Frank Dougherty was raised in Dock’s Oyster House, the family-owned restaurant that dates to 1897, making it one of the city’s oldest businesses.
As the normally busy Atlantic City Restaurant Week gets going, Dock’s is closed. These days, it’s a construction zone, not a restaurant.
In November, workers started tearing out everything down to the exterior walls. They also knocked down one of the outside walls as the start of an addition that will more than double the seating capacity and add two dining areas on the second floor.
Dock’s needed approval for its expansion from the state Casino Reinvestment Development Authority because the restaurant is part of the city’s Tourism District. But the owners did not get any CRDA funding.
The renovation adds a 60-seat private dining room over the old section of the restaurant, next to a 35-seat public area that will offer a bird’s-eye view of the main dining room below. The expanded bar/raw bar/piano bar on the first floor will take up most of the old dining room.