'Diners, Drive-Ins And Dives' Stops At Point Pleasant Beach Restaurant

POINT PLEASANT BEACH, NJ — Another Jersey Shore restaurant is making an appearance on "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives," as Guy Fieri rolls into Point Pleasant Beach for some Latin cuisine.

The Heights 167 is set to be featured on Friday night's episode which is titled "Wide World of Chefs." It's set for 9 p.m. on the Food Network.

The Heights 167, which fills a nook in the Richmond Center, just south of Brave New World on Route 35, is marking its fourth anniversary as it makes its debut on Fieri's show, according to a post on the restaurant's Instagram account.

It opened Oct. 4, 2020, during the pandemic, originally named Point Grill Latin Cuisine by its founder, Eric Lucero, the restaurant's website says.

It started as a move to help his parents' restaurant, Dona Julia Mexican Kitchen, but turned into a chance to launch something with a New York City feel, the website says.

Lucero came to the area in June 2020 to help his parents, but "quickly realized that the food he grew accustomed to in Jackson Heights, Queens, food that was readily available on any corner of the most diverse city in the country, had been difficult to come by here in the Jersey Shore," the description says. "That's when he decided to incorporate his favorite Latin dishes from the neighborhood like a Colombian Bandeja Paisa or Peruvian Chaufa and take a risk of opening a restaurant during the pandemic. While everyone told him he was crazy, Eric quickly developed a following and a reputation for providing a unique and memorable experience with amazing flavors."

Point Grill Latin Cuisine was renamed The Heights 167 to pay homage to Jackson Heights, with the 167 referring to the 167 languages spoken in New York City.

"Eric wanted a place where people from all over the Jersey Shore can experience that NYC feeling he had growing up, while also enjoying our Latin American inspired dishes and comfortable atmosphere," the website says.

And The Heights 167 is near Dona Julia, which is three doors down in the same small strip mall. It has a distinctly different menu, with 16 varieties of tacos.

According to the Food Network description, Fieri samples the birria and the croquettes at The Heights 167. The menu includes Cubanos, picahna, multiple varieties of birria, paella, Peruvian shrimp and much more.

"It's been one helluva roller coaster for sure," the Instagram post says. "Through all the perseverance, hard work, dedication and sacrifice, we always knew with the quality of product we have, it'll only be a matter of time until we got the recognition we deserved."

"What makes this even more fascinating and surreal is that we opened our doors literally 4 years before we aired! October 4th, 2020 this journey began! It was just My Dad, Mom and I, not knowing what to expect but believing we were gonna do great things."

In August and early September, episodes of "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" featured three Monmouth County sites: Cavé Bistro in Avon, Skratch Kitchen in Bradley Beach, then went back to Avon for Seed to Sprout.