(June 5, 2015) Ropewalk is now open on 82nd Street with fresh seafood, a great bay view and a wide range of activities for all members of the family.
โItโs a place to hang out, relax and watch the sunset,โ said owner Chris Reda. โWe wanted something for the younger kids and teens when parents are enjoying a few cocktails. The rest of the owners and I have kids, we know how it is and wanted to provide a dining experience that isnโt rushed.โ
A vacant lot on the property was filled with sand for a bayside beach dining area of 3,874 square feet which includes a playground, outside bar, fire pits, chairs and corn hole. An outside deck area wraps around to the beach, where a pavilion with additional outside seating is located.
The menu offers many choices for diners from appetizers and entrees to steamers and sandwiches.
Some entrees include seafood mac and cheese, Atlantic salmon, yellowfin tuna, filet mignon and tequila lime mahi. Inventive choices like a kale salad or a seafood Cobb salad are available along with shrimp, snow crabs and crawfish rounding out some of the steamer options. Pulled pork, buffalo chicken and crabcakes are a few of the sandwich possibilities.
โOur fried green tomatoes have been flying off the shelves,โ Reda added.
Ropewalk will offer steam pots, among them its โdeadliestโ including half a pound of snow crab, jumbo shrimp, steamed corn, potatoes and andouille sausage.
โBeing down the beach, we try to cater and have a little more for everyone,โ Reda said.
The restaurant sells fresh oysters, which are taken out of the bay earlier in the day from their own oyster bed, he added.
Ropewalk plans to have steel drum entertainment during happy hour on the weekdays and acoustic Jimmy Buffett-types bands playing all day on Saturdays and Sundays.
โItโs a great addition to Ocean City. A family-friendly place with a little bit of everything for kids and plenty for adults,โ Reda said. โI havenโt been anywhere with better sunsets.โ
A real estate agent called and informed Ropewalk owners that Frescoโs property was up for sale, Reda said. After looking it over, the partners decided it would be an awesome opportunity to add a Ropewalk location to Ocean City, he explained. Renovations began in November and the restaurant opened May 22.
โPeople have been ecstatic and itโs been well received so far,โ Reda said. โFrom table visits it seems everyone has been enjoying themselves. All of us [the owners] have always vacationed in Ocean City. We love the feel and vibe of the area, it felt like the right time to put our foot in there.โ
Ropewalk has two other locations: Baltimore and Fenwick Island, Del. The Baltimore property dates back to the pre-prohibition days and is located on South Charles Street, one of the oldest streets in Federal Hill.
Reda, who was a patron of Ropewalk in Baltimore, joined in the venture with the McFaul brothers, Chris and Marc, in 2005. Fenwick Island is a favorite beach destination for the McFauls and Reda. They had been scoping out spaces for more than a decade when the Fenwick Island location took shape and opened in the summer of 2013.
Ropewalk Ocean City on 82nd Street is open year-around, seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m.
