A Bite and A Bet
December 18, 2007
If you haven’t heard, you can bet the ponies, and have a bite at one of the state’s best known restaurant brands, and not make the trek to one of the racetracks or Atlantic City.
Part massive simulcast center, part bar, part restaurant, the center known as Favorites at Woodbridge (it’s actually in Fords) will take your girls night out to a new level. Although we’ve heard this is the new singles hotspot…you may be the only girls there! This is still a guy’s club, at least it was when we stopped by on Friday.
The crowd includes some savvy gamblers who’ve made handicapping an art form. But the look of the place is clean and upscale, like a modern control room, with hundreds of television monitors and computer terminals tracking races from across the country. The air is clean—the smoking ban sees to that.
Right at ringside, the lunch crowd at McCloone’s (www.mcloonesatfavorites.com) gets to take in all the action. The restaurant—best known for its Sea Bright and Long Branch siblings—is part of the betting complex. Groups can rent space for parties next to the vast simulcasting area.
What made McCloone’s bring its seafoodery inland? Horseracing is part of owner Tim McCloone’s family history, and the location seemed a good bet. Check out our video of the restaurant and the sporting complex on NJ My Way.
As a special incentive, our readers are invited to purchase the McCloone’s Premiere Dining Card, which has discounts and deals at all three restaurants, for half price. Just click on any of the restaurant websites, download the card application, and use NJ My Way as your code!
The Fords facility is not the first off-track betting restaurant in the state. Favorites at Vineland opened last March to much fanfare (www.nytimes.com/2007/03/31/nyregion/31otb. html). It is a state-operated complex with an in-house grill. More are planned throughout the state.
This is definitely not your father’s OTB parlor. It’s like going to the casinos—minus the traffic. Try a day trip or a night out with your friends. Or go by yourself and make new friends. You might just come home with a winner.
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