Announced only about two months ago, Ryfe Bar & Restaurant opens tomorrow Thursday March 14th in Moorestown NJ in a location on the outside perimeter of the mall. The location was previously home to Hash House A Go Go, which closed in December.
This is the second location for Ryfe, which opened a popular location just a few years ago in Atlantic City’s Chelsea District.
I stopped in today and caught up with Ryfe owner John Murphy who chatted with me about his restaurants, menu and upscale casual, friend & family oriented restaurant which he has brought to his hometown of Moorestown, NJ.
If you are unfamiliar, Ryfe offers an upscale casual dining experience… in Atlantic City they’ve quickly gained accolades for their delicious smash burgers, sandwiches, inventive seafood dishes and other entrees… including a 40oz ribeye steak!
Ryfe strives to be a comfortable dining and gathering place for everyone including families, with a kid’s menu that offers amazing tastes at a kid’s sized price!
Head Chef Marvin established the menu and dining experience in the Atlantic City location, and he is now leading the Moorestown kitchen to ensure that the true Ryfe Restaurant experience carries through to the new Burlington County location.
While restaurant owners and chefs are reluctant to categorize their establishments with others, I would say Ryfe is in a similar category as Yard House.
For Ryfe, if the team executes on food, drinks and fun as well as they’ve been able to develop and open the Moorestown location, then guests are in for a special treat!
I’ve covered hundreds of new restaurant openings at 42Freeway but I’ve never seen a transformation happen so fast and efficiently. In a span of less than three months things quickly moved from announcing the closing of Hash House, the announcement a month later of Ryfe coming in, and then about six weeks after that… Ryfe is opening! Impressive!
Ryfe Bar & Restaurant – Moorestown
The Ryfe website highlights three core aspects to the restaurant; Family, Food and Fun.
Guests are treated like family, every aspect of the menu and food preparation is thoughtfully considered to be the highest quality and taste, and all while striving to create a unique social experience.
It creates an environment where guests can be casual and fun, while enjoying food and drinks prepared to exacting standards.
As mentioned, the location for the Moorestown Ryfe is on the outside perimeter of the mall taking over a unit which previously was home to Hash House A Go Go.
Now gone is the mauve pinkish exterior of the former restaurant… and today a sleek dark slate exterior refresh has taken over.
Inside the exterior entrance you walk into the main bar area, which features a long bar opposite the front glass windows.
Casual high top seating is in this area along the glass, with an outdoor patio dining area in the front.
With the large front windows and lighter design elements in the bar area, it hints at a brighter and even livelier experience for the front bar segment of the space.
But it’s just one aspect of a smart design which gives guests choices of dining experience from the fun bar experience with casual seating, to a more quieter and even private dining experience as you move around to the back of the restaurant.
As an example, with the center positioned bar acting somewhat as a divider to the more traditional dining space behind it, a sound buffer is created for the rear space seating, offering options of a quieter dining experience.
Actually, those rear dining areas positioned behind the bar fit into three distinct areas.
Well two of the areas are in one larger dining area with a fireplace in the center, acting as a small divider to the two sections. One segment at the end is likely to be an extension of the bar area, well on the other side of the fireplace a more subdued dining experience can be found.
The back left corner of the restaurant features another large dining area but clearly in a separate room which can be used for events, private parties or even just traditional dining guest on the busier evenings.
I had hoped to get down to Atlantic City to preview the menu for 42Freeway readers, but the Ryfe team got the Morristown location open too fast!
Ryfe’s smash style burgers seems to be one of their signature items, and the classic American style 8 oz burger is priced at $13.
The menu offers an extensive list of entrees featuring a variety of seafood, Italian and steak dishes.
An 8 oz Latin Sirloin includes chimichurri sauce, garlic mashed potatoes and street corn medley for $21. A massive 18 oz grilled bone-in pork chop, with Argentinian sauce, garlic mash and vegetables sounds like a deal at $21.
And the entries include a 20 oz bone-in rib eye, surf and turf or even lobster tail!
The Ryfe Facebook page is highlighting several new menu options including new desserts!
Links and Location
Ryfe Bar & Restaurant Moorestown
400 Rt 38 #1375
Moorestown, NJ 08057