Kim Kardashian, Jersey girl for a day
SEASIDE HEIGHTS, N.J. -- Kim Kardashian, Jersey girl wannabe?
Reality TV star Kardashian and friend Jonathan Cheban hit the Seaside Heights boardwalk Monday night and Tuesday afternoon to film segments of the new series Kourtney & Khloe Take the Hamptons, according to her spokesperson, Ina Treciokas.
The reviews were positive from borough officials.
"They're nice people — the whole team was good," said Michael Graichen, the borough's director of community improvements. "I just got a phone call from the producer and they want to come down in August to film her sisters."
Kardashian and Cheban, their filming crew in tow, strolled on the boardwalk between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. Tuesday. They stopped by the Kohr's Frozen Custard stand on Grant Avenue and went on rides at Casino Pier. Kardashian wore a black tank top, form-forming leggings and open-toe stiletto shoes.
"Each one had an Orangeade," said Kohr's owner Gerg Kohr, who added they were on their cell phones when they made their purchase. "I told her to come back and try the Orange Creme."
"They were both very nice."
Kardashian and Cheban dined at the Spicy Cantina on Sumner Avenue on Monday night, thrilling fans with the surprise appearance.
"I thought it was the Jersey Shore when I saw all the cameras," said Katie Canize.
Canize, 23, and friend Mary King, 22, were in the pub when Kardashian and Cheban came in at 8 p.m. with a film crew and security detail. They went upstairs to dine on tacos and a table side of guacamole, said a Cantina manager who declined to give her name.
When news spread of Kardashian's arrival, more than 2,000 excited fans gathered outside, hoping for a glimpse of the star, Seaside Heights police chief Thomas Boyd said.
The police were called to manage the crowd outside the restaurant. Inside, the mood was different.
"I was surprised at how pleasant she was," Canize said. "She smiled at everyone and she was waving."
The visits did draw a bit of negativity on social media.
"First it was Sandy, then the boardwalk fire — hasn't Seaside suffered enough?" posted Bill Normyle on the Asbury Park Press' site, www.app.com.
Yet, from the borough's perspective, the national attention Seaside Heights has received is a positive.
"She was as lovely as she is pretty," said Graichen, who added that she stayed in the borough Monday night.
Neither Kardashian's husband, Kanye West, nor her baby daughter, North West, were at the dinner or on the boardwalk stroll. Kardashian, star of the E! channel's Keeping Up with the Kardashians, was flying back to Los Angeles on Tuesday.