The building for a planned Roy Rogers restaurant in Cherry Hill is currently under full remodel ahead of an expected late Spring opening, which I confirmed with a “Roys” representative (see below)
The location for the new quick-casual restaurant is on Haddonfield Road where Roy Rogers is taking over a building which used to be a PDQ chicken restaurant. PDQ closed the Cherry Hill location in Nov 2023.
42Freeway first reported on the plans for the return of Roy Rogers back in November of 2024. The story was first reported by South Jersey Food Scene. (more below)
If you’re unfamiliar with Roy Rogers restaurants, back in the 70s and the 80s they were a major player in the fast food space offering hamburgers, chicken and their signature Roast Beef sandwiches. The “fixin’s bar” is a signature Roy’s offering where you could top your burger as you liked!
While a few locations hung around for years at Turnpike rest stops under an older contract, those toll-road locations really weren’t the full Roy Rogers experience of stand-alone locations… so when the news broke in the fall about the return of Roy Rogers to the South Jersey suburbs, it absolutely went viral!
Roy Rogers Cherry Hill Remodel – April 10, 2025
For the upcoming Cherry Hill location, the former PDQ building is only about 9 years old and has an attractive design to it, so the Roy Rogers team is doing the smart thing by focusing more on cosmetic changes adding in the Roy Rogers branding, colors and technology.
A November press release states the remodel will feature the brand’s design upgrades including signature exterior wooden black iron accents. In addition to design upgrades, the restaurant will include advanced technology, including new electronic menu boards, ordering kiosk and digital drive-thru menu boards.
I stopped over yesterday to see that the exterior painting effort was mostly completed, with the crew bringing in the Roy Rogers distinctive red and white color palette to the walls.
A peek inside the front windows showed that for the most part the interior was still the same as PDQ (at least for right now), with the built-in booths still in place. I did notice that the tabletops were not there in the area that I looked at, which makes me think they will refresh the seating and tables with a Roy Rogers inspired design.
I was able to get additional confirmation on the expected opening date via a Roy Rogers representative who tells 42Freeway that they expect to open Late Spring/Early Summer with a big bullseye on early June. Of course this is barring any unexpected delays.
Which is inline with their November 2024 announcement of the Cherry Hill location.
Roy Rogers – Cherry Hill
It’s not surprising that the popular South Jersey Food Scene Facebook group was the first to break the news back in November of the upcoming Roy Rogers location.
A loyal follower noticed the address appeared as “Coming Soon” on the Roy Rogers website and posted about it at the group. Marilyn Johnson of SJFS was then able to confirm with Roy Rogers the plans, and was the first to have an article online.
An indication of how big a deal this was to the community… within hours of that news being released at SJFS, it seemed every major Philadelphia area outlet had their own coverage online.
Seeing the response across many media channels in the Philadelphia region, the next morning Roy Rogers published their official press release further confirming the lease signing.
The Roy Rogers commentary described Cherry Hill as the region’s most popular shopping destination (they weren’t wrong), and only 10 minutes from Center City Philadelphia.
“We could not be happier to bring our USDA choice top round roast beef, juicy burgers and fresh, hand-breaded fried chicken back to Cherry Hill,” says Co-President of Roy Rogers Restaurants, Jim Plamondon. “Roy’s legacy fans will be thrilled to see the iconic Fixin’s Bar® and use our signature sauces to customize their favorite sandwiches and tenders. New guests will be pleased with our diverse menu and quality beef, burgers and chicken you can’t find anywhere else.”
For those under 40 you may not get the significance of this opening… but growing up in the late 70s and 80s Roy Rogers was a major player in the local fast food industry.
From my personal perspective growing up in Bellmawr, while McDonald’s has always been Number One, I would think through my teen years Roy Rogers was in 2nd place, actually ahead of Burger King and Wendy’s!
Roy Rogers was everywhere in South Jersey!
The growth of Roy Rogers back then came about because prior to them there was a brand called Gino’s which had may dozens of locations throughout the Philadelphia region. When Gino’s faltered, Roy Rogers was able to take over those locations.
Through the older more densely populated areas of Camden and Gloucester County, I think every other town had a Roy Rogers! But “Roys” was spread throughout the entire South Jersey region, including a location on the Wildwood boardwalk!
Today you may not realize this but the Roy Rogers/Gino’s buildings still live on in many communities. Later on Boston Market took over several of the buildings including Deptford, Mt Ephraim, Turnersville and more.
The Deptford building operates today as the New Jersey’s last Boston Market! The Mount Ephraim Diner was built around what was originally a Roy Rogers, and likely the most purest version of the original building is the Dairy Queen in Washington Township.
When Roy Rogers opens in Cherry Hill loyal fans and new customers will be greeted with a menu that brings back their amazing burgers (fixin’s bar) and roast beef!
Many fans remember the Double-R-Bar Burger which was a fresh quarter pounder cheeseburger, topped with freshly sliced ham!
Chicken also returns with Roy Rogers but with some new additions… Yes they will bring back their crispy fried chicken but also the menu now adds chicken tenders and chicken sandwiches.
Links and Location
Roy Rogers Cherry Hill – Coming Soon
614 Haddonfield Rd.
Cherry Hill, NJ 08002