Hudson House in Beach Haven

From the time vacationers began coming to Long Beach Island, entrepreneurs have opened bars and nightclubs designed to provide them entertainment, drinks and a good time.

For LBI's better-known bars such as Joe Pop's and Nardi's, there seems to be a certain formula for success -- full bar, full menu, a stage that features the area's cover bands and a prominent location on Long Beach Boulevard.

But down in Beach Haven, which hosts many of the Island's most beloved nightclubs such as The Ketch and The Shell, there is a little place tucked away on a side street that follows few of this formula's factors -- a hidden gem of a bar sometimes known as LBI's best-kept secret.

It's the Hudson House, and it has been around longer than any other bar on the Island -- and longer than most of LBI's buildings in general. The bar's three-story frame and squat green roof date back to the turn of the century, and with its age comes a series of stories fit for telling and retelling.

Laid-back and quirky

The last 36 years of the bar's legacy belong to owner Ross Felten, a stocky middle-aged man with white stubble whose 20-something daughters Janene and Erica have been tending the bar since they were legal.

Hudson House's separation from the lights and action of the busy Long Beach Boulevard strip isn't just physical -- the bar is off-the-beaten-path in many ways, from its laid-back atmosphere to its low prices to its quirky décor.

Among its unusual features are its diverse crowd, its lack of menu (although patrons can bring in whatever food they want) and the small liquor store at the front where six-packs, 12-packs and bottles of wine are available for purchase.

But mostly, the bar is known, or not known, for being decidedly under the radar.

"Because we're not on the main boulevard, people don't see us all the time," Felten says. "Unless you know someone who¹s been here and told you about it, you wouldn't know about it. I don¹t advertise it in the any of the papers."

This low profile, coupled with the timeworn building's storied past, create a bar that is in some ways anonymous and some ways legendary.

Former bartender Brion Magnani describes the anonymous aspect: "It's just kind of tucked down here in the middle of nowhere. When I was working here, people would come in off a bicycle and say, 'I've been coming here for 20 years and I've never seen this place!' "

Current bartender Brandon Reso describes the legendary aspect: "I get people who come in here and say, 'We've been looking for this place for years!' "

A former speakeasy

Whether you happen upon it or have been looking for it a long time, you join a long line of bar-goers that stretches back more than 100 years.

"It was originally a bed and breakfast called the Hotel Waverly when it was first built," says Felten. "The building itself is from 1880 or 1890, but the larger part of the building was added after the turn of the century. From what I know, it was the first liquor license on the Island in the early 1900s and the fifth license offered by Long Beach Township after prohibition."

The height of the bar's secrecy came in between-during prohibition, it was ran as a speakeasy.

As Felten, his daughter Janene, and former bartenders Magnani and Joey Susco detail the building's history, stories that have been passed down begin to pour out -- there was a man born here and a man shot here. There was the time a barrel of brandy washed in off the beach and they dragged it inside and tapped it.

Some of the bar's décor and entertainment hints back at this long history. From a tin Western Union telegram sign to an old framed picture of the Hotel Waverly to what is arguably the bar's most distinctive feature -- a well-worn, 22-foot wooden shuffleboard table from the 1950s tucked against a wall by the entrance -- it becomes clear this bar is no young upstart.

"We made it to the 1990s about three years ago when Ross finally bought an electronic register," Susco says with a laugh.

Although it may be for the sake of history, the bar's slow pace at making updates has often earned it the derogatory yet endearing title of Dive Bar. Look around and you'd be hard-pressed to count all of the pieces of duct tape holding up signs and wires and holding together chairs and air conditioners.

But dives are also known for being cheap, and Hudson House is no exception.

"People always ask what's on special and we say, 'Everything's on special,' " says Felten.

Regardless, the bar offers a wide variety of entertainment considering its modest size -- there is an arcade-style basketball shooting game, mini-bowling, pinball, dartboard, pool table, jukebox and, of course, shuffleboard. Call it trash or treasure, Hudson House patrons are just happy that it hasn¹t changed.

"Hudson House is absolutely the same. The only difference is that they broke down and bought, like, one new TV," says Wally Guenther, who was born and raised in Beach Haven and has been frequenting the bar since 1973. "It's hard to find a place that hasn't changed.  So many places try to change and be with the times, but the Hudson House has stayed the same.

"For me, it's like a part of my childhood," adds Guenther. "Places like The Marlin and Buckalew's have changed, but Hudson House still has that friendly atmosphere of Beach Haven. It's hard to find."

Brian Moore gets a cold one ready at the Hudson House in Beach Haven. Photo by Doug Hood