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Photos by Jen Arthur
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Graduation day for Alumni Grill
WILDWOOD -- If you or anyone you know has ever gone through
the angst of opening a new restaurant, you can appreciate what
it must be like to open a place in the middle of the summer
tourism season…in July…in Wildwood…while you’re still working
12-hour shifts at your former restaurant.
Sleep? What sleep?
“We were putting in 12-hour shifts at the old place, close at 10
o’clock, and then come here to do constructions until 3 or 4 in the
morning. Then we’d have to be back at the old place at 10 in the morning
to do it all over again,” said Jennifer DeClemente, owner of the Alumni
Grill.
Jennifer and her brother, Mike DeClemente, the creative energy behind
the restaurant’s design and menu—as well as its chef—began Alumni Grill
on Cedar and Pacific avenues in Wildwood five years ago. That location
sat just 20 people, and within two years, they had outgrown the
building.
“So over the last year or so we started to look around for new
locations, but we still wanted to stay on Pacific Avenue (because) we
have hopes for it returning back to what it was before, and we wanted to
be part of that,” Jennifer said. “When we saw this was available, we
went for it.”
They signed a lease in February for what was the former Papa John’s
location at Oak and Pacific, with hopes of being open in May. On July
19, they finally were able to open their doors.
“It definitely was a stressful process. I’m surprised I’m still alive,”
Jennifer said. “We thought we would do most of the work in March and
April, but we wound up doing most of it in June and July. All those late
nights…if we ever catch up on sleep it’ll be a miracle, but that’s what
winter’s for.
“We closed the old store July 14 and took four days to do the finishing
touches and we opened on the 19th to a huge crowd,” she added.
Their established customers already know what the new ones are finding
out: Everything on the menu is fresh and homemade, right down to the
dressings and sides. The hamburger are hand-formed daily with 100
percent beef, and all the fried items are freshly prepared, battered and
fried to order, and the menu continues to evolve.
“More people are eating healthier today than when we first opened, so we
changed with them, and there are more families around Wildwood these
days, so now we’re trying to give them what they want,” said Jennifer.
“Where else can a family of four eat for less than $40? And our new menu
has more wraps, salads and a panini menu.”
And Mike’s latest creation is the Brain Freeze Milkshake bar, where they
have a separate seating area and also sell smoothies. They have one
milkshake that tastes like key lime pie, and another popular one that is
made with chocolate ice cream, Hershey’s syrup and fresh bananas.
The name Alumni Grill comes from the siblings’ father.
“My dad suggested Alumni Grill because of how proud people in Cape May
County are of where they went to school. He said it would be a good
theme and he was right,” Jennifer said.
Mike and Jennifer are Wildwood High alumni, and the menu and décor pay
homage to their father’s idea and the six Cape May County high school
mascots, with sandwiches called The Panther (Middle), The Raider (Ocean
City), The Caper and The Tiger (Lower Cape May Regional), The Warrior
(Wildwood), The Crusader (Wildwood Catholic) and The Hawk (Cape May
Tech). But there are also menu items with whimsical names like The
Slacker, The Nerd, The Hall Monitor, The Class Clown.
On the walls are the same high school memorabilia that adorned the
previous location, “only now they’re all in shadow boxes. It really
looks nice in here,” Jennifer said. “People love it. They think it’s so
beautiful. Now the food and the atmosphere finally match. It’s really
exciting to see your dream come to fruition.”
Alumni Grill
Oak and Pacific
Wildwood
523-1111
www.alumni-grill.com
Open daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Free parking.
Free delivery.
Major credit cards.
Capacity: 40.
Children’s Menu $3 to $5.50
Customer Favorites: Exchange Student Wrap (grilled chicken breast, goat
cheese, portobello mushroom, roasted red pepper, zucchini, squash with a
sun-dried tomato vinaigrette), $7; Class President Panini (lump
crabmeat, portobello mushroom, garlic, spinach, roasted red peppers,
provolone on asiago cheese focacia bread), $8; Jekyll & Hyde Cheesesteak
(half chicken, half steak with bacon, provolone and creamy house Jekyll
sauce), $7; Mashed Potato Burger (eight-ounce burger topped with garlic
mashed potatoes and beef gravy), $6; Italian Chef Salad (Genoa salami,
cappicola, provolone, romaine lettuce, artichokes, roasted red peppers,
red onions, tomatoes with a balsamic vinaigrette), $8 whole/$5 half;
California Spinach Salad (fresh spinach, tomatoes, red onion, boiled
egg, avocado with a bacon vinaigrette), $7 whole/$4 half.
Rob Seitzinger can be e-mailed
at seitz[at]catamaranmedia.com or you can comment on this story by
calling 624-8900, ext. 250.
Check out his Cape Cuisine food blog