Wildwood's Shamrock Beef and Ale closes after 80 years in business

Shamrock Beef and Ale, an 80-year-old Wildwood staple, is permanently closing, after the bar had its liquor license suspended for this summer for repeatedly breaching New Jersey's COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.

In November, Shamrock was cited for violating social distancing requirements and staying open past the state-mandated 10 p.m. curfew. They also received dozens of citations for violating the state's indoor dining guidelines since May 2020.

• MORE NEWS
• Lighting expected to be added to Manayunk Bridge later this year
• Were Ted Bundy's first murders at the Jersey Shore? Decades later, unsolved case still has ominous links
• Philly to drop COVID-19 indoor mask mandate Friday

Owner Tom Gerace told NBC10 that he disputes several of the allegations against the bar, but ultimately "didn't see any way out of this" and decided to sell the property.

The Wildwood bar also owns the adjacent bars, Club Amnesia and Castaway's Pirate Bar, and all three share a liquor license. The suspension of that license is part of a settlement with the New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control. The properties – all owned by Gerace – originally planned to reopen in October. 

"It's a depressing feeling, it really is," Gerace said.

A real estate listing for the Shamrock, located at 3700 Pacific Ave., showed the property had been listed for sale for $990,900. It has not been disclosed in public records what the final sale price will be.

People can go into the building one last time Saturday and Sunday for a liquidation sale that includes the bar's equipment, furnishings and decorations, according to a Facebook post.

Fans of the bar can purchase everything from old glasses and wall decorations to slices of the wooden bar top.

The new buyers of the bar said they plan to tear the building down for a redevelopment project.