The New Jersey Restaurant That Looks Like An Antique Store

Menz Restaurant & Bar is famous for its crab chowder, Old Bay-rimmed Bloody Mary, and banana whipped cream pie, all off a wide-ranging menu of American classics that's especially appealing to seafood lovers. But the New Jersey eatery is probably as famous, if not more so, for its eye-popping antique decor — and its general vibe of old-fashioned fun and whimsy.

Located in the Cape May area of the Jersey Shore, Menz draws tourists and locals alike with its retro carpeting and fixtures, nostalgic bric-a-brac, cases full of taxidermy animals (including a two-headed calf and an albino deer), and giant statues out front. The popular destination also boasts arcade games and a candy store decorated with antique dolls, bicycles, and a rocking horse. A photographer wanders the dining room offering to take black-and-white pictures of happy eaters. Menz calls itself the "most unique restaurant at the Shore," an area already packed with iconic New Jersey foods — but it's also been called the Garden State's strangest eatery. Both could be true: The place has got an undeniable, one-of-a-kind charm.

That's all thanks to the family of J. Franklin Menz, the man who founded the business in 1926, and who is the first person people see when they arrive — in the form of one of those big outdoor statues. In it, the late Menz is depicted in a rocking chair, smoking a big cigar and offering a hint of the fascinating backstory that diners will learn about when they open their menus.

In that statue, Franklin Menz is depicted sitting because he grew up with only one leg — he lost the other to cancer as a teenager in the 1920s. In the wake of that illness, Franklin's grandfather wanted to give his grandson something to devote himself to — and the old man happened to own a little piece of land in Millville, New Jersey, that he could offer. Initially, Franklin opened a roadside stand that sold gas, hamburgers, and hot dogs, and later beer. When it was displaced by a new highway, Menz moved nearby to its current location, on the site of an Old West-style tourist attraction called Fort Apache. The family operated it as a campground until the 1970s, when they converted the business to a seafood restaurant that's been reeling in customers ever since.

When Franklin Menz died in 1992, he was remembered as a convivial host who'd roam the dining room greeting customers. His influence is still all over the place — and not just in the crowded assortment of antique decor the restaurant has amassed over the years. It's also in the free lollipops given to every child who finishes their meal, a practice Franklin was adamant about during his lifetime. And speaking of things kids like: Each fall around Halloween, the restaurant hosts Haunted Dining, when Menz's decor receives a spooky makeover — and when customers, too, are invited to dress up in their scariest digs.