mural – painted by artist BKFOXX – that depicts the late Madame Sara Spencer Washington who helped pave the way for other business owners of color, becoming one of the nation’s first Black millionaires with her cosmetics company.
Where to Eat in Atlantic City: Italian, Mexican, and Vietnamese Restaurants
One of the legacies of the city’s sizeable Italian-American community, which is centered around the Ducktown neighborhood, is that pizzerias are on almost every corner of the city. David Portnoy, after rating the cheese slice from Tony’s Baltimore Grill blasphemously low, once joked that the reason for Atlantic City’s decline was its subpar cuisine.
Not only is that not true with a number of top-rated Italian restaurants – most notably Chef Vola’s and Carmine’s – but the city has had an influx of Mexican and Vietnamese eateries. The roast pork banh mi and bubble tea at AC Sandwiches have become local favorites.
After getting my second recommendation in one day to try Pancho’s, I decided to check out the family-run establishment for myself. It’s set up like an old-fashioned lunch counter next to White House Subs. It’s not cheap, a burrito is $20, but so much love goes into each dish, including the homemade tortillas.
After you’ve engorged yourself, stop by White House Subs next door and get a sandwich to go. It’s obligatory. Most foodies will never forgive you for visiting Atlantic City and passing up a homemade meatball sub or Italian hoagie. The interior is a bit of time warp — it still has the same diner benches it did when Anthony Basile opened it in 1941. But it’s all about the food here and some say the sandwiches are the best in the state.
Princeton Antiques & Books
I decided to walk off my lunch and venture a few blocks south to Princeton Antiques & Books. While searching the rare and dusty wares, I realized what I enjoy so much about Atlantic City. Much of the rarities here are past their prime, but if you look around, you’ll find a hidden gem. Owner Robert Ruffalo moved to Atlantic City and began working at his father’s business in 1973. He makes a living selling First Editions but he also collects antiques, curios, and local artifacts, including vintage photographs. Not everything here is for sale – the Louis C. Tiffany art glass and the painting of the SS Morro Castle ablaze off the coast of Asbury Park are part of his permanent collection.
“Where else are you going to research Atlantic City stuff if not from a book store?” Ruffalo said. “And you can even take a piece of history home with you, too.”
The Irish Pub
I asked one of antiquarians at Ruffalo’s shop for a recommendation and she pointed me to the Irish Pub on St. James Place. It’s basically a history museum with booze and bar food. Owners Richard and Cathy Burke opened the pub in 1972 in an old speakeasy once called the Elmwood Hotel. The dining room even displays an old New York Times article from Sept. 5, 1920, when the establishment was part of a 13-hotel raid by Federal prohibition agents. It feels like walking into an episode of HBO’s The Boardwalk Empire with sports and theater memorabilia from the 1920s and a Prohibition-era violation notice framed on the wall. The bartenders wear white shirts and black ties to complete the fantasy.
The Seed
For those heading over to the Absecon Lighthouse, the perfect detour is The Seed where you can unwind with microbrewed saisson, lager, or pale ale. The great thing about the craft beer menu is that all the ingredients – including the grains, along with hand-picked berries, apples, peaches, and flowers – are grown in New Jersey.
You’ll never have the same drink twice. The recipes are based on the yields of local farms and only small batches are made, which gives each beverage its “soul,” according to owner Sean Towers. “When fruiting season comes around, if peaches are ripe and the local farmer has enough, we’ll go find a beer to put that in, rather than making a beer with the intent of looking for peaches,” Towers said. “If you come here, you won’t see the same beers all the time, only the same types of beers.”
I asked Towers what his brewery’s name “The Seed” meant to him. Of course part of its symbolism has to do with local agriculture – but it is also a metaphor for something small that can grow into a much bigger thing. Towers doesn’t see his business competing with the casinos, but working together with them. “We’re seeing an uptick in the art, music, and food scene,” said Tower, who came to South Jersey for school and has stayed ever since. “There’s so much growth going on and so much potential for Atlantic City. I think there’s more synergy between the casinos, the boardwalk, and small business than people might think.”
