By Ryan Gerace
Back in 1962, during the days of President John F. Kennedy, Ready’s first opened their doors to the public. Since then, they have enjoyed much success due to sticking to their traditional roots and creating lifelong customers. At Ready’s, you will find that the place is almost frozen in time. Their original milkshake machine even remains in the same spot as it did 50 years ago. When you enter the store, you are often greeted by not only friendly staff, but longtime loyal customers who are always ready to tell you how great the place is. Some customers have been coming the Ready’s for decades. They feel at home.
“As avid vacationers in Ocean City, Ready’s has always been a staple for my family”, explained Jenn Helm, of Cranford, NJ, I love that it’s a place I can go with friends and make memories, or go with my mom and listen to her reminisce about the times she came here as a young adult.”
The food at Ready’s is your traditional breakfast and lunch fare that is both simple yet, unexplainably delicious which is how it always has been. Their burgers have been a top-secret recipe for many years and is considered one of the best in the Ocean City area. Simple and quality ingredients are the foundation of the food here at Ready’s. They do have some unique offerings such as grilled cinnamon buns, which are said to be incredible. All of their scrambled eggs and famous omelets are cooked in plenty of butter, old school style, which gives the eggs that amazing consistency and taste.
For lunch, Ready’s likes to go the extra mile for their customers and offer sandwiches made from house-roasted meats. When you order a turkey club at Ready’s don’t expect meat from the deli counter, instead Ready’s roasts and slices their own turkey every day to be used for sandwiches. With the exception of Rose’s Garden Grill in Northfield, not many lunch stops in this area do that. Once again, that is just how it has always been done at Ready’s.
While Ready’s is known for hardly breaking tradition, owner Doug Wing has made a few positive changes in order to make the restaurant eco-friendlier. Since Ocean City is an oceanfront town, it is very easy for plastic products to wind up in the Atlantic Ocean, therefore Wing has switched all of his straws to biodegradable paper straws in order to reduce the amount of plastic entering the ocean. Ready’s is also vegetarian friendly and offer a great veggie burger that people rave about.
For those who love a good milkshake, you have to try an old-fashioned handspun milkshake from their vintage milkshake mixer that has been making milkshakes for over 50 years at Ready’s. There is truly no other authentic and classic American diner quite like ready’s in Ocean City. If you haven’t tried them out, be sure to visit them at 415 E 8th Street in Ocean City and they are open every day from 7 am until 3 pm and Sunday 7am until 2 pm.
