OCEAN CITY — J/R’s 131st Street location in Ocean City hit a milestone last week with the marking of its 30th anniversary. It’s been a busy couple of years for the restaurant, with new expansions to the menu and the building wrapping up. There’s more on the horizon, though, with a few projects in the pipeline but not ready for a reveal quite yet.
The most noticeable additions to J/R’s uptown site are fried chicken and crabs now showing up on the menu. Fried chicken was added last year while the crabs have been introduced more recently.
“The chicken has gotten rave reviews,” said J/R’s owner Jack Hubberman. “And also with the crabs, the spice is our recipe.”
J/R’s famous spices have made its way into the fried chicken and the crabs. It was those same spices that made J/R’s an Ocean City landmark for ribs, which is why the restaurant includes the tag, “The Place For Ribs.” It’s a reputation that J/R’s started to earn in 1980 when Hubberman and his partner founded the first restaurant on 62nd Street. That location still stands and features the smaller, original menu. But Jack spends most of his time at the larger 131st Street location, which was founded in 1984.
While the menu has grown by leaps and bounds over the last two years, the food that customers have grown attached to over more than three decades will not be going anywhere. The secret spice recipe used in a lot of J/R’s menu hasn’t been altered since the early days. There was no need to fix what was not broken, according to Hubberman.
“What we did was once we got them perfected, we don’t change them,” he said. “And the spices that we have are all unique and all different from anybody else.”
To create the original recipes, Hubberman and his friends and family traveled across the country and visited restaurants in several different states, constantly comparing their own food and tweaking things until they felt they had found the perfect flavors. In adding crabs and fried chicken to J/R’s 131st Street location, Hubberman said there was also a lot of trial-and-error. Friends were used as guinea pigs and fed a huge amount of the new dishes until the taste became exactly right for J/R’s. Everything is a complement to the existing menu, Hubberman added.
“Our standard items are barbeque ribs and chicken, which, without a doubt are delicious. And we’ve had 35 years’ experience with it,” he said. “I’d like very much for people to know that they can go wherever they want, they won’t find them as meaty or with the same taste in the sauce as J/R’s.”
It’s not just the menu that is growing at J/R’s 131st Street spot. This spring the building completed renovations to expand indoor deck seating, adding another approximately 40 seats, bringing the restaurant total to around 400. A crab room was also added to facilitate the new menu. The indoor deck is a great fit for crabs, Hubberman said, as it is near the bar and surrounded by flat screens.
Past the bar there is the main dining area, which features a few murals, plush booths and intimate seating. Attached to the main dining room is a glass covered atrium where diners get to enjoy watching the weather as well as a private dining area that can independently seat parties of up to 40.
The bar and deck area often features entertainment. However, J/R’s is uncommon in that sliding glass can be used to seal the dining area from noise so that people who just want to enjoy a meal without having to experience a band aren’t forced to.
For those who are looking for a little more activity, the bar area features high-definition flat screens that are visible from any seat as well as a pair of massive 70-inch televisions on the wall. The flat screens are usually tuned to sports and football season especially is a busy time.
The restaurant has a lot of moving parts that all complement each other while remaining independent, according to Hubberman. It is part sports bar, part private dining and part barbeque joint all while remaining a family restaurant. That variety is reflected in the menu, now more than ever. The addition of fried chicken and crabs on top of the already popular ribs, “smashed potatoes,” barbeque, seafood, pub food, daily specials and kids menu make J/R’s a “one-stop-shop” for anyone with an appetite in Ocean City, according to Hubberman.
“We’ll never say we’re the best. We’re going to say to you that we’re one of the best,” he said. “And we are. You can go anywhere you want; we’re one of the best.”
Customer satisfaction is his highest priority, Jack added, which is why he will often talk to patrons in person at 131st Street. Even after 30 years, he said complaints are rare. The biggest issue he has is just getting the word out. Going so far uptown in Ocean City can be a bit off the beaten path, he admitted, though he guaranteed that the trip is worth it to find the restaurant tagged as, “others compete, no one compares.”
The last few months have been hectic with the expansion of the menu and building but Hubberman said he’s already planning something new though he wasn’t ready to reveal exactly what’s in store.
“There are other things that I’ve got in mind already. I’ve just finished everything but I’m ready to start again,” he said.
Now that J/R’s on 131st Street has marked 30 years and the brand as a whole has seen 34, the one thing that’s remained constant, besides the quality of the food, is the care that employees have shown. He gave a shout out to all of the J/R’s crew, many of whom have been employed for years and others started out as customers when they were only kids.
For more information on J/R’s, visit www.jrsribs.com or like it on Facebook.