Atlantic City’s Ocean Resort offers sky-high views with outdoor dining 11 stories up

Reinaldo Delgado and his girlfriend Sadia Hasib haven’t been out much since the coronavirus pandemic began, but decided they would venture out and visit Ocean Casino Resort for the day.

They expected the usual great customer service, but what they didn’t expect was the smokey smell of oak wood that lured them outside to the Sky Garden Grille on the 11th floor.

"It smelled like back in the day when I was a kid on a lake, my dad would cook those burgers, hotdogs and they came out great," said Delgado.

The Sky Garden Grille is the casino’s first outdoor dining experience. Taking advantage of a complete view of the ocean and the famous Atlantic City Boardwalk, the restaurant is located on what is the outside area of the HQ Nightclub.

Vince Turrano, vice president of food and beverage, said since that space was not being used because the nightclub is temporarily closed, it was a “no brainer” to establish that area for an outdoor a la carte restaurant.

“We have unbelievable restaurants in this property, unfortunately we can’t utilize any of them,” said Turrano. Because indoor dining in New Jersey is still not permitted, the casino needed to meet the demand of its guests and set up an area where they can offer full service outdoor dining complete with arguably the best views in Atlantic City.

"Why wouldn't you want to eat out here," he said while looking out over the three acres of the Sky Garden area, complete with a bar and fire pits.

Kathleen Njau, of Manville, her husband Joe and another couple from Somerset County took advantage of the scenery and decided to have a few birthday drinks and watch the ocean before exploring other spots in Atlantic City. Both couples are Ocean Casino regulars but haven't visited the property since they reopened last month.

It’s both couples’ first time out of their home county since the pandemic began, but said they felt very comfortable at the restaurant and the Sky Garden area where social distancing isn’t a problem.

Njau, sipping on a spicy mango margarita, said there is definitely a New York City feel on the rooftop.

"They are taking the New York City vibe and bringing it down to New Jersey," said Pamela Christiansen, who along with her husband Cheyne came to celebrate Njau's special day.

Cheyne compared the way dining is now in New Jersey to how dining has been in Europe where eating outside is the norm.

"We're just stepping up our game as Americans," said Pamela.

Ocean Casino’s first venture into the game features two grills on which all the cooking is done. Steve Benzinger, who is one of the chefs that created the menu, said they wanted to focus on seafood but since they cannot use a traditional kitchen they had to come up with another way to cook the dinners on the grill – seafood pouches.

The Thai scallops, shrimp scampi and steamed clams are all a completely composed dish inside Carta Fata cooking foil. “We’re able to cook it on the charcoal grills open flame without damaging the seafood on the inside,” he explained.

The marinated skirt steak, with crispy onions and chili pepper relish, is one of the more popular items, said Benzinger. The chicken sandwich, baby back ribs and two types of burgers, the Sky Burger and the Iberico burger with Iberico chorizo, manchego, Midnight Moon cheeses, pickled red onions and apricot mustard help round out the grilled side of the menu.

Benzinger said one of the perks of having the kitchen so close to the tables is he can better socialize with the guests, who at times will give their honest opinion about the dinner served.

"A lot of people walk over and will ask me questions and talk to me so it's nice to have that interaction."

“It’s like getting in-the-moment feedback on your food, it’s pretty cool,” he said.

Not a perk is the ever-changing weather and winds which is another element that the cooks, guests and management all have to learn to deal with.

The restaurant opens at 4 p.m., just in time for the sun to sneak behind the resort tower providing guests shade to dine in.

For Benzinger, the most difficult aspect of cooking outside is maintaining the coals with winds that seem to change minute to minute while being 11 floors up. For Turrano, he has become a faithful weather watcher, something in his 39 years of working in the casino food and beverage business he never paid all that much attention to.

"Before it used to be how's the traffic coming to the city, what entertainment do we have, now it's what's the weather going to be."

Turrano said that they did more than 450 covers the first two nights of being open and that people have been loving it.

Delgado and Hasib enjoyed the atmosphere, the roominess and the views the Sky Garden Grille had to offer while dining on a burger and steak. "Walking in here it almost felt like there wasn't a pandemic," said Delgado.

When asked what’s better, the food or the views, without hesitation Benzinger said, “Definitely the food, the view’s just a perk.”

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