Yesterday I got a full progress tour of the upcoming The Shipyard Bar & Restaurant opening soon on the Delaware River waterfront in Pennsville, NJ!
The large property is along the Delaware River waterfront and will bring a fun, festival vibe to the area. Restaurant, bar, amazing outdoor spaces along the water… they will even be inviting food trucks in!
They also have a large space for private events including weddings.
This was formerly the Riverview Inn. The original segments are no longer there, and the open air 3-season bar and new outdoor spaces are the centerpieces of the property.
Owners Brad and Jeff walked me through the project, which is close to being fully ready. They also gave me a lot more details on their plans for the new waterfront spot, and of course I am sharing with the readers.
They were both very appreciative of my recent coverage at 42Freeway where I let the public in on the news of the upcoming new hot spot!
I did get one thing wrong though… while they plan on featuring food trucks at the property, they will also have an interior kitchen at The Shipyard Bar & Restaurant!
While its a few more weeks before a full public opening, on Sunday (10/9) they are hosting the Achy Breaky 5k race event on The Shipyard grounds. It includes a 2 hour after party featuring a live Country Western band, beverages and food. Check the Achy Breaky website for details and sign-up information. Facebook. You may still be able to join in!
As mentioned, 42Freeway first reported on the Shipyard a month ago.
The Shipyard is part of a family of locally owned restaurants which also includes The Telford Inn and Carolina Blue.
The Pennsville NJ location is the former JG Cook’s Riverview Inn. Today the 2 older segments are no longer there, but the remaining 3-season bar and restaurant section remains and is the hub of the new Shipyard.
The full property is being transformed into an indoor and outdoor fun restaurant, bar and event space… and the goal is to maximize the amazing views of the Delaware River and Bridge.
The inside of The Shipyard is mostly ready to roll construction wise, but there are finishing details to be completed, as well as cleanup work… so I told them I would skip interior photos for now.
The outside is getting an extensive makeover also. As Jeff said “You can’t recreate this Delaware River waterfront view”. So they are adding a lot of really fun and interesting upgrades to the property.
The Shipyard will be a waterfront festival atmosphere every day of the season!
Consider this to be a 3-season waterfront festival themed restaurant and bar, which will close during the colder winter months.
They fully hope to be open for some portion of this fall 2022, but with cooler weather coming in and construction items still taking place… well be sure to keep up with updates at their Facebook Page.
The Shipyard Interior
The full former Riverview Inn complex was massive. It was like three restaurant buildings in one.
So it can throw off perspective of how large the remaining 3-season bar section is!
The Shipyard is 100ft long, in line with the river! That entire 100 foot span has glass garage doors in front which can be opened up to make the indoor bar, an outdoor experience.
The ownership is completely changing up the interior building, relocating the bar, adding a kitchen area and new bathrooms.
It’s a smart design change that still leaves a LOT of space for indoor seating.
And remember they they are also significantly expanding the outdoor offerings. Add in the large parking lot, there is plenty of room for people to have a great time at The Shipyard.
Previously the bar was rectangular in the center of the room, offering seating all the way around.
Today, while the bar is still in the middle of the space it is configured for one side. A traditional “U-shaped coming off the back wall” configuration, where that backwall will feature a selection of liquor bottles and other bar items.
In the back corners of the large space (behind the bar area) are the kitchen in one corner, and bathrooms in the opposite corner.
There will still be plenty of room across the full 100 foot long building for dining tables!
There are entrances on the sides also. One side leads to an area which will be home to an acoustic musician space and cornhole area.
The other side entrance will lead to a interesting outdoor area which will even have space for private events.
The Shipyard Exterior
Last month I saw the outside of the property via my drone, and at the time they were very actively involved in exterior construction and landscaping.
I expected new sod grass to be put down along the waterfront, but I was happily surprised to see this week so many inventive upgrades also being added outside.
Once the landscaping and construction is completed the waterfront areas will have Adirondack chairs, and outdoor dining tables.
So yes they did get new sod down in the last month, but the Cook’s are doing so much more!
The ground is a mixture of new sod, concrete walkways, pavered patios, compacted gravel areas and attractive flowered landscaping.
The also will have an astro-turf covered area which makes for a better surface to support outdoor private events where larger numbers of people would congregate in a common area.
Still to come are buffer trees along that event space area
Gas firepits are being installed in various locations, all the way up to the river.. and down further away from the building.
On the side of the building where the other portions of the Riverview Inn once stood, they are making another interesting outdoor space with a variety of unique design elements.
An outdoor container ship outdoor bar stand is being readied for installation.
It will have a second container positioned on top of it.. and they will also have an ice cream stand outside!
Regarding the food trucks… the idea for including them in to the mix, is to give customers unique food experiences like you would find at beer gardens or festivals in the area.
They Cook’s really want this to be a family friendly place to visit… again and again!
Brad tells me that to further carry the “shipyard” theme they will be installing a large continue box up overtime of the building’s side entrance! A nice touch!
As mentioned, for the latest on when they open things up to the public this fall, be sure to “Like” their Facebook page, where they will posting updates.
And I believe there is still time to get into the Achy Breaky 5k which is October 9th, 2022.
One last fun fact that I will have in a future post (I started writing this here but the article was just getting too long!)
Future Post: The Crazy Delaware/New Jersey State Line!
The portion of land jutting out next to the Shipyard building was the New Jersey side of the New Castle Pennsville Ferry Line!
This was a VERY busy ferry prior to the opening of the Delaware Memorial Bridge.
The remnants of the two paved roads have been mostly untouched for decades! The road splits because there were TWO competing ferry lines and as you drove up with your car there were two grand overhead gate entrances leading to the ferries.
Crazy fun fact… the final 175 of this peninsula is actually in Delaware!
Links and Locations
The Shipyard (Pennsville) Opening Soon
60 Main Street
Pennsville NJ 08070