See you in September! The Pub in south Jersey is closed for the summer

When you walk into a restaurant with stained glass, dimly lit tables, it is a walk back into another time.

The Pub in Pennsauken is that place.

It has that feeling, it has the smell, and certainly the ambience that has made the restaurant an institution since 1951, when new owners took over a 1930s restaurant and bar called Neil Deighan’s.

Neil was a local personality known to the people of South Jersey. Neil sold the restaurant to three families that went into business together. They named the original restaurant The Pub and opened two more locations in Philadelphia with the same name.

In 1960, there was a catastrophic fire, and The Pub in Pennsauken burned to the ground. The owners rebuilt in the same location and eventually reopened. In the 1980’s the other two Philadelphia restaurants closed and went out of business.

The Pub is known for its extensive choices of meat entrees, and to be honest, if you are a vegetarian, other than The Pub salad bar, there are no choices for you to enjoy. The prime rib and steaks are excellent, and the sides are traditional. Their prices are a little high, but much more manageable than a high-end steak chain.

Closing for the summer is a tough decision for The Pub.

They are a sit-down restaurant. I think that they would welcome a summer crowd, but that is not the case with this restaurant.

They are a 500-seat restaurant, so they need a considerable number of servers. According to an article in NJ.com, they just let their employees enjoy a vacation. Three months is a long vacation for your employees, especially since their bills are due twelve months out of the year.

Some equate these three months off like teachers and other educational professionals.

I am sure that just the cost of running that restaurant when you are not filling in the seats can be very detrimental to the bottom line and the continued economic life of the restaurant. It is better to close for three months than it is to close for good.