Let's Eat
Before all the development, there was the Tilton
By T.S.
Evans
Staff Writer
May 09, 2007
EGG HARBOR
TOWNSHIP – When Albert Ulrich Jr. opened the
Tilton Inn in 1963, people thought he was crazy
because there was almost nothing out there
around Tilton Road at the time.
“It was all
farms,” said his wife, Mildred Ulrich, who runs
the business now with their three children.
“He bought his
liquor license from a little farm market on West
Jersey Avenue. Tilton Road had two lanes then
and the side street, Kingston Avenue, was a dirt
road.”
Albert Ulrich
got his experience working in restaurants under
his father, Albert Ulrich Sr., who owned and
operated the Garden Bar and Restaurant in
Atlantic City at Pacific and Indiana avenues. He
was a chef who came here from Europe and worked
at the best hotels in Washington, D.C., New York
and Atlantic City and saved enough money to open
his own place. His son, Albert Jr., worked at
the Garden Bar before and after he spent time in
the service during World War II.
Ulrich Jr. was
part of an Army Air Corps bomber squadron that
flew 25 missions over Germany. The bombing
raids were so dangerous that many of them didn’t
make it back.
Ulrich could
see that the area in Egg Harbor Township was
changing when he opened the Tilton Inn. He was
able to foresee that civilization would grow out
toward him.
It was only a
matter of time.
“My dad was a
visionary,” said Michael Ulrich, the couple’s
oldest son. “He could see that this whole area
would some day be developed.”
Initially
there was the restaurant and the bar, but
eventually the building was expanded to include
the banquet area. Now the Tilton caters business
and organizational events all through the week.
The business
grew, and then sometime in the 1980s the
children took over. According to daughter
Michelle Ulrich, that is when her parents
decided to take a vacation and all the children
pitched in to help out.
“Once you know
how to do things, you get roped in,” said
Michelle, who does the restaurant’s accounting
and other paperwork.
Now her
brothers, Michael and Mark, run the restaurant
with help from their mother, who got more
involved with the business when her husband died
a few years back.
Chef Paul
Windebank, who studied culinary arts at Le
Cordon Bleu London Culinary Institute, has been
with the Ulrich family for more than 15 years.
Prior to that, he worked at the casino
restaurants in Atlantic City. According to
bartender Roy Clark, the chef’s specialties are
famous.
“You never
know what he’s going to make, but it always
tastes good,” said Clark, who has worked for the
family for more than 38 years.
The interior
boasts six plasma televisions and the big screen
covers all major sports and events. There is
also a pool table and a jukebox. Smooth wood
booths and tables surround a huge L-shaped bar
lit by stained-glass light fixtures, and the
result is a cross between a good family
restaurant and a neighborhood bar where you can
get the lunch special and a cold beer for about
$7.
“It’s a great
place to pass time while your girlfriend’s
getting her hair done,” said patron Tom Lawlor.
Photos by T.S. EVANS
Customer Favorites
Tilton Special
($5.95)
Shrimp in Basket
and Beer-Battered Onions ($5.50)
Filet Mignon
Special ($10.95)
Linguini and Clams
($12.95)
N.Y. Sirloin Strip
($16.95)
Burgers ($7.50) a
half-pound of sirloin with many toppings
to choose from
Steamers ($9.95)
Wings ($6.75)
Stuffed Mushrooms
$7.95
Steak sandwiches
start at $5.95; gourmet salads at $7.50;
quesadillas at $8.25; wraps at $6.75;
pizza at $9.
If You Go
The Tilton Inn
6823 Tilton Road
Egg Harbor Township, NJ
(609) 641-0943
Major credit cards accepted
The kitchen is open 11:15
a.m. to 2 a.m. Lunch is served until 2 p.m.
Dinner specials are served 6 to 10 p.m. Takeout
available.
The bar is open daily 11
a.m. to late night. Liquor packaged goods can be
purchased until 10 p.m., but beer and wine to go
are available any time during operation.
Specials:
Happy hour is weekdays 4 to
7 p.m.
Monday – all light beers $2 a bottle.
Tuesday – Yuengling bottles $2; steamers 35
cents; wings 25 cents
Wednesday – two-for-one appetizers; Miller Lite
or Bud Lite bottles $2
Thursday – Coors Light bottles $2; margaritas
$2.50; prime rib $14.95
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