'Stranger Things' Star Took Summer Job At LBI's Bird & Betty's

BEACH HAVEN, NJ — Patrons at Bird & Betty's may have thought they were in the upside down or some other alternate dimension when Gaten Matarazzo served their food this summer.

But the actor who plays Dustin in "Stranger Things" was there behind a mask running food. And while patrons may have gotten a jolt out of it, the restaurant staff seemed nonplussed.

"It's just a kid with a summer job who was home from filming," said an employee on the phone at the restaurant, "and that's really all we have to say about that."

Indeed, the coronavirus pandemic caused a break in the filming of Season 4 of the Netflix sci-fi smash, sending the Little Egg Harbor native back to the Jersey Shore. So he spent the summer the same way as many teens: getting a new job.

"This year sitting at dinner my daughter noticed him right away, and sure enough, it was him," said Samantha Treston, of Randolph. "We couldn’t miss his eyes above the gaiter he was wearing. It's nice to see he is working a normal summer job that a regular teen would."

It wasn't his first gig at Bird & Betty's either. Matarazzo and his band, Work In Progress, performed at the restaurant last summer.

Matarazzo, 17, was raised in Little Egg Harbor and attended Pinelands Regional High School in Tuckerton.

There is no word on whether or not he sang "Never Ending Story" to customers.

With reporting from Russ Crespolini/Patch staff

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