By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
O’Donnell’s Pour House capitalized on the surge in al fresco dining during the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020 by building a new outdoor area for customers to enjoy food and drinks in a relaxed setting.
Known as Paddy’s Green, the outdoor dining spot at the corner of 39th Street and Landis Avenue in Sea Isle City features a large tent that covers part of the property, yellow umbrellas and picnic tables. There’s also an outdoor bar.
On Monday night, Sea Isle’s Zoning Board unanimously approved plans by the owners of O’Donnell’s Pour House to give Paddy’s Green a facelift that promises to make it more inviting and attractive to customers.
The project includes replacing the tent with a permanent pavilion-like structure and adding more space to a covered deck that doubles as a bar. Other improvements include adding a bigger food trailer, a stage area for bands, a larger bathroom and a handicap-accessible ramp.
“I think it’s going to be wonderful for the city. I think the public will love it,” said Pat Pasceri, who owns the Pour House with his brother, Ralph, and business partner Michael Roberts.
Restaurants throughout New Jersey began adding outdoor dining spots in 2020 to accommodate their customers during the outbreak of the pandemic, when social distancing restrictions were in place to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The Pasceri brothers and Roberts quickly adapted to the pandemic by demolishing an old house they had acquired next to the Pour House and converting the space for outdoor dining.
The decor, landscaping, lighting and 3-foot-high fence surrounding Paddy’s Green give it a more upscale atmosphere than typically found at outdoor dining areas at other restaurants.
Quaint pseudo directional signs for Belfast, Dublin, Gort, Killarney and other Irish cities and towns are among the whimsical touches that customers find at Paddy’s Green. The outdoor dining area complements O’Donnell’s Pour House, the popular Irish-themed restaurant and pub in downtown Sea Isle.
However, Pat Pasceri explained during an interview that the plan all along was to make Paddy’s Green even better by giving it a makeover, including a permanent roof to replace the tent.
“This year, we’re ready to put the finishing touches out there,” he said.
Pasceri serves as the chairman of the Sea Isle Zoning Board, but he sat in the audience during the meeting and recused himself from the vote for the Paddy’s Green project to avoid a conflict of interest.
Attorney Andrew Catanese and engineer Louis Scheidt, who represented the Pour House at the meeting, repeatedly stressed that the improvements would enhance the outdoor dining experience at Paddy’s Green.
“It’s simply just going to get nicer,” Catanese said.
Scheidt explained to the zoning board members that the popularity of outdoor dining continues to grow, even as the height of the pandemic has waned.
“There’s a great demand for outdoor dining,” Scheidt said. “People enjoy being outside and that’s why they go to the shore.”
Capping off the discussion, the board voted 6-0 to grant preliminary and final site plan approval for the project. The board also granted zoning variances that were needed for the project, including property setbacks and allowing new structures to be placed on the site.
“This will be even better and nicer,” Louis Feola Jr., the board’s vice chairman, said of the improvements to Paddy’s Green.
Before the vote was taken, members of the public spoke in favor of the project, saying that it would benefit Sea Isle’s residents and tourists by giving them yet another dining option in town.
“They’re developing it with outdoor dining, which everyone likes in Sea Isle,” said Patricia Urbaczewski, a former chairwoman of the city’s planning board and former vice chairwoman of the zoning board.
Mike Monichetti, owner of Mike’s Seafood & Dock Restaurant in Sea Isle, said the Pour House is “spot on” with its plan to improve the outdoor dining amenities at Paddy’s Green.
“Everyone wants to eat al fresco. That’s the way to go,” Monichetti said, adding that outdoor dining is also popular at his restaurant.
According to Monichetti, top-notch outdoor dining spots such as Paddy’s Green will help to distinguish Sea Isle in its competition with other shore towns for tourists.
“Projects like this one are what brings them back,” he said of the tourists.
Monichetti and other members of the public also complimented the Pasceri brothers and Roberts for their involvement in the community and their reputation for developing high-quality improvements at their businesses.
The Pasceris and Roberts are also the owners of the Ocean Drive, the iconic bar and nightclub on Landis Avenue next door to O’Donnell’s Pour House.
