With Martell's and Jenkinson's dining rooms closed, which part of Point Pleasant Beach is still on the calendar? The borough and Chamber of Commerce calendars for late October through mid-December list seven public events. Only one of them takes place on the boards. The rest are on Arnold Avenue, Bay Avenue, Pleasure Park and the Skate Park.
The Oceanfront Has Posted Its Signs
Martell's has closed its seasonal dining rooms. On its own site, the Lobster House, Jake's Crabhouse beside the Tiki Bar, and Martell's Sushi Bar each read closed for the season, with a return planned for spring 2027. Jenkinson's Boardwalk Bar & Grill at the Central Avenue street end carries the same message: "CLOSED FOR THE SEASON."
The town's other big weekly fixture is gone too. The FRESH Farmers & Makers Market in the NJ Transit lot on Cooks Road now lists its 2026 season as completed, and no off-season dates are posted.
So the places that set the summer pace, from the oceanfront dining rooms to the Sunday market, have all stepped back on schedule. The calendar that replaces them is clustered inland.
Seven Dates, Mapped by Street
Here is the public calendar from the day this post goes live through the second week of December, as listed on the borough calendar and the Point Pleasant Beach Chamber of Commerce event pages.
| Date | Event | Where | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thu., Oct. 29 | Witches Walk | Downtown, Arnold Avenue | 4 to 8 p.m. |
| Sat., Oct. 31 | Grom O Ween | Skate Park | 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. |
| Sat., Nov. 7 | Beer on the Boards | Martell's Tiki Bar, 308–312 Boardwalk | 2 to 5:30 p.m. |
| Fri., Nov. 27 | Christmas Tree Lighting & Santa's Arrival | Arnold and Bay Avenues | Evening, see below |
| Sat., Nov. 28 | Tree lighting rain date, only if needed | Arnold and Bay Avenues | 4 to 8 p.m. |
| Sun., Dec. 6 | Winter Wonderland-Holiday Festival | Pleasure Park, St. Louis and Forman Avenues | 3 to 6 p.m. |
| Thu., Dec. 10 | Ladies Night Out | Downtown, Arnold and Bay Avenues | 4 to 8 p.m. |
Count the rows by location. Four of the seven, including the rain date, are on Arnold Avenue, so there are three separate downtown events. Pleasure Park and the Skate Park each get one. The boardwalk gets one Saturday afternoon. In summer the beachfront ran the town's calendar. From now until spring, the downtown business district does.
Arnold Avenue Takes Three Evenings
The three downtown events are spread from late October to mid-December, and all of them are on the same few blocks.
- Witches Walk, Thursday, Oct. 29. This one starts the day this post comes out. The Chamber lists it for 4 to 8 p.m. along Arnold Avenue, on a Thursday.
- Christmas Tree Lighting & Santa's Arrival, Friday, Nov. 27. The day after Thanksgiving, the event covers both Arnold and Bay Avenues. The two calendars disagree on the start time. The borough calendar says 4 to 8 p.m., and the Chamber's event page says 5:30 to 8 p.m. Plan on an evening event and check both pages that week. The borough has set Saturday, Nov. 28 from 4 to 8 p.m. as the rain date.
- Ladies Night Out, Thursday, Dec. 10. The borough describes it as a town-wide downtown stroll on Arnold and Bay, with participating shops offering specials, refreshments and raffles, from 4 to 8 p.m. The Chamber's listing shows the hours in the morning, so go by the borough's evening times.
Two of the three fall on Thursdays, and all three run into the evening. Of the three, only the tree lighting has a rain date on the calendar.
The Parks Fill the Weekend Daytime Hours
The other two non-boardwalk dates cover what the downtown nights leave open: weekend daylight.
Grom O Ween, a Recreation Department skateboarding and costume event at the Skate Park, runs Saturday, Oct. 31 from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. It wraps up by mid-afternoon on Halloween.
The Winter Wonderland-Holiday Festival takes over Pleasure Park, at St. Louis and Forman Avenues, on Sunday, Dec. 6 from 3 to 6 p.m. That puts it nine days after the tree lighting and four days before Ladies Night Out. All three holiday events land within a two-week window.
The One Afternoon on the Boards
The boardwalk isn't completely dark. Martell's Tiki Bar posts a "Post-season 2026" menu on its site, while the dining rooms beside it list themselves as closed. The site doesn't list regular weekly hours.
Its one fixed date is Beer on the Boards, on Saturday, Nov. 7 from 2 to 5:30 p.m. at 308–312 Boardwalk, according to the Chamber listing.
Jenkinson's Aquarium keeps the boardwalk open on a daily schedule. Its hours page lists 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas, and its calendar runs that schedule from Oct. 12, 2026 through April 23, 2027. The off-season feedings are fixed enough to plan a rainy Saturday around:
- Seals: 10:30 a.m., 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. daily
- Penguins: 11 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. daily
- Sharks: 1:30 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays
A Saturday visit lines up with all three, starting with the seals at 10:30 a.m. and ending with the penguins at 3:30 p.m. That's also the day Grom O Ween and Beer on the Boards fall.
Where Dinner Happens Between the Dates
Events give the calendar its fixed points, but most off-season evenings have none. The restaurants that keep cooking through winter are also inland or along the inlet, which matches the event map.
Gourmand, 641 Arnold Avenue. Gourmand opened May 13, 2026 in the Gottlieb Building, as The Jersey Shore Girl reported, so this is its first winter. Its website lists service Wednesday through Sunday, 5 to 10 p.m., with reservations through OpenTable or by email. The restaurant says of its building, "The architecture is older than the menu." It sits on the same street as the Witches Walk, the tree lighting and Ladies Night Out, so dinner and the event can be a single stop on all three nights.
The Wharfside Seafood & Patio Bar. On its site, the Wharfside describes itself as a Point Pleasant Beach destination since 1963 that serves the catch year-round, with an upstairs room overlooking the Manasquan Inlet.
Point Lobster Company and The Patio, 1 Saint Louis Avenue. Point Lobster's site says the patio is open all year and the business is open seven days a week. Gourmand doesn't serve on Mondays or Tuesdays, and Point Lobster is open both days.
Taken together, the year-round tables sit downtown and along the inlet, and the oceanfront dining rooms stay closed until spring.
Before You Head Out
A few dates are worth checking that week. The tree-lighting start time differs between the borough and the Chamber, and the Martell's and Jenkinson's closure notices have no dates on them, so their pages are the best guide to any change. The aquarium's daily schedule and the borough's park events are the most stable dates on this list. The Thursday downtown nights fall on Oct. 29 and Dec. 10.
At Suzie & Ed, we keep a close eye on the shore towns' seasonal calendars, including which kitchens stay open and which streets fill up on event nights. If you'd like to talk about how Point Pleasant Beach's off-season affects a home you own here or a rental you're planning, please Contact Us.
