By KELLY McCARTHY
If you’ve ever witnessed the long lines of enthusiastic seafood aficionados and their families eager to eat at Mike’s Seafood & Dock Restaurant in the historic Fish Alley section of Sea Isle City, you won’t be surprised to know that Mike’s is in the running for multiple categories in The Press of Atlantic City’s annual Best of The Press contest.
So, as summer comes to a close. The Press gives its readership an opportunity to recognize their favorite New Jersey businesses for 2023. This is a great time to savor your memories of all the great foods you’ve enjoyed and the restaurants you continue to frequent.
Categories for Best of The Press 2023 include everything from Best Asian Food and Best Bakery to Best Burger, Best Ice Cream and more. From July 11 to July 30 were the nominations. Voting is conducted up until September 21. Winners will be announced in The Press on November 11.
This year, Mike’s Seafood has a total of five nominations including: Best Seafood Restaurant, Best Crab Cakes, and Best Waterfront Dining.
Readers may vote for Mike’s Seafood by going online to pressofatlanticcity.com/contests/best-of-the-press or by following the instructions on the flyer below.
The recognition of Mike’s crab cakes is special for Mike Monichetti, the third-generation owner of Mike’s Seafood. In 1911, Mike’s grandparents, Dewey and Rosina Monichetti, emigrated from their homeland of Ischia, an island off Naples, Italy, to Sea Isle City.
According to Monichetti, for the sum of $500, Dewey purchased the property where Mike’s Seafood operates today. The acquisition included a small shack across the street from Mike’s, which was the site of the original business. It’s there that Rosina made and sold her special recipe crab cakes.
Today, Rosina’s crab cakes are still a staple and one of the favorite offerings at Mike’s Seafood restaurant.
Other popular dishes include The Prendie Special, a steamed seafood combination with shrimp, scallops, flounder and lobster tail, named for Archbishop Prendergast, where Mike’s wife, Jeannie, went to high school.
Another crowd pleaser is the Mighty Mac Lobster, which is a lobster that is cracked, split and stuffed with lobster mac and cheese. The dish is named for Immaculata College, where Mike and Jeannie’s daughter, Mary Kate, graduated last year.
Still, it’s those crab cakes that really tug at the heart of Mike’s Seafood.
“The same recipe that started 112 years ago is the same recipe that we use today. We never changed the recipe that my grandmother started here,” says Monichetti, who adds that the original shack across the street still stands for use in storing surplus items and distribution packaging.
Mike’s Seafood is no stranger to awards. They’ve been recognized and won multiple contests over the years. And Monichetti says his restaurant has won Best Seafood Restaurant twice in the last three years from Best of The Press. Last year they came in second.
Monichetti also says the other restaurants that he’s competing up against for 2023 are the same restaurants that he and Jeannie are frequent diners at throughout the year.
“This year’s going to be the toughest year, the toughest challenge to try to secure one of the Top 3 spots,” says Monichetti. “We’ve got a lot of restaurants from Cape May and Stone Harbor, and Somers Point and Margate, Atlantic City and Brigantine. There’s a lot of really, good restaurants that are in for this year that weren’t in previous years.”
For Monichetti, he says it’s an honor just to be nominated in the Best of The Press contest. “It’s nice to be recognized with all of the hard work you put into it,” he says.
Mike’s Seafood & Dock Restaurant is not only a business establishment, but it’s a long-time family tradition of seafood excellence and customer satisfaction in Sea Isle City.
“I’m kind of proud that I’m carrying on a 112-year family tradition,” says Monichetti. “A lot of our customers, their parents, their grandparents, they shopped here, so Mike’s is a generational place.”
For more information on Mike’s Seafood & Dock Restaurant, visit mikesseafood.com.
