Bahrs … Nothing Else Need to be Said
Bahrs Restaurant is the oldest still operating business in the borough of Highlands and has a fascinating history that highlights how determination, hard work, and creativity played vital roles in the establishment of a restaurant known throughout the state and beyond.
The fourth generation of the Bahrs family still owns and operates the restaurant which actually started out as a beached houseboat on the site where it is still located.
Becky Cosgrove, wife of Jay, the fourth generation owners, is a terrific historian of the restaurant’s story and shares information on how boathouses along the Shrewsbury River were not as appreciated or desired as the one John and Florence Bahrs salvaged, repaired, and restored to a fascinating hotel and restaurant that has been the site for a Super Bowl ad as well as featured in one of the seasons of a tv series. Daily, its setting, view and outstanding menu continue to be draws for people seeking great seafood and other dishes along with history.
According to Becky, who also backs up all her research with photos and postcards, in the very early years of the 20th century, all around the country, whether at the tip of 14th Street in New York or in Sausalito California, people were living on houseboats.
Word had gotten out how inexpensive a vacation could be to camp in this manner. In 1904, the Shrewsbury River was reported to be popular and possessed proportionally more houseboats than any other section of water fascinated by New Yorkers in the summertime. In fact so many people were enjoying their houseboats that the board of Health was urged to investigate the situation.
Apparently, houseboaters were neither neat with their garbage or sewage refuse. Sometimes houseboats were removed from their anchorage forcibly for other reasons as well. In July of 1903, the Commandant at Sandy Hook ordered the removal of houseboats from the reservation on Plum Island and beach opposite Parkertown. The campers were accused of sneaking over to Parkertown clamming boats at midnight and stealing their clams and other articles of value. One of these early houseboats was beached over in Parkertown, which was an early name for Highlands because of the numerous members of the Parker family who lived there.
John and Florence Bahrs came from Newark where they had a business but were lured by the charm of Highlands. So they moved to town, and opened a boat rental business on Cedar St where they cooked clam chowder for those who rented the boats. When they saw this beached boathouse not far away, they investigated and decided to take one more leap of ambition. They purchased it in 1917 and the beach under it, bringing along their rental boats to operate from their new location.
With the size of the houseboat, they could also open a hotel and the hard working Bahrs added to their clam chowder cooking to offer more meals to the boarders. They charged $2.50 a night for room and board at the two story building, now a far cry from the shabby, unkempt houseboats in the river.
The couple’s four children, John, Al, Ken and Ruth, all worked in the family business and saw the restaurant grow from its abandoned beached start to the iconic restaurant it is today, still serving that clam chowder and every other seafood favorite and more. Over the years the business expanded, tables and chairs under umbrellas along with a bar were added outside along the water for summer enjoyment, and the business flourishes.
But the beached houseboat is still very much a part of Bahrs restaurant. It’s part of both the main dining room and the entry to the restaurant.
Muriel –
I learned one time that Frank Sinatra once docked his boat, ordered food and drinks from Bahr’s, and had a party on his boat.
Steve