Porta, located in Asbury Park, New Jersey is a restaurant by day and club by night- the best of both worlds. They are famous for their amazing pizza and authentic Italian cuisine, bringing in people from all over to experience it. Their aesthetic during the day is rustic chic; with exposed beams and Edison light bulbs it gives you a modern hipster vibe, which I personally love. But do not let this fool you- because at night Porta transforms into the hottest club in town.

The string lights are swapped for dangling crystals that light up with the music and a huge DJ stand. Porta is notoriously busy on Friday nights with a line around the corner, packing the house. Some people come for the drinks and dancing, others come for the infamous DJZA (short for pizza? The world may never know). Anyhow, once you get in it is one giant dance floor with three bars on each side of the room, making it pretty easy to get a drink, which not a lot of bars can say.

If we are being honest, you have to be extremely drunk to last more than an hour here, which is fine by me because I usually do that anyway… but for the not as seasoned drinker I would prepare before coming here! The dancing is fun but can be overwhelming, there is a large amount of jumping and fist pumping involved, we are in Jersey after all. If you need time to cool off there are other rooms off the main one with additional bars and more of a relaxed environment for talking and drinking instead of dancing.

The drinks at Porta are more on the expensive side, ringing up at around $10 for a tiny vodka cran that I can suck down in about two sips. Pre-gaming is a necessity if you aren’t trying to break the bank. My other complaint is that they only play club/electronic music and I am really more into music I can belt out the words to, but hey you can’t have everything. Overall, Porta is great vibes and if you want to dance and fist pump then look no further than this upscale Jersey shore bar.

Hannah Kate