Page 42 - MidJersey Business - September 2014

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Time Frame

A LOOK BACK AT HISTORICAL MIDJERSEY BUSINESSES

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LOCATION: 586 Ocean Ave., Long Branch OPENED: 1963
SIGNIFICANCE: A pioneer in the restaurant industry th
at’s
elevated franks and frie
s well beyond fast food, paving
the way for some of today’s hottest brands.

WHERE FAST-CASUAL WAS BORN
Windmill’s been a local favorite for more than 50 years

T

he Jersey Shore has pro- “It’s all made to order,” Levy says. “So it For 51 years and counting, Windmill

duced legendary vacations doesn’t sit under lights.”
has been a part of the Jersey Shore fabric.
and music, but perhaps its In many ways, Windmill transformed Modest expansion has kept pace with a

tastiest contribution might the fast food movement in the 1960s
growing demand for memorable menu
be the Windmill.
by slowing it down. While giants like staples (and a few new additions like

“We don’t have 12,000 McDonald’s and Burger King do it their chicken sandwiches and veggie burgers).
restaurants,” says co-owner Rena Levy.
way, Windmill took a diferent approach. The iconic Long Branch location, marked

“Each one of our restaurants has a In going the slower, more gourmet route, by an actual windmill, has been the site of
personality unique to its location.” There franks and fries in New Jersey have never countless family vacations, irst dates, and

are currently seven Windmills in Belmar, been the same.
even wedding proposals.
Brick, Freehold, Long Branch, Ocean Grove, Fast-forward to the current restaurant In a business that depends on secret

and Red Bank, all serving up a menu of landscape and franchises like Shake Shack sauce, those memories are what’s kept

old-fashioned American fare like hot dogs, (opened in 2004) and Chipotle (1993) are Windmill going all these years.
hamburgers, and some of the best cheese hawking what is now known as fast-casual, “We are a part of what they’re all about,”

fries you’ll ever have.
something Windmill started long ago.
Levy says.

business
40 midJersey