Twisties Tavern on the Bay — Restaurant in Upper Township

Always a visit (or two, or three) when we are on vacation in Ocean City. Been going there for a long time, and remains one of my favorite places. Twisties is one of the last original shore bars, that still looks original, and I always am overcome with a sense of nostalgia when I enter. My father (who would be 92 if he was still with us) used to frequent the place in his youth.

Twisties is celebrating their 90th year. (2019) Nothing fancy about this place, and their slogan "Find us if you can" certainly rings true. In fact, before they made some structural improvements, I always half expected it to slide into the bay.

Twisties is hidden on an alley/street right on the bay. The interior is adorned with mounted trophy fishes that have probably been there since the place was opened, and are chipped and blacked from decades of cigarette smoke back when smoking in bars was legal.

There is a shelf full of carved coconut heads that the original owners brought back from their many winters in Florida. (Fun Fact: each year Twisties debuts a new tee shirt that features one of the carved coconuts)

The small bar holds about 20 bar stools and there is also a small dining room. Patrons at the bar have a view of the bay, and it is a good place to sip a drink and enjoy the sunset. A juke box contains all popular classic rock and other favorite tunes.

The food is very good, and the beer is cold. A big local clientele. Mostly middle-aged at the bar, and families in the small dining room. If the weather turns into a bad beach day, or if you need to escape the wife and kids for a little break, Twisties is an excellent Plan B.

Don't go on Tuesday, the only day...

We went here for dinner on the way home after a long day at the beach…. We knew it might be a bit of a wait. They said an hour- hour 15 maybe. But it’s Friday night at the shore. We expected to wait… Well…. We were in just under an hour, seated quick, nice table, solid menu- we all got vastly different things. My 16 year old son got the Salmon Tabbouleh which he LOVED, my 14 year old son got wings- which he said were so great not too messy, but hot just how they should be. I had the chicken and asparagus pasta with feta cheese I mean what’s not to love about that and my partner had pasta with clams in white wine sauce.

All the food came out super quick, super hot and delicious. Our waitress (I cant remember name- so I’m sorry!) was just wonderful and totally knowledgeable about the menu.

The atmosphere of the place was great too. I kinda likened it to “Cheers” because it seemed like everyone knew everyone. And I liked that a lot.

I cant wait to go back and try more of the menu!

My only complaint- and it’s hardly even that- it would have been nice to have bay seating…. It offers beautiful views of the sunset. But unfortunately we didn’t get that. And I totally understand it’s coveted seating and they don’t take reservations.

But honestly in the grand scheme of everything it’s hardly even a...

We love Twisties! We are here almost once a week! The staff is always friendly and the pain killers are our favorite! Unfortunately, this last visit wasn't the best. We stopped in early Monday afternoon after an early beach day and grabbed 2 pain killers and ordered nachos with beef. It wasn't crowded or anything and we felt like the nachos were taking awhile. When they finally did come out, everything about them was cold. By the time our waitress came back, we explained how they were cold and asked for to-go boxes. Figured we'd take them home and bring them back to life. The waitress later came back with the check, apologized again and mentioned that the manager offered to buy us a drink. We declined because we needed to get home and again only mentioned the cold food so it doesn't happen to anyone else. Needless to say, the cold stack of nachos could not be saved at home- they were soggy, we were out almost $30, and still hungry. Again not a great visit- hoping the next one...