Restaurant in front of Home Depot in Monmouth Junction (Union: house, tenant)
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OK, for a very long time, I remember the restaurant being located in front of Home Depot in the Shop and Stop plaza on Rt. 1 in Monmouth Junction being "Rumbleseats".
After Rumbleseats, there's been a lot of other restaurants in that location, but it seems none of them stick.
There was Bandito's... then there was some sort of hipster steak house... then another steak place... and we drove by it today and it seems to be called "El Dorado", serving tex-mex food.
Does anyone recall other restaurant concepts that were tried in this location and why none of them seem to succeed?
I don't know the particular location that you are referring to, but I am familiar with the phenomenon. I have also seen buildings that seem to house an incredible succession of restaurants, all of which have failed after a few months or--at most--a few years, and I just call it the "hard-luck location" syndrome.
In the case of the location to which you referred, perhaps the problem dates back to the first tenant. I, for one, will never go into a restaurant whose name is a possessive version of a noun that makes no sense as a restaurant name.
Whether it is "Rumbleseat's" (the restaurant is owned by a part from an old car??), or "Mojito's" (the restaurant is owned by an alcoholic beverage??), or "Tortuga's" (the place is owned by a Spanish tortoise??) or "Scampi's" (the resto is owned by a shrimp?), or "Bruschetta's" (a piece of toasted bread owns the place?) or any other version of that strange sort of naming, I have never seen a restaurant with that type of name that actually had decent food.
Perhaps in a few isolated cases, the folks who own the place actually have that surname, but in the case of a name like "Rumbleseat's"...not bloody likely.
More likely is that they lack any sense of imagination for naming the place, or--most likely--they don't know the difference between a possessive noun and a plural noun.
Maybe folks who don't comprehend that difference are just not bright enough to know how to run a restaurant!
But, for whatever reason the first place went out of business, it seems that locations like this acquire the stench of death about them after a couple of failed attempts, and perhaps this aura is what leads to the demise of their successors.
Last edited by Retriever; 01-28-2012 at 05:19 AM..
Yep every town has one (a location that is a revolving door for restaurants). I don't know what causes it. But I will tell you, that I saw the "chain of failure" get broken at a location on 35 in Middletown. The place is called Nicholas, it has now been there for years and is very successful. Not sure what they did different, when others there have failed.
I find it hard to believe though that anything on Route 1 would be considered a "hard luck" location. I know though, it is strange that everytime I drive past that shopping center, they have something different.
To the other person, what is that Nicholas place anyway? I always wondered what that was.
All the Rickel's stores are long since out of business. I remember when they went under, I was like 12-13 or so.
And all the Grand Union, Giant and Edwards stores became Stop & Shop. And for some strange reason, they like to put Stop & Shop on every street corner in this area. Surprised they haven't yet put one up the road where Pathmark closed.
I go to that mall once a year for some random one-off thing... it used to be Friendly's (is that still there -- I haven't been there for a while). That mall really has nothing for me that is worth entering for.
I like Stop & Shop, but I like Wegmans, Whole Foods and Shop Rite better.
OK, for a very long time, I remember the restaurant being located in front of Home Depot in the Shop and Stop plaza on Rt. 1 in Monmouth Junction being "Rumbleseats".
After Rumbleseats, there's been a lot of other restaurants in that location, but it seems none of them stick.
There was Bandito's... then there was some sort of hipster steak house... then another steak place... and we drove by it today and it seems to be called "El Dorado", serving tex-mex food.
Does anyone recall other restaurant concepts that were tried in this location and why none of them seem to succeed?
We went to "El Dorado" a couple months ago. I sincerely wish them good luck and hope they survive but the food and service both were far below average. There is no good mexican or tex-mex place along Rt 1 South between North Brunswick and Princeton - a 10+ mile patch - so its a fantastic location and great opportunity if they can improve their food and service.
We went to "El Dorado" a couple months ago. I sincerely wish them good luck and hope they survive but the food and service both were far below average. There is no good mexican or tex-mex place along Rt 1 South between North Brunswick and Princeton - a 10+ mile patch - so its a fantastic location and great opportunity if they can improve their food and service.
I used to like the Chevy's @ Mercer Mall, but that just closed. Burrito Royale used to be great... but I went there a few times recently... and, wow, did they go downhill.
Funny you mentioned that revolving door restaurant. DH & I were just joking about it while driving by recently.
We've only lived down here for a few years, but that restaurant seems to change hands every few months.
I remember the Friendly's that was also in that strip mall years ago.
Thanks for mentioning the Grand Union. I kept telling DH that there was a different supermarket there before Stop & Shop, but I couldn't recall the name.
BTW, that Stop & Shop seems to be almost empty of customers. With their prices it's no wonder. ShopRite & Wegman's have more competitive prices.
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