The Penn Queen Diner in Pennsauken is currently being demolished to make room for a new retail development which will feature a Taco Bell restaurant, a Tim Hortons coffee shop, and a third unit which has not been leased yet.
The former diner property sits along Route 130, on a wedge shaped property formed with Westfield Ave. The property adjacent to the Diner building is a Wendy’s, which will be unaffected by this project.

42Freeway first wrote about this project in December of 2023, which was a few weeks after the project was approved by Pennsauken Planning Board.
The Penn Queen diner was loved by area families for many decades to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries and just quiet dinners together.
A 1989 Courier-Post article says the Penn Queen diner originally opened in 1964.

It was sold soon after in 1966, and the new owners immediately added a 110-seat addition, which at the time required them to expand the property size by purchasing neighboring properties.
According to the Courier-Post, the second big expansion was in 1989 which almost doubled the size of the diner and added a cocktail lounge.
In 2019 new owners took over the diner, fully intent on bringing life back to the classic and well-loved local eatery.
Sadly, just a few short years later the diner closed. I do not know the details of the closure, but realizing that they took ownership in the year before the pandemic and its related business closures… you have to wonder if that was a factor in the closing.

A 2008 food experience review in the Courier-Post describes the writer’s wonderful dining experience at the Penn Queen Diner, which he summarized as offering him a feeling of “fullness and value”… without the feeling of indigestion that he would get at a Taco Bell.
Ironically the plans for the new project include…

Taco Bell, Tim Hortons and Third Tenant Planned
A 2,722 square foot Taco Bell restaurant is planned to take over the space where the current Penn Queen diner building sits.
As expected the Taco Bell will feature a drive-thru which will be positioned along the back parallel to Wendy’s property line.

On the opposite side of the wedge-shaped property will be two separate buildings, one of which has been signed-on as a Tim Hortons coffee shop.
Tim Hortons is a Canadian based coffee and doughnut retailer, in a similar category is Dunkin. They have opened a few locations in South Jersey including Strafford and Cinnaminson.

A third building would be developed directly next to Tim Hortons, and according to online real estate marketing brochures, that space has not been rented yet.
At this time I have no timelines on the development of these projects.
Links and Location
Penn Queen Diner – Demo Approved; Taco Bell and Tim Hortons
7349 N Crescent Blvd
Pennsauken Township, NJ 08110