BERKELEY - B2 Bistro + Bar has purchased Martell's Waters Edge with plans to create a dining and entertainment destination on the Barnegat Bay.

The restaurant, located at 125 Bayview Ave. or due east of buoy 37 on the bayside, is the B2 Bistro + Bar restaurant group's sixth B2 Bistro + Bar location and its third in Ocean County.

"We're bringing the chef-inspired food that we're known for to what is probably the most beautiful venue in Ocean County as far as where it's situated, the views, the accessibility from water or by land," said Stephen Valentine, managing partner at B2 Bistro + Bar.

B2 Bistro + Bar will open on April 8, weekends only, and will shift to seven days a week on May 5.

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Under new ownership, the restaurant will have dining indoors and outdoors and three banquet rooms for events, weddings and parties. Martell's Water Edge has offered banquet facilities. Its outdoor tiki bar and indoor second-story restaurant closed last year, the company said on its website.

B2 Bistro will have open air dining for 700 to 800 guests, Valentine said. There will be docking space for up to 25 boats with an additional 35 moorings. Licensed captains, using the restaurant's two pontoon boats, can shuttle customers to and from their moored boats to the restaurant.

"Inside, we will be building a premier destination-style restaurant which will be open 365 days a year," Valentine said. Extensive interior renovations will create a "rustic nautical theme," he said. Other work includes a new stage and sound system, cabanas around the salt water pool and a new boardwalk connecting the restaurant's two decks.

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The restaurant's menu includes B2 Bistro's American and Mediterranean fare, including fresh seafood, burgers, steaks, wood-fired pizza, sushi and more than 16 craft beers on tap.

The restaurant also will have a full entertainment program with live music seven days a week. It includes country night on Thursdays with live country music, a DJ, line dance instructors and live broadcasts by Country Thunder 106. Wednesday will have open mic night with the restaurant's house band. Weekends and throughout the week will feature East Coast cover bands such as Drop Dead Sexy, Don't Call Me Francis and Shorty Long.

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B2 Bistro's other restaurants are in Red Bank, Toms River, Point Pleasant Beach, North Brunswick and West Reading, Pennsylvania.

"The community is fantastic down here," Valentine said of the new location. "This venue has something for everyone."

David P. Willis, an award-winning business writer, has covered business and consumer news at the Asbury Park Press for more than 20 years. He writes APP.com's What's Going There column and can be reached at [email protected]. Join his What's Going There page on Facebook for updates.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Martell's Waters Edge in Berkeley NJ gets new name, year-round dining