Woodies Burgers gets new mural after damage from Sandy

Like many other businesses on Long Beach Island, the original Woodies Burgers, located in Ship Bottom, has had to be thoroughly renovated after Superstorm Sandy. The family-friendly eatery, known for its menu of more than 35 different burgers made daily with fresh chopped meat from Okie’s Butcher Shop in Surf City, suffered from 33 inches of floodwater damage. Most of the restaurant’s kitchen equipment and dining supplies were ruined.

“As far as I know, this is the first time it ever flooded in here. There might have been a little bit of water in here (before), but nothing major like this,” claimed Pete Poulas, a co-owner of Woodies. “We pretty much had to start over from scratch.”

Photo by Jack Reynolds
Elizabeth Longfield puts the
final coat of varnish over the
new mural at Woodies on LBI.

Poulas, who lives across the street from Woodies with his wife, Darla, stayed in his residence during Sandy. Watching the floodwater rising in the streets and filling his restaurant was something he said he would never stick around for again.

“In your mind, you think you can stop the water or do something, but you can’t,” Poulas admitted. “I felt like I could do something to stop the water from getting into my business, but if it’s a storm of that magnitude, there’s no way you’re going to stop anything. You’re better off leaving and letting the professionals and the rescue personnel do their thing and not get in their way.

“Me and my wife walked over to the restaurant the next day and just came in and went right back out. It was bad. The water was still past our knees in the street. There’s nothing you can really do. It was too stressful,” he added.

Nearly five months later, the local eatery has been completely refurbished with new drywall, fresh paint and supplies, including new exhaust and fire systems. Even the mural on the south wall of the dining room, originally painted by a resident from Barnegat Light more than seven years ago after Poulas and his business partner took over the restaurant, has been replaced.

Local artist Elizabeth Longfield, 24, of Manahawkin was asked to paint the new mural in February after Poulas stopped in for his daily coffee at How You Brewin’ in Surf City, where Longfield has worked for the past five years. She and Darla are former co-workers.

Longfield put the final coat of UV-resistant, matte varnish last week over the new 12-foot by 4-foot painting, which captures the look of a sunset above rolling waves and a beach dotted with a few surfers and cars – one of which is, of course, the classic Woodies mobile.

Although the beach scene was a requirement set by Poulas, Longfield was given the freedom to craft the piece using her own creativity.

“I wanted to do something different than what they had before,” said Longfield, referencing the former mural's daytime scene. “I wanted to do a sunset because the colors are so different. My favorite things to paint are landscapes and skies, so that’s really what I wanted to do,” she added.

After doing some field research taking pictures of the beaches and sunsets on LBI, drawing up a few sketches and choosing a final picture, Longfield set to work. She created a transparency of the final image so she could project the illustration onto the wall and trace the people and automobiles. This, she said, would help keep the painting from appearing distorted. The multihued sunset and cresting waves were painted freehand-style.

Longfield spent a couple of days each week working on the mural for two to three hours at a time. She said she even spent her entire week off during spring break painting at Woodies. All in all, the mural took her nearly 30 hours to complete.

“I loved it. It was so much fun,” she said.

Longfield will graduate from the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey in May with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in printmaking. Her other recent work includes murals at the Impact Community Church in Manahawkin. She hopes the local artwork will help her gain recognition within the area’s local art community. To contact her, visit her Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/L-Longfield-Art/486107211438015.

Woodies is set to open daily in mid-April, after the dining room and restrooms are completely repaired. A new black bean burger will be incorporated into the vegetarian- and vegan-friendly menu this year. For more information, visit http://www.woodiesburgers.com/index.html, or dial 609-361-7300.

— Kelley Anne Essinger