Another Toms River Restaurant Closes

Back in June, Social 37 in Toms River posted on Facebook that they would be closing their doors for good - then just a few days later, said they were just "sleeping" and hoped to be able to re-open. They haven't reached that point yet, and unfortunately another restaurant right next door to them in Toms River has closed their doors too.

According to Ocean County Scanner News, the Smashburger location at Routes 166 and 37 in Toms River has closed for good.

A note taped to the door said

Thank you for your business over the years.

We have closed for business. Please visit one of our other NJ locations: 1060 Cedar Bridge Avenue, Brick Township NJ 08723

OCSN points out that now half of the restaurants in that plaza have closed. For a time, you could choose between Social 37, Smashburger, Buffalo Wild Wings, or Panera Bread - now, only Buffalo Wild Wings and Panera are still open.

On the plus side, in pictures taken by OCSN, while the sign for Smashburger has been removed, the sign for Social 37 is still on the building, so there's a chance they will return.

It's really a shame because indoor dining just came back this weekend, so Smashburger came up just short in any attempt to re-open. We've seen countless family-owned businesses close during the pandemic, but I haven't seen quite as many big chains. Buffalo Wild Wings survived, Panera survived, so I'm surprised that Smashburger didn't make it. Best of luck to the employees who are now out of a job - hopefully as more things start to open back up, they'll have a chance to get back on their feet.