Finally some good news for fans of South Jersey diners.
After 50+ years of ownership, Joseph and Mary Ann Justice have retired from the beloved Angelo’s Diner in Glassboro. The diner was sold to an LLC associated with the Nexus Property Group, who it seems are fully intent on keeping the diner operating as it has for over 75 years.
The diner sale took place just last week, but rumors had been swirling for several months of the plans to sell the diner to the development company, who also developed and operate the massive Rowan Boulevard properties.
The “sale” rumors had many people very concerned that the diner would not remain open once sold… immediate theories started that the development firm would want to build something newer and bigger on the block. Well it seems that Nexus is intent on keeping Angelo’s Diner open.
I’ve stopped in at the Diner several times over the last few months trying to get some details on what was coming. In fact I was sitting at the counter this morning when I saw a Facebook post from Gloucester County Commissioner Heather Simmons, who had recently visited the Justices (former owners) to give them a Proclamation for operating one of the state’s best and most beloved diners, for so many years.
The Justice’s were particularly proud that, although they are retiring from their diner life, Angelo’s Diner will live on with the same name, same employees and the same traditions of great food in the great company of friends
Gloucester County Commissioner Heather Simmons
Commissioner Simmons then went on to further confirm that the building is staying!
After my visit to Angelo’s Diner today I walked across the street and visited the Nexus Properties Glassboro office, which is right in the Rowan Boulevard complex.
I didn’t expect to immediately get in touch with someone within the company to give me details on the purchase, so I could only leave my business card. I am hoping to hear back from them.
So while I share here the awesome news that the diner is to remain and stay open with the same staff and awesome charm, I have yet to speak to Nexus regarding any other plans for the diner.
Angelo’s Diner Glassboro
Angelo Tubertini opened Angelo’s Glassboro Diner around 1950. Angelo’s was built by Kullman in North Jersey, and it was one of about 400 diners delivered to it’s site in one piece.
Angelo’s daughter Mary Ann and her husband Joe purchased the diner from her father in 1970.
Since then they’ve kept customers well fed with very reasonably priced delicious food, friendly service, and engaging conversations.
Angelo’s Diner is one of the smallest diners in South Jersey, if not the smallest. It features only six booths and a seating capacity of under 50!
And while every other diner in South Jersey has grown significantly in size and modernization over the decades, walking into Angelo’s diner is truly like stepping back in time to 1950.
After 70+ years, they’ve changed literally nothing about the diner area.
The original ceramic tile floor is still there, the stainless steel interior, spinning stools… are all the same.
Even the menu board placed above the back of the diner wall is that old school “little plastic letters and numbers”, which have little points in the back to fit into the grooves within the backing board.
It’s a level of classic diner charm that you just cannot recreate from scratch.
Plus Angelo’s is the only diner I can think of that still has the grill right behind the counter. Where else can you go for a delicious hot meal were the cook takes your food right off the griddle, turns around and hands it to you at the counter three feet away!
There is something extra cool about it being so small… a much more close-knit dining experience which is very rare to find today. Many decades ago there were other smaller diner-like restaurants such as White Tower, dotted across the South Jersey landscape, but today they are all gone.
Angelo’s Glassboro Diner though remains… and remains unchanged.
A 1992 Courier Post feature on the diner quotes Joe as saying
It’s a family feeling in Angelo’s. It’s hard to describe… everyone sits down and talks while they’re eating, whether they know each other before they walked in here or not. It’s like having a meal at your own kitchen table. It’s hard to describe, but that’s what it’s like here. Real nostalgic. Real homie
Joe Justice of Angelo’s Diner Glassboro, to the Courier Post in 1992
… and honestly I think those statements still hold true 30 years later!
Which brings us to another amazing aspect of Angelo’s diner… the prices.
Although first let me say the food at Angelo’s Diner is amazing. I’ve never had a bad meal there, and even in just the last few months I’ve probably stopped in four or five times for breakfast or lunch… and thoroughly enjoyed every single bite.
But Angelo’s had found a way to be successful without crushing customers in the wallet.
A part of Angelo’s business model is they keep the portions at a more reasonable size, but to be clear everyone is going home from Angelo’s completely full.
But even that being said, they still price things much cheaper than the value of delicious food you receive.
How about Meatloaf for $9.75. Roast Turkey for $11.50. A hamburger for $4… or how about a cheesesteak for $5.75.
Look, let’s be honest it’s kind of crazy that in 2023 you can go into a diner and get a cheese steak for $5.75, or a bacon cheeseburger for $6.50!
But that’s the way they do things at Angelo’s. The old school charm is not manufactured.. it’s real. The old school service is not fake.. the employees genuinely want to be the best. The old school quality food is fresh ingredients and cooked in front of you…. and the old school prices, are like stepping back into 1990.
Good luck to the Justices, and thank you for your decades of wonderful food and connection to the community
And here’s to many more delicious meals at Angelo’s Glassboro Diner.
Links and Location
Angelo’s Diner – Glassboro
26 N Main St, Glassboro, NJ
Open every day at 7am
Wed- Sun closing at 8pm
Mon & Tuesday closing at 2pm