I can't stress enough how excited we were about this place...after we dined there. We were already excited about it before our meal, but then our expectations were beyond exceeded - we were blown away. Go to the Diving Horse. Appreciate all that it has to offer in creative, tasty food and a comfortable, awesome atmosphere and service. Then visit their other restaurant in Philadelphia - a hip gastropub just off of Rittenhouse Square called Pub & Kitchen. We love them. read more

Came here for a romantic night out. Luckily it is byob . We started out with the oysters, they had a great selection and they were super fresh. For dinner we had the scallops and they were the best scallops I had perfectly seared. Also the short rib with the flour gnocchi were also very good. Considering this place is byob the higher price of the food is totally worth and I will be back! read more

Amazing restaurant with a gourmet flair. Front of the house is on it. Food quality and presentation will leave you and your dining mates exclaiming "wow" and "omg" throughout the evening. Still dreaming about the cucumber coconut soup. Red snapper crudo, ratatouille with huge chunks of lobster, boardwalk fries, cheese plate, fluke, scallops, and chicken all were home runs. Fresh, organic, light... Just Wow! Everything is amazing from aps to deserts. Out of this world. Met the chef last nite. Talent. Just when I thought this place could not get any better.... Stay tuned for this review. Food porn. Lol. Fresh sprigs of oregano... Omg. Words cannot describe the food orgasmic experience I have just enjoyed here... One of my absolute best dining experiences ever. read more

3 years later, 6 visits, all exceptional. By far the best restaurant on the jersey shore. The quality of the food is superb. Every app, entree and dessert is done well. And bring your favorite wine, as its BYOB. If you are down the shore and want "Philly Quality" food, check this place out. read more

The Diving Horse is the perfect place to have dinner with a small group of friends. The atmosphere is charming, service is friendly, and the food is great. I love the decor and the open, beachy feel. In addition to the fresh rolls with honey butter, our table shared a few starters - Wedge salad with crab, tomato and ricotta salad, and the calamari. We really enjoyed everything although the portions were pretty tiny. Scallops (perfectly seared) with farro and the shortribs were the favorite entrees. We ended with the "kit kat" dessert. Yum! It's a good idea to make a reservation in advance, especially in the summer. Like most places down here, it's a BYOB, which is nice considering the food is a bit pricey. read more

Food: Pretty great across the menu - BUT VERY SMALL PORTIONS Bread service was a stale/toasted (sliced and then put in a bread warmer?)piece plopped on a plate Fancy high-end menu clashed with t-shirt/casual wait staff read more

Really cool atmosphere on the outside deck. Had the halibut which was cooked perfectly. It was presented well too. Probably the most classy and "foodie" type restaurant in Avalon. A little on the expensive side in my opinion it's worth it. read more

The Diving Horse - Seafood Near Me - Avalon, New Jersey

Excellent food, nice simple atmosphere and great service. One of the best in Avalon.

Selected this based on the reviews below, which were spot on! For a great shore dinner that is absolutely perfect in every way, choose The Diving Horse and BYOB. Street parking is nearby. The atmosphere is airy and well appointed in every way. Server attention is friendly. The Crab Wedge is fresh, made with lump crab over french dressing and seasonings. The special consisted of rare pieces of mahi mahi accompanied by fresh pork. And the desserts are special. read more

Phenomenal! You should absolutely try this for date night at the shore. Great place with a very unassuming (read: maybe a touch difficult to see while driving by on the street) BYO in Avalon. I was in the mood for fish, but all of the meat entrees seemed terrific. After reading other reviews, my lovely wife decided to have the short ribs while I had a vast iron seared swordfish. The were both terrific! We swapped entrees half way through. Cape May Oysters appetizer was also very good. This will be on the short list next time we visit the shore. read more

First time visiting Avalon and loved this place so much we went twice in a week. All dishes were so flavorful and delicious

This is a go to BYOB dinner spot. You may not want to bring younger kids, but the food is unbelievable. We ordered the scallops for an app. They were super fresh and came with two condiments(which I think were both house made). The we followed that with the scallops and the he local fish special. The scallops were to does for and the fish were perfectly cooked. The sear on the fish is the sear chefs strive for: we finished the meal with pannw cotta special. Or rounded the meal perfectly. I wish there were more. Restaurants like this. They care about the very taste read more

I'd give it 3.5 stars if I could. Overall it's a very decent place but unfortunately I found that on our last visit this past Friday night, it wasn't as stellar as it was in the past. The food was great but there were one or two things off about each item. First, the wedge salad is always fantastic but it had way too much dressing, to the point that I couldn't eat the last few bites. I then had the scallops with farro, which were very tasty, except that the scallops were a little under and the sear wasn't great. The others with me had the scallops, a steak special (which was the best dish at the table but was about $54) and the fluke. I found the fluke to be relatively flavorless. Dessert was the best part of the meal -- we split the kit kat ganache and the lemon panna cotta. Both were phenomenal. I also found our waiter (a beach "dude") to be awkward and not very warm. It seems based on more recent reviews that the Diving Horse is slipping in quality and execution. I sincerely hope that is not the case but my experience tells me otherwise. Overall it was a good meal, and if I didn't have previous experiences to compare it to there, I'm sure I'd rate it higher. Something was missing though. read more

Absolutely phenomenal. We love to dine in here but since we can't, we got their Family Style Fried Chicken for takeout Friday night. It sounded like a simple meal but The Diving Horse blew it out of the water. It was incredible. Crunchy, juicy chicken that somehow still seemed light with two mouthwatering flavorful sauces. It same with slaw and potato salad that were both unique twists and delicious. We threw in their fantastic Brussels sprouts on the side as well. The cherry on top was the salty, sweet, and buttery corn bread that came with the chicken meal. Seriously so yummy. We were so thrilled with our order and can't stop talking about it. Highly recommend. read more

Awesome food and service! Every dish was amazing and creative. Always our first meal when in Avalon for vacation.

Amazing amazing amazing. This outdoor dining was so well done (during covid) it didn't seem improvised- we loved every single thing we ate.

LOVE LOVE LOVE!!! This great BYO has been on my "list" for almost two months and I was so psyched to finally get there on a Friday night in late August. Definitely make reservations - I called 4 weeks in advance for a table for 3 and all they had left was 6:30pm or 8:45pm. My husband and I think this used to be the old Manhatten Bagel (not sure though...anyone?) But wow, the interior is absolutely awesome now - so chic and very unique compared to most restaurants. The outdoor patio is adorable. Our waitress rocked - very friendly and full of knowledge about the menu and food. A lot of attention to detail and we were never left waiting for more. Now onto the food: Appetizers - cheese plate, oysters and tuna crudo - all great. Entrees - Opa (very unique and hard to find at most restaurants), Halibut - AMAZING!, Scallops Dessert - Blueberry Crisp Overall everything was fantastic. The halibut was definitely my favorite dish...I can't remember a time I've had a filet that tasted better. It does get very loud inside, however it's not terribly distracting (I couldn't hear the folks at the table next to ours). The prices are a bit high compared to most restaurants, however for Avalon the prices are good for the quality of food. I would go back in heartbeat! read more

Great from start to finish, including the hiccup with our reservation (wrong night...my fault) and they still accommodated us! This was our second or third time here and it's always been wonderful. Our waitress was wonderful. Very attentive. The food was exquisite for the jersey shore. I'd have to say Diving Horse is, hands down, the best restaurant in Avalon. Love the decor, too! Our table had the Short Ribs with Gnocchi, NY Strip Steak and Halibut for our entrees and we had Oysters, Calamari and salads for first course. And, we shared two deserts. The Kit Kat was superb. It is BYOB and we still managed to spend $272 for a party of four. So, definitely, bring your wallet. But, it's worth it, when in search of great food at the shore. read more

My husband & I went there for dinner tonight for my birthday.. We split the Crab wedge Salad. Chris had the special which was NY Strip Steak & I had the Barnegat Light Scallops. We had brought with us a bottle of Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio (best Pinot Grigio from Italy). We split the Kit Kat for desert . The meal was not as good as last year, but the Pinot Grigio did not disappoint us. Service was excellent! read more

1st time for me...& wowsa! Loved everything, high quality, fresh & innovative dishes, very much impressed as a foodie & as it's a beach location. Started with tomato & stone fruit, tuna tartare & grilled octopus, followed by halibut w sunchoke & in house brined & smoked pork chop with sides of bbq/maybe chipotle carrots & roasted brussels. Really, really delicious! Yummy peach upside down to finish with what little room we had left lol. Portions just right...focus is fresh & quality! Atmosphere a bit noisy but service excellent & byob. Nice outdoor patio as well. Well done Diving Horse & "Ms. Chef", we'll be back! read more

We went to The Diving Horse for dinner this past Friday and as a G-Ho local and a huge fan of P&K, I was VERY excited to try out The Diving Horse in my weekend town of Avalon. I was not disappointed!!! Everything was perfect, from the girl who took our reservations over the phone all the way to shutting down the restaurant at the end of the night. (nope, we didn't want to leave.) Our server was fantastic and VERY knowledgeable about the menu. EB, you rock! The seafood was incredible! (daily mussels = awesome!) Oh, and do yourself a favor and splurge on those brown butter potatoes. YUM!!! I hope to make a few appearances there before the summer is through! GREAT job and congrats to the P&K team for creating another venue with delicious food, a wonderful staff, and a fantastic atmosphere! read more

The food was phenomenal and the seating area was set up appropriately for social distancing. I will definitely return!

Great night! The atmosphere, service and food were amazing. Our server was very knowledgeable and helpful. We had the oysters he suggested a wedge salad with Crab. For our entries we had the short rib and Halibut. All perfect. It was getting late so I didn't want to hold up the servers but he made us feel comfortable and we enjoyed the peach cobbler . It's nice to have a professional server. Most shore restaurants have kids serving that can care less. The service goes hand and hand with great food. read more

Restaurant was not accommodating for a large party. They had extra chairs we could see in the shed and refused to bring 2 of them to our table. Manager was extremely rude. For people who have been coming here for years, we were surprised at how impolite the management was being for a birthday celebration. Thankfully, it did not ruin our evening. Food was great as always and so was the server. read more

The Diving Horse opened June 1st and is a BYOB restaurant with great food and ambiance located right on Dune Drive across from Circle Pizza. This is a new venture from the folks behind Pub & Kitchen located in the over-pretentious South Jersey shore town known as Avalon. The food was excellent and everything that was ordered was cooked to perfection. The place is a bit pricey but Avalon is the mecca for pastel polo wearing trust funders willing to shell out 6 bucks for a Miller Lite at the Princeton. 200 dollars including tip for a party of four with one appetizer, side, and two desserts. Everything is ala carte with entrees from 23-32 and sides ranging from 7-10. I would definitely go back again . read more

A-MAZE-ING!!!!!!!! The food was OUT OF THIS WORLD GOOD! My fiance and I along with another couple, were down the shore this weekend and after a relaxing (HOT) day on the beach we were all in the mood for a good meal! After doing some research on the beach (gotta love iphone/blackberry), we chose The Diving Horse. I read a few of the reviews on Yelp and it seemed to have mixed reactions on the overall experience (mostly the staff) but we were willing to deal with bad service in exchange for a great meal. That said, from the moment we walked in the door the staff couldn't have been more accommodating! I honestly think each person on the floor stopped at our table at least once! They were very pleasant and super accommodating! Now onto the FOOD-- to start, we got the special soup: Lobster Minestrone. It wasn't the highlight of our meal but it was good... big lumps of lobster meat and a nice flavor in the broth. The other couple we were with ordered the mussels... they were VERY pleased! For our main course the guys both got the NY Strip Steak and us girls both got the Scallops!! Both dishes were to die for!!!!! The noises we were making after each bite, you would've thought there were some obscene things going on at our table! The steak melted in your mouth and the scallops were cooked to perfection! We also got four sides to share: Brown Butter Potato Puree, Mac & Cheese, Roasted Asparagus, and Malt Vinegar French Fries. The "potato puree".. fancy name for mashed potatoes... was just ok. Nothing to write home about. I've had better mac and cheese but it was good! The asparagus and fries were delicious. But I can not praise the main course enough--- it was SO good! We didn't save room for dessert... just had enough to pick up our third bottle of wine and head to the beach to enjoy the yummy food that was in our bellies! :) Gotta love a good BYOB! We will CERTAINLY be back! read more

Wow. I have been to the Diving Horse three times now and all three experiences were fantastic. Fabulous food - inventive but simple. Great service. We felt very well cared for. I also very much like the low key but elegant ambience. I don't think I've ever been to A fine dining establishment and heard Stairway to Heaven as part of the mix. I love it! I had the scallops and they were fantastic. read more

Don't you hate when you leave a restaurant unsatisfied from the food, experience and overall? That was the experience at this place. We walked in and it was so loud and noisy that we should have left but stayed. The menu was limited and the food uneventful. I wanted it to be great but it wasn't. The chicken arrived pink, the Brussel sprouts ordered were forgotten, and it was just unremarkable. Not sure what the excitement is about this place other than the upper crusts of the area come here. Of the food that was on the plate, nothing to write home about. read more

Went to The Diving Horse based on all of the great reviews and was disappointed. The menu selection is quite limited (six dinner entree choices on menu) and those choices they do have are very pricey and just so-so in quality. I won't be back and can't recommend this restaurant. read more

Good food and service. The steak tartare was great! They dont have many soft drinks but the food makes up for it. BYOB!

Hands down the best food in Avalon. Menu changes weekly, all fresh ingredients! You need a reservation a few days in advance as this is one of the few fine dining places in Avalon. Staff is friendly. Even though the food is upscale you can get away with casual clothes sinces its a beach town. read more

Overall, I think this restaurant is really fantastic. The Diving Horse is BYOB, so be prepared if you are interested in a good bottle of wine with your meal. The waitstaff was very professional, and the atmosphere is casual with a shabby chic vibe. The dining area was a little bit too loud for me, but it also was pretty crowded and seating was tight. I had the Sewansecott oysters for an appetizer, the prime rib for my entree, and did split a side of boardwalk fries. The oysters were amazing. My prime rib was cooked to perfection but somewhat pricey for what I received (about $60). I do think the Diving Horse is an asset to the Avalon community and will gladly return there. So......pull out your fav Lilly Pulitzer dress and grab a friend, you will certainly enjoy this place! read more

Much heralded, left much to be desired. Waitperson pretty clueless.. forgot what went with special of the night (cobia).... Cobia came out grossly undercooked.. Frozen in middle it seemed. Sent it back and they brought back same piece of fish...eww Waitperson also did not share they were out of tilefish until my partner ordered it.. Then she said they had red snapper which is like tilefish which is " just a yellow snapper" ... No, tilefish is not "yellow snapper" and no, snapper is not like tilefish! On the plus side, the red snapper was nicely done and the summer salad of tomato, black eye peas and sweet corn was very nice. Overall, another reminder that we have yet to find any place at shore anywhere close to the numerous nice byob's in Philadelphia. Lower your expectations before you arrive at this restaurant and you may enjoy the place. read more

The name of this place doesn't make much sense to me since diving horses are really a part of Atlantic City's history. To my knowledge, they have nothing to do with Avalon, so it seems like an odd choice. Regardless of my confusion over its moniker, though, it's a fabulous restaurant and it really does deserve five stars. We made a reservation on Open Table for the opening weekend. Parking was fairly easy to find around the corner and the hostess sat us right away. Our server was extremely attentive to my food allergies and had no problem telling me what was safe to order from the menu. We started with one of their specials - an heirloom tomato salad with melon, basil, and olive oil. The fact that they could make this dish so delicious with minimal ingredients proves that they know what they're doing in the kitchen. We then had the fluke crudo. This was my least favorite dish of our meal simply because I didn't like the texture of the fish, but this is really more my issue and not theirs. My entree was the halibut, which was cooked to perfection and came with the most amazing potatoes and crispy artichokes. My significant other went with the scallops and cleaned his plate. We also had a side of their fried cauliflower, which was a good size to split between the two of us. They had no desserts for someone with my dietary restrictions to try (they said they will have sorbets as their season kicks off), but the waiter still politely offered us coffee and didn't rush us out the door. I think my only other "complaint" is that it was really loud and sometimes hard to hear our waiter. I'm not sure how they can fix the acoustics in their space, but it might be worth looking into. All in all, I was very impressed with the food and service here. This place felt upscale, but relaxed at the same time. I truly think we got to experience high quality food without any pretentiousness. read more

I have eaten at this restaurant several times and each time I am disappointed. Food is fairly good but the staff starting from the top are arrogant and not accommodating. Would not recommend this restaurant. read more

Had a stellar dining experience at the Diving Horse. Atmosphere was cozy in a shabby chic shore kinda way out on the deck where we dinned. Inside was a little more dark and busy with the open kitchen and limited tables. Staff was friendly and very knowledgable of the menu. It was here that I tried Oysters for the first time. They had a nice selection and although I'm still not sure if I'm an Oyster fan, they were a hit with the bf. The moses sleeper cheese plate was just ok for me- mainly because I wasn't a fan of the stale like bread that it was served with. Not sure if it was the humidity or the way it was supposed to be- wasn't a huge fan. I did eat it though because I needed something to go with the cheese and the cheese was just the way it was supposed to be. For the entrees-The filet was pure melt in your mouth kinda goodness. I wish I got it myself. I was still pleased with my roasted chicken and potato puree. All in all, a great dinner down the shore, a little pricy and yes, the portions are small but they were delish ( minus the bread) and presented beautifully. It's a byob so atleast you save there. If you like P and K, you will love and appreciate the Diving horse. Side note: If you're unfamiliar with the shore, make sure you don't end up at the Diving Horse in AC instead- it's a strip joint. (unless that's your kinda thing of course:)). We ironically heard the comercial for it on our way to dinner and thought it was pretty funny! read more

Parking anywhere near this place royally sucks, but it's no question as to why, this bar/restaurant are out of this world. Every single thing on the menu made my mouth water, and when we finally ordered, I was blown away. The tables are very close together, but it only adds to the atmosphere in this place. Our "neighbors" were friendly, and we made new friends. Our server was unbelievably knowledgeable about the menu, and made the absolute perfect recommendations. 5 Stars hands down! read more

We went there this past Friday night. I get scallops almost every time they are on the menu and these were the BEST I have ever had. All the other items that we ordered were amazing as well. Service was great! We can't wait to go back! read more

Excellent BYO in Avalon. Upscale, yet casual. We have been here a few times and always enjoyed the excellent service and food. They were able to accommodate the vegetarian diner with us too. If you can't get a reservation, you can walk in and ask to sit at the picnic tables on the side of the restaurant. They are nice picnic tables. We did this before and had a really nice dinner outside in the fresh air. read more

The best of Avalon... Gourmet dishes, a nicer restaurant interior where you should be wearing nicer "resort wear" and not board shorts and flip-flops like most places in town. Be sure to keep in mind this is a BYO and make sure to have reservations for most nights and especially on weekends! read more