National recommendations - AC
 

One person's take if you are unfamiliar with the area. Take with a grain of salt (or pepper). All of these would be a short taxi ride from most hotels. If you are at a major hotel, don't think of moving your car. Just take a taxi or Uber. Not worth the aggravation of parking and navigating the city. Everything is like a $7 taxi ride away.

Best breakfast: The Gilchrist Restaurant. Go to the one on the water in the Garners' Basin area of AC. Cool spot on a canal. Eat breakfast outside on the water before a long day inside. Also one at the Tropicana. Never been. One outside is cool. Place across the street sells potent drinks you can carry into restaurant.

Best restaurant: Cafe 2825. Hard to get reservations. Call a week in advance and not a minute earlier. Call after 1 pm. I think it's the best Italian restaurant east of Rome. Awesome place and very popular. Runner up Cafe Vola. Food here is really insanely good.

Best sandwich place on the planet: White House Sub Shop. Massive sandwiches.

Classy place to bring the wife if you are trying to smooth things over and give her a good Jersey time: Mataranos at Harrah. Solid Italian. Classy place.

Old school no frills Italian Jersey style: Angelo's Fairmont Tavern. Cool joint.

Really cool place for those wanting the old AC Boardwalk Empire vibe: Knife and Fork Inn. Very cool old place. Lot of history. And food is really good.

Cool cheap Irish bar with a ton of history: Irish Pub.

Fun place for tropical drinks: Cuba Libre (Tropicana)

Best expensive steak place: The Palm (Tropicana)

Best casino and poker room: Borgata

Runner up best casinos: Ocean, Hard Rock, Golden Nugget

Classy bar to take the wife: Borgata (Gypsy bar)

Classy bar to find a new girlfriend: Borgata (Gypsy bar)

Best sports book: Ocean Resort

Cool place to drink beers outside: Tennessee Avenue Beer Hall

Best strip club: forget it. Strip clubs in AC a bit too edgy and unpredictable for my tastes. Wait to you get home.

Just one person's opinion . . . . .

Gotta throw White House Subs in there

major oversight. will correct!

Commenting for ease of access, thanks for the recommendations.

Thanks for the recommendations Steve. Just need to compile my list of recommended dealers at the show and then we'll be good to go!

Let's say your wife comes with you to AC and does other stuff while you're at the show. Which place is good to take the wife one evening to tell her you spent all of the family savings on vintage baseball cards ? :mad:

From your title, I thought you were recommending air conditioning

I always recommend air conditioning. don’t understand people who don’t like it.

AC
 

Man,
those suggestions are all - on the money !

As someone that goes to AC every year, My parents own some property. I have to say Kelsey and Kim’s is the best place to eat an affordable meal and the quality is top shelf.

I may need to find this place too :D

ill be at my beach house half hour away ,,long beach island ..bringing my own food when i leave ill eat on the island .overpriced rooms over priced food .horrible area at night ,,bring your pitbull

Definitely! Already planning on it.
Get the large and eat it over the course of a couple days. LOL
FWIW, only about 10 minutes walk from the convention center.

Tony’s Baltimore Grill for pizza. Irish Pub open 24/7 and food decent and fairly cheap.

My National recommendation is to skip AC completely

The place is a complete Ghetto! I spent six months there after Sandy and hated every minute.

To each there own, good luck all

Great recommendations -- Cafe 2825 is amazing as is the Palm and Knife and Fork Inn and White House subs.

Input on how to do fine in AC -- NEVER go more than 2 blocks from the Boardwalk. That's where AC becomes sleezy. Even in daylight, do NOT walk past that 2 block radius unless you drive there.

Follow that rule and you will enjoy AC every visit, and never get mugged.

Steve_NY

Yeah, I find some parts of AC real sketchy ( and I work in the South Bronx).

I find parts of Chicago real sketchy. So I avoid them.

Steve
 

Asking for a friend -

the gypsy bar at borgatta. Just seeking clarity. Are you saying there are prostitutes there? If so, I don’t think prostitution mixes very well with baseball cards so I would personally steer clear of that establishment.

possible. it’s a nice place with attractive well dressed females. I assumed legit but what do I know.

I’m in Baltimore Atlantic City is a Walk in the Park.

Sleazy is in the eye of the beholder. I grew up in Time Square in the 80s so I'm not easily offended. What is the definition of sleazy in AC?

Dangerous is a different story.

Times Square in the 80s ….. ah… many wonderful memories. Midnight shows. Booze bottles rolling down the aisle. Everyone smoking something. Crazy people screaming at the screen. Many great memories. Still waiting for the guy to return with the switchblade me and my buddy gave him $60 to secure in 1982.

Bill De Blasio did his best to return NYC to all it's 80s glory. It still might get there. While those were good, weird, scary, exciting memories for sure, I'd prefer it didn't revert to the Midnight Cowboy/Taxi Driver version. Times Square is for tourists anyway.

Hey...here's a card:

Me too!!!
 

I think it may actually have been the same year. My situation was a bit scarier. I was there with a bunch of my friends. Made a deal with a guy for $20 for the switchblade. I thought I was smart as I refused to give him the $$ till he had the knife in hand. He left for a couple of minutes, came back with a hand inside his jacket - said "let's take a walk, there are cops all over the place " I (stupidly) followed him into a quiet parking lot a block or so away. He took a brown paper bag out of his jacket, put it in mine, asked me to "feel" the knife - which I did (I thought) and gave him the $20. He said not to take it out till I was far away from there. - I waited with anxious anticipation till we were on a Port Authority bus on the way back to a friend's house in Jersey - Then I took it out .............a Snickers bar!!!!! Great learning opportunity that could have ended MUCH worse!!

I live in northern Virginia and plan to hit the show for at least a day. Will, I be able to park at the convention center or miles away? Any advice is greatly appreciated!

If you have a players card for ballys you can park In their garage and walk over, prob a mile or so, maybe less, it’s a easy walk.

100% True. Best bread, best meats, just freakin awesome.

This site gives you all of the rates:

https://en.parkopedia.com/parking/at...g=202206260100

I am not staying in town. It is much cheaper for me to stay in NJ near the Delaware Memorial Bridge and drive the hour or so. I am a Hilton Honors gold member so I stay loyal to them. May reach diamond this year. This is where I will be parking:

The Wave Garage
2200 Fairmount Ave
Atlantic City, NJ 08401

Mon-Fri - All day
1 Hour$5.00
8 Hours$8.00
24 Hours$12.00

Sat-Sun - All day
1 Hour$5.00
3 Hours$10.00
8 Hours$12.00
24 Hours$15.00

It is about 2½ blocks from the convention center. If you come in on the Atlantic City Expressway you can take a right onto Fairmont at the end of the x-way and it is the second building on the left before you reach Mississippi Ave. White House Subs is in the same block as this parking garage down on Mississippi.

Thanks for the parking information! Can I safely assume that beach traffic to AC on a weekend is horrific and to expect long delays?

Beach
 

Any recommended beaches in the area that are free and accessible to the public that have lifeguards?

Assume atlantic city beach has lifeguards. there is also a beach community called Brigatine about a 20 min drive away that I have never been to but heard good things about. Long beach island is like 50 minutes in the summer and has great beaches.

No sure what direction you are coming from … if you are driving south from new york city or nothern jersey the answer is a resounding yes. unless you are driving down in the evening.

Coming from northern Virginia.

Brigantine is very nice but I honestly don’t remember ever seeing a lifeguard. Maybe somewhere but I honestly can’t picture one.

I don't get the feeling that hoards of people are flocking to the beach on AC, but always some casino traffic.

I reckon from Northern Virginia you’ll be taking the Beltway up to the BW Parkway . Then you’ll take one of the Tunnels into Balmer . From there you hit Delaware and go across the Delaware Memorial Bridge. I can’t remember if AC is right before the Jersey Turnpike. The best time to leave VA on weekday mornings is right after rush hour. On weekends during the mornings before 10:00. Evenings during the weekends/ weekdays is anyone’s guess. WeekNights after 8:00 p.m. is also good. (This is from my memory when I used to drive from Southern MD to NYC/Maine). You’ll be slowed down by the traffic in DC, Baltimore and Philly if anything.

Brigantine is great and puppy friendly!