The Bistro Di Marino location in Washington Township has acquired a liquor license for their Egg Harbor Road restaurant, and they have started the process of building out a 10-seat bar, as well as an adjacent casual dining area with large communal table and high-top table seating.
Other big changes include making the outdoor patio area an all-season space, targeting a design featuring a retractable enclosure… nice weather the patio will be open to the fresh air, but in bad weather and winter they’ll be able to close the space up!
The entire restaurant will also be getting new tables and seating as part of a variety of decor upgrades.
When fully completed with the remodel and installation of the retractable patio enclosure, the Washington Twp location will have three distinct areas with the table dining in front, bar and casual dining in the back, and patio dining off to the right.
And with the upcoming retractable patio enclosure they’ll be able to make the patio an indoor space and also open up the glass doors separating the main restaurant… to make one large and open restaurant to handle even the biggest event!
It’s a smart plan for the interior upgrades as it will better accommodate the new liquor license, bring a “New York Style” dining experience to customers with the décor changes, and the restaurant will be able to stay open the entire time!
The full interior project is expected to only take several weeks! Possibly completed by the end of October.
And with the addition of serving your favorite wines, beers and craft cocktails, Bistro Di Marino will continue to offer their amazing food menu that you love with signature dishes such as their handmade gnocchi.
Plus they are adding more shareable plates to the menu, which will work well with the new casual dining areas.
I recently caught up with Jimmy Marino of Bistro di Marino who gave me a tour of the popular Washington Township restaurant, and he described for me the changes they are implementing. Keep reading for more details.
When the bar addition is completed, soon after the BYOB aspect of the Washington Township restaurant will go away. Jimmy is very well aware that many customers appreciate the option of BYOB… and says he will be offering a selection of wines and other items at a favorable price point to accommodate all diners.
The liquor license for Bistro Di Marino is the last unused license available in Washington Township. It previously was expected to be utilized in the recently developed Washington Square Town Center, but Jimmy was able to acquire the license from them for his Egg Harbor Road restaurant
Keep reading as I’ve described the changes that are coming to the restaurant. I don’t have a lot of photos as Jimmy wants to surprise everyone with the final changes. I’ll be back to see the final new restaurant and will share it with readers!
Bistro Di Marino Washington Township
Bistro Di Marino is a well known South Jersey restaurant name originally starting its strong reputation with their Collingswood BYOB restaurant, and then expanding into Washington Township and Marlton.
Note: Marlton’s location is temporarily closed as they work on kitchen maintenance upgrades.
Bistro Di Marino Washington Township is in the “Acme” shopping center on Egg Harbor Rd.
The “Township” Bistro opened in early 2020 literally a few weeks before the New Jersey pandemic restrictions took place. Jimmy says while they had concerns early on about the impact to the new restaurant, they found success through a strong takeout-order customer base during that time.
While they were new to Washington Township, the Bistro Di Marino reputation carried over from the Collingswood location, which opened several years prior and had gained rave reviews from customers which developed a strong reputation across South Jersey.
Considering the Washington Township location has been open only a few years, you may wonder why it needs an upgrade as it is still a very beautiful restaurant!
But with the new liquor license in hand, Jimmy and the team looked to make adjustments to the restaurant space to not only utilize it for the traditional table dining, but add new experiences to the popular restaurant location.
And with that they are refreshing the entire dining experience.
Bistro Di Marino Sewell is a good sized restaurant and with smart planning and the addition of the outdoor patio (and it’s soon to be added retractable roof), they can seat approximately 200 persons.
Approximate Capacity Per Area:
- 75: Quiet dining area (front of restaurant)
- 26: Bar and Communal Area
- 24: High-Top Tables (six tables of 4 seats)
- 90: Outdoor Patio, which is being converted into an all-season dining space.
Right now the focus is on the interior upgrades and getting the bar and casual dining area open for customers to enjoy!
Jimmy and the team are actively working on plans for the patio enclosure… which understandably will have a longer lead time before that is complete. But the goal for the enclosure is to have it completed as soon as possible.
If you’ve visited the Washington Township location before you likely already have an idea of where they are going to implement the 10-seat bar area.
In the back corner of the restaurant there’s already an L-shaped bar-like setup which was initially created as an oyster and clam bar.
While the core shape of the bar will be the same, the front facade and bar top will be replaced. In fact during my visit the front facade was already stripped down to bare wood.
The brick back wall will of course support the display of a variety of spirits, and he expects to have 16 beer taps but will likely change things up to offer Italian beers, sangria and other unique offerings.
Televisions will also be placed on that brick back wall of the bar area, as well as additional televisions in rear casual dining space.
Immediately to the right of the bar will be a long communal table running front to back. It will be higher top, seating about eight people.
And then the back right portion of the restaurant will be configured with new high top tables and seating.
Jimmy expects that this whole back half extended bar area will be much more casual and likely not require reservations.
To support a more casual dining experience Bistro Di Marino will be extending the menu to include more shareable dishes.
Up at the front of the restaurant, the more traditional sit down dining space will also benefit from upgrades in new tables and comfortable fully cushioned seating, as well as other decor touches.
To further manage the spaces as two separate areas, a movable curtain will be put across the center of the room which will give management the flexibility to either separate off the two spaces… or just open up the entire restaurant as one large dining and bar space, say for a special event or maybe even the World Series or Superbowl!
I’ve mentioned the outside patio a couple times, and that they are looking to install a retractable glass enclosure which will enable them to open up the space on those days or close it.
Jimmy is 100% certain this will happen soon but this is more in the earlier stages, as they work out the design for that implementation.
But that is not the only change coming related to the patio, as the glass doors which which separate the inside restaurant from the outdoor patio will be replaced with the bi-fold “accordion” style glass doors.
With the new doors in place and the patio enclosed, they will be able to open up the entire restaurant and patio seating as one large 200 guest indoor restaurant!
Plus the patio space will still have the two water effects their customers seem to love and in the future it’s possible that an additional bar is developed!
I’ll be back after the inside restaurant space is completed and the new bar and casual seating options are open!
Links and Locations
Bistro Di Marino
415 Egg Harbor Rd.
Sewell, NJ 08080