New Asbury Social set to open nearly 3 years after flood destroyed landmark venue
The new venue occupies the space left behind after the September 2023 flood forced the abrupt closure of the popular biergarten.
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Nearly three years after a flash flood destroyed one of Asbury Park's most popular bars, new owners have taken over Asbury Festhalle and Biergarten and transformed it into what's now called Asbury Social.
"Get people off their cell phones, get people off the internet. Come here and socialize," said owner Claude Elie.
And that's the goal of the new Asbury Social, a project three years in the making.
A flood in September 2023 filled the basement with 4 feet of water, closing the biergarten and House of Independents. After the flood, show promoters Claude Elie and Julian Gellman purchased both the concert venue and restaurant, and Asbury Social was born.
"Supper club vision where you get dinner and a show. You'll get live entertainment. We didn't want to just open another restaurant and be another restaurant out of a million," said Elie.
On July 6th, disaster nearly struck twice when flash flooding caused water from Wesley Lake to overflow its banks, rush down the ramp, only to be stopped by a brand new $10,000 flood wall the owners had just purchased saving the entire building.
"It was more important to get it open correctly than rushing into it," said owner Julian Gellman.
Look closely and you'll see some remaining elements of Biergarten, including the OG pretzel, but these owners have even bigger plans.
"We are doing construction for some type of speakeasy cocktail lounge. It will be like a vinyl record speakeasy theme and you'll walk through that and another doorway that will get you to House of Independents to create another opportunity for people to come eat and hang out before a show and after a show," said Elie.
By late fall they expect the upstairs bar to open, showcasing those rooftop views.
Ninety employees will help Julian and Claude run the Social once those doors swing open at 4 p.m. Wednesday evening.
"It's a blessing to do especially since we are Jersey based and locally in Monmouth County. It's definitely awesome to keep giving back to the community," said Gellman.
