The siblings behind Locale, the Italian restaurant on Oceanport Avenue that brought Little Silver its first liquor license in decades, have opened a second spot a couple of blocks away. Locale Pizzeria & Market sits at 24 Ayers Lane, across from the NJ Transit station, with parking right out front. NJ.com reported the opening on October 31.
The new shop opens five hours earlier, takes no reservations, runs seven days a week, sells pizza in a different size and puts a grocery counter next to the oven. On nearly every point where the restaurant at 51 Oceanport Avenue sets a limit, the Ayers Lane shop does the opposite. Together they cover far more of a Little Silver day than either one could alone.
Two Addresses With Two Different Jobs
Giuseppe Ottaiano Jr., Tom Ottaiano and Natalie Priore opened Locale in 2024. When NJ.com reviewed the restaurant, Ottaiano described the sourcing behind it: "Everything about this place is local." He pointed to a vegetable garden out back, meat from the Butcher's Block in Long Branch, seafood from the Highlands, and mozzarella and pasta made in-house.
The new shop builds on that kitchen and changes almost everything about how you use it.
| Locale, 51 Oceanport Ave | Locale Pizzeria & Market, 24 Ayers Lane | |
|---|---|---|
| Days open | Tuesday through Sunday, closed Mondays | Daily |
| Hours | Noon to 10 p.m. | Market 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., pizzeria 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. |
| Service | Sit-down restaurant | Counter service, 26 seats, no reservations |
| Pizza | 12-inch Napoletana pies | 16-inch pies and slices |
| Beyond pizza | Pastas and entrees like Veal Chop Parm and Nonna's Chicken Parm | Panuozzi, calzones, strombolis, plus a market counter |
The pie list at Ayers Lane covers plain, Margherita, Chicken Parm, Quattro Formaggi and Mike's Hot Pepperoni. The menu also lists 14 panuozzi, a type of Italian sandwich. One of them pairs mortadella and stracciatella with pistachio cream. The Fall 2026 market menu carries many of the restaurant's Italian favorites alongside the slices, brick oven sandwiches, calzones and strombolis.
The family has done counter pizza before. The NJ.com piece notes that Locale already runs pizza counters inside Livoti's Old World Market in Brick, Freehold and Middletown. Ayers Lane is the first one in its home town with its own front door.
The Five Hours Before the Restaurant Opens
On a normal Tuesday, the market side at Ayers Lane unlocks at 7 a.m. The pizzeria starts at 10 a.m. and the Oceanport Avenue dining room at noon. That gives Locale a presence on the station block for five hours before its original restaurant serves anyone.
The block has a lot of people passing through. NJ Transit places Little Silver station on Branch Avenue between Sycamore and Oceanport Avenues. The agency's station page lists the Ayers Lane lot at 518 standard spaces plus 11 accessible ones, and a smaller municipal lot on Oceanport Avenue with 35 standard and two accessible. A 26-seat room now sits across the street from that lot.
In those early hours, the market sells freshly baked bread, prepared grab-and-go food, fresh pasta made on site, cheese and produce. For coffee, the station area already has two names on the map. Dunkin is at 18 Sycamore Avenue, and Rook Coffee lists a Little Silver shop at 705 Branch Avenue. With bread, prepared food and coffee all within reach of the platform, the block now covers far more of a morning errand run than it did a month ago.
Monday Night Moves to Ayers Lane
The restaurant on Oceanport Avenue is closed Mondays. The Pizzeria & Market lists the same hours every day of the week.
So Locale's kitchen no longer goes dark one night a week. It moves two blocks. The format changes with it. The Ayers Lane room has no reservations to book, and the 16-inch pie is built for a table to share. The Jersey Shore Girl notes that guests can sit down and eat on site or grab a slice and go.
For a Monday when nobody wants to sit in a dining room, delivery runs through DoorDash, Uber Eats and Slice.
What Goes Home in the Bag
The market counter takes Locale's kitchen past restaurant hours entirely. Until now, the only way to eat food from the Oceanport Avenue kitchen was to book a table or order a finished plate. The Ayers Lane shelves sell the ingredients and let you finish the meal at home. According to NJ.com, the market stocks:
- Fresh pasta made on site
- Freshly baked bread
- Prepared grab-and-go food
- Cheese and produce from Livoti's Old World Market
- Outside catering, handled by the same kitchen
The Livoti's link has history behind it. The same family already runs the pizza counters inside Livoti's stores, so stocking that market's products in Little Silver closes a loop between two businesses that already work together.
The timing matters too. Thanksgiving falls on November 26 this year, two weeks after this post goes up, and December brings a run of evening gatherings. Locale's restaurant has always been a place to go for a meal. The new shop also sells the things you bring to one: a tray from the catering kitchen, a bag of fresh pasta or a loaf of bread picked up on the way home.
The Borough's December Evenings, and the Hours After Them
Little Silver's own holiday calendar runs early in the evening, and the Ayers Lane counter stays open until 10 p.m.
Saturday afternoons. The borough's September 2026 newsletter lists Parker Homestead-1665 as open for tours every Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m. until December.
Sunday, December 6. The Holiday Tree Lighting runs from 4 to 5 p.m. at Borough Hall, 480 Prospect Avenue. The borough's December calendar also lists the Post Office Museum as open after the lighting.
Tuesday, December 8. The Menorah Lighting takes place from 6:30 to 7 p.m., also at Borough Hall.
The tree lighting wraps up at 5 p.m. on a Sunday, and the Menorah Lighting ends at 7 p.m. on a Tuesday. On both nights the Pizzeria & Market keeps serving until 10 p.m., so both new food options in town are open after each borough event ends. On December 6, a Sunday, both are open. On December 8, a Tuesday, the restaurant on Oceanport Avenue is open too, from noon to 10 p.m.
Where This Leaves the Station Block
A month ago, Locale meant one dining room, open six days a week from noon. Now the same family has a presence in town from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day of the week, at two addresses a couple of blocks apart. The Ayers Lane counter sells bread from 7 a.m., serves pies on Mondays when the dining room is closed, and takes catering orders from the same kitchen.
The shop's spot across from the NJ Transit lot means the second door sits where the town already gathers each morning, at the station with its 518-space lot.
At The Katz Team, we keep track of the small openings that change how a Little Silver day actually runs, from the first coffee by the station to the last slice at 10 p.m. If you'd like to talk about how the blocks around the train station are changing, or what's coming next to your corner of town, Schedule a Call with us. We're always glad to compare notes with neighbors.
