Dive Review: A New Casual Dive in Sea Bright

If you travel on Route 36 through Sea Bright, you might’ve noticed the big red dot on the building across from the municipal parking lot. The Elements nightclub used to be there, before it closed last year. Since September 2010, a new casual establishment took its place: DIVE.

It’s a casual, coastal restaurant & bar that serves everything from burgers to clam bakes and more. They have 18 beers on tap and 8 TV’s to watch all of your favorite games (they also have the NFL ticket). DIVE does happy hour with food and drink specials everyday: Mon-Thu from 4-7pm, Fri 3-6pm and Sat-Sun 12-6pm. They also do a Sunday Brunch from 12-3pm with $5 bloody marys, oversized 4 egg omelettes, french toast and more. And they have Live DJ’s on Friday and Saturday Nights from 10pm-2am: Friday night its Robbie Woodside and Saturday its Angel Manuel.

As soon as you walk in, you notice the welcoming atmosphere. Everything is light and casual, as any place across from the beach should be. As you sit at the bar, you’ll get a big bowl of fresh popcorn to nibble on while waiting for your order. The beer offering is great, and it includes local brew Beach Haus, crafted in Point Pleasant. One of the menu favorites is the burger made on a pretzel bun, which is really amazing. It can come with homemade side pickles and the delicious fries with bacon and blue cheese crumbles.

DIVE is the brainchild of Christina DiIorio and Steve Graniero, who have been working at Mix in Long Branch for the past 10 years. Christina has completed a Masters degree, worked as a marketing assistant and graphic designer, started an event planning business, became a board member of the National Association of Women Business Owners and an independent consultant for Arbonne, all while working at Mix. She worked her way up from server to head server, floor manager and special event coordinator at Mix, but with her entrepreneur spirit she knew what she wanted in life: to own her own restaurant/bar. Her boyfriend (and Mix bartender) Steve Graniero shared the same goals and they started to look at different spaces.

When they got the phone call that the old Elements was for sale, they couldn’t miss the opportunity and they enlisted Mix owners Sam Nativo and Michael Bienz as partners. Michael’s sister, Theresa Bienz, designed the space inside. Christina’s dad, George, did all the carpentry. They wanted to make it completely different from Elements. The goal was to make it more casual, warm and inviting. They wanted to give their customers everything they have been asking them for years at Mix. People wanted somewhere to go dancing, so they got a space to dance (DIVE have live DJ’s on Friday and Saturday nights); they wanted a place where they could come in without a dress code, somewhere they felt comfortable and they wanted great prices. So DIVE gave them all of this and more. DIVE has no dress code, no velvet ropes, 18 beers on tap, happy hour everyday. They really wanted to cater to the consumer. They also wanted to create an environment where anyone can come in at anytime and feel welcome and so far they have succeeded.

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