SEASIDE HEIGHTS — Chef Mike Jurusz is back in business.
The longtime Shore chef, whose beachfront restaurant, Chef Mike’s ABG in southern Seaside Park, closed in late 2025 after the property on which it sat was sold, is planning something new a few miles north.
Chef Mike’s Legacy, a dinner-only, fine-dining restaurant, will open at the Hershey Motel, 1415 Boulevard in Seaside Heights. He hopes to open by Memorial Day.
The space was most recently occupied by Dina’s By The Sea.
Chef and owner Mike Jurusz is pictured inside Chef Mike’s ABG in South Seaside Park in 2021.
“We are so excited to team up with Seaside and to bring fine dining to Seaside Heights,” said Jurusz, adding that he is looking forward to being a part of the ongoing redevelopment of the beach town. “When people see how well we’re going to do, it’s going to draw other chefs to the area.”
The chef has spent the months since Chef Mike’s ABG closed working in his home kitchen, dreaming up menus and new dishes for whatever came next.
“I’m so focused, more than I’ve ever been,” he said.
In comparison to Chef Mike’s ABG, which Jurusz ran as head chef for a decade before purchasing it in 2013, the new venture “is going to be a little more elevated,” with an increased focus on hospitality. The restaurant has a liquor license; a bar is being built in the dining room, which through the years has mostly housed restaurants serving breakfast, lunch and dinner.
“It’s going to look really, really sharp,” Jurusz said.
The chef is planning a seasonal menu that features favorites from his prior restaurant, including scallops, sea bass and crab cakes, “all the stuff that people loved there,” he said. “But I’m going to put a little spin on it, a different look.”
He also is planning plenty of vegetable-forward dishes, such as crispy char siu grilled cabbage.
Chef Mike’s Legacy is being built inside the Hershey Motel on the Boulevard in Seaside Heights.
“I cant wait for people to see the new food,” he said.
Chef Mike’s Legacy is about the same size as Jurusz’s prior restaurant, with 80 seats inside and another 30 on an outdoor patio. He plans to cover that dining space with an awning and add trees and lighting “and really make it a warm, beautiful setting when you’re outside.”
While diners wait to be seated, they can lounge on couches with small plates and cocktails on another patio.
Dinner will be reservation only, but happy hour, served from 4 to 6 p.m., will be open to walk-ins. That menu will feature dishes like flautas filled with caramelized onion, potato and cheese and served with avocado crema; lollipop lamb chops; and caviar-topped fried deviled eggs.
“I created an unbelievable (happy hour) menu, really cutting-edge, state-of-the-art stuff, but fun (and) shareable,” Jurusz said.
Chef Mike’s Legacy will be open year round.
Sarah Griesemer joined the USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey in 2003 and has been writing all things food since 2014. Send restaurant tips to sgriesemer@gannettnj.com, follow on Instagram at Jersey Shore Eats and subscribe to her weekly newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Chef Mike Jurusz to open new restaurant in Seaside Heights
Dining and Cooking