The Rum Runner — Restaurant in Sea Bright

We took a fun day trip to Sandy Hook Beach, rode bikes, went to the beach, and at around 3:30pm decided we were hungry. After messaging with a few friends, we were going to rendezvous at a different restaurant down the street but parking wasn’t easily available so we changed course to The Rum Runner. We had actually driven by it already and noticed how beautiful the building was and decided we could come back if the other restaurant didn’t work out. At Rum Runner, we pulled into the parking lot and there was at some point valet parking available with a sign that said “Valet parking only”. To me, that was a bit confusing as we thought we were going to be forced to valet even though the parking lot was normal and seemed like you would be fine parking yourself. We asked the valet guys what to do and they said that they had taken their last car and it was fine to park ourselves. Hm ok... whatever. At least parking is close and free! We walked into the restaurant and wandered up the two flights of stairs to the host table. Note that an elevator is available if needed. Dressed in our beachwear and asked if we already had a reservation, I wasn’t sure how the next part would go since this was definitely a more upscale restaurant. They didn’t say anything else and we were seated quickly in what was labeled the indoor/outdoor dining area. I’m not sure if maybe windows could have been opened or something to make it actually somewhat outdoor, but to me we were in an indoor room that had a lot of windows. No problem, you could look out one side of the room past the outdoor patio on that side and see a view of water which looked really pretty. We were seated on the other side where the view was the outdoor patio and then the busy road. With a changeover from lunch to dinner, we had a slow start getting a server to our table. We waited what seemed an unusually long amount of time but not quite an eternity haha, when a server brought us water ... that was right about the time we decided to ask the host who walked by if we were going to have a server for our table ...and the kind server had also said she would take our table if no one else was assigned. So, good save on her part, she kept our table and did a great job throughout our visit. We studied the drink menu excitedly and ordered the Rum Runner, jalapeño margarita, and I asked if they could make a Pina Colada but apparently they couldn’t that day (sad face). I ended up with a watermelon daiquiri which I thought would be a frozen drink but wasn’t (another sad face haha). My friend didn’t like the jalapeño flavored margarita but someone else they knew at the restaurant loved it. I didn’t personally like the watermelon drink but that’s also subjective. We decided to order several things to share ...which really is the only way to go! Why have one thing when you can have four?? They started us out with some delicious bread accompanied by a sun-dried tomato and olive oil to dip it in. It was excellent and my friend raved about it and has asked her husband to try to make it at home. Our meals came out at warp speed, it was crazy! The coconut shrimp was so good and the presentation delightful. We shared the lobster and crab on guacamole which was amazing and my friend wants to make that one at home, also. I agree that it’s a great idea! My friends ordered calamari for me to try since I’m not yet a fan and haven’t had good experiences with it yet. It was ok. Better than I’ve had but they weren’t completely thrilled, either, and I still can’t see the hype. Maybe next time! We also ordered the fish and chips plate which came with a super huge piece of fish and was delicious. The owner/manager? came by toward the end to check in on our visit and he was great, very personable with a warm and welcoming smile and demeanor. The people my friend knew had stopped by our table and we were all chatting with him about the restaurant and they swapped helpful local community...

We have eaten here a few times in the past, we noticed the last two times it was not as good as it used to be. So we figured every once in a while they have a bad night, but this last visit there was horrible. We had a reservation and still waited, almost an hour, and they still didn’t have our table so we settled for a different table. Their menu was extremely small due to new management. We were very surprised we wanted the calamari for starters, and we asked if it could be. Without the chili and balsomic dressing and banana peppers on it, we just wanted fried calamari with a little sauce lol. Took a very long time finally saw it coming over and when we started eating it, it had fried banana peppers in it and it was extremely salty. The waitress noticed we were not eating it and she wanted to replace it for us. We really didn’t even care at that point we just want to be a meal, but she bought us a new one. The new one was almost worse than the first one. It was definitely frozen and undercooked, it was fishy tasting and rubbery , my neighborhood pizzeria sells better. Fried calamari pushed it to the side and have a meal came out of course with the salad at the same time. We didn’t complain. We were just really hungry and wanted to eat. I got the very simple clams with attitude and linguine, my husband got the jambalaya special. We were both looking at each other because we couldn’t believe how salty both of our dishes were. It was so bad despite how hungry we were after being on the beach all day and waiting so long to get a table we really couldn’t even eat it, the dish I ordered is extremely simple and clams are pretty salty anyway. I had no idea what the chef was thinking to add the amount of salt in it. The clams were not little neck clams and were bottom grade clams used for a chowder. There was no garlic no parsley just salt with almost water. I can’t even say it was oil again very disappointed. The view is very nice but we would’ve been better off sitting on the beach with a Wawa sub, never again I’ve never in any restaurant got my salad with my meal, and I will not pay those...

As we are planning a decent size event for celebration this location seemed optimal for both its proximity to the beach and the area we're looking to celebrate. However after such a bad experience we will be looking elsewhere.

Here's our suggestion for rating this venue, ignore everything anyone says about the views and just concentrate on the service, the food, and the dirty dishes.

Yes I actually took a picture of the dish when it came because it was so dirty. That was a bad enough sign to leave. But we stayed for the food anyway. We got the fish tacos which were good enough. We also got the Manhattan clam chowder which wasn't at all what we were expecting as it was more of a water base than a cream base.

My beverage of choice was a soda, for which our waitress Katelynn never once asked if I wanted a refill. In fact we had to ask another waiter to find her to get her to come back to the table. At this point we decided not to order any more food and just get the check. Also this is the only other time we saw our waitress other than picking up that check. Even though we saw her walking by several times but couldn't get her attention.

When we got the bill we were shocked to discover they added $4 on them for the guacamole! Never once was the guacamole even asked of us! Disappointing that our waitress was either not trained properly or just in care enough to ask if we want additional charge on our bill.

Others have mentioned the dirty utensils and dishes. I'm sure glad I took a picture of ours which you can see. We didn't use the dish however because of this.

This location also has free required valet parking. Sure it may be free but you know you have to tip them so take that into consideration and visiting if you really decide to do that after all this. Personally I would strongly avoid this location as all the waitresses look too young to be working there and probably are not properly trained as seen from our dining experience.

#Therumrunner #badexperience #donteathere # dirtydishes #fishtacos #hiddencharge...